NHL Hockey Player News

Ryan was on the ice for the Senators morning skate, but skated as an extra and stayed on late for extra work, which suggests he will miss his second straight game with a fractured finger.

Lehtonen gave up five goals on 34 shots in the Stars 5-4 OT loss to Minnesota on Friday. The loss snapped a three-game losing streak for Lehtonen, who finished November at 5-5-1 with a 3.20 GAA and .903 SV%. It has been a troubling first 20 starts of the year for the 31-year-old. Tonight he takes on the Leafs in Toronto, he has gone 5-2-0 on the road.

Rinne stopped 21 of 22 shots in the Predators 2-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday. Rinne been virtually unbeatable as of late, winning six in a row with a 1.45 GAA and .945 SV%—he also won 10 of 11 starts in November. When he gets the start, you know what to do by now.

Nabokov surrendered five goals on 36 shots in the Lightning’s loss to the Islanders on November 18th. Workhorse Ben Bishop has started the last five games, but Nabby gets back in goal tonight vs. the Sabres. It is a tremendous matchup, making Nabokov a great spot-start.

Originally, Sharp was expected to return to the Blackhawks’ lineup tomorrow vs. the Blues, but it looks like his owners will have to wait a little bit longer. After Wednesday, Chicago has a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, Sharp could return in one of those games.

Komarov suffered the injury to his head on Saturday vs. the Capitals. His concussion-like symptoms have subsided but he will still be held out of tonight’s game and could be in danger of missing Thursday’s game as well.

Head coach Mike Johnston said that Crosby is “under the weather” and undergoing some testing. Monitor Crosby’s status throughout the day, but I wouldn’t expect Crosby to sit due to an illness.

Fleury allowed three goals on 34 shots in Friday’s loss to the Hurricanes. It was an unexpected defeat and just Fleury’s fourth regulation loss of the season. He enters play tonight at 13-4-1 with a 2.19 GAA and .924 SV% on the year. Fleury has a nice matchup vs. a banged-up Devils team who are 24th in scoring.

Howard stopped 30 of 33 shots that the Canucks threw at him in Sunday’s 5-3 win. Howie has won three in a row with a 2.67 GAA and .904 SV%. Tonight he draws a strong matchup against a Panthers team who are 9-7-6 while ranking 28th in scoring with 2.04 goals per game.

Ward allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Hurricanes surprising 4-2 win over the Penguins on Friday. He was given Saturday night off, but will be back between the pipes tonight vs. the Predators. Nashville has been really impressive in their first 23 games—going 16-5-2 with the NHL’s 14th best offence at 2.65 goals per game.

Visnovsky will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury that he suffered last Friday. He is reportedly coming along well, so monitor his status prior to Thursday’s game against the Senators.

Boychuk will miss his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Coach Jack Capuano said that Boychuk is coming along nicely and could be back in the lineup on Thursday in the back-end of a home and home vs. the Senators.

Halak stopped 34 of 35 shots in the Islanders 3-1 win over the Devils on Saturday. The W extended Halak’s winning streak to an absurd nine gams—he has posted an even more ridiculous 1.19 GAA and .956 SV% over that span. He is an absolute must-start during this hot streak.

Ward allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Hurricanes surprising 4-2 win over the Penguins on Friday. He was given Saturday night off, but will be back between the pipes tonight vs. the Predators. Nashville has been really impressive in their first 23 games—going 16-5-2 with the NHL’s 14th best offence at 2.65 goals per game.

Bernier stopped 35 of 37 shots in the Maple Leafs 6-2 win over the Capitals on Saturday. He has gone 3-0-1 with a 2.23 GAA and .924 SV% in his last four starts and has clearly re-solidified himself as the Leafs clear number-1. Tonight he takes on a Stars team who are 3-4-1 in their last eight.

Dumoulin, 23, was the Carolina Hurricanes second round pick (51st overall) in 2009. The 6-foot-4 blue liner has 10 points (2G / 8A) in 22 games with WBS this season. He has one career assist in six NHL games.

Red Wings’ GM Ken Holland said that Abdelkader is dealing with a “low-level [shoulder] injury, we’ll see how fast he heals.” Abby has already been ruled out of Tuesday’s game so monitor his status prior to Thursday’s game vs. Dallas.

For the first time in his 15 year career. He played a season-low (likely a career-low) 5:56 in the Flyer loss to the Rangers on Saturday. Philadelphia is struggling mightily right now and Vinny has just one assist in his last nine games.

Mason allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Flyers loss to the Rangers on Friday. After a 46-game shutout, Mason has dropped his last two starts with a 3.94 GAA and .842 SV%. As much as the Flyers are struggling, things haven’t been great for the Sharks either—they are 3-5-2 in their last 10.

On Tuesday Stalock will serve as Antti Niemi’s backup for the second straight game. “He still needs a little more practice work,” coach Todd McLellan said. “He’s capable of going in to back up, but we want him to have a chance to be successful. McLellan is holding out hope that Stalock will be completely ready to go by Thursday, but if not Thursday certainly by the weekend.