NHL Player News

Kochetkov will protect the road goal versus the Lightning on Saturday, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports.

Kochetkov will get the second half of a back-to-back after Brandon Bussi took a 4-3 shootout loss to the Panthers on Friday. The 26-year-old Kochetkov has won his last two outings, allowing four goals on 44 shots. The Lightning have scored 13 goals in four games going into Saturday's matchup, but lit the lamp eight times in one contest while struggling with consistency.

Vasilevskiy will guard the home goal versus the Hurricanes on Saturday, Lightning reporter Gabby Shirley reports.

Vasilevskiy stopped 18 of 20 shots in Thursday's loss to the Kings, which was his first action since Dec. 2. The 31-year-old netminder is back to handling No. 1 duties between the pipes for the Lightning. He has a tough matchup Saturday, though the Hurricanes are on the second half of a back-to-back after dropping a 4-3 shootout loss to the Panthers on Friday.

Lyon is expected to start at home against the Islanders on Saturday, per Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News.

Lyon will attempt to extend his four-game winning streak. He's allowed nine goals on 107 shots (.916 save percentage) across that stretch, which gives him a 7-6-3 record, 2.99 GAA and .904 save percentage in 18 appearances this season. The Islanders rank 23rd in goals per game with 2.86.

Soderblom is expected to start on the road against Ottawa on Saturday, per Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Soderblom has allowed at least three goals in each of his past four games. He's struggled this campaign with a 3-6-1 record, 3.84 GAA and .876 save percentage in 10 outings this year. Ottawa ranks 13th in goals per game with 3.09.

Tarasov is expected to start at home against St. Louis on Saturday, per George Richards of Florida Hockey Now.

Tarasov stopped 27 of 29 shots en route to a 3-2 win over Los Angeles in his last start Wednesday. He's 4-5-1 with a 2.76 GAA and a .906 save percentage in 11 outings this year. The Blues have been underwhelming, going 2-3-1 across their last six games, which gives them a 13-15-8 record overall.

Askarov will protect the home net against Seattle on Saturday, according to Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

Askarov has won his last two outings while allowing eight goals on 73 shots. He has a 12-8-1 record with a 3.23 GAA and a .900 save percentage through 21 appearances this season. Seattle sits 31st in the league with 2.47 goals per game this year.

Merilainen will get the starting nod at home versus Chicago on Saturday, Julian McKenzie of The Athletic reports.

Merilainen will try to snap a four-game losing streak against the Blackhawks, who are 5-10-3 in their last 17 games. Merilainen is 3-5-0 with a 3.22 GAA and an .877 save percentage over eight games this season. Chicago is tied with Vancouver for 25th in NHL scoring, averaging 2.76 goals per contest.

Skinner will guard the road net against the Canadiens on Saturday, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.

During his Pittsburgh debut, Skinner surrendered five goals on 22 shots in Tuesday's 6-4 loss to Edmonton. He has posted a record of 11-9-4 with two shutouts, a 2.93 GAA and an .887 save percentage through 24 appearances between the Penguins and Oilers this season. Montreal is tied for eighth in the league with 3.18 goals per game this year.

Cooley will protect the home cage versus Vegas on Saturday, per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Cooley will make only his second start in the last eight games, as Dustin Wolf has regained his spot as the Flames' No. 1 goaltender. Cooley is 3-4-2 with a 2.34 GAA and a .914 save percentage across 12 appearances this season. The Golden Knights are generating 3.00 goals per game this season, 18th in the league.

Hofer will guard the visiting goal in Florida on Saturday, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports.

Hofer shut out the Jets on Wednesday, stopping 24 shots for his third shutout of the campaign. He is 6-7-2 with a 2.96 GAA and an .896 save percentage for the lowly Blues this season. The Panthers could be a tired team Saturday after scoring three times in the last 10 minutes of the third period en route to a 4-3 shootout win over Carolina on Friday.