3 years agoPittsburgh Penguins forward Jeff Carter sustained a lower-body injury and couldn't make it to the end in Thursday's 4-0 win over Boston. He exited in the third period after logging 13:34 of action. Carter had a nice game before being forced off, tallying his 48th point of the season via an assist and recording a plus-two rating. It's currently unclear how serious the injury is. However, the good news is that Evgeni Malkin's four-game suspension ended on Thursday and can reclaim his spot on the second line, which Carter had been filling. Fantasy managers should make sure that the Russian is back in their lineup for a juicy back-to-back set against Detroit and Philadelphia over the weekend.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jenna Harner

3 years agoPittsburgh Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith had a superb performance against Boston on Thursday, finishing a 4-0 victory with a 52-save shutout. It's the most saves a Penguins netminder has produced in a shutout. Things were pretty normal at first for DeSmith when the Bruins had 11 shots in the first period, but he faced a real barrage for the rest of the game and had to be at his best with Pittsburgh holding only a one-goal advantage after the opening 20 minutes. The 30-year-old picked up his third shutout of the campaign and now has a 9-5-5 record with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage. DeSmith has started four of the last five games and should see a lot more action until the end of the regular season with Tristan Jarry (lower body) labeled week-to-week.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoBuffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power lit the lamp for the first time ever in Thursday's 5-2 win over New Jersey. He grabbed the team's fourth goal 8:33 into the third period and finished with a plus-three rating. Power was skating in his fifth career game and this marks his second point. The first pick of last year's draft also recorded an assist in his second-ever game against St. Louis. Power has stepped into a big role straight away for the Sabres, logging over 22 minutes per game. He has a plus-one rating through his first five games with five shots, one hit and six blocks.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoNew York Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev will guard the cage in Thursday's Battle of New York against the Islanders. The Rangers are looking to tie the season series in the matchup after losing two of the previous three meetings this term. Georgiev will face the Islanders for the first time in 2021-22 and will make only his third start of the month. The 26-year-old has found some nice form with his recent appearances, posting four straight victories. He notched his second shutout of the campaign in his last outing against Philadelphia, and Georgiev enters Thursday's action with a 13-9-2 record, a 2.91 goals-against average and a .898 save percentage.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Vince Z. Mercogliano

3 years agoMinnesota Wild defenseman Jon Merrill (upper body) will end a 10-game absence on Thursday against Vancouver. He will replace Jordie Benn in the lineup and link up with Alex Goligoski. Merrill has gotten very little love from fantasy managers this season, but he's quietly enjoyed a pretty good year for a bottom-pairing defenseman with 18 points, 103 blocks and a plus-15 rating in 63 outings. The Wild defense is also close to getting Matt Dumba (upper body) back, but he still needs a bit more time to recover and won't play against the Canucks nor on Friday versus Seattle.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Michael Russo

3 years agoVancouver Canucks right wing Alex Chiasson (illness) will return to action on Thursday against Minnesota. He's been out for a couple of games with a non-COVID illness. Chiasson got sidelined during a very prolific stretch that included five goals and nine points across five games. He'll be reunited with Vasily Podkolzin and J.T. Miller on the second line and Chiasson will also skate with the first power-play unit. The veteran winger has managed 12 goals and 21 points in 62 games for the whole campaign, so his recent surge has come completely out of the blue, but he's found a great understanding with his linemates and the trio will try to keep it up on Thursday.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Thomas Drance

3 years agoCarolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (upper body) is set to return to the lineup Thursday against Winnipeg. He was unavailable for Monday's meeting with Arizona after getting hurt on a hard hit from Colorado's Cale Makar last weekend. Staal joined Nino Niederreiter and Jesper Fast on the third line at the morning skate. Fantasy managers should keep an eye on the line because they have been very productive together in recent times and Staal has been benefiting from it the most, scoring six goals in his last eight appearances. The veteran forward boasts 16 goals and 34 points in 74 games for the whole season.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Walt Ruff

3 years agoWinnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (illness) was on the ice Thursday morning but won't feature against Carolina. He's battling some sort of a bug and will be unavailable for a second straight game. Eric Comrie will make another start. The 26-year-old has lost both of his last two starts, but his record for the season is solid at 8-4-1. He's allowed 2.69 goals per game with a .914 save percentage. Improving the numbers on Thursday will be very difficult, as this is a horrible matchup for Comrie against one of the best teams in the league. Hellebuyck's next chance to return comes Sunday in another challenging spot against Colorado.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Mitchell Clinton

3 years agoMontreal Canadiens forward Jake Evans (illness) will be back in action Thursday against Philadelphia. He was forced to miss Tuesday's 2-0 loss to Minnesota with a non-COVID illness but has made a quick recovery. The 25-year-old is set to replace Laurent Dauphin in the lineup. It's unclear on which line Evans will skate, but Montreal has given him a lot of action throughout the season and he should have an active role in the contest. Evans scored his 11th goal of the season against Washington in his previous appearance and he's totaled 24 points in 67 games.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Montreal Canadiens

3 years agoFlorida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe will miss Thursday's game against Detroit for maintenance purposes. The Panthers are sitting comfortably at the top of the Eastern Conference standings and have won 11 games on the bounce, so they are in a great spot to give some guys time off to make sure that they are fully ready for the playoffs. Verhaeghe has enjoyed another strong campaign in 2021-22 with 53 points and a plus-25 rating across 75 games. Joe Thornton will be drafted into the lineup as his replacement on Thursday. The veteran forward will skate on the fourth line.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jameson Olive

3 years agoBoston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark (upper body) looks set to return to action this weekend. He hasn't been able to help his team in a couple of games after getting hurt against Ottawa last Thursday. "I believe Ullmark will definitely play this weekend," said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy on Wednesday. "If he has no setbacks [on Thursday]." Ullmark owns a 23-10-2 record for the year and has registered a 2.57 goals-against average with a .912 save percentage. Boston is also hoping to get David Pastrnak (undisclosed) and Hampus Lindholm (lower body) back for the weekend, which will feature a back-to-back set against the Rangers and the Canadiens.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com

3 years agoCarolina Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi (lower body) won't be able to make it back into the lineup for Thursday's clash against Winnipeg. Kotkaniemi's ailment is related to a lower-body injury that took him out of the lineup for eight games late last month. He managed to skate in two games before dropping out of the lineup again on Monday against Arizona. Kotkaniemi has been limited to 65 games this season and he's gone for 11 goals and 26 points. Derek Stepan took over as the fourth-line center on Monday and will probably fill the role again Thursday.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Chip Alexander

3 years agoNew Jersey Devils winger Jesper Bratt missed Wednesday's practice with an illness, which leaves his status for Thursday's game against Buffalo up in the air. Bratt is New Jersey's top scorer this season with 70 points in 71 games and has managed to get 25 goals after netting just 44 times in 231 games prior to 2021-22. It's been a massive breakout year for the Swedish winger and he's looking at a nice payday as a restricted free agent in the summer. The Devils have two more games coming up this week after Thursday, so the team will be hoping that Bratt can make a quick recovery.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Sam Kasan

3 years agoSeattle Kraken center Matthew Beniers has started his NHL career with a three-game point streak and will look to extend it further on Wednesday against Western Conference powerhouse Colorado. The second pick of last year's draft has tallied two goals and an assist with seven shots on goal and three hits. He centers the top line for the team and also eats up minutes on the first power-play unit. The University of Michigan standout looks set for a great future and is already making noise in the league. Fantasy managers should definitely keep an eye on the 19-year-old.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Hockey Reference

3 years agoColorado Avalanche center Nazem Kadri (upper body) will be back in the lineup for Wednesday's visit to Seattle. He's yet to feature this month and has sat out eight games. The 31-year-old had had a fantastic campaign with 83 points in 65 games, and he'll be hoping to continue where he left off, as Kadri was on a run of 10 points in seven games before getting hurt. Head coach Jared Bednar hasn't confirmed where in the lineup Kadri returns, but it feels like a pretty safe bet that he'll go back to centering the second line, bumping J.T. Compher down to the third.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com