NHL Hockey Player News

Bishop will miss his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury, but he is targeting a return for Saturday vs. the Hurricanes.

Backstrom surrendered three goals on 30 shots in relief of Darcy Kuemper in the Wild’s 6-5 loss to the Predators on Saturday. Backstrom has given up at least three goals in his last five outings, posting an .880 SV% in the process. Tonight he will face a Flyers team who are averaging 3.50 goals per game in their last six games.

Weiss has missed the last four games with a shoulder injury, but he will be back in the lineup tonight vs. Buffalo. Without Weiss in the lineup, the Red Wings went 0-2-2 so he should provide a nice offensive boost tonight. Weiss skated on the Wings’ fourth line with Luke Glendening and Drew Miller as well as on the second power-play unit

Lehtonen was pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots in the Stars win over the Oilers on Sunday. It was an ugly way for Lehtonen to snap a three-game winning streak and despite Anders Lindback leading them in a comeback, it looks like it will be Lehtonen tonight vs. the Maple Leafs. In his first start vs. Toronto he allowed five goals on 40 shots in a 5-3 loss.

Vasilevskiy stopped 45 of 47 shots in a 3-1 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. Since his recall he has turned aside 68 of 71 shots (.958 SV%). As good as he has been, he doesn’t draw the best spot-start matchup tonight, but you can take a risk because the Penguins are really banged up.

Mrazek allowed one goal on 23 shots in the Red Wings 2-1 shootout loss to the Avalanche on Sunday. It was another strong out for the young net minder but Detroit continues to struggle to find ways to score. Despite the slow offensive production in front of him, Mrazek makes for a great spot-start option tonight with the Sabres in town.

Lundqvist stopped 18 of 20 shots that that he faced in the Rangers win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. He was given Sunday night off, but will be back in goal tonight vs. Washington. He enters play with a five-game winning streak and a 1.56 GAA and .939 SV% over that span. Looks like King Henrik’s second half dominance has started early.

Rask allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Sabres. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Rask, who is now 2-4-2 with a 2.96 GAA and .902 SV% in December. He draws a tough matchup tonight vs. the Predators, but he is 10-4-2 at TD Garden this season.

Johnson surrendered five goals on 30 shots in the Islanders loss to the Wild back on December 9th. Jaroslav Halak started the last five games, but it will be Johnson tonight vs. the Habs. Johnson is 5-4-0 with a 3.59 GAA and .868 SV% on the year, so spot-starting him vs. Montreal would be risky.

Havlat, who is being tested for mumps, will miss tonight’s game vs. Carolina. His test results are not in, so he continues to be isolated from the team.

Elias, who is being tested for mumps, will miss tonight’s game vs. Carolina. His test results are not in, so he continues to be isolated from the team.

Cammalleri, who has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury, returned to practice on Monday, but is not on the ice for the Devils’ morning skate. Despite not skating this morning, coach Pete DeBoer called Cammalleri “likely” for tonight’s game.

Backstrom surrendered three goals on 30 shots in relief of Darcy Kuemper in the Wild’s 6-5 loss to the Predators on Saturday. Backstrom has given up at least three goals in his last five outings, posting an .880 SV% in the process. Tonight he would face a Flyers team who are averaging 3.50 goals per game in their last six games.

Granlund, who missed Saturday’s game with an illness, is skating this morning, but coach Mike Yeo said he needed to see significant improvement in Granlund’s health if he was going to play tonight vs. the Flyers. Monitor his status after the skate.

Myers will miss his second straight game tonight and is going to be out awhile the Sabres coach told reporters on Tuesday. Expect little details on Myers injury while he has the ‘week-to-week’ tag.

Foligno has been sent back to Buffalo with what is being called a “significant hand injury” that he suffered on Sunday vs.the Bruins. Joel Armia has been recalled and will make his NHL debut tonight in Foligno’s place.

Schneider gave up three goals on 20 shots in the Devils loss to the Hurricanes on Saturday. It was Schneider’s fourth consecutive loss while posting a 4.14 GAA and .893 SV%. It has been an ugly stretch for the 28-year-old, but he draws a great matchup tonight and has a good chance to head into the Christmas break on a high note.

Hansen had been confirmed in the lineup by head coach Willie Desjardins, but he ended up being held out of the lineup vs.the Canucks. It was probably for the better, as the Canucks clearly did not need him as they easily disposed of Arizona. Consider Hansen day-to-day.

After missing Saturday’s game, Stone was back in the lineup last night in Vancouver. He did not record a point and was a minus-2 with one shot in the Coyotes blowout 7-1 loss to the Canucks.

Pickard allowed one goal on 35 shots in the Avalanche’s shootout win over the Red Wings last Sunday. He has won three of his last six starts while posting a 1.61 GAA and .955 SV%. He continues to force the Avs to keep him with the big-club and a few more strong performances could land him a permanent spot.