NHL Player News

Blackwood will be in the visiting crease versus Florida on Saturday, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

Blackwood has won his last two starts, allowing three goals on 66 shots. He also played Thursday in Tampa Bay, allowing three goals on 23 shots in relief of Vitek Vanecek. Blackwood is 6-8-3 with a 3.00 GAA and a .905 save percentage. The Panthers sit third in the league with 3.78 goals per game.

Kolosov will defend the visiting crease against Boston on Saturday.

Kolosov was shaky in his last appearance, stopping 16 of 20 shots in relief of Ivan Fedotov in a 7-5 loss to Florida on Thursday. The 22-year-old Kolosov could be returned to the minors once Samuel Ersson (lower body) is off the IR list. Kolosov is 3-3-0 with a 3.22 GAA and an .882 save percentage ahead of Saturday's tilt. Boston has posted only 2.54 goals per game, 28th in the NHL.

Husso will guard the home goal against Colorado on Saturday, per Ansar Khan of MLive.com.

Husso is coming off a 2-1 loss to the Senators on Thursday, turning aside 30 shots. He is 0-3-2 with a 3.69 GAA and an .877 save percentage through five appearances this season. Colorado ranks 12th in the league with 3.26 goals per game in 2024-25.

Merzlikins stopped 12 of 16 shots in Friday's 5-2 loss to the Canucks. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

Merzlikins has now lost two games in a row, and unlike Tuesday's 3-0 shutout loss in Calgary, this loss is firmly on his shoulders. The 30-year-old squandered a 2-0 lead after the first period as the Canucks rallied for the win. Merzlikins is down to 8-7-2 with a 3.07 GAA and an .889 save percentage through 17 appearances. The Blue Jackets' surprisingly stout offense has helped cover some of his flaws, but he remains among the low-end starting goalies in the league, though Daniil Tarasov has been outright awful in the backup role. The Blue Jackets' road trip ends with another tough matchup Sunday in Winnipeg.

Lankinen stopped 30 of 32 shots in Friday's 5-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

The Blue Jackets came out hot with two goals in the first period, but Lankinen shut the door the rest of the way. The 29-year-old picked up his fifth win in the last six starts, though this was just the second time in that span he allowed fewer than three goals. He's now at 13-3-3 with a 2.62 GAA and a .908 save percentage over 19 appearances. Thatcher Demko (knee) served as backup Friday and will likely claim at least a 50-50 split in goal moving forward, though the Canucks have kept Arturs Silovs around for now as extra insurance in goal. It's possible Demko makes his season debut Sunday versus the Lightning.

Oettinger allowed three goals on 28 shots in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Golden Knights.

Oettinger has taken back-to-back losses for the first time this season. He was done in by allowing two goals in a span of 1:08 late in the second period. The 25-year-old is now at a 13-6-0 record with a 2.45 GAA and a .911 save percentage through 19 appearances. The Stars return home Sunday to host the Flames, which is a fairly favorable matchup should Oettinger get the nod.

Hill stopped 38 of 40 shots in Friday's 3-2 win over the Stars.

The Golden Knights took a 3-1 lead late in the second period, and Hill was able to make it stand with a strong final frame. This was Hill's third straight win, and he's allowed just five goals in that span. He's now 12-4-2 with a 2.63 GAA and a .904 save percentage over 18 appearances, though he's clearly trending in the right direction. He'll have to wait to build on his success -- the Golden Knights have a five-day break in their schedule, with their next game coming Thursday in Winnipeg to kick off a three-game road trip over four days.

Gibson allowed four goals on 32 shots in Friday's 5-1 loss to the Wild. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

Gibson's early success has faded as the competition has gotten tougher -- he's now allowed nine goals during a three-game losing streak against the Kings, Golden Knights and Wild. The American netminder has faced an average of just over 30 shots per start, so it's encouraging to see the Ducks' defense keep his workload down more than usual. He's now 4-3-1 with a 2.76 GAA and a .909 save percentage through eight starts this season. While Gibson has started four of the last five games, it wouldn't be surprising to see Lukas Dostal carve out a bit more playing time during the Ducks' upcoming four-game road trip.

Gustavsson stopped 26 of 27 shots in Friday's 5-1 win over the Ducks.

Gustavsson collected his fourth straight win in this contest. He allowed a deflected goal by Brock McGinn in the third period but otherwise controlled the game to defeat the Ducks. Gustavsson improved to 13-4-3 with a 1.99 GAA and a .931 save percentage over 20 starts this season. He's been one of the top goalies in the league and isn't wearing down under a heavy workload. Marc-Andre Fleury will check in to start Saturday's game versus the Kings, but Gustavsson should be back between the pipes to wrap up the road trip Tuesday in Utah.

Merzlikins will protect the road goal versus the Canucks on Friday, Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets' official site reports.

This is the second half of a back-to-back -- Daniil Tarasov played Thursday in a 6-3 loss to the Oilers. Merzlikins has ran with the starting job lately, going 6-1-1 over his last eight outings, though he has a 2.98 GAA and an .892 save percentage in that span. The Canucks have scored 21 times over the last six games, winning four of them, though they have gone to overtime in three straight contests.