NHL Player News

Pickard will defend the road net against Winnipeg on Monday, Oilers play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels reports.

Pickard will return to the crease after Connor Ingram started three straight games, including Saturday's 3-2 loss to Calgary. The 33-year-old Pickard has a 3-5-2 record this season with a 3.93 GAA and an .861 save percentage through 13 appearances. Winnipeg ranks 21st in the league with 2.92 goals per game this year.

Ullmark (personal) was granted a leave of absence Sunday from the team for personal reasons.

It's unclear how long Ullmark will be away from the Senators. He has posted a 14-8-5 record with one shutout, a 2.95 GAA and an .881 save percentage through 28 appearances this season. In Ullmark's absence, Ottawa could recall Mads Sogaard or Hunter Shepard from AHL Belleville to compete for starts with Leevi Merilainen.

Hofer will start Monday's game against the Sabres, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports Sunday.

Hofer has seen the vast majority of starts in the month of December, and that will include the first two out of the holiday break. The 25-year-old is 5-2-0 with a 2.10 GAA and a .929 save percentage in December, and he is on a personal three-game winning streak. He'll take on a red-hot Sabres team that's riding a league-best eight-game winning streak.

Allen made 29 saves in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals.

The back-and-forth contest finally ended in the final minute of OT, when Jakob Chychrun batted his own rebound out of midair and past Allen. The 35-year-old netminder will be happy to flip the calendar to 2026 -- through seven starts in December, Allen has gone 2-4-1 with a 3.07 GAA and .894 save percentage.

Silovs was the first goaltender off at morning skate Sunday and is in line to start against the Blackhawks, Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports.

With the chance to reset the goalie rotation, it appears the Penguins will go with Silovs over Stuart Skinner in the first game out of the holiday break. The 24-year-old Silovs has a 5-5-6 record on the season with a 3.22 GAA and an .887 save percentage. He'll take on a Blackhawks squad that's on the second of a back-to-back but fresh off of a big win against the Stars to snap a six-game losing streak.

Thompson stopped 35 shots in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Devils.

The 28-year-old netminder had coughed up 10 goals on 60 shots while losing his prior two starts, but Thompson looked a little sharper Saturday, as New Jersey held a lead for less than two minutes over the course of the game. Thompson's erratic December has still resulted in strong numbers. Through nine starts this month, he's gone 4-3-2 with a 2.61 GAA and .919 save percentage.

Luukkonen made 21 saves in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Bruins.

David Pastrnak snapped a shot past Luukkonen midway through the first period, but the 26-year-old netminder shut the door the rest of the way as the Sabres' offense got rolling. Luukkonen has allowed three goals or fewer in 10 of 11 outings since the beginning of November, posting a 2.46 GAA and .903 save percentage over that stretch, but he remains firmly behind the red-hot Alex Lyon in the Buffalo crease.

Korpisalo turned aside 30 of 33 shots in Saturday's 4-1 loss to Buffalo, with the Sabres' final goal getting scored into an empty net.

All three pucks that got past Korpisalo came as a result of traffic in front of him -- he was partially or fully screened on two goals, and the third was tipped home by Peyton Krebs. The Bruins No. 2 netminder is struggling to get into the win column on a consistent basis -- over his last eight outings, dating back to Nov. 13, Korpisalo has gone 2-5-0 with a shaky 3.98 GAA and .880 save percentage.

Rittich made 27 saves in Saturday's 2-0 win over the Rangers.

The shutout was Rittich's second of the season. The veteran netminder has started three straight games while Ilya Sorokin (lower body) has been on the shelf, going 2-0-1 while allowing just three goals on 91 shots, but the Islanders' starter could be back as soon as Tuesday in Chicago.

Shesterkin stopped 24 of 25 shots in Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Islanders, with the home side's final goal getting scored into an empty net.

Anders Lee banged home a rebound 58 seconds into the first period, and while Shesterkin shut the door the rest of the way, the Rangers' offense never woke up. The loss snapped a brief three-game win streak for the star netminder, and Shesterkin has been doing his best to keep an erratic Rangers squad in games, going 6-3-1 over 10 outings in December with a 2.58 GAA and .906 save percentage.