NHL Player News

Knight gave up two goals on 21 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout loss to the Islanders.

Knight started slowly, allowing both goals in the first period. He kept his net empty until Bo Horvat, who had the Islanders' second goal, scored in the shootout. The 24-year-old Knight is now 0-5-1 over his last six games, but this was one of his better performances during the losing streak. For the season, he's at a 10-11-6 record with a 2.62 GAA and a .910 save percentage through 27 starts. The Blackhawks have a tough matchup Thursday at home versus the Stars.

Markstrom made 26 saves in a 4-0 loss to Toronto on Tuesday. He allowed three goals.

It was a tough night for Markstrom. The first goal came on the power play, the second marker came just one second after the man advantage expired and the third goal came on a deflection off a Devils' defender. Markstrom's mates failed to show up, either offensively or physically, and he was left alone to weather the Leafs' charge. He has scuffled this season on the whole, but he has looked sharper of late. Markstrom had allowed just five goals on 73 shots (.932) over his last three starts (1-2-0) and could be starting to change his luck.

Rittich stopped 17 of 19 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 shootout win over the Blackhawks.

Rittich wasn't at his best, and the Islanders weren't either. The Blackhawks were able to bury a pair of goals in the second period, but that was it, and Rittich shut the door in the shootout to earn his third win in his last four starts. He's allowed eight goals on 144 shots over his last five games since taking over the No. 1 role in the absence of Ilya Sorokin (lower body). Rittich is at a 10-4-2 record with a 2.27 GAA and a .917 save percentage through 16 appearances. The Islanders begin a three-game homestand Thursday versus the Mammoth.

Woll made 33 saves in a 4-0 win over New Jersey on Tuesday.

Woll dazzled several times, in particular a miraculous reach-back with his stick to pull a sure goal off the line following a stuff attempt by Nico Hischier late in the second period. It preserved the score at 2-2. It was Woll's first shutout of the season and third of his career. Woll has had a strong December with six wins against just one loss and 15 goals allowed (.926) in seven starts. Anthony Stolarz (upper body) remains out indefinitely, and the Leafs have alternated Woll and Dennis Hildeby, who has gone 1-3-3 (21 goals, .901) in the same number of starts. At some point, it seems likely the Leafs will turn to Woll a bit more often given the team's need to win.

Woll will patrol the home crease against New Jersey on Tuesday, per David Alter of The Hockey News.

Woll has won his last two outings despite allowing eight goals on 63 shots. He has a 7-4-1 record this season with a 2.73 GAA and a .913 save percentage through 12 appearances. New Jersey sits 27th in the league with 2.71 goals per game this season.

Markstrom will guard the road goal against Toronto on Tuesday, according to Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site.

Markstrom is coming off a 23-save effort in last Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Islanders. He has a 9-8-1 record with a 3.33 GAA and an .883 save percentage through 19 appearances this season. Toronto ranks eighth in the league with 3.26 goals per game this campaign, but integral offensive forwards William Nylander (lower body) and Auston Matthews (lower body) won't be in the lineup.

Andersen is expected to make the road start versus the Penguins on Tuesday, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports.

Andersen will see his workload increase now that Pyotr Kochetkov (hip) is expected to miss the rest of the season. This will be Andersen's third appearance in December, and until his play gets on track, Brandon Bussi is likely to handle a majority of the workload. Andersen is 0-5-2 with an .834 save percentage over his last seven outings. The Penguins have 17 goals over their last six games, though they've been shut out twice in that span.

Copley was assigned to AHL Ontario on Tuesday.

In a corresponding move, the Kings activated Darcy Kuemper (upper body) from injured reserve. Copley has a 7-6-0 record with a 3.13 GAA and an .885 save percentage in 13 AHL appearances this season.

Kuemper (upper body) was activated from injured reserve Tuesday.

The Kings assigned Pheonix Copley to AHL Ontario in a corresponding move. Following a six-game absence, Kuemper will be available for Thursday's home matchup against Tampa Bay. He has posted a 10-6-6 record with two shutouts, a 2.19 GAA and a .917 save percentage through 23 appearances this season.

Tarasov will protect the home net against Montreal on Tuesday, Jameson Olive of the Panthers' official site reports.

Tarasov will get the second half of Florida's back-to-back after Sergei Bobrovsky played in Monday's 5-3 win over Washington. The 26-year-old Tarasov has a 4-6-1 record this season with a 2.97 GAA and a .900 save percentage across 12 appearances. Montreal is tied for fifth in the league with 3.29 goals per game this year.