NHL Player News

Montembeault stopped 25 of 27 shots in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Senators.

Montembeault lost five of his six games prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off, but he was back in the win column after serving as Team Canada's No. 3 goalie. The 28-year-old saw a heavy workload early in the season, but Saturday marked his first time since Dec. 29-Jan. 3 that he appeared in three straight contests. Montembeault is now 19-21-3 with a 2.97 GAA and an .897 save percentage across a career-high 43 appearances this season. The Canadiens have no back-to-back sets over the next week, so he could get a lengthy stretch of time unless head coach Martin St. Louis wants to get Jakub Dobes some playing time quickly after a two-week break. Montreal hosts Carolina on Tuesday.

Allen made 22 saves in a 4-2 loss to the Stars on Saturday. He allowed three goals.

Allen played well enough, but Casey DeSmith was all-world at the other end of the ice. He has to tip his cap to that kind of performance. Allen remains the lead 'tender with Jacob Markstrom (knee) out for a couple more weeks. Since Markstrom went down, Allen is 4-4-0 with two shutouts in seven starts. Those SOs came against the Flyers and the Habs, two subpar teams, and his wins came against the Habs (two), Flyers and Bruins. He also lost against the Flyers and the Sabres. Allen has allowed at least three goals in every other start. Honestly, that raises our anxiety a bit with the Devils facing the powerful Avs, Golden Knights, Stars and Jets over the next six outings.

Hofer stopped 25 of 28 shots in Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Jets.

Hofer was unable to snap his losing streak -- he's 0-3-1 over his last five outings, with 15 goals allowed in that span. This one will sting, as Pavel Buchnevich gave the Blues the lead with 2:50 to go, only for Gabriel Vilardi's second goal of the game to tie it with 28 seconds left in regulation. Hofer was then bested by Kyle Connor in the shootout after the Winnipeg winger came up short on 10 shots in the first 65 minutes. Hofer is down to 10-7-2 with a 2.88 GAA and a .903 save percentage over 21 appearances. He started Saturday to afford Jordan Binnington some rest after his time with Team Canada, but it's likely to be Binnington in goal against his fellow countrymen Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, as well as the rest of the Avalanche, for Sunday's contest.

Comrie allowed three goals on 24 shots in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over the Blues.

Comrie has been streaky in limited action this season, earning a pair of three-game winning streaks and eight losses in between them. He's now 6-7-1 with a 2.59 GAA and a .910 save percentage over 14 appearances. The 29-year-old got the start Saturday in St. Louis since Connor Hellebuyck went from Boston to Winnipeg for rest after leading Team USA to a second-place finish at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Assuming Hellebuyck is ready to play Monday versus the Sharks, Comrie is likely to be back in the backup role, while Kaapo Kahkonen should be heading to AHL Manitoba in short order. Comrie should get another start soon -- the Jets have a road back-to-back this week, with stops in Ottawa on Wednesday and Nashville on Thursday.

DeSmith made 31 saves in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Devils.

The Devils were all over the Stars, but DeSmith kept the proverbial hounds at bay. After the game, coach Pete DeBoer was effusive in his praise: "I loved our goalie. He was our best player tonight, and we needed him to be." Since Dec. 1, DeSmith has been elite -- he's 8-2-0 with a .925 save percentage, a 2.25 GAA and one shutout. He makes for a great option in dailies whenever he's in the blue paint.

Gibson (upper body) won't return to Saturday's game versus the Bruins.

Gibson stopped 19 of 20 shots over the first two periods before exiting the contest. The American netminder left with the Ducks ahead 2-1. The severity of his injury is unknown, but it seems unlikely he'll be available for Sunday's game versus the Red Wings. Lukas Dostal took over in goal to begin the third period and may start Sunday, though the Ducks may need an emergency backup on hand if a call-up can't head to Detroit promptly.

Kuemper (personal) will guard the home goal versus Utah on Saturday.

Kuemper had an early start to the 4 Nations Face-Off break after missing a Feb. 8 game versus the Ducks. He's ready to return to the crease against Utah, a team he beat 3-2 with a 24-save performance Oct. 26. Kuemper is 7-4-1 with a 1.85 GAA and a .932 save percentage since the start of January, so he's a strong fantasy option.

Skinner stopped 26 of 31 shots in Saturday's 6-3 loss to Philadelphia. The sixth goal was an empty-netter.

The Flyers' second line of Owen Tippett, Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier were Skinner's kryptonite Saturday, as the trio collected eight points (four goals, four assists) in the game. Skinner struggled through a 2-3-1 stretch in seven appearances before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, and Saturday's performance won't inspire much confidence. Still, he should benefit once his team gets their collective groove back.

Ersson made 15 saves in a 6-3 win over Edmonton on Saturday.

Ersson was eased back into NHL action after being under siege before the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off when he faced 107 shots in three games. Getting to don the yellow-and-blue jersey of the Tre Kroner at the tournament was a huge honor and a testament to Ersson's talent. It could boost him for the rest of the season, even behind a somewhat porous Philly squad.

Fleury stopped 27 of 30 shots in a 4-3 overtime win over Detroit on Saturday.

Fleury was busy in the second period, stopping 14 of 15 shots, but faced only five shots in the third frame during Minnesota's push to rally from a 3-1 deficit. He stopped two shots in the extra session to record the 69th overtime win of his NHL career, tying him with Martin Brodeur for the most in league history. The 40-year-old Fleury has a 12-6-1 record with a 2.58 GAA and a .910 save percentage through 20 appearances this season.