NHL Player News

Wedgewood will patrol the home crease versus Utah on Thursday, Adrian Hernandez of Mile High Hockey reports.

Wedgewood will make his third straight start as the Avalanche return home from a five-game road trip. Wedgewood has allowed only two goals on 52 shots in wins over Pittsburgh and New Jersey, raising his record to 4-3-1 across nine appearances this season. He will face Utah, who are averaging 2.96 goals in 2024-25.

Georgiev will defend the road crease during Thursday's game against St. Louis, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

Georgiev was traded from the Avalanche to the Sharks on Monday, and he'll make his first appearance in his new uniform on the road Thursday. Over 18 starts with Colorado to begin the year, he went 8-7-0 with a 3.38 GAA and .874 save percentage.

Vladar will defend the home crease versus Tampa Bay on Thursday, Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960 The Fan reports.

Vladar will make his fifth start in the last six games as Dustin Wolf seems to be second on the depth chart of late. Vladar is 2-0-1 in his last three games, stopping seven of 60 shots. He has a tough matchup versus Tampa Bay as the Lightning are second in NHL scoring, averaging 3.81 goals in 2024-25.

Jarry was the first goalie off the ice Thursday, Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports, indicating he'll be between the pipes on the road versus Montreal.

Jarry had started to look better of late, going on a four-game winning streak from Nov. 27 through Dec. 7, but the wheels came off versus Colorado on Tuesday. In that outing, the 29-year-old backstop gave up five goals on 26 shots (.808 save percentage) in an underwhelming performance that included some goals that Jarry will no doubt want back. Still, at this point, the Pens seem content to ride Jarry the rest of the way in the hopes of either getting him back to being an All-Star caliber netminder or improving his potential trade stock.

Allen (upper body) will not be an option against Los Angeles on Thursday after head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters, " [Allen] skated this morning, which is positive. He won't backup tonight; we'll see where he's at going into practice tomorrow and make a determination from there," per Mike Morreale of NHL.com.

Allen has played in just two of the Devils' last eight contests, dropping both results while posting a 4.75 GAA. Youngster Isaac Poulter will remain up with the NHL club to serve as the backup behind Jacob Markstrom heading into Thursday's tilt and beyond.

Hellebuyck will be in the home blue paint versus Vegas on Thursday, Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine reports.

Hellebuyck has won three straight games and has not allowed more than three goals in his last nine starts, going 6-3-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .927 save percentage. Hellebuyck leads the NHL with 18 wins, four better than Jake Oettinger and Filip Gustavsson. Hellebuyck will face the Golden Knights, who are scoring 3.50 goals per game in 2024-25.

Gustavsson will serve as the starting netminder for Thursday's home game against the Oilers, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports.

Gustavsson has been on a roll recently, picking up wins in each of his last five starts while posting a 1.74 GAA and .940 save percentage during that time. He's coming off his worst performance across that span, as he saved just 21 of 25 shots (.840 save percentage) in Tuesday's 5-4 win over Utah in overtime. However, he'll attempt to bounce back against the Oilers, who are averaging 3.00 goals to begin the season.

Oettinger will patrol the home crease versus Nashville on Thursday, Stars radio analyst Bruce LeVine reports.

Oettinger snapped a mini two-game losing streak Sunday, stopping 29 shots in a 6-2 victory over Calgary. He will make his fourth straight start Thursday. Oettinger is 14-6-0 with a 2.43 GAA and a .912 save percentage across 20 starts this season. He has a good matchup versus the Predators, who are the lowest scoring team in the league, averaging 2.21 goals per game in 2024-25.

Varlamov (lower body) was not on the ice at morning practice and remains out of action versus Chicago on Thursday, according to Stefen Rosner of NHL.com.

Varlamov has missed almost two weeks of action with the injury. He is 3-4-3 with a 2.89 GAA and a .889 save percentage. Ilya Sorokin is expected to start Thursday with Marcus Hogberg as his backup.

Stolarz will be between the home pipes versus Anaheim on Thursday, according to David Alter of The Hockey News.

Stolarz was sensational Tuesday, as he turned aside 38 shots in a 2-1 overtime win over New Jersey. The victory raised his record to 9-5-2, but he has been even better than that, as his peripherals are top-three in the NHL. He has a 2.13 GAA and a .928 save percentage across 16 appearances this season. The Ducks are scoring a paltry 2.37 goals per game in 2024-25.