NHL Player News

Oettinger stopped 15 of 18 shots in Friday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Wild.

The Stars controlled the pace of the game, but the Wild scored twice in a 57-second span in the third period. Oettinger then let in the decisive goal to Brock Faber 35 seconds into overtime. This was Oettinger's third straight loss, with the Stars being outscored 11-6 in that span. The team has gone seven consecutive games without scoring more than three goals, which has put a lot of pressure on the goalies. The Stars could have a chance to break that rut in Chicago on Sunday.

Markstrom stopped 29 of 31 shots in Friday's 4-2 win over the Hurricanes.

Markstrom allowed two goals at even strength in Friday's win but was fantastic overall against a high-powered offense. The Swedish netminder has posted six consecutive victories. The 34-year-old is 8-0-1 in December and has turned aside 171 of 181 shots on goal in that span. Markstrom has a 19-6-2 record, a .914 save percentage and a 2.11 GAA through 27 appearances. Markstrom trails only Connor Hellebuyck for the league lead in wins (22). Jake Allen will most likely draw the road start in the second half of the home-and-home set with Carolina on Saturday.

Gustavsson stopped 27 of 29 shots in Friday's 3-2 overtime win over the Stars.

Gustavsson has won both of his starts since he returned from a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old didn't get much help early in Friday's contest, but the Wild scored twice in 57 seconds in the third period to tie the game before Brock Faber won it in the extra session. Gustavsson improved to 16-5-3 with a 2.26 GAA and a .922 save percentage over 24 appearances. The Wild's next game is at home Sunday versus the Senators.

Saros will protect the road goal versus the Blues on Friday, Brooks Bratten of the Predators' official site reports.

Saros has gone 2-1-1 with 10 goals allowed over his last four games. The 29-year-old will start against a team that is averaging 2.50 goals per game this season, ranking 30th in the league. Saros has looked better lately and this is a chance for him to get some momentum going after the holiday break.

Gibson (upper body) has recovered from taking a stick to the face Monday versus the Golden Knights, but he missed Friday's practice due to an illness, Eric Stephens of The Athletic reports.

Gibson is expected to suit up for Saturday's contest versus the Flyers, but head coach Greg Cronin has not specified how he'll divvy up the goaltending duties for the weekend's back-to-back. The Oilers are also in town Sunday, which would be the tougher of the two matchups. As long as the Ducks don't call up a goalie prior to Saturday's contest, consider Gibson good to go.

Grubauer is slated to guard the road goal Saturday versus the Canucks, Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times reports.

Joey Daccord (undisclosed) is banged up, so Grubauer is set to make his first start in a week. Over five outings in December, Grubauer has gone 2-3-0 with an .894 save percentage (152 saves on 170 shots). Ales Stezka will be his backup as long as Daccord is out.

Kochetkov will protect the road goal versus the Devils on Friday.

Kochetkov has alternated wins and losses over his last eight starts, with a mediocre .902 save percentage but a strong 2.45 GAA in that span. The 25-year-old netminder is entrenched as the Hurricanes' No. 1 goalie and should continue to see a fairly heavy workload. However, it'll probably be Dustin Tokarski in the second half of the home-and-home set when the Hurricanes host the Devils on Saturday.

Woll will protect the road goal versus the Red Wings on Friday, David Alter of The Hockey News reports.

Woll has lost three of his last four outings, surrendering 15 goals in that span. The 26-year-old will catch the Red Wings in their first game with Todd McLellan as head coach after he replaced Derek Lalonde. Woll has a 2.61 GAA and a .908 save percentage over 15 games this season, but this is a fairly decent matchup considering he's well rested.

Luukkonen will protect the home goal versus the Blackhawks on Friday, Heather Engel of NHL.com reports.

Luukkonen ended his personal nine-game skid when he stopped 27 of 28 shots versus the Islanders in a 7-1 win Monday. The 25-year-old Luukkonen will look to build some momentum now. The Blackhawks have averaged just 2.57 goals per game this season, so this is a favorable matchup for the Finnish netminder.

Ersson will protect the road goal versus the Ducks on Saturday, Kevin Kurz of The Athletic reports.

Ersson has gone 2-4-0 with a 4.28 GAA and an .810 save percentage over six games since he returned from a lower-body injury. He'll look to get back on track after the holiday break, and he has a favorable matchup to do so against the Ducks, who have averaged just 2.42 goals per game.