NHL Hockey Player News

Staal had surgery on his fractured fibula in late September. Staal is not expected to be back until later this month at the earliest, most likely early January.

Dubinsky is not quite ready to make his season debut, but it sounds like Dubinsky is getting really close. The next game he would be eligible to play in is Tuesday vs. the Flyers.

Holtby stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Capitals 2-1 victory over Carolina on Thursday. The win snapped a shot two-game losing streak and moved Holtby to 9-7-3 with a 2.42 GAA and .912 SV% on the season. Tonight he will take on the Devils, who he has gone 1-1-0 against so far.

Schneider allowed three goals on 32 shots in the Devils 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Thursday. The win was his 10th of the year and snapped a personal four-game losing skid. His splits are strong (2.54 GAA / .916 SV%) but the Devils 22nd ranked offence limits his chance at racking up wins.

Howard stopped 22 of 24 shots in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Stars on Thursday. It was a nice bounce-back performance for Howie, who has won four of his last five. He is 12-5-4 and hold the 12th best GAA (2.22) with a .916 SV%. He will take on the Rangers at home tonight—Howard is 9-3-2 at the Joe this year.

Elias missed Thursday’s game vs. the Maple Leafs with a groin injury. It was obviously a minor groin injury, so monitor his status in pre-game warmups. Elias has 11 points (2G / 9A) in 25 games.

Stone did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh, so he will be replaced by Zack Smith today vs. the Penguins. Stone is considered day-to-day.

Hemsky stayed on late at the morning skate, which suggests that he will not play tonight vs. the Canadiens. Curtis McKenzie will enter the lineup for Hemsky.

Rinne gave up three goals on 32 shot in the Predators 4-3 win over the Blues on Thursday. After one loss, Rinne jumped right back on the winning train, he now sits at 17-4-1 with a 1.88 GAA and .931 SV%. He will be in tough tonight with Chicago in town, but he did stop 30 of 32 in a 3-2 win over the Hawks in October.

Bishop stopped all 13 shots that he faced in the Lightning’s 5-0 shutout win over the Sabres on Thursday. Yeah he wasn’t tested much in this one, the Lightning dominated from start to finish. Bishop has won five in a row with a 1.60 GAA and .936 SV% and draws another good matchup tonight with the banged up Blue Jackets in town.

Letang will miss his fourth consecutive game with a groin injury this afternoon. However, the fact that he skated this morning suggests that he could join the Penguins for practice next week, which is the next step in returning to the lineup.

Klinkhammer was acquired from the Coyotes on Friday and will play today, likely on the third line with Brandon Sutter and Steve Downie. Klinkhammer does not bring a ton of offence and won’t see any special teams work today, but he does bring a bit of a physical edge, his 44 hits ranks fourth among Penguins forwards.

Hornqvist, who was injured on Thursday, is still undergoing tests for a concussion so he will sit this afternoon vs. the Senators. Rob Klinkhammer, who was acquired from the Coyotes yesterday, will make his Penguins’ debut today with Hornqvist sidelined.

Lehtonen allowed five goals on 40 shots in the Stars loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. He has now lost two in a row while giving up five goals in each start. The Stars are a mess defensively, ranking dead last with a team GAA of 3.58. Tonight, he faces a skidding Habs team who have lost five of their last six.

Halak allowed a single goal on 21 shots in the Islanders 2-1 win over the Senators. The W marked the 11th straight win for Halak who continues to dominate for the Isles. This afternoon will be a huge game for Halak, who takes on his former team for the first time. It isn’t a great matchup, but lets be honest, you aren’t benching Halak right now.

Fleury stopped all 29 shots that he faced in the Penguins’ 1-0 shutout victory over the Devils on Tuesday. He was given Thursday night off, so it looks like he will be back in this afternoon vs. Ottawa. Fluery is 8-3-1 with a 2.22 GAA .924 SV%.

Luongo allowed three goals on 20 shots in the Panthers shootout loss to the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Sergei Bobrovsky was ridiculous at the other end of the rink and Bobby Lu was unable to match him. However, tonight he faces the Sabres, who he has shutout three times in a row.

Bernier allowed five goals on 26 shots in the Leafs 5-3 loss to the Devils on Thursday. Despite the rough outing, the Leafs refuse to turn to James Reimer, so it will be Bernier again tonight vs. the Canucks. Bernier is 7-6-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .905 SV% at the ACC this season.

Kozun, 24, had one assist in five game with the Maple Leafs this season. He has not played since October 17th because of a high-ankle sprain. He had one goal in three games with the Marlies during his conditioning stint.

Fleury stopped all 29 shots that he faced in the Penguins’ 1-0 shutout victory over the Devils on Tuesday. He was given Thursday night off, so it looks like he will be back in this afternoon vs. Ottawa. Fluery is 8-3-1 with a 2.22 GAA .924 SV%.