NHL Player News

Luukkonen will start in Monday's road game against the Blackhawks, per Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News.

Luukkonen will look to stay hot in Monday's contest after earning a win in four of his last five starts. Overall, the 27-year-old netminder has a 21-9-3 record, a 2.56 GAA and a .908 save percentage across 34 appearances this season. He's been a big reason why the Sabres currently sit atop the Atlantic Division, and he'll have extra motivation in Monday's contest to make sure they keep two points in hand on the surging Canadiens. Luukkonen will face off against a Blackhawks offense that ranks tied for 31st in the NHL with 2.55 goals per game this season.

Talbot will start Monday's road game against the Lightning, per the NHL Media Site.

Talbot will look to earn his first win since March 2 after losing or drawing no result in each of his last six appearances. Overall, the 38-year-old netminder has a 12-9-5 record, a 3.07 GAA and an .888 save percentage across 32 outings this season. With the Red Wings eliminated from postseason contention, Monday's start has the potential to be Talbot's last outing of the season. He'll face off against an elite offense in Tampa Bay, which ranks fourth in the NHL with 3.50 goals per game.

Johansson (undisclosed) will not be an option for Monday's home game against Detroit and is day-to-day, according to Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site.

Emergency backup goaltender Kyle Konin will serve as the No. 2 option behind Andrei Vasilevskiy on Monday. Tampa Bay's final regular-season game is at home Wednesday versus the Rangers.

Kochetkov was recalled by the Hurricanes from AHL Chicago on Monday.

After his conditioning stint in the AHL, Kochetkov is set to join the Hurricanes for the first time since sustaining his hip injury in late December. The 26-year-old netminder would have to be activated from injured reserve before returning to action, but his recall from a conditioning loan suggests that could happen in the coming days. When healthy, he has played decently well with a 6-2-0 record, a 2.33 GAA and an .899 save percentage across nine appearances this season. If he's activated Tuesday, he'll have the chance to appear in Carolina's regular-season finale versus the Islanders for a tune-up game before potentially playing a sizable role in the team's goalie rotation for the playoffs.

Villalta was reassigned to AHL Tucson on Monday, per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports.

Villalta will return to Tucson after serving as Vitek Vanecek's backup in the absence of Karel Vejmelka (undisclosed) in Sunday's game versus the Flames. Across 33 outings with the Roadrunners this season, Villalta has a 16-12-3 record, a 3.10 GAA and an .895 save percentage. With Tucson's next game not until Wednesday, Villalta's return to the AHL indicates that Vejmelka might be ready to play in the Mammoth's contest versus the Jets on Tuesday. If not, Villalta could return to the NHL club Tuesday to serve behind Vanecek once more.

Akhtyamov is expected to be between the pipes at home versus the Stars on Monday, Dave McCarthy of NHL.com reports.

Akhtyamov will make his second NHL start, having given up five goals on 44 shots in his debut versus the Islanders on Thursday. Now that the Maple Leafs are out of playoff contention, it makes sense to give the 24-year-old Akhtyamov some extra work, especially with Anthony Stolarz (lower body) done for the season.

Forsberg is expected to start Monday's road matchup against Seattle, Zach Dooley of the Kings' official site reports.

Forsberg has allowed only four goals on 107 shots during his four-game winning streak. He has a 15-11-5 record during the 2025-26 campaign with three shutouts, a 2.57 GAA and a .909 save percentage through 34 appearances. Seattle ranks 27th in the league with 2.78 goals per game this season.

Nedeljkovic will defend the road net against the Predators on Monday, per Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now.

Nedeljkovic is coming off a 21-save effort in a 5-2 loss to Edmonton on Wednesday. He has a 16-14-4 record this campaign with a 2.95 GAA and an .893 save percentage across 38 appearances. Nashville sits 19th in the league with 2.95 goals per game this season.

Hart was the first goalie off during Monday's morning skate, SinBin.vegas reports, indicating that he'll draw the home start against Winnipeg.

Hart has picked up wins in each of his four starts since returning from injury, allowing just seven goals on 97 shots (.928 save percentage) during that time. He made a road start against the Jets on Jan. 6 and turned aside 17 of 20 shots (.850 save percentage) in an overtime victory.

Knight will patrol the home crease against Buffalo on Monday, Vinnie Parise of The Hockey News reports.

Knight has gone 0-5-2 in his last seven outings while permitting 27 goals on 216 shots. He has posted a record of 18-24-11 this campaign with three shutouts, a 2.80 GAA and a .904 save percentage across 53 appearances. Buffalo is tied for fifth in the league with 3.44 goals per game this season.