NHL Player News

Shesterkin stopped 29 of 31 shots in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Sabres.

Shesterkin was working with thin margins for most of the game, but he was able to get the job done. The Sabres' two goals came over the last five minutes. Shesterkin has just two wins over his last eight outings, but he's allowed exactly two goals in four of his last five starts. He's now at a 10-10-1 record with a 2.90 GAA and a .911 save percentage through 21 starts. The Rangers are back in action at home Saturday against the Kings before heading to St. Louis on Sunday for the second half of a back-to-back set.

Dostal is expected to start Thursday's road game in Toronto, Derek Lee of The Hockey News reports.

John Gibson is starting Wednesday in Ottawa, while Dostal will take the second half of the back-to-back. Dostal's playing time has dropped lately -- he's played four of 10 games from Nov. 18 to Dec. 9, going 2-1-1 with a 2.43 GAA and a .914 save percentage in that span. Gibson's been in a bit of a rut, so Dostal may have a chance to get more playing time soon.

Gibson will guard the road goal in Wednesday's game versus the Senators, per TSN 1200 Ottawa.

Gibson has allowed nine goals on 82 shots during his three-game losing streak. The Senators have gone five games without scoring more than three goals, though they are 2-2-1 in that span.

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

Luukkonen has lost his last five outings, and he's allowed at least four goals in three of those games. The 25-year-old may catch a bit of a reprieve in this contest, as the Rangers are also struggling, having scored just 16 goals over their last six contests.

Cossa was reassigned to AHL Grand Rapids on Wednesday.

Cossa was summoned by Detroit on Dec. 2 since Cam Talbot (lower body) and Alex Lyon (lower body) were unavailable, but Talbot is set to return Thursday versus Philadelphia. That frees Cossa to resume getting regular starts in the minors. The 22-year-old netminder has a 2.21 GAA and a .925 save percentage over 14 outings with Grand Rapids this season. He made his NHL debut Monday in relief of Ville Husso, stopping 12 of 14 shots across 45:00 of ice time en route to a 6-5 shootout victory over Buffalo.

Talbot (lower body) is expected to be in the crease on the road against Philadelphia on Thursday, Ted Kulfan of The Detroit News reports.

Talbot returns to the crease following a four-game absence due to his lower-body injury. Since Talbot is good to go, Sebastian Cossa was sent down to AHL Grand Rapids on Wednesday. It's been a tough stretch for Talbot of late, having posted a 1-3-1 record and 3.32 GAA in his last six outings.

Talbot (lower body) may be an option for Thursday's matchup with Philadelphia, Max Bultman of The Athletic reports.

If given the all-clear, Talbot seems the likely choice to start on the road versus the Flyers on Thursday, especially considering Ville Husso has yet to secure a victory in seven appearances this year and was given the hook in his most recent outing. Still, Talbot hasn't been significantly better this year, going 1-3-1 with a 3.32 GAA in his last six outings. The goalie situation figures to get even cloudier once Alex Lyon (lower body) returns to action.

Greaves is expected to start in Thursday's home tilt against the Capitals, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic on Wednesday.

It will be Greaves' first NHL appearance of the 2024-25 campaign. He's up with the Blue Jackets despite Elvis Merzlikins or Daniil Tarasov both seemingly being healthy, per Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers. However, Tarasov is having an extremely rough campaign with a 4.25 GAA and an .857 save percentage through nine outings, which has led to Merzlikins starting in 10 of Columbus' last 11 games. Perhaps Greaves is simply up because the Blue Jackets have soured on Tarasov, and if that's the case, then the game against Washington is an opportunity for the 23-year-old Greaves to make his pitch to remain with the team. The Capitals are a difficult assignment, though -- Washington is 19-6-2 and ranks first in goals per game with 4.04.

Montembeault is set to start at home against Pittsburgh on Thursday, Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette reports Wednesday.

Montembeault is 3-1-0 with a 1.71 GAA and a .944 save percentage across his past four starts. That gives him a 9-11-2 record, 2.83 GAA and .906 save percentage across 22 outings overall. Pittsburgh ranks 22nd in goals per game with 2.83.

Shesterkin was the first goalie off during Wednesday's morning skate, Mollie Walker of the New York Post reports, indicating he'll draw the start on the road against Buffalo.

Shesterkin is in the midst of a skid in which he's gone 1-5-0 with a 3.23 GAA and .900 save percentage over his last six starts. However, he's still seen plenty of playing time, as Wednesday's start will be his seventh over the Rangers' last nine games.