NHL Player News

Primeau will start between the pipes during Sunday's road matchup against Philadelphia, JF Chaumont of LNH.com reports.

Montreal will play a back-to-back Saturday against the Blues and Sunday against the Flyers, and Primeau will be in the crease for Sunday's road matchup while Sam Montembeault starts at home Saturday. Over his first three starts of the season, Primeau has posted an 0-1-1 record, 4.21 GAA and .880 save percentage.

Montembeault will defend the home net versus St. Louis on Saturday, J.F. Chaumont of the NHL.com reports.

Montembeault gave up four goals on 10 shots Tuesday versus the Rangers, before he was pulled in the opening period. Montembeault lost his third straight game after starting the season with a pair of victories. He has a 3.17 GAA and a .909 save percentage in five appearances in 2024-25. The Blues are averaging 3.00 goals per game.

Allen will protect the home crease versus the Islanders on Friday, according to Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site.

Allen will try and make amends for his performance Tuesday, when he gave up eight goals on 37 shots in a loss to Tampa Bay. It was Allen's first loss of the season after a pair of wins to start the year. Allen had given up only one goal on 38 shots in his two victories. The Islanders have scored only 14 goals in six games this season.

Vladar stopped 39 of 42 shots in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes. The fourth goal was an empty-netter with 1:17 left in the third period.

Vladar made his fourth start of the season in this game, and although his 39 saves were a season-high mark for him, he's now lost his last two outings -- albeit one in overtime. The 27-year-old has a 2-1-1 mark with a 2.73 GAA and a .904 save percentage through four appearances, but if excluding his woeful season debut against the Canucks on Oct. 9, then his save percentage rises to an impressive .934 mark.

Kochetkov stopped 30 of 32 shots in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Flames. He also recorded an assist in Eric Robinson's empty-net goal.

Kochetkov has been alternating with Frederik Andersen between the pipes, but the 25-year-old Russian netminder has been solid, all things considered. Even though he was woeful in the 4-3 loss to the Blues on Saturday, he's posted a save percentage above the .920 mark in his other two outings. He's gone 2-1-0 with a 2.70 GAA and a .896 save percentage across three starts, but his upside will remain limited as long as he continues to share the workload with Andersen, with the possibility of Kochetkov taking over as the full-time starter being slim at the moment.

Mrazek will be between the home pipes versus Nashville on Friday, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Mrazek will make his fifth start in the last six games as he has a firm hold on the No. 1 goalie job with the Blackhawks at this time. He had a tough go of things against Vancouver on Tuesday, giving up six goals on 30 shots in a 6-3 loss. Mrazek is 2-3-0 with a 3.23 GAA and an .887 save percentage in five appearances this season. The Predators are tied for a league-low 14 goals this season.

Markstrom allowed four goals on 19 shots in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Red Wings.

Markstrom allowed two goals at even strength and two on the power play in Thursday's defeat. The Swedish netminder was unable to outduel Cam Talbot between the pipes, as New Jersey more than doubled Detroit's shots on goal. Markstrom has been shaky of late, allowing 10 goals over his last two starts, and he has only one win in his last four appearances. The 34-year-old is sporting a 3-3-1 record, .891 save percentage and 3.15 GAA across seven outings.

Talbot made 37 saves on 40 shots en route to a 5-3 win over New Jersey on Thursday.

For the second time in his last three appearances, Talbot has picked up a win while facing at least 40 shots. The 37-year-old bounced back from his last appearance in which he allowed five goals on 19 shots to the Rangers on Oct. 17. The Red Wings seem to be limiting Talbot's workload early on -- the Ontario native went seven days between his last two starts. The veteran netminder is up to a 2-1-0 record, .913 save percentage and 3.21 GAA across four outings.

Merilainen was sent down to AHL Belleville on Friday.

Merilainen was recalled Tuesday to back up Anton Forsberg as Linus Ullmark (strain) was unable to play. Merilainen was 2-1-0 with a 3.47 GAA and an .852 save percentage with Belleville this season before being recalled.

Shesterkin made 26 saves in Thursday's 3-1 loss to Florida.

All three Panthers tallies came on failed clearing attempts or defensive-zone giveaways by the Rangers, and two of them came in the first three minutes of the first period. It was the first regulation loss of the season for Shesterkin, who has been generally stellar with a 4-1-1 record, 2.16 GAA and .926 save percentage through six starts. It was also the first time this season New York gave its star netminder less than four goals of support.