Brodeur, 42, will be on the ice with the club on Friday. They lost Brian Elliott to a sprained knee, so there is no saying how long he will be out, so they are turning to the future hall of famer to see if he can come in an help the team win some games. He will likely practice with the Blues a few times before they decide whether or not to sign the free agent net minder.
Bishop is not on the ice for the Lightning’s optional morning skate, which suggests that he will start tonight vs. the Rangers. He stopped 30 of 31 shots in a 2-1 win over the Wild on Saturday. It was a nice bounce-back performance for Bishop, who sits at 12-3-2 with a 2.30 GAA and .917 SV% this season.
Jones has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury that he suffered on November 15th. Corban Knight is expected to be the one who is reassigned to the AHL to make room for Jones. Lance Bouma, who played on the top-line last night, is expected to move back and centre the fourth line, with Jones taking his spot with Sean Monahan and Curtis Glencross.
Varlamov’s designation on IR is retroactive to November 15th, which means he is eligible to be activated whenever he is healthy. They moved him to IR so they could recall Karl Stollery from Lake Erie without having to send anyone down.
Blues’ head coach Ken Hitchcock said that this is an injury than Elliott has had before and has recovered quickly from, but for now he is labeled as week-to-week. This puts the ball fully in Jake Allen’s court. At some point you had to figure one of them was going to go down and now Allen becomes a full-fledged NHL starter. If he is available in your league, scoop him up immediately.
The Sharks are in ‘scramble mode’ to find Antti Niemi a backup for tonight’s game. Alex Stalock is still out with an undisclosed injury and now Grosenick joins him on the shelf. The Sharks can’t recall a goaltender from Worcester because they wouldn’t make it to the rink in time for the game. There is no word on how severed Grosenick’s injury is.
Niemi allowed three goals on 25 shots in the Sharks loss to the Coyotes on Saturday. He has lost his last six of his last seven starts while posting a 2.68 GAA and .905 SV%. It has been a rough stretch for the Finnish net minder who will take on the Flames at home tonight. He is 1-2-2 at the SAP Center.
Niemi allowed three goals on 25 shots in the Sharks loss to the Coyotes on Saturday. He has lost his last six of his last seven starts while posting a 2.68 GAA and .905 SV%. It has been a rough stretch for the Finnish net minder who will take on the Flames at home tonight. He is 1-2-2 at the SAP Center.
Fleischmann served as a healthy scratch in the Panthers loss to the Wild on Monday. He will be back in the lineup tonight vs. Carolina, with Jimmy Hayes coming out. Fleishmann has just two points (1G / 1A) in 17 games this season.
Johnson was injured in Tuesday’s game but was able to finish the game. The Avalanche are likely following concussion protocol with Johnson, so Karl Stollery has been recalled to play in Johnson is unable to go.
Stollery, 27, has been recalled because Erik Johnson (undisclosed) is listed as a game-time decision tonight. Stollery has three goals and four assists in 16 games with Lake Erie. He has just two games of NHL experience.
Martin Jones got the start in last night’s shootout loss to the Predators, so Quick should be in goal tonight in Minnesota. He allowed five goals on 23 shots in a 5-4 loss to the Stars in his last outing. Overall this season Quick is 10-4-4 with a 2.22 GAA and .932 SV%. Rough games are bound to happen, Quick remains a sure-fire start when he gets the call.
Kuemper gave up two goals on 28 shots in a 2-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. He was given Sunday night off, so it looks like he will be back in goal tonight vs. the Kings. In seven home starts, Kuemper has gone 6-1-0 with a 1.73 GAA and .919 SV%.
Lundqvist stopped all 21 shots that he faced in the Rangers 5-0 shutout win over the Habs on Sunday. It was a nice bounce-back performance after a loss to the Lightning on the previous Monday. He has gone 3-2-3 with a 1.82 GAA and .936 SV% in November.
Brian Elliott sustained a lower-body injury on Tuesday night, so Binnington, 21, has been recalled to serve as the Blues second net minder while Elliott is out. Binnington has gone 6-2-1 with a 1.89 GAA and .925 SV% in nine AHL appearances this season.
Raffl skated on a line with Scott Laughton and Wayne Simmonds during the morning skate and is expected to be in the lineup tonight. He has missed the last eight games with a lower-body injury that he suffered on November 4th. Despite success on the top-line before getting injured, Raffl will start on the second line if he returns tonight.
Fleury gave up two goals on 29 shots to earn his 300th career victory on Monday. Fleury has won nine of his last 11 starts with a 1.78 GAA, 936 SV% and four shutouts. He has had his playoff struggles, but the regular season is no issue. He is a must-start whenever he gets the nod right now.
Bernier allowed a single goal on 27 shots in the Leafs’ 4-1 win over Detroit on Saturday. After an ugly game vs. the Preds, Bernier has settled in, winning his last two starts while stopping 52 of 55 (.946 SV%). However, he makes for a risky start tonight in Pittsburgh.
Dubinsky will spend the next week working on his fitness and if his abdomen responds well he should be back in the lineup next week. Dubinsky had 16 goals and 34 assists (50 points) in 76 games a season ago.
Ovechkin left practice on Tuesday with an upper-body injury, but was back on the ice this morning and he confirmed that he will be in the lineup vs. the Islanders. Ovi will skate with Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson. Ovechkin is averaging 4.65 shots per game and has18 points (9G / 9A) in 20 games.
