Kronwall missed the first three games of the season but will draw in for Dennis Cholowski (upper-body) tomorrow vs. the Maple Leafs. Kronwall will likely be limited to third pair minutes with some power-play time in his first game back.
Cholowski has been great for the Red Wings so far, scoring one goal with two assists while averaging 22:10 TOI/GM in his first three NHL contests. There’s no word when the rookie defenseman suffered the injury, but he will be replaced by Niklas Kronwall vs. Toronto on Thursday.
Eakin has missed the first three games of the season but will replace Paul Stastny (lower-body) in the lineup tonight vs. the Capitals. Eakin had 11 goals and 16 assists (27 points) in 80 games for Vegas a season ago. He is expected to skate with Ryan Carpenter and Oscar Lindberg tonight.
Stastny suffered a lower-body injury during the third period of the Golden Knights’ loss to the Sabres on Monday. The veteran centre will miss the rest of the road-trip and be re-evaluated when Vegas returns home. Cody Eakin will return to the lineup and make his season debut with Stastny out.
Copley went 15-17-4 with a 2.91 GAA and .896 SV% in 41 starts with the Hershey Bears (AHL) last season. Now that Philipp Grubauer is in Colorado, Copley takes over as the Capitals’ backup and will make his Washington debut tonight in New Jersey. Copley has allowed six goals on 35 shots in two NHL relief appearances.
Holtby surrendered seven goals on 41 shots in the Capitals 7-6 overtime loss in Pittsburgh last Thursday. Holtby started on back-to-back nights, posting a shutout in his first start and then Thursday’s debacle. Tonight he will face the Golden Knights, who have started the season 1-2-0 while averaging just 2.00 goals per game and 3.33 goals against.
Stastny got dumped late in the third period of Monday’s loss to the Sabres and appeared to come up lame. Stastny was cut-down low and didn’t practice on Tuesday, so his status for Wednesday’s game is up in the air. If Stastny is out, Erik Haula is expected to move to centre and Tomas Nosek will play on the second line.
Aberg played 13:47 TOI and was a minus-1 with two PIMS in his Ducks debut but was placed on waivers shortly after. The former second-round pick has had a hard time sticking around in the NHL, so he returns to the AHL where he has 35 goals and 23 assists (58 points) in his last 60 games.
Campbell allowed two goals on 38 shots in the Kings win over the Red Wings on Sunday. Campbell played very well in his first start of the season and will likely be leaned on heavily while Jonathan Quick (lower-body) is on IR. Campbell is 3-0-2 with a 2.25 GAA and .931 SV% in five starts and two relief appearances in his Kings career.
Elliott allowed four goals on 34 shots in the Flyers loss in Colorado on Saturday. The veteran has allowed six goals on 59 shots (.898 SV%) in his first two starts and will play his third straight game tonight vs. the Sharks. San Jose loaded up this offseason, but they’ve averaged just 1.67 goals per game in their first three games of the season.
DeSmith takes over as the Penguins starting goalie with Matt Murray sidelined with a concussion. The 27-year-old was in this position last year, going 6-4-1 with a 2.40 GAA and .921 SV%. DeSmith is a worthwhile pickup while Murray is out, but has a tough first matchup with the Golden Knights in town.
Pickard spent all of last season with the Maple Leafs organization. Pickard appeared in just one NHL game but started 33 with the Marlies (AHL) going 21-9-1 with a 2.31 GAA, .918 SV% and one shutout. The 26-year-old is expected to make his Flyers debut tonight and makes for a desperate spot-start option against a Senators team that has opened the season at 1-1-1.
Fleury allowed four goals on 17 shots in the Golden Knights loss in Buffalo on Monday afternoon. Fleury has one good start sandwiched between two brutal outings to start the 2018-19 season. So far he has allowed a combined 10 goals on 63 shots (.841 SV%) and draws a terrible matchup tonight in Washington.
Anderson-Dolan played 7:26 TOI in his NHL debut on Sunday but will come back out of the lineup tonight in Winnipeg. Kyle Clifford is expected to return to the lineup in his spot.
Gauthier has been a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season but will add some size to the Leafs lineup in Dallas tonight. Gauthier doesn’t bring a lot off offence to the lineup, but is a solid two-way, fourth line centre.
Johnsson has not picked up a point while averaging just 8:26 TOI/GM in the first three games of the season. Tonight he will be replaced by Frederik Gauthier as the Maple Leafs try to add some size to their lineup vs. the Stars.
Nichushkin took part in the Stars morning skate on Tuesday and is expected to make his season debut tonight vs. the Maple Leafs. The 23-year-old has not played in the NHL since the 2015-16 season, but scored 27 goals and 24 assists (51 points) in 86 KHL games since then.
