NHL Player News

Gardner posted a 28-save shutout in WHL Saskatoon's 4-0 win over Regina on Sunday.

This was Gardner's second shutout of the season. He's done okay this year, but not as well as he did in the previous two campaigns. Gardner's at a 13-8-3 record with a 2.93 GAA and an .897 save percentage through 27 appearances. He's earned nine shutouts in his WHL career and is one away from matching his total from the 2024-25 regular season.

Johansson will patrol the home crease against Montreal on Sunday, according to Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site.

Johansson will get the second half of Tampa Bay's back-to-back after Andrei Vasilevskiy played in Saturday's 4-2 win over Florida. The 30-year-old Johansson has a 7-6-1 record with a 2.76 GAA and an .897 save percentage through 15 appearances this season. Montreal is tied for seventh in the league with 3.27 goals per game during the 2025-26 campaign.

Rittich will start Sunday's road contest against the Blue Jackets, Andrew Gross of Newsday reports.

With Ilya Sorokin (lower body) on injured reserve, Rittch will be called upon to shoulder more responsibility. The good news is that the 33-year-old Rittich has been as good of a No. 2 goaltender as they come this season, going 9-3-2 with a 2.25 GAA and a .919 save percentage. The last-place Blue Jackets average 2.89 goals per game.

Lankinen will start Monday's game at Seattle, Ben Kuzma of Postmedia reports Sunday.

Lankinen will make just his second start in eight games Monday night against the Kraken. The 30-year-old has taken a back seat to Thatcher Demko while the latter has been playing at a high level, but it will be Lankinen who will start the second game out of the holiday break. Lankinen carries a 5-10-3 record, 3.51 GAA and .880 save percentage into the matchup with Seattle, who will be on the second of a back-to-back.

Pickard will defend the road net against Winnipeg on Monday, Oilers play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels reports.

Pickard will return to the crease after Connor Ingram started three straight games, including Saturday's 3-2 loss to Calgary. The 33-year-old Pickard has a 3-5-2 record this season with a 3.93 GAA and an .861 save percentage through 13 appearances. Winnipeg ranks 21st in the league with 2.92 goals per game this year.

Ullmark (personal) was granted a leave of absence Sunday from the team for personal reasons.

It's unclear how long Ullmark will be away from the Senators. He has posted a 14-8-5 record with one shutout, a 2.95 GAA and an .881 save percentage through 28 appearances this season. In Ullmark's absence, Ottawa could recall Mads Sogaard or Hunter Shepard from AHL Belleville to compete for starts with Leevi Merilainen.

Hofer will start Monday's game against the Sabres, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports Sunday.

Hofer has seen the vast majority of starts in the month of December, and that will include the first two out of the holiday break. The 25-year-old is 5-2-0 with a 2.10 GAA and a .929 save percentage in December, and he is on a personal three-game winning streak. He'll take on a red-hot Sabres team that's riding a league-best eight-game winning streak.

Allen made 29 saves in Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Capitals.

The back-and-forth contest finally ended in the final minute of OT, when Jakob Chychrun batted his own rebound out of midair and past Allen. The 35-year-old netminder will be happy to flip the calendar to 2026 -- through seven starts in December, Allen has gone 2-4-1 with a 3.07 GAA and .894 save percentage.

Silovs was the first goaltender off at morning skate Sunday and is in line to start against the Blackhawks, Penguins play-by-play announcer Josh Getzoff reports.

With the chance to reset the goalie rotation, it appears the Penguins will go with Silovs over Stuart Skinner in the first game out of the holiday break. The 24-year-old Silovs has a 5-5-6 record on the season with a 3.22 GAA and an .887 save percentage. He'll take on a Blackhawks squad that's on the second of a back-to-back but fresh off of a big win against the Stars to snap a six-game losing streak.

Thompson stopped 35 shots in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Devils.

The 28-year-old netminder had coughed up 10 goals on 60 shots while losing his prior two starts, but Thompson looked a little sharper Saturday, as New Jersey held a lead for less than two minutes over the course of the game. Thompson's erratic December has still resulted in strong numbers. Through nine starts this month, he's gone 4-3-2 with a 2.61 GAA and .919 save percentage.