NHL Player News

Merilainen stopped 13 of 19 shots on net in Saturday's 6-5 overtime loss to the Canadiens.

Merilainen allowed at least one goal in each period leading up to overtime, where he surrendered the winning tally to Montreal's Cole Caufield. With the OT loss, Merilainen now has an 8-10-1 record, a 3.51 GAA and an .860 save percentage across 20 appearances this season. He has appeared in each of Ottawa's last 11 games in the absence of Linus Ullmark (personal). With Ullmark back at practice, Merilainen could shift to a much lighter workload over the next few games, which would diminish the latter's already modest fantasy value. The Senators will be right back in action Sunday in Detroit.

Montembeault stopped 29 of 34 shots on goal in Saturday's 6-5 overtime win over the Senators.

Despite allowing four goals in the second period, Montembeault got enough offensive support to snag the OT win. Following Saturday's victory, he holds a 9-6-2 record with a 3.44 GAA and an .873 save percentage through 20 appearances this season. While his GAA is inflated by inconsistent play in the early stages of the season, the 29-year-old goalie has a 4-0-1 record with a 2.90 GAA and a .906 save percentage in his last five starts. Montembeault's quality of play is trending back up, giving him decent streaming value across most fantasy formats for the time being. His next chance to take the ice is Tuesday against the Wild.

Binnington will defend the road net against Edmonton on Sunday, per Elise Butler of the Blues' official site.

Binnington has lost his last two outings, giving up 10 goals on 59 shots over that span. He has gone 8-12-6 this campaign with a 3.53 GAA, an .871 save percentage and one shutout through 27 appearances. Edmonton is coming off a 6-0 win over Vancouver on Saturday. The Oilers rank seventh in the league this season with 3.37 goals per game.

Halverson was reassigned to AHL Syracuse on Sunday.

Halverson has a 12-6-2 record with a 2.42 GAA and an .899 save percentage in 20 AHL appearances this season. He served as Andrei Vasilevskiy's backup in Friday's 3-2 shootout loss to St. Louis. With Halverson back in the minors, Jonas Johansson (maintenance) should return to the lineup for Sunday's road matchup against Dallas.

Silovs turned aside 22 shots in regulation and overtime and two of four shootout attempts in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Columbus.

The 24-year-old netminder shut the Blue Jackets down over the third period and OT to secure a point for the Penguins, but Kent Johnson and Charlie Coyle were able to solve him in the shootout. Silovs has just one regulation loss in his last seven starts while working in a timeshare with Stuart Skinner, going 4-1-2 with a 2.64 GAA and .896 save percentage.

Merzlikins stopped 29 shots in regulation and overtime and three of four shootout attempts in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Penguins.

The only Pittsburgh player to get a puck past Merzlikins in the shootout was former Columbus teammate Yegor Chinakhov. The 31-year-old netminder was making consecutive starts for the first time since early December, and new coach Rick Bowness appears willing to give him a chance to move back into a timeshare with Jet Greaves. Merzlikins will need to display more consistency, however -- over his last eight outings, he's stumbled to a 4.02 GAA and .871 save percentage.

Wolf made 28 saves in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Islanders.

The 24-year-old netminder snapped a five-start losing streak to begin January thanks in large part to some decent offensive support -- Calgary had scored just nine total goals in those five losses. On the season, Wolf is 15-19-2 with a 2.98 GAA and .899 save percentage, as he struggles to consistently find the form he flashed in 2024-25.

Rittich turned aside 15 shots in Saturday's 4-2 loss to Calgary.

The Islanders came out flat in the afternoon contest and found themselves in a 4-0 hole before finally getting on the board midway through the second period. Rittich has been shaky so far in January, going 1-2-1 in four starts with a 3.44 GAA and .840 save percentage as the No. 2 netminder behind Ilya Sorokin.

Luukkonen stopped 30 shots in Saturday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Wild.

Neither team was able to break a 4-4 tie in the third period, but there wasn't much Luukkonen could do on the OT winner, which came on a Minnesota power play. The 26-year-old netminder has only one regulation loss in his last eight starts, going 6-1-1 with a 2.50 GAA and .918 save percentage.

Thompson stopped 26 of 29 shots on goal in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Panthers.

Florida's last two goals were scored into an empty net. With the loss, the 28-year-old goaltender now has a 17-14-4 record, a 2.38 GAA and a .914 save percentage across 35 games this season. Since the start of the calendar year, Thompson has been dealt a tough hand, with a 2-4-1 record despite holding a .912 save percentage. Thompson is approaching a new career high in games played, which raises questions about how he'll perform down the stretch. However, he has a steady Capitals defense in front of him, which bodes well for his fantasy value. His next chance to bounce back is Monday in Colorado, marking the start of Washington's six-game road trip.