NHL Player News

Rittich stopped all but one of 27 shots in Thursday's 4-1 win over Montreal.

Rittich, who allowed four goals on 14 shots and was pulled from Tuesday's 6-2 loss in Toronto, bounced back Wednesday to notch his first win. He was slow to react on Justin Barron's first-period wraparound goal that gave Montreal an early lead, but the 32-year-old netminder stifled the Habs after that. He is seeing increased playing time since primary goalie Darcy Kuemper (lower body) missed a second straight game Thursday. The Kings continue their seven-game, season-opening road sojourn Sunday in Anaheim.

Lindgren stopped 22 of 24 shots faced during Thursday's 3-2 home win over the Stars.

Lindgren made some terrific saves in the third period to keep the Capitals ahead and secure his first win of the 2024-25 season. The 30-year-old will need to play well to keep Logan Thompson from garnering a larger share of the workload, but Lindgren has the potential for a solid campaign behind a revamped Washington defense.

DeSmith turned aside 23 of 26 shots faced during Thursday's 3-2 road loss to the Capitals.

DeSmith gets tagged with the Stars' first loss of the season. The 33-year-old will fall to 1-1-0 after logging a shutout in his first appearance and isn't likely to see a regular workload as long as Jake Oettinger -- who signed an eight-year, $66 million extension Thursday -- is healthy and productive.

Saros will protect the home goal versus the Oilers on Thursday, Nick Kieser of 102.5 ESPN Nashville reports.

Saros allowed six goals on 34 shots in his previous start versus the Kraken, taking his second loss of the season. The 29-year-old Finn remains the Predators' top goalie despite the early struggles. He'll face a tough task Thursday, as the Oilers scored four goals on 11 shots in Saros' lone start against them last year. Edmonton has typically found success against Nashville, especially Leon Draisaitl.

Hill is slated to start on the road against Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Hill has allowed at least three goals in each of his first three starts, but he's still won two of those games thanks to some strong offensive support. However, Vegas might need a better showing out of Hill on Thursday, as Tampa Bay is starting Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has saved 46 of 48 shots (.958 save percentage) across his first two outings. Hill is 1-2-0 with a 3.96 GAA and an .844 save percentage in four career regular-season appearances against the Lightning.

Kuemper (lower body) won't play Thursday versus the Canadiens, Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site reports.

David Rittich will start and Pheonix Copley will against back him up as Kuemper sits out a second straight game. The 34-year-old Kuemper's next chance to play is Sunday in Anaheim.

Rittich is set to start on the road against Montreal on Thursday, according to Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site.

Rittich will look for a better result after allowing four goals on 14 shots en route to a 6-2 loss to Toronto on Wednesday. He logged just 32:22 of ice time in that game before being pulled, which is presumably part of the reason why the Kings decided it was okay to start him for the second time in as many nights. Darcy Kuemper (lower body) is on the shelf, so the alternative would have been to start Pheonix Copley if Rittich wasn't getting the nod. Copley also participated in Wednesday's loss to Toronto, stopping just 10 of 12 shots.

Markstrom will guard the road goal versus the Senators on Thursday, per TSN 1200 Ottawa reports.

Markstrom has alternated wins and losses over his first four games of the year, and he's allowed at least three goals in three of his starts. The Senators have scored 12 times over four games and will offer a bit of a challenge as Markstrom looks to find a groove.

Lankinen is slated to guard the road goal against Florida on Thursday, per Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Sun.

Lankinen has made one start this season, stopping 29 of 31 shots en route to a 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia. Although he got the loss, if he has more strong showings like that, Lankinen might be able to eat into Arturs Silovs' workload. The two are competing for starts while Thatcher Demko (knee) remains unavailable.

Levi will be between the road pipes in Columbus on Thursday.

Levi and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been rotating in goal for the Sabres to start the season. Levi is 1-1-0 with a 2.56 GAA and a .919 save percentage as he looked stellar in his last start, a 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday. Columbus have not had a problem scoring this season, averaging 3.67 goals per game.