NHL Player News

Shesterkin will patrol the visiting crease in Philadelphia on Friday, Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today reports.

Shesterkin has lost his last three starts amid a flurry of shots on goal, allowing 11 goals on 122 shots as the Rangers are currently in a big slump. Shesterkin is 8-7-1 with a 2.98 GAA and a .911 save percentage in 16 appearances this season. The Flyers are averaging 2.78 goals per game and 27.3 shots per game this season.

Ersson (lower body) will miss his eighth straight game Friday, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Ersson partook in Friday's morning skate, so he is getting close to a return. Ersson was injured at practice over two weeks ago. Ersson is 5-2-2- with a 2.70 GAA and a .902 save percentage in 11 appearances this season. He is day-to-day ahead of Saturday's tilt in St. Louis.

Vejmelka will be between the home pipes versus Edmonton on Friday, Belle Fraser of The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

Vejmelka is 2-1-0 in his last three starts, giving up six goals on 76 shots. He is 3-6-0 with a 2.25 GAA and a .922 save percentage in 11 appearances this season. He has taken over the No. 1 job with Utah as Connor Ingram is currently out of action with an upper-body injury. The Oilers are a surprisingly 20th in NHL scoring with 64 goals in 22 contests.

Vanecek will defend the home crease versus Seattle on Friday, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

Vanecek last played Nov. 16 when he allowed two goals on 10 shots in the first period before he was pulled before the start of the second frame, due to an upper-body injury. The netminder is struggling this season as he is 2-5-1 with a 3.36 GAA and an .899 save percentage. He will face the Kraken, who are tied for 22nd in NHL scoring with 63 goals.

Kolosov stopped 25 of 27 shots in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win over the Predators.

Kolosov gave up two goals in the first period, but the settled down afterward and had a strong showing between the pipes. The 22-year-old ended up playing a key role for the Flyers, as Philadelphia would mount a late comeback before winning the game in OT. Kolosov has gone 2-1-0 in his last three starts, posting a 2.35 GAA and a .909 save percentage in that span.

Saros stopped 20 of 23 shots in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Flyers.

Saros cruised through the first two periods and only allowed one goal on 13 shots during the first 40 minutes of play. The 29-year-old looked well on his way to earning his fifth win of the month, but Morgan Frost scored the equalizer with only 12 seconds left in regulation, and Sean Couturier netted the game-winner midway through overtime. As a result, Saros has now won just once in his last four starts, going 1-2-1 with a 2.72 GAA and a .912 save percentage in that span.

Ingram (upper body) will not play Friday or Saturday, according to Cole Bagley of KSL Sports.

Ingram has not played since Nov. 18 versus Washington, when he gave up four goals on 13 shots before he was pulled in the second period. Ingram is 6-4-3 with a 3.61 GAA and an .871 save percentage in what is a disappointing start to the season. Look for Karel Vejmelka and Jaxson Stauber to split the goaltending assignments this weekend with Ingram on the shelf.

DeSmith stopped 20 of 26 shots in Wednesday's 6-2 loss to the Blackhawks.

DeSmith made his fourth appearance since the beginning of November but was subpar once again, giving up six goals against one of the worst offenses in the entire league. DeSmith has dropped his last two starts, against the Ducks and Blackhawks, while stopping just 43 of 53 shots in the process. He's not expected to make another start until Jake Oettinger needs a day off.

Mrazek stopped 25 of 27 shots in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Stars.

The 32-year-old had a strong showing Tuesday and limited one of the best offenses in the league to just two goals. Mrazek hasn't lost in regulation in any of his past three starts, going 2-0-1 with a 1.99 GAA and a .938 save percentage in that span. It's a small sample size, but it's undoubtedly a step in the right direction, considering the numbers he posted in the early weeks of the regular season.

Sorokin stopped 15 of 20 shots in Wednesday's 6-3 loss to the Bruins, with Boston's final goal getting scored into an empty net.

The Islanders never led in the game, but they'd battled the Bruins to a 3-3 tie midway through the third period before Pavel Zacha was able to get two pucks past Sorokin in a three-minute stretch. The 29-year-old netminder has only one win in his last six starts, going 1-3-2 with a 3.17 GAA and .893 save percentage, and he appears to be slipping back into a timeshare with Semyon Varlamov.