NHL Player News

Oettinger allowed three goals on 28 shots in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights.

Oettinger has taken back-to-back losses for the first time this season. He was done in by allowing two goals in a span of 1:08 late in the second period. The 25-year-old is now at a 13-6-0 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .911 save percentage through 19 appearances. The Stars return home Sunday to host the Flames, which is a fairly favorable matchup should Oettinger get the nod.

Hill stopped 38 of 40 shots in Friday's 3-2 win over the Stars.

The Golden Knights took a 3-1 lead late in the second period, and Hill was able to make it stand with a strong final frame. This was Hill's third straight win, and he's allowed just five goals in that span. He's now 12-4-2 with a 2.63 GAA and a .904 save percentage over 18 appearances, though he's clearly trending in the right direction. He'll have to wait to build on his success -- the Golden Knights have a five-day break in their schedule, with their next game coming Thursday in Winnipeg to kick off a three-game road trip over four days.

Gibson allowed four goals on 32 shots in Friday's 5-1 loss to the Wild. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

Gibson's early success has faded as the competition has gotten tougher -- he's now allowed nine goals during a three-game losing streak against the Kings, Golden Knights and Wild. The American netminder has faced an average of just over 30 shots per start, so it's encouraging to see the Ducks' defense keep his workload down more than usual. He's now 4-3-1 with a 2.76 GAA and a .909 save percentage through eight starts this season. While Gibson has started four of the last five games, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lukas Dostal carve out a bit more playing time during the Ducks' upcoming four-game road trip.

Gustavsson stopped 26 of 27 shots in Friday's 5-1 win over the Ducks.

Gustavsson collected his fourth straight win in this contest. He allowed a deflected goal by Brock McGinn in the third period but otherwise controlled the game to defeat the Ducks. Gustavsson improved to 13-4-3 with a 1.99 GAA and a .931 save percentage over 20 starts this season. He's been one of the top goalies in the league and isn't wearing down under a heavy workload. Marc-Andre Fleury will check in to start Saturday's game versus the Kings, but Gustavsson should be back between the pipes to wrap up the road trip Tuesday in Utah.

Merzlikins will protect the road goal versus the Canucks on Friday, Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets' official site reports.

This is the second half of a back-to-back -- Daniil Tarasov played Thursday in a 6-3 loss to the Oilers. Merzlikins has ran with the starting job lately, going 6-1-1 over his last eight outings, though he has a 2.98 GAA and an .892 save percentage in that span. The Canucks have scored 21 times over the last six games, winning four of them, though they have gone to overtime in three straight contests.

Stolarz will guard the home goal versus the Capitals on Friday, Terry Koshan of The Toronto Sun reports.

The Maple Leafs continue to alternate their goalies, and that's continuing into this back-to-back set. Stolarz is 2-2-0 with 11 goals allowed over his last four contests. The Capitals have scored 22 goals while winning four of their last six games, so this is a formidable opponent for Stolarz.

Vejmelka will start on the road against the Sabres on Saturday, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports reports.

Vejmelka has lost four of his last six outings, going 2-3-1 in that span. He'll face a Sabres team that isn't having much better luck -- they've lost five in a row (0-3-2) with just a total of nine goals scored in that span. Vejmelka may be a popular streaming option for Saturday's slate.

Grubauer will start on the road versus the Devils, per Sound of Hockey.

Grubauer has lost five straight starts, allowing 19 goals on 130 shots (.854 save percentage) over that stretch. The 33-year-old netminder will handle the second half of a back-to-back, but the Devils are a tough opponent. They have averaged 3.54 goals per game this season.

Shesterkin signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension with the Rangers on Friday, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Shesterkin will complete the final season of his four-year, $22.67 million contract before his new deal will start in 2025-26. The 28-year-old won the Vezina Trophy in 2021-22, posting a 36-13-4 record, 2.07 GAA and .935 save percentage across 53 regular-season appearances. Although he fell short of being a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2022-23 or 2023-24, he was still among the league's top goaltenders in each of those campaigns. Shesterkin has been a mixed bag in 2024-25, starting the campaign with a 6-2-1 record, 2.22 GAA and .933 save percentage over his opening nine outings but following that with a 2-7-0 record, 3.93 GAA and .882 save percentage across his last nine appearances. Getting these contract negotiations behind him might help break Shesterkin out of his recent funk.

Fleury is expected to start on the road against LA on Saturday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Friday.

Filip Gustavsson is set to start Friday versus Anaheim, so Fleury is being positioned for the second half of that back-to-back. The 40-year-old Fleury has a 5-0-1 record, 2.64 GAA and .905 save percentage in six appearances in 2024-25. He stopped 21 of 23 shots en route to a 3-2 victory over Chicago in his last start Nov. 29. The Kings rank 16th in goals per game with 3.04.