NHL Player News

Hellebuyck stopped 13 of 17 shots in Thursday's 5-3 loss to the Kraken. The fifth goal was an empty-netter.

The four goals against were the most Hellebuyck has allowed since he yielded five on Opening Night versus the Stars. The 17 shots against also matched a season low, making this an all-around bad performance for the American netminder. Those are usually pretty rare for him -- Hellebuyck stands at 7-6-0 with a 2.49 GAA and a .914 save percentage over 13 starts. The Jets wrap up their road trip in Calgary on Saturday.

Grubauer stopped 23 of 26 shots in Thursday's 5-3 win over the Jets.

Grubauer has won both of his starts since Joey Daccord (upper body) landed on injured reserve. The 33-year-old Grubauer has still given up six goals on 45 shots in those two outings, which is far from encouraging work, but the wins have been enough to see him split the crease with Matt Murray. Through four appearances, Grubauer is 2-0-1 with nine goals allowed on 74 shots. The Kraken will host a Sharks team Saturday that is coming off a 2-0 loss to the Flames.

Luukkonen allowed three goals on 30 shots in relief of Alex Lyon in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Avalanche.

A report earlier in the day had Luukkonen as the starter, but fantasy managers who didn't get him out of their lineups still got an appearance from the Finnish netminder. Lyon lasted just 6:10 into the game before he was pulled for performance reasons, and Luukkonen did a fair job in relief. However, Luukkonen did end up with the loss, falling to 1-2-1 on the year while allowing a total of 12 goals on 103 shots. The Sabres' crease is up for grabs with Luukkonen, Lyon and Colten Ellis all in contention for starts, though wins may remains rare for this struggling team.

Lyon stopped one of three shots before he was relieved by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in Thursday's 6-3 loss to the Avalanche.

It was clear enough from the jump that Lyon didn't have it, prompting head coach Lindy Ruff to make a quick switch. That early move spared Lyon from taking the loss, but the 32-year-old's GAA rose from 2.92 to 3.07 while his save percentage dipped from .911 to .907 due to this poor outing. He's 3-5-3 on the year as well, and he if can't turn things around soon, he may cede some playing time to Luukkonen or Colten Ellis. The Sabres wrap up their current road trip in Detroit on Saturday.

Thompson made 22 saves in a 6-3 loss to the Panthers on Thursday. He allowed five goals.

Thompson has a strong overall stat line of 7-5-0 with a 1.85 GAA and .923 save percentage. But he has delivered a 2-4-0 record in his last six starts, with two of those games having conceded three or more goals. Thompson remains one of the NHL's best goalies, but the wheels could come off at some point based on workload alone.

Blackwood stopped 18 of 21 shots in Thursday's 6-3 win over the Sabres.

Blackwood wasn't great, but he didn't need to be as the Avalanche jumped out to a quick lead. The Sabres were able to briefly tie the game late in the second period before Gavin Brindley put Colorado ahead for good. Blackwood is 2-0-1 through three starts, but he's allowed 10 goals on 77 shots so far. After the game, head coach Jared Bednar announced Scott Wedgewood will start Sunday versus the Islanders, per Ryan Boulding of NHL.com, so it looks like Blackwood will continue to have to be patient when it comes to getting more chances to play. As long as Wedgewood's play remains strong, Blackwood may not have an opportunity for anything more than an even split of starts.

Tarasov made 37 saves in a 6-3 win over Washington on Thursday.

It was his first win of the season (fifth start). "[Tarasov] was incredible, especially early in the game and early in the third when they had a few pushes and he was able to shut the door," Sam Reinhart told reporters after the game. "We were able to hold onto it." Tarasov is now 1-3-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .902 save percentage.

Wedgewood will get the home start versus the Islanders on Sunday, Ryan Boulding of NHL.com reports.

Mackenzie Blackwood was between the pipes for a 6-3 win over the Sabres on Thursday. Wedgewood has been operating as the No. 1 netminder to great results this season, especially when Blackwood was working his way back from a lower-body injury. Wedgewood has posted a 2.00 GAA and .927 save percentage during his five-game winning streak, and his strong play earned him a one-year contract extension Thursday.

Wolf recorded a 16-save shutout in Thursday's 2-0 win over the Sharks.

Wolf was hardly tested in this contest, and he was more than capable of putting an end to the Sharks' recent run of success. The California native always seems to have his best performances against the Sharks -- this was his first shutout against his hometown team, but he's 8-1-0 with a 1.88 GAA and a .923 save percentage in nine career matchups against them. For 2025-26, Wolf improved to 5-10-1 with a 3.03 GAA and an .897 save percentage over 16 starts. While this was a positive performance, the Flames still need to play a lot better in front of Wolf to give him a chance at wins. They're back in action for a tough home game Saturday versus the Jets.

Askarov stopped 34 of 35 shots in Thursday's 2-0 loss to the Flames. The second goal was an empty-netter.

Blake Coleman created a turnover and scored at 5:46 of the second period for the only goal that got past Askarov. While this was the end of Askarov's four-game winning streak, he still put forth an excellent performance. He's now allowed exactly one goal in four straight outings. For the season, the 23-year-old is 5-5-1 with a 3.09 GAA and a .906 save percentage over 11 starts. The Sharks' next game is Saturday in Seattle, and if Alex Nedeljkovic (personal) isn't back with the team by then, it's safe to assume Askarov will make another start.