NHL Player News

Lankinen will patrol the visiting crease in Columbus on Friday, according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.

Lankinen will make his first start in almost a week as he has been dealing with a hip issue. He struggled in his last start Saturday against the Rangers, giving up four goals on 11 shots in a 5-3 loss. Lankinen is 24-14-8 with four shutouts, a 2.59 GAA and a .901 save percentage. He has been the No. 1 goaltender with the Canucks most of the season, but with the return of Thatcher Demko, Lankinen should be considered the backup netminder. The Blue Jackets are averaging 3.14 goals per game, 12th in the league this season.

Montembeault will defend the road net in Carolina on Friday, per Patrick Friolet of RDS.ca.

Montembeault was pulled in his last start after allowing five goals on 32 shots in a 6-1 loss to the Blues on Tuesday. Montembeault is 25-22-6 with four shutouts, a 2.93 GAA and an .898 save percentage across 53 outings in 2024-25. The Hurricanes are generating 3.21 goals per game this season, ninth in the NHL.

Hellebuyck will defend the home crease versus New Jersey on Friday, Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site reports.

Hellebuyck was sensational last season, winning the Vezina Trophy. His stats have been even better in 2024-25, going 41-10-3 with six shutouts, a 2.06 GAA and a .924 save percentage over 55 starts. He will face the Devils, who are generating 2.99 goals per game, 17th in the NHL.

Ersson made 26 saves in Thursday's 6-4 win over the Canadiens.

The 25-year-old goalie snapped a four-game losing streak thanks to a big performance by his offense. Ersson is struggling to get to the finish line on the season -- he's given up at least three goals in nine of his last 10 outings, going 2-5-2 over that stretch with a rough 4.40 GAA and .831 save percentage.

Wolf allowed four goals on just 18 shots in a 5-2 loss to Dallas on Thursday. The fifth goal was an empty-net tally.

Wolf has conceded three or more goals in each of his last six outings, posting a 2-3-1 record and .869 save percentage along the way. Since Wolf is struggling, the Flames may have to turn to Dan Vladar if they want to chase down the Blues for the No. 2 wild-card spot.

DeSmith stopped 46 of 48 shots in a 5-2 win over the Flames on Thursday.

DeSmith is undefeated in regulation over his last eight appearances, going 7-0-1 with a 1.98 GAA, .938 save percentage and one shutout. Even with his strong run of form, the veteran netminder won't be supplanting Jake Oettinger as the No. 1 option in Dallas anytime soon. DeSmith has reached the 15-win mark twice in his career and should be able to hit that mark again in 2024-25 before the campaign wraps up.

Dobes turned aside 24 shots in Thursday's 6-4 loss to the Flyers.

Philly came out of the gates hot under interim head coach Brad Shaw, scoring three goals on 11 shots in the first period, and Dobes had basically no chance on any of those tallies. The 23-year-old rookie netminder hasn't won a game since March 1, going 0-2-1 over his last four outings with a 4.24 GAA and .862 save percentage.

Saros gave up three goals on 21 shots in a 3-2 loss to St. Louis on Thursday.

Saros has been struggling for consistency of late, going 2-3-0 despite a decent 2.42 GAA in his last five outings. With the loss, the Predators were officially eliminated from playoff contention. For his part, the 29-year-old netminder will miss the 30-win threshold for the first time since 2020-21, though he should still be capable of getting to 20 victories considering he is just two shy.

Merzlikins will be between the home pipes versus Vancouver on Friday, according to Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers.

Merzlikins picked up his first win since March 1 on Monday, turning aside 30 shots in a 4-3 overtime win over the Islanders. He is 23-19-5 with a 3.03 GAA and an .896 save percentage over 47 appearances this season. The Canucks are averaging 2.82 goals per game this season, 22nd in the NHL.

Hofer stopped 16 of 18 shots in a 3-2 win over Nashville on Thursday.

Hofer is riding a four-game winning streak during which he is sporting a 1.25 GAA and .942 save percentage. Due to the 24-year-old backstop playing this well, he could continue to see a decent share of the workload, perhaps even splitting the starts with Jordan Binnington heading into the final weeks of the 2024-25 campaign.