NHL Player News

Tolopilo stopped 31 of 37 shots in Monday's 6-1 loss to the Stars.

Tolopilo has dropped his last three starts, going 0-1-2 in that span, but perhaps more worrisome is the fact that he's posted a save percentage below .900 in his past two outings. The 25-year-old netminder has been limited to 11 appearances this season, but his numbers haven't been very good with a 3-4-2 record, a 3.32 GAA and a .901 save percentage. Expect Tolopilo to remain as the Canucks' No. 2 option between the pipes behind Kevin Lankinen for the foreseeable future.

Oettinger stopped 13 of 14 shots in Monday's 6-1 win over the Canucks.

Oettinger allowed a goal at the 7:57 mark of the first period when Evander Kane deflected a shot past him, but the star netminder cruised the rest of the way. Oettinger has won each of his last eight starts, and while he's a reliable source of wins and solid numbers, his record is better than the underlying numbers suggest. Over that eight-game winning streak, he's posted a 2.58 GAA and a subpar .879 save percentage while stopping 152 of 173 shots faced.

Forsberg will be between the home pipes Monday against the Avalanche, per the NHL media site.

Forsberg is coming off his best performance of the season -- he posted a 29-save shutout in Saturday's 2-0 win over Calgary. Prior to that game, he had allowed at least four goals in three straight appearances, a stretch in which he went 0-2-0 with 13 goals allowed on 68 shots (.809 save percentage). The 33-year-old will have his hands full Monday against the league's top team, as the Avalanche rank first in the NHL in both goals per game (3.79) and shots per game (34.2).

Head coach Todd McLellan said after Monday's game against Nashville that Gibson (upper body) is believed to be fine but will be further evaluated when the team returns to Detroit, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Gibson exited Monday's matchup following the first period after taking a shot in his shoulder area. He didn't get feeling back right away but was walking around following the game, and McLellan didn't sound too concerned about the issue. Whether Gibson will be an option for Wednesday's matchup against the Golden Knights remains to be seen, but it at least doesn't sound like the netminder's injury is a long-term concern.

DeSmith will tend the twine for Tuesday's road game versus the Flames, Sam Nestler of DLLS Stars reports.

DeSmith will take the second game of the Stars' back-to-back while Jake Oettinger features on the road against the Canucks on Monday. The 34-year-old DeSmith has allowed two or fewer goals in all but one of his last seven outings, but he has still been saddled with a 3-2-1 record in that span.

Oettinger will defend the road net against the Canucks on Monday, Mike Heika of the Stars' official site reports.

Despite allowing 20 goals on 159 shots, Oettinger is riding a seven-game winning streak. He has a 24-10-4 record this campaign with two shutouts, a 2.71 GAA and an .898 save percentage through 38 appearances. Vancouver sits 30th in the league with only 2.51 goals per game this season.

Andersen was the first goalie to leave the ice ahead of Monday's road game versus Seattle, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports, indicating he'll be in goal.

Andersen is coming off a 27-save win over the Red Wings on Saturday, his first victory since Jan. 17 versus the Devils. In limited action this year (23 games), the veteran netminder is sporting an 8-10-5 record, 3.21 GAA and .874 save percentage. Given his underwhelming numbers, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see Andersen filling a No. 2 role behind Brandon Bussi.

Kuemper is under the weather and is expected to be unavailable versus the Avalanche on Monday, Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site reports.

According to Dooley, Kuemper hasn't been officially ruled out, but the team's decision to bring Erik Portillo up from the minors would seem to indicate it will be Anton Forsberg in the crease. The 35-year-old Kuemper has managed just two victories in his previous 11 outings, going 2-5-3 with a 3.62 GAA.

Gibson is unlikely to return to Monday's game against the Predators due to an upper-body injury.

Gibson turned aside 10 of 11 shots (.909 save percentage) in the first period of Monday's matchup, but he was replaced by Cam Talbot to begin the second period. The severity of Gibson's injury isn't yet clear, and whether he could be available for Wednesday's game against Vegas remains to be seen.

Blackwood is expected to patrol the crease on the road against Los Angeles on Monday, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

Blackwood has given up two or fewer goals in four of his last five outings while posting a 3-2-0 record, 1.43 GAA and one shutout. With the 29-year-old Thunder Bay native playing this well, Scott Wedgewood may be hard-pressed to steal some starts away -- though a back-to-back should see Wedgewood get the nod on the road against the Ducks on Tuesday.