NHL Player News

Saros stopped 23 of 25 shots in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Flyers. The third goal was an empty-netter.

Saros has now dropped four of his last five games, going 1-2-2 with 16 goals allowed in that span. This was one of his better performances, but the Predators couldn't get anything past Dan Vladar after a Ryan O'Reilly deflection goal early in the first period. Saros slipped to 5-5-3 with a 2.88 GAA and a .902 save percentage over 13 appearances. The Predators have a home matinee game versus the Stars on Saturday, which could be another challenge for Saros should he get the start. He didn't play in an Oct. 26 home loss to the Stars.

Luukkonen made 14 saves in a 3-0 loss to St. Louis on Thursday.

Luukkonen didn't face much rubber and honestly he wasn't stellar. The Sabres continue to have an odor to their game, and UPL hasn't been able to solve that problem since he returned from injury. Lukkonen is 1-1-1 with a 2.91 GAA and .877 save percentage. This could be a rough season.

Vladar allowed one goal on 24 shots in Thursday's 3-1 win over the Predators.

Vladar gave up a goal on a deflection with traffic in front of the net just 1:44 into the game. After that, the 28-year-old provided steady netminding to come away with his third win in his last four outings, two of which have been victories over Nashville. For the season, Vladar is at a 6-3-0 record with a 2.18 GAA and a .917 save percentage over nine starts. Samuel Ersson (lower body) was activated from injured reserve and served as the backup goalie Thursday, and it could be Ersson between the pipes Saturday versus the Senators. Prior to Ersson's injury, he and Vladar were splitting the workload, though Vladar did fine as the primary starter over the last week.

Hofer made 28 saves in a 3-0 win over Buffalo on Thursday.

It was Hofer's third career shutout. He got the nod after stopping 15 of 17 shots in relief of Jordan Binnington in a 6-1 loss to the Caps on Wednesday. It was Hofer's first win since Oct. 11. Both Binnington and Hofer have scuffled this season, so it feels like it's a proverbial jump ball when it comes to who's the best option. Hofer obviously jumps ahead with this performance, despite an overall line of 2-3-0, 4.08 GAA and .864 save percentage.

Vasilevskiy will tend the road goal in Thursday's game versus the Golden Knights, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Vasilevskiy has allowed seven goals on 93 shots over his last four games, going 3-1-0 in that span. The Golden Knights still make for a tough foe, but their offense has faded lately with just 14 goals over the last six games.

Bobrovsky will protect the road goal versus the Kings on Thursday, Rob Darragh of the Panthers' official site reports.

Bobrovsky will look to overcome a tough outing in Anaheim on Tuesday, in which he allowed seven goals on 32 shots in a loss. He's given up at least three goals in five of his last six outings, with the lone exception being a shutout win over the Golden Knights. Bobrovsky faces a Kings team that has scored 18 goals over the last six games.

Saros will guard the home goal versus the Flyers on Thursday.

Saros is 1-2-1 over his last four starts, allowing 14 goals in that span. One of the regulation losses during that stretch was against the Flyers, when Saros allowed three goals on 17 shots last Thursday. The Flyers have scored just seven goals over three games since that contest, so they don't have a ton of momentum coming into this game.

Ersson (lower body) was activated from injured reserve on Thursday.

While Ersson is back on the Flyers' roster, Dan Vladar is expected to start Thursday in Nashville. Ersson could be back between the pipes as soon as Saturday's home matinee game versus the Senators. With Ersson healthy, it's safe to assume Aleksei Kolosov's playing time will drop, or Kolosov could be sent to AHL Lehigh Valley in a later move.

Forsberg will start Thursday's home game against the Panthers, John Hoven of SiriusXM NHL Network Radio reports.

Forsberg has started in just one of the Kings' last eight games, but he'll get the start against a Florida squad that has struggled early in the season, scoring just 2.54 goals per game, which is the fourth-worst mark in the league. Over four appearances this year, Forsberg has gone 2-1-1 with a 3.18 GAA and .894 save percentage.

Andersen will defend the home crease against the Wild on Thursday, Walt Ruff of the Hurricanes' official site reports.

Andersen has largely struggled over his last four starts, going 1-3-0 with a 3.49 GAA and .891 save percentage during that time. He'll have a favorable matchup against the Wild, who are scoring 2.79 goals per game this season, which is tied for the 10th-worst mark in the league.