NHL Player News

Vejmelka stopped 32 of 33 shots in Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Senators.

Vejmelka limited the damage to a Ridly Greig tally late in the first period. He has three wins in his last four outings, a span in which he's given up nine goals on 109 shots. The 29-year-old is now leading the NHL in wins with 19, one ahead of Colorado's Scott Wedgewood, though Vejmelka has played in six more games. The Utah netminder has added a 2.65 GAA and an .897 save percentage over 33 appearances. The Mammoth are back in action Friday versus the Blues.

Merilainen will guard the road goal versus the Mammoth on Wednesday, per the NHL media site.

Merilainen was pulled from his outing Monday versus the Red Wings after giving up three goals on nine shots. He's gone 2-2-0 with 14 goals allowed on 101 shots over his last five starts. This is the first half of a back-to-back that concludes Thursday in Colorado, but it's unclear who between Merilainen or Mads Sogaard will get the nod against the Avalanche.

Askarov will protect the road goal versus the Kings on Wednesday, Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reports.

Askarov got pulled from his last outing after giving up three goals on 10 shots versus the Lightning on Saturday. He'll now handle the second half of a back-to-back after Alex Nedeljkovic earned a win Tuesday over the Blue Jackets. The Kings have scored 21 goals over their last six games.

Cooley (illness) will serve as the backup netminder for Wednesday's game versus the Canadiens, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports.

Cooley is not listed among the scratches Wednesday, and he will return after a one-game absence. He could be in line to start for Thursday's game in Boston after Dustin Wolf tends the twine in Montreal on Wednesday.

Mrazek was placed on injured reserve Wednesday due to a lower-body injury.

With Mrazek having already missed Tuesday's clash with the Flyers, he will only need to be out of action for two more games due to his placement on IR. Having said that, the Ducks haven't provided a specific update regarding his timeline; it could certainly be longer. While Lukas Dostal will continue to serve as the No. 1 option in Anaheim, Ville Husso was added to the NHL roster to serve as the backup while Mrazek is unavailable.

Kuemper is expected to patrol the crease for Wednesday's home clash with San Jose, John Hoven of SiriusXM NHL Network Radio reports.

Kuemper is 2-1-0 with a 3.26 GAA in three appearances since returning from an upper-body injury. With just 12 victories through his first 26 outings, the 35-year-old netminder could be in danger of missing the 30-win threshold after reaching that mark last year.

Wallstedt is expected to start on the road against Seattle on Thursday, according to Michael Russo of The Athletic.

Wallstedt has an 11-2-4 record, 2.30 GAA and .926 save percentage in 17 outings in 2025-26. While he's having a superb campaign, he's working through a rough patch, in which he's allowed 14 goals on 133 shots (.895 save percentage) across his past four appearances. Seattle ranks 25th in goals per game with 2.78.

Binnington will start Wednesday's road game against Chicago.

Binnington picked up his first shutout of the season against the Canadiens on Saturday, turning aside all 26 shots he saw in a 2-0 victory. He was in a bit of a slump before Saturday's matchup, as he had gone 0-3-1 with a 4.86 GAA and an .845 save percentage over his previous four appearances. Chicago has posted 2.76 goals per game this season, tied for the sixth-worst mark in the NHL.

DeSmith will start Wednesday's road game against Washington, Mike Heika of the Stars' official site reports.

DeSmith missed Sunday's game against Montreal while tending to a personal matter, but he returned to action in relief during Tuesday's road loss to Carolina. He'll draw the start in the second half of the back-to-back set after turning aside 16 of 17 shots (.941 save percentage) during Tuesday's matchup. Across seven appearances since the start of December, he's gone 3-1-2 with a 2.90 GAA and a .905 save percentage.

Vejmelka was the first goalie to leave the ice Wednesday, Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports reports, indicating he'll tend the twine at home versus the Senators.

Vejmelka has continued to put up solid numbers since the start of December, going 8-4-0 with a .905 save percentage in 13 outings. With 18 wins in his 32 appearances this year, the Czech netminder is on pace to top the 26 victories he put up last year.