Crawford missed the last eight games with a foot injury, but will be back between the pipes tonight in Columbus. He allowed one goal on 20 shots in a win over the Kings in his last start (Nov. 29th). He has yet to face the Blue Jackets this season, but enters Nationwide Arena at 7-3-0 with a 1.90 GAA and .932 SV% on the road this season.
Rask allowed two gaols on 40 shots in Tuesday’s shootout loss to the Predators. This might be one of the toughest stretches Rask has faced in his career. He has gone 1-3-2 with a 3.11 GAA and .900 SV% in six starts in December. The good news is, he should get some goal support tonight against a Jets team with a depleted blue line.
Enroth gave up for goals on 33 shots in the Sabres win over the Senators on Monday. That is four straight wins for the 24-year-old net minder, who has recorded a 2.45 GAA and .929 SV% over that span. He is as hot as they come right now and draws a nice matchup vs. an Avalanche team who are 4-6-5 on the road this year.
Ramo missed Thursday’s practice because of an illness, but he is back on the ice this morning and it expected to serve as Jonas Hiller’s backup tonight vs. the Stars.
Larsson will miss his ninth consecutive game tonight so the Devils will send him to Albany to get one game under his belt before returning to the Devils tomorrow.
Mason was injured at the end of practice and could not leave the ice under his own power. Mason went down while moving with no one around him. We await an update from the team, but if he is out for any period of time, Ray Emery immediately becomes the starter in Philly.
Coming off of their first loss since December 4th, the Maple Leafs shuffled their lines at Friday’s practice. Lupul skated with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel while Daniel Winnik was dropped to the third line and James van Riemsdyk to the second line with Nazem Kadri. Lupul has recorded just one goal in his last five games, so this is an attempt to get him going again.
Brassard, who missed the last three games with mumps, was back at practice and centred the top-line with Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello, which is a good sign that he will be back in the lineup on Saturday. Monitor his status during tomorrow’s morning skate.
Keith missed Tuesday’s game with an illness, but he was back at practice this afternoon which is a good sign that he will be back in the lineup tomorrow vs. the Blue Jackets. Keith has registered 18 points (6G / 12A) with a plus-10 rating in 31 games this season.
Hutchinson allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Jets loss to the Ducks on Saturday. Ondrej Pavelec started on Tuesday, but it will be Hutchinson tonight as the goalie rotation continues. Dating back to the middle of November, Hutchinson is 4-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .931 SV%. Tonight he faces a Bruins team who are starting to get healthy, but have lost six of their last eight.
Halak allowed two goals on 28 shots in the Islanders win over the Devils on Monday. After losing two in a row, he has won back-to-back games with a 1.92 GAA and .925 SV%. Tonight he will face a Red Wings team who are 0-1-3 while averaging just 1.00 goals per game in their last four games. Halak has gone 6-3-0 with a 2.43 GAA and .921 SV% on the road this season.
Bailey will be the latest Islanders forward to get a crack on the Isles top-line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo tonight vs. the Red Wings. Bailey has two goals in his last three games and has nine points (5G / 4A) in 20 games this season.
Bouchuk has missed the last nine games with an upper-body injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. Detroit. He has been excellent in his first year with the Islanders. He has recorded 14 points (2G / 12A) with a plus-7 rating in 21 games this season.
Hamonic has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury but will return tonight vs. the Red Wings. Hamonic has three goals and three assists in 21 games this season.
Neil suffered the knee injury on December 11th and he will be out until mid-to-late January. Colin Greening should have a permanent role with the Senators until Neil is ready to return.
Schneider stopped 14 of 15 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Senators on Wednesday. Despite outshooting Ottawa 34-15, the Devils could not get one past Craig Anderson. Schneider was given last night off, but will be in goal tonight when they host Washington. He has gone 1-2-0 with a 2.97 GAA and .905 SV% against the Capitals this season.
Harrison was acquired from the Hurricanes on Thursday and as long as he arrives in Winnipeg in time, he is expected to make his Jets debut tonight vs. the Bruins. He should play a much larger role in Winnipeg than he did in Carolina.
Maatta had already been sidelined since December 6th with an upper-body injury and now he has contracted the mumps virus. It has been a brutal stretch for the young blue liner who also recently underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his neck. There is no timetable for Maatta’s return.
Tangradi played just 5:34 TOI and was a minus-1 last night; the only game he played during his recall. His return to the AHL means Lars Eller will be back on Saturday .
