NHL Player News

Nedeljkovic (lower body) was activated off injured reserve Thursday and reassigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning assignment.

Nedeljkovic figures to get the starting nod for the Baby Pens against AHL Lehigh Valley either Friday or Saturday (perhaps both) as he works his way back from his lower-body injury. At this point, with Tristan Jarry struggling, Pittsburgh is likely to get Nedeljkovic back into the lineup and could give him some starts during an upcoming four-game Western Canada road trip. Once Nedeljkovic is given the all-clear, Joel Blomqvist will likely be headed for the minors in a corresponding move, despite being the team's best netminder to open the year.

Blomqvist turned aside 26 of 28 shots after replacing Tristan Jarry midway through the first period in Wednesday's 6-5 overtime win over the Sabres.

The 22-year-old entered the game with the Penguins down 3-1, and his strong performance wound up netting him his second win in three appearances this season. Blomqvist's 2.86 GAA and .913 save percentage are making a case for a bigger role in the Pittsburgh crease, and perhaps even the starting job given Jarry's atrocious 5.45 GAA and .833 save percentage -- at least until Alex Nedeljkovic (lower body) gets healthy.

Jarry gave up three goals on five shots before being replaced by Joel Blomqvist midway through the first period in Wednesday's 6-5 overtime win over the Sabres.

The Penguins were able to climb out of the hole their starting goalie dug for them, but the tone for his performance was set when Tage Thompson scored on a wraparound 43 seconds into the game after Jarry misplayed the puck behind the net. The 29-year-old has an ugly 5.45 GAA and .833 save percentage through his first three appearances this season, and while a trade seems unlikely given the three years and $16.125 million left on his contract after 2024-25, Jarry's role could be in jeopardy -- especially once Alex Nedeljkovic (lower body) returns from IR.

Tarasov is in the starter's crease at morning skate, Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers reports, and is expected to patrol the home crease versus Buffalo on Thursday.

Tarasov gave up four goals on 30 shots in a victory over Colorado on Saturday, his first appearance of the season. The 25-year-old will take on the Sabres, who have averaged 2.60 goals-per-game over five contests. Tarasov will be backed up by Jet Greaves as Elvis Merzlikins is out of action with an upper-body injury.

Luukkonen made 37 saves in Wednesday's 6-5 overtime loss to the Penguins.

The Sabres held a 3-1 lead after the first period, but Luukkonen saw it slip through his fingers on a night when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin turned back the clock en route to some big personal milestones. After a breakout 2023-24 campaign, Luukkonen has stumbled out of the gate this season, going 0-2-1 with a 3.69 GAA and .874 save percentage in three starts.

Ingram stopped 29 of 34 shots in Wednesday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Ducks.

Ingram has allowed five goals in each of his last two starts, and this time he was on the wrong end of an overtime loss. He's 3-0-1 with 16 goals allowed across four starts. Ingram still looks like Utah's preferred option in goal, but if he falters, he could lose some playing to Karel Vejmelka. Utah's next game is at home versus the Bruins on Saturday.

Dostal stopped 26 of 30 shots in Wednesday's 5-4 overtime win over Utah.

Dostal struggled with Utah's ability to get traffic to the front of the net. The 24-year-old Dostal was still able to earn his second win in as many starts, and he's allowed just four goals on 60 shots this season. He's set to hold down the No. 1 role in goal at least until John Gibson (abdomen) is ready to make his season debut. The Ducks' next game is a road contest in Colorado against the 0-4-0 Avalanche.

Georgiev allowed four goals on 24 shots in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to the Bruins. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

All four goals Georgiev gave up were in the first half of the game. That gave the Avalanche a chance at a late comeback, but they came up just short. The 28-year-old has lost three of his four starts while giving up 17 goals on 86 shots. Georgiev has at least stayed between the pipes for the full games in his last two starts, but fantasy managers hoping he'd bounce back after a poor 2023-24 may want to consider other options at this point. The Avalanche's next game is Friday at home versus the Ducks.

Korpisalo stopped 22 of 25 shots in Wednesday's 5-3 win over the Avalanche.

Korpisalo's second start with the Bruins was a noticeable improvement on his debut. All three Avalanche goals came on the power play, so Korpisalo still needs to work on being the best penalty killer on the ice as the goalie often needs to be. The 30-year-old is 1-1-0 with nine goals allowed on 60 shots through two starts. It's safe to assume Jeremy Swayman will be between the pipes for Saturday's game in Utah.

Korpisalo will protect the road goal versus the Avalanche on Wednesday.

Korpisalo had a poor start in his Bruins debut, allowing six goals on 35 shots against the Panthers. The 30-year-old then gave way to Jeremy Swayman for three games. Korpisalo will try to make a better second impression against an Avalanche team that has scored 10 goals in three games but has been leaky on the back end.