NHL Player News

Ersson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury after leaving Tuesday's game versus the Sharks.

Ersson has already been sidelined on two other occasions by lower-body issues this season, so this is not a positive update. Aleksei Kolosov and Ivan Fedotov will handle the goaltending duties until Ersson is cleared to play again, beginning with Thursday's game in Vegas.

Kuemper is expected to start at home against the Devils on Wednesday, according to Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site.

Kuemper has a 9-2-5 record, 2.43 GAA and .907 save percentage in 17 appearances in 2024-25. While the campaign has been largely positive for him, he's been less than ideal over his past four appearances, allowing three goals in each of those outings. The Devils rank eighth in goals per game with 3.30.

Daccord (upper body) didn't participate in Wednesday's practice and will probably miss Thursday's home game against Vancouver, according to Kate Shefte of The Seattle Times.

Daccord is dealing with a lingering injury and is still regarded as day-to-day. He hasn't played between the pipes since Dec. 22. Ales Stezka is with the Kraken and will likely serve as Philipp Grubauer's understudy Thursday.

Allen is expected to start on the road against the Kings on Wednesday, per Amanda Stein of the Devils' official site.

Allen has lost his past four appearances while allowing 16 goals on 114 shots (.860 save percentage). He's 5-6-1 with a 2.89 GAA and an .897 save percentage in 12 outings in 2024-25. The Kings rank 12th in goals per game with 3.14.

Markstrom stopped 23 of 26 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Ducks.

Markstrom was beaten once in the first period and twice in the third, including the game-winning goal from Ryan Strome when the Devils had erased a two-goal deficit. This was Markstrom's first loss in regulation since Nov. 27, when he allowed three goals in a 3-0 defeat against the Blues. Markstrom posted an 8-1-1 record through 10 starts in December while posting elite numbers, including a 1.30 GAA and a .937 save percentage.

Merzlikins made 32 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped three of four shootout attempts in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Hurricanes.

The 30-year-old netminder wraps up 2024 having gone 3-0-1 in his last four starts with a 2.90 GAA and .910 save percentage. Merzlikins has a fairly firm grip on the starting job in Columbus at the moment, largely due to the struggles of Daniil Tarasov (4.23 GAA, .857 save percentage), but Elvis may be playing well enough to get a team in need of help between the pipes to consider taking on his contract, which still has two years and $10.8 million left on it after 2024-25.

Dostal stopped 32 of 34 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Devils.

Dostal was beaten by Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier in the third period, but a late goal from Ryan Strome allowed the 24-year-old to record back-to-back wins for the second time since the beginning of December. Wins aside, the .941 save percentage he posted Tuesday was among his highest marks of the season from a single-game perspective. Dostal has made five starts in a row for the Ducks, going 3-2-0 with a 2.98 GAA and an .891 save percentage in that span.

Kochetkov turned aside 25 shots in regulation and overtime and two of four shootout attempts in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets.

The 25-year-old netminder has hit a rough patch to close out 2024. Kochetkov has just one win in his last four starts, going 1-2-1 with a 2.76 GAA and .885 save percentage, although Tuesday's result was mostly just bad luck -- one Columbus goal deflected in off Seth Jarvis, and another came after Brent Burns inadvertently bumped into Kochetkov and put him on his keester inside his own net, leaving him woefully out of position for Kirill Marchenko's shot. With Frederik Andersen (knee) still at least a couple months away from returning however, and the Hurricanes seemingly reluctant to use Dustin Tokarski outside of back-to-back scenarios, Kochetkov will continue to be leaned on heavily in the new year.

Georgiev stopped 30 of 34 shots in Tuesday's 4-0 loss to the Flyers.

The Sharks are on an eight-game losing streak, and Georgiev has been between the pipes in four of those contests, posting a 4.36 GAA and a .872 save percentage in that stretch. His numbers have decreased considerably since being traded from the Avalanche to San Jose on Dec. 9. He posted a 3.38 GAA across 18 outings with the Avs, but that number has risen to 4.08 in five appearances with San Jose.

Lyon made 23 saves in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Penguins.

Twice the Red Wings grabbed one-goal leads only to see the Pens tie it up, but after a power-play tally for Pittsburgh early in the third period, Lyon slammed the door shut. The veteran netminder has looked good since Christmas, giving up four goals on 54 shots over three outings (two starts) while going 2-0-0. With Cam Talbot struggling to find his form, Lyon appears to be the top option right now in the crease for Detroit.