NHL Hockey Player News

The Kings had a very optional morning skate today. Reporters asked Coach Sutter if Martin Jones would start, but the coach declined to tip his hand.

Price allowed one goal on 16 shots in the Canadiens win over the Canucks on Tuesday. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Price, who will make his first start of the season vs. Los Angeles tonight. He has been great at the Bell Centre—going 10-3-0 with a 2.23 GAA and .922 SV%.

Andersen turned aside 21 of 22 shots in the Ducks win over the Oilers on Wednesday. He has recorded the W in five straight starts and should be able to make it six in a row tonight in Edmonton. The Oilers are struggling mightily and the Ducks are playing well, get him in your lineup.

Matthias has missed the last two games with a head injury. It appeared as if he might return on Tuesday when he took the ice for warmups, but he was a late scratch. Being back at practice today is sign he could return to the lineup on Saturday.

Larsson has missed the last five games with the mumps but will return to practice on Saturday and should be ready to return to the lineup next week.

Vlasic missed Thursday’s game vs. the Wild, but his availability this morning is a good sign that he could be back on the blue line tomorrow vs. the Predators. Monitor his status during Saturday’s game day skate.

There is no word on what is ailing Fayne, but he might come out for Keith Aulie tonight vs. Anaheim. Consider him a game-time decision.

Martinook, 22, had no points and a plus-1 rating in two games during his recall. It was good experience for the 2012 second round pick (58th overall) who heads back to the AHL where he has 13 points (4G / 9A) in 21 games.

Bolduc, 29, has 20 points (9G / 11A) in 24 games with the Pirates this season. In 62 career NHL games, Bolduc has two goals and three assists and 42 PIMS.

Tlusty made it through Thursday’s game, but he must have suffered an injury during the game that got worse overnight. If he is unable to go, the Hurricanes will go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen vs. the Flyers.

LaBarbera has been out since November 29th, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Oilers. There is no word whether he or Frederik Andersen will get the call, but with a back-to-back and tonight being the easier of the two match ups, don’t be surprised to see LaBarbera.

Lovejoy has been sidelined with a fractured finger since October 26th. He is on IR right now, but with Josh Manson being sent down earlier in the week there is already room on the roster for Lovejoy to be activated. He will be paired with Cam Fowler tonight.

Allen allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Blues 6-3 win over the Islanders on Thursday. It was a nice bounce-back game for Allen, who was pulled in his previous start, also vs. the Isles. Tonight he has a strong matchup vs. an Avalanche team who have lost five of seven and sit 21st in the league in scoring.

Fasth allowed two goals on 34 shots in the Oilers 2-1 loss to the Ducks on Wednesday. After a strong performance vs. his former team he gets the chance to face them again tonight, this time in Edmonton. He only made two home starts, going 0-2-0 with a 3.52 GAA and .866 SV%.

Reimer appeared to be in-line to make a second straight start on Saturday vs. the Red Wings, but he tweaked his groin in practice this morning. Coach Carlyle hopes the goalies can split the back-to-back, but it will all depend on Reimer’s health. Monitor his status during Saturday’s morning skate.

Brunner leaves a $1.7 million contract on the table and will sign with HC Lugano (per swisshockeynews.ch). Brunner served as a healthy scratch in the last four games and had just seven points (2G / 5A) in 17 games this season.

Joensuu has not been in the lineup for the last five games and will head to the Swiss league for the remainder of the season.

Biega, 26, has collected 10 points (2G / 8A) in 25 games with the Comets this season. He currently ranks second amongst Comets defencemen in scoring. The Montreal, Quebec native spent the 2013.14 season with the Utica Comets, collecting 22 points (3G / 19A) in 73 games played.

Burakovsky has served as a healthy scratch for the last three games, but will be back in tomorrow. Coach Trotz had been platooning he and Evgeny Kuznetsov, so there is a good chance that it will be Kuznetsov who comes out, but if not, he could draw in on the fourth line for Michael Latta.

Upshall will miss his ninth straight game with an ankle injury. He skated on Friday, but will not return to the lineup. He is day-to-day and questionable for Saturday.