NHL Player News

Shesterkin will start Saturday's road matchup with Tampa Bay, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports.

Shesterkin has been the victim of poor play in front of him recently, going just 2-4-0 in his last six starts despite posting a .926 save percentage in that span. Overall, the 28-year-old netminder is 11-13-1 with a .913 save percentage and a 2.91 GAA this season.

Jarry will guard the road cage Saturday against the Islanders, Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports.

It'll be the seventh start in eight games for Jarry -- he'd gone 4-2-1 despite a subpar .887 save percentage in his prior seven contests. Overall, Jarry's 8-5-2 on the year with an .885 save percentage and a 3.48 GAA.

Murray will guard the home net Saturday against the Capitals, Terry Koshan of The Toronto Sun reports.

It'll be the second start of the year for Murray -- he stopped 24 of 27 shots in a win over Buffalo on Dec. 20. The 30-year-old netminder will have a tougher task this time around against the Capitals, who rank third in goals per game with 3.68.

Primeau will be placed on waivers Saturday, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette reports.

Primeau made one start in December and currently owns a 4.70 GAA and an .836 save percentage through 11 appearances. A waiver move seemed inevitable after Montreal called up Jakub Dobes from AHL Laval to start Saturday's road contest in Florida. A fresh start elsewhere may be the best thing for Primeau, who crumbled under the pressure of playing in Montreal. If he passes through waivers, Primeau will head to Laval.

Merzlikins stopped 24 of 26 shots in Friday's 6-2 win over the Bruins.

Merzlikins hasn't lost in regulation in three games in a row, going 2-0-1 with a 2.94 GAA and a .908 save percentage in that span. The lack of consistency has been an issue for him, though. Over his previous 10 games, Merzlikins has recorded a save percentage below .910 six times despite going 5-4-1 with a 2.99 GAA over that stretch.

Vasilevskiy was the first goaltender off the ice at morning skate, Gabby Shirley of FanDuel Sports Network Florida & Sun reports, and is slated to defend the home crease versus the Rangers on Saturday.

Vasilevskiy has been outstanding in the month of December, going 5-2-0 with a 2.17 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Overall, the 30-year-old Russian is 15-10-1 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.41 GAA and a .910 save percentage. The slumping Rangers are 4-13-0 in their last 17 games and have averaged 2.82 goals per game in 2024-25.

Hellebuyck will be between the home pipes versus Ottawa on Saturday, per Mitchell Clinton of the Jets' official site.

Hellebuyck has had another outstanding season after winning the Vezina Trophy in 2023-24. He is 22-5-1 with four shutouts, a 2.07 GAA and a .927 save percentage. Hellebuyck has won four straight outings going into Saturday's matchup. Ottawa sits 14th in the league with 3.09 goals per game in 2024-25.

Sorokin will patrol the home crease versus Pittsburgh on Saturday, according to Stefen Rosner of NHL.com.

Sorokin will make his 12th straight start as backup goaltender Semyon Varlamov is still out of action with a lower-body injury, and coach Patrick Roy has yet to play Marcus Hogberg in anything but a mop-up role. Sorokin has struggled of late, going 2-3-0 in his last five starts while allowing 21 goals on 128 shots (.836 save percentage. He is 10-11-4 with a 2.95 GAA and an .898 save percentage this season. Pittsburgh has posted 3.08 goals per game in 2024-25.

Korpisalo stopped 27 of 33 shots in Friday's 6-2 loss to the Blue Jackets.

Korpisalo has started in three of the Bruins' last seven games, but he's gone 1-2-0 with a 3.71 GAA and an .849 save percentage in that span. He's been hit or miss during that span, so the numbers don't tell the whole story. He gave up one goal on 20 shots in the home win over the Sabres on Dec. 21, but in the two road losses, against the Kraken and Blue Jackets, he's stopped only 43 of the 53 shots he faced.

Forsberg (lower body) moved to injured reserve Saturday, per Steve Lloyd of TSN 1200 Ottawa.

Forsberg is on the Senators' road trip and is eligible to come off injured reserve at any time, but it's unclear when he will be available to return. Ottawa brought up Mads Sogaard and Leevi Merilainen from AHL Belleville on Friday because of injuries to Forsberg and Linus Ullmark (back). Forsberg will miss his sixth straight game against Winnipeg on Saturday after getting hurt before a matchup versus Pittsburgh on Dec. 14.