NHL Player News

Gibson will protect the home net against Pittsburgh on Saturday, Ansar Khan of MLive.com reports.

Gibson is coming off a 23-save performance in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Winnipeg. He has a 13-8-1 record with two shutouts, a 2.97 GAA and an .893 save percentage through 23 appearances this season. Pittsburgh sits 11th in the league with 3.21 goals per game this campaign.

Vladar will guard the visiting crease in Edmonton on Saturday, per Jackie Spiegel of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Vladar has won three of his last four starts and has not allowed more than three goals in his past seven outings. During that seven-game stretch, he has gone 4-1-2 with a 1.98 GAA and a .919 save percentage. Vladar is 14-6-3 with a 2.40 GAA and a .910 save percentage across 23 appearances this season. The Oilers rank sixth in the league with 3.34 goals per game.

DeSmith (personal) was granted non-roster status Saturday.

According to Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports, the Stars granted DeSmith a leave of absence to attend to a personal family matter. The 35-year-old DeSmith is off to the best start in his NHL career, posting a 9-2-4 record with a 2.44 GAA and a .912 save percentage over 15 games this season. The Stars recalled Remi Poirier from AHL Texas in a corresponding move.

Poirier was called up from AHL Texas on Saturday.

The Stars designated backup goaltender Casey DeSmith (personal) as a non-roster player in a corresponding move. Poirier has a record of 8-10-4 with a 2.77 GAA and a .903 save percentage across 22 AHL appearances this season. He could see action Tuesday in Carolina or Wednesday in Washington, if DeSmith has not returned to the roster.

Merilainen was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports, indicating he will patrol the home crease against Winnipeg on Saturday.

Merilainen is coming off a 26-save performance in Thursday's 4-3 win over Washington. He has posted a 5-7-0 record with a 3.46 GAA and an .872 save percentage across 12 appearances this campaign. The struggling Jets rank 22nd in the league with 2.87 goals per game this season.

Thompson will patrol the home crease against Chicago on Saturday, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports.

Thompson has lost his last two outings while allowing eight goals on 60 shots. He has a 15-11-3 record with two shutouts, a 2.39 GAA and a .913 save percentage through 29 appearances this season. Chicago is tied for 24th in the league with 2.78 goals per game this campaign.

Skinner will be between the visiting pipes in Detroit on Saturday, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Skinner is 1-3-0 with a 3.36 GAA and an .869 save percentage since coming over to Pittsburgh as part of the deal that sent Tristan Jarry to Edmonton on Dec. 12. Skinner has been rotating with Arturs Silovs in the Penguins' crease since the trade, but Silovs has outperformed the ex-Oilers netminder. Detroit has generated 3.05 goals per game, which ranks 19th in the league.

Hofer halted 21 of 24 shots on net in Friday's 4-3 win over the Golden Knights.

Despite allowing two goals across the final two periods, Hofer played well when it mattered, as he blanked the Golden Knights across the final 11 minutes of the game while Brayden Schenn grabbed the game-winner for the Blues. With the close win, Hofer is up to a 9-8-2 record with a 2.88 GAA and a .900 save percentage over 23 appearances this season. With five wins over his last seven appearances, the 25-year-old goalie has compiled a strong case to maintain his larger share of the workload in net over Jordan Binnington. Hofer has been the hot hand of the two, giving him solid streaming value. While Binnington will likely get the starting nod for Saturday's contest in Vegas, Hofer could see action in Wednesday's tilt in Chicago.

Hart stopped 15 of 19 shots on goal in Friday's 4-3 loss to the Blues.

After helping the Golden Knights battle back into Friday's high-scoring affair, Hart surrendered the game-winning goal with 93 seconds left in the contest. With the loss, he now holds a 4-3-3 record with a 3.28 GAA and an .876 save percentage through 10 games this season. The 27-year-old netminder has struggled mightily over his last three appearances while allowing 14 goals for an .800 save percentage. Despite averaging 3.88 goals per game, Vegas has gone 1-5-2 over its past eight outings. His next chance to bounce back is Sunday in Chicago.

Demko stopped 25 of 28 shots in Friday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Kraken.

Demko gave up all three goals in the first two periods, but the Canucks were able to pull even against an opponent that was on the second half of a back-to-back. The 30-year-old netminder wasn't able to guide this game home to a win, as he gave up the lone tally of the shootout to Matty Beniers in the third round. Demko is 0-3-1 with 16 goals allowed on 133 shots over his last four outings. He's down to 8-8-1 with a 2.72 GAA and a .904 save percentage through 18 contests overall. Kevin Lankinen is likely to get the nod for Saturday's game versus the Bruins, which closes out the homestand before the Canucks head east on a six-game road trip.