NHL Player News

Ersson (lower body) will miss Saturday's home game versus Los Angeles, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports.

Ersson sustained the injury in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Bruins. Dan Vladar will start Saturday's contest, while Aleksei Kolosov will be the backup after being recalled from AHL Lehigh Valley on Saturday. It's unclear when Ersson will be available to return.

Kuemper will defend the visiting goal in Philadelphia on Saturday, per Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site.

Kuemper is 13-10-9 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.57 GAA and a .902 save percentage across 34 appearances in 2025-26. The Flyers are producing 2.92 goals per game this season, 21st in the league.

Ullmark will patrol the home crease against New Jersey on Saturday, according to Jackson Starr of the Senators' official site.

After taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, Ullmark will play for the first time since Dec. 27 against Toronto. He has posted a 14-8-5 record this campaign with a 2.95 GAA, an .881 save percentage and one shutout over 28 appearances. The Devils rank 28th in the league with 2.61 goals per game this season.

Kolosov was summoned from AHL Lehigh Valley on Saturday.

Philadelphia netminder Samuel Ersson suffered a lower-body injury Thursday and may not be able to back up Dan Vladar on Saturday against the Kings. Kolosov is 0-2-0 with a 4.00 GAA and an .830 save percentage over four NHL appearances this season. The Flyers reassigned Lane Pederson to Lehigh Valley in a corresponding move.

Vladar will be between the home pipes versus Los Angeles on Saturday.

Vladar has been stellar in the Philadelphia cage, posting a 16-8-4 record with a 2.49 GAA and a .904 save percentage across 30 appearances in 2025-26. The Kings are generating 2.58 goals per game, 29th in the NHL this season.

Knight stopped 22 of 25 shots in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets. The fourth goal was an empty-netter.

Knight ended up with his third straight loss, as he couldn't contain the third-line duo of Charlie Coyle (hat trick, assist) and Mathieu Olivier (one goal, one assist). During the skid, Knight has given up 10 goals on 72 shots. He's now at a 15-15-7 record with a 2.60 GAA and a .909 save percentage through 37 starts this season. Knight has had some good stretches, but he's still prone to some struggles while acting as the last layer of defense for a young team. He'll likely get the nod for Monday's home game versus the Sharks, as he has typically been starting two of every three games recently.

Merzlikins stopped 22 of 24 shots in Friday's 4-2 win over the Blackhawks.

Merzlikins earned his 10th win of the season and his fourth victory in his last five outings with this performance. The Blackhawks' top line accounted for both goals against, but Charlie Coyle's hat trick was plenty of help for Merzlikins and the Blue Jackets. On the season, Merzlikins is 10-8-1 with a 3.67 GAA and an .883 save percentage over 20 appearances. The Blue Jackets will likely turn to Jet Greaves for Saturday's game in St. Louis, but Merzlikins has done well to work himself back into a timeshare in the crease.

Hofer stopped 16 of 20 shots in Thursday's 5-4 win over the Panthers.

Hofer bounced back from two straight losses to record his fourth win of the month. The 25-year-old has had several ups and downs this season, and despite winning four of his seven outings in January (4-2-1), his .894 save percentage during that time isn't particularly eye-popping. Hofer and Jordan Binnington have alternated starts over the past several games, and that trend should continue for the time being.

Tarasov stopped 26 of 31 shots in Thursday's 5-4 loss to the Blues.

Tarasov had won each of his previous four starts, but he took a step back in this one -- he was coming off a stretch in which he had allowed three or fewer goals in his previous five outings. Tarasov has been the backup for the Panthers behind Sergei Bobrovsky, and the nature of that role limits his upside to matchup-based situations.

Gibson will patrol the home crease versus Colorado on Saturday, Michael Whitaker of The Hockey News reports.

Gibson will make his fourth straight start and 12th in his last 14 games. Gibson is 21-10-2 with three shutouts, a 2.61 GAA and a .905 save percentage across 34 appearances in 2025-26. The Avalanche lead the NHL in scoring, averaging 3.88 goals per game.