With Kris Letang sidelined, Pouliot will play his first game of the season on Thursday. Pouliot has a lot of offensive upside, but has yet to translate that into a full-time NHL gig. He had just seven assists in a modest 22 games last year.
Bourque has one assist in three games with the Avalanche, but will not play on Thursday due to a groin injury. With Bourque out, Ben Smith will re-enter the Avalanche lineup after sitting as a healthy scratch on Tuesday.
Leddy missed Thursday's practice with an upper-body injury that he likely suffered on Tuesday vs. the Sharks. With Leddy questionable, the Islanders recalled Ryan Pulock from Bridgeport (AHL) and he will take Leddy's spot in the lineup should he be unable to play tomorrow.
Lindgren started the year with the Canadiens as Al Montoya's backup while Carey Price was sidelined with the flu, but Price is back and will start on Thursday, which ends Lindgren's time with the big club.
Morrow was a healthy scratch for the first three games of the regular season, but will replace rookie Rob O'Gara in the lineup on Thursday. Morrow had seven points (1G / 6A) in 33 games with the Bruins last year and will be paired with Torey Krug tonight.
O’Gara has no points and two shots on goal while averaging 16:01 in his first three NHL games, but on Thursday he will be replaced by Joe Morrow.
Gibson allowed two goals on 28 shots in the Ducks’ loss in New Jersey on Tuesday. It was Gibson’s best outing of the year so far, but still wasn’t enough for him record his first win of the season. So far, he has allowed nine goals on 78 shots (.885 SV%) and has only had an average of 1.67 goals for per game scored in front of him. It could be a long season for the Ducks and Gibson.
With Patrice Bergeron set to come back into the lineup, Spooner will be scratched after a disappointing start to the season. He saw his playing time drop under 11 minutes on Monday, so Claude Julien is obviously trying to send a message to his young forward.
Dumba has one goal on five shots and a minus-2 rating in three games this season but it looks like will be be replaced by Mike Reilly in the lineup on Thursday. Don’t expect the young defenseman to sit for very long.
Reilly, 23, has not recorded a point in one game at both the NHL and AHL level. Tonight he is expected to draw back into the Wild lineup for Mathew Dumba. Reilly has a lot of offensive ability, but that has yet to translate into his NHL game.
Varlamov allowed three goals on 40 shots in Colorado’s loss in Washington on Tuesday. Varlamov has allowed a combined eight goals on 68 shots (.882 SV%) in his first two starts of the season and draws another tough matchup tonight in Tampa Bay. The Lightning are off to a 3-0-0 start to the season and are averaging an impressive 4.33 goals for per game.
Jones gave up five goals on 27 shots in the Sharks’ 7-4 loss to the Rangers on Monday. He was given Tuesday night off, but will be back in goal tonight in Pittsburgh. Jones is 2-1-0 with a 2.68 GAA and .896 SV% to start the 2016-17 season and faces a Penguins team who is sitting at 2-1-1 with 2.25 goals for per game in four games so far.
Lehtonen allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Stars win in Nashville on Tuesday. Lehtonen has stopped 39 of 41 shots (.951 SV%) in two appearances this season. He isn’t a great option on most nights, but he could be a serviceable play tonight against a Kings team that is 0-3-0 while scoring just 2.00 goals per game in the first week of the season.
Sheary was caught by a high-stick in Tuesday’s loss in Montreal and the injury will keep him out of Thursday’s game. Sheary will come out of the lineup for at least one game. He is listed as day-to-day.
Letang was injured late in Tuesday’s game in Montreal and he will miss tonight’s game vs. the Sharks. Letang is considered day-to-day, but no other details have been released about his injury.
Holtby allowed a single goal on 23 shots in the Capitals’ win over the Islanders last Saturday. Philipp Grubauer got the nod on Tuesday, so Holtby comes into tonight’s matchup with the Panthers well rested. Holtby has turned aside 49 of the 52 (.942 SV%) shots that he has faced in his first two starts.
Luongo stopped 21 of 22 shots in the Panthers’ 4-1 win over the Red Wings last Saturday. He was given Tuesday night off as James Reimer faced the Lightning, but will be back in goal tonight vs. Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals. Luongo is off to a great start to the season, having allowed just two goals on 45 shots (.957 SV%) to earn a win in each of his first two starts.
Price missed the first three games of the season with the flu, but will make his season debut tonight vs. the Coyotes. Price is viewed as one of the top goalies in the NHL and is a must-start whenever he gets the nod. Price was 10-2-0 with a 2.06 GAA and .934 SV% in 12 games before suffering a knee injury in 2015-16.
