NHL Player News

Dobes will defend the home crease against the Blackhawks on Thursday, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.

Dobes has sat out three of Montreal's last four games, but he'll return to the crease against the Blackhawks, who are scoring 2.82 goals per game this season, which is tied for the eighth-worst mark in the NHL. Over five starts this month, Dobes has gone 3-2-0 with a 2.48 GAA and .904 save percentage.

Thompson will be between the home pipes versus Toronto on Thursday, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports.

Thompson is having another great year in net for Washington, posting a 13-7-3 mark with one shutout, a 2.09 GAA and a .922 save percentage across 23 starts this season. Thompson faced Toronto on Nov. 28, allowing two goals on 22 shots in a 4-2 win.

Talbot made 24 saves in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Mammoth.

The veteran netminder couldn't do much on any of the pucks that got past him, most of which came from in close as Utah forwards went unmarked around the crease to clean up rebounds and pounce on loose pucks. Talbot hasn't gotten into the win column since Nov. 22, going 0-4-2 over his last six starts with an ugly 3.81 GAA and .853 save percentage.

Greaves will get the starting nod at home versus the Wild on Thursday, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Greaves will be making his sixth straight appearance in the crease, having gone 1-4-0 with a 2.57 GAA in his last five outings. At this point, the Jackets seem to have fully committed to giving the 24-year-old Greaves the bulk of the starts, even though he has struggled to pick up wins.

Vejmelka turned aside 27 shots in Wednesday's 4-1 win over Detroit.

An Emmitt Finnie power-play tally midway through the third period spoiled his shutout bid, but it was still an impressive performance from Vejmelka. The 29-year-old netminder has won three straight starts, and through eight outings in December he's gone 5-2-0 with a 2.65 GAA and .910 save percentage.

Tarasov stopped 27 shots in Wednesday's 3-2 win over the Kings.

The 26-year-old netminder bounced back nicely from a rough last start in which he coughed up six goals on 42 shots to the Avalanche on Dec. 11. Tarasov has four wins on the season, and all of them have come in his last seven outings, a stretch in which he's posted a 2.93 GAA and .912 save percentage.

Forsberg made 25 saves in Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the Panthers.

The Kings gave the veteran netminder a 1-0 lead in the first period on a Joel Armia power-play tally, but Forsberg couldn't make it hold up. It was his first start since Darcy Kuemper (upper body) landed on IR, but his third straight losing decision, as Forsberg has gone 0-2-1 in his last three outings while allowing nine goals on 81 shots. The Kings are likely to lean heavily on Forsberg while Kuemper is on the shelf, but if he struggles, Pheonix Copley has plenty of NHL experience as the No. 2 goalie.

Hart allowed one goal on 33 shots in Wednesday's 2-1 shootout loss to the Devils.

Hart has maintained a save percentage of .900 or better in four of his first five outings for the Golden Knights. The Devils gave him a season-high 33 shots to see, and he turned in his best effort yet before stopping only two of three shootout attempts. He's now 3-0-2 with 12 goals allowed on 144 shots. Both Hart and Akira Schmid should get the nod in one of the next two games, as the Golden Knights have a road back-to-back ahead with stops in Calgary on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday.

Allen stopped 36 of 37 shots in Wednesday's 2-1 shootout win over the Golden Knights.

Allen couldn't make a 1-0 lead stand to the end, as he gave up a power-play goal to Pavel Dorofeyev with 4:11 left in the third period. The 35-year-old Allen didn't let that shake him, and he was perfect in overtime and the shootout to get his second win in a row. He improved to 10-7-0 with a 2.49 GAA and a .912 save percentage over 18 appearances. Allen hasn't had great consistency this year, but he's been a lot better than Jacob Markstrom, and that's starting to be reflected in the playing time. The Devils' next game is Friday in Utah.

Saros stopped 33 of 36 shots in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes. The fourth goal was an empty-netter.

Saros' three-game winning streak was snapped with this effort. The Hurricanes were working their system well and directed a lot of pucks on net, and Saros was unable to keep up in the third period. The netminder is now 12-11-3 with a 2.95 GAA and an .898 save percentage over 26 appearances. He's been trending in the right direction lately, but fantasy managers may want to stay selective with when to put him in their lineups. The Predators have a back-to-back coming up this weekend, with home games versus the Maple Leafs on Saturday and the Rangers on Sunday.