NHL Player News

Blackwood (lower body) practiced Friday, but his status for the Avalanche's two-game road trip next week is yet to be determined, Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reports.

This is a backdoor way of saying Blackwood won't be ready to suit up Saturday versus the Stars. He could also miss games Monday in Buffalo and Thursday in Columbus, but that has not been decided. Head coach Jared Bednar also indicated a conditioning stint could be possible to help Blackwood get up to speed. At this point, expect Scott Wedgewood to continue seeing significant playing time until Blackwood is cleared to return.

Askarov will guard the cage in Saturday's home clash versus Anaheim, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.

Askarov watched from the bench during the Sharks' Opening Night clash with the Golden Knights on Thursday. Heading into the 2025-26 campaign, the 23-year-old backstop was expected to be the No. 1 option ahead of Alex Nedeljkovic, but it seems perhaps the team is going to more evenly split the workload this year.

Merzlikins is expected to start on the road against Columbus on Saturday, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Merzlikins is making his first start of the campaign after Jet Greaves saved 29 of 31 shots in a 2-1 loss to Nashville on Thursday. Although Merzlikins didn't start in the opener, he still has an opportunity to claim the No. 1 gig, but he'll probably need to do better than he did in 2024-25 in order to secure the job. The 31-year-old posted a 26-21-5 record, 3.18 GAA and .892 save percentage in 53 outings with Columbus last year.

Talbot will be between the home pipes versus Toronto on Saturday, Max Bultman of The Athletic reports.

Talbot will make his first start of the season, though he saw some action Thursday, replacing John Gibson in the second period with the Red Wings down 5-1, after Gibson stopped only eight of 13 shots. Talbot turned aside all four shots he saw during the final 22:37 of the game. Talbot will face the Maple Leafs, who defeated Montreal 5-2 in their home opener Wednesday.

Jarry stopped 34 shots in Thursday's 4-3 win over the Islanders.

After two back-and-forth periods, Jarry shut the door in the third and got rewarded when Justin Brazeau potted the winner with a little over five minutes left in regulation. While it was a good start to the season for the 30-year-old netminder, his spot at the top of the depth chart may not be secure after Arturs Silovs shut out the Rangers on Tuesday in the Pens' season opener. Jarry's own declining numbers don't help his case to hang onto the No. 1 job -- he posted a career-worst 3.12 GAA and .892 save percentage over 36 appearances in 2024-25.

Sorokin made 24 saves in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Penguins.

Justin Brazeau got sprung for a clear rush from the blue line against Sorokin late in the third period, and the 30-year-old netminder wasn't able to come up with another big stop to preserve a 3-3 tie. The Islanders are projected to be one of the weaker squads in the NHL this season, which will likely prevent Sorokin from regaining the elite ratios he was posting a couple years ago, but with Semyon Varlamov (knee) out indefinitely and David Rittich as his primary backup, he could also be headed for a career-high workload -- he's handled between 52 and 62 appearances in each of the last four seasons.

Talbot turned aside all four shots he faced after replacing John Gibson late in the second period of Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Canadiens.

The Red Wings' defense didn't allow many shots to get through to its netminders -- Detroit out-shot Montreal 31-17 on the night -- but it did allow plenty of good scoring chances to help spoil Gibson's debut with the team. Gibson is expected to handle starting duties after being acquired from the Ducks in June, but the 38-year-old Talbot should be ready to take on a larger workload if necessary after averaging 46.5 appearances over the last four seasons with a 2.76 GAA and .907 save percentage during stints with the Wild, Senators, Kings and Wings.

Gibson stopped eight of 13 shots before being replaced by Cam Talbot late in the second period of Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Canadiens.

It was an inauspicious beginning to Gibson's Red Wings tenure, but defensive breakdowns and bad bounces contributed to the first four goals against the veteran netminder, before he gave up a juicy rebound to set up the fifth and got the hook. Detroit is counting on Gibson to reinforce its crease after the veteran netminder posted a 2.77 GAA and .911 save percentage over 29 appearances for a struggling Ducks squad in 2024-25, but he'll need more help from his new teammates than he got Thursday.

Dobes turned aside 30 shots in Thursday's 5-1 win over the Red Wings.

After Sam Montembeault took the loss in Toronto on Wednesday, Dobes was in the crease for the second game of a back-to-back set and delivered an impressive performance, shutting the door on Detroit after a Dylan Larkin power-play goal early in the first period. Dobes could be Montreal's goalie of the future, but the 24-year-old will cut his teeth in the No. 2 role to begin the 2025-26 campaign after a strong NHL debut last season in which he went 7-4-3 over 16 appearances with a 2.74 GAA and .909 save percentage.

Korpisalo made 21 saves in Thursday's 4-3 overtime win over Chicago.

Korpisalo gave up a goal in each period during a back-and-forth contest, but Boston was able to strike first in OT. The veteran netminder got the nod on the second night of a back-to-back after Jeremy Swayman was sharp in Wednesday's win over the Caps, and Korpisalo isn't likely to handle a significant workload this season as long as the Bruins' No. 1 is healthy and effective. Korpisalo posted an 11-10-3 record, 2.90 GAA and .893 save percentage over 27 appearances in 2024-25.