NHL Player News

Lankinen will draw the home start against Montreal on Saturday, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 reports.

Lankinen will look to bounce back from a 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The 30-year-old has been a rock-solid backup option for the Canucks, but he is off to a sluggish start with a 1-2-0 record through three appearances this season.

Lindgren will draw the home start against Ottawa on Saturday, per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.

After opening the season with a 35-save shutout victory over the Rangers on Oct. 12, Lindgren allowed four goals on 24 shots in his next outing against Vancouver on Sunday. He'll look to rebound here against an Ottawa team that's dropped five of its last seven and remains without Brady Tkachuk (thumb). Given the matchup, Lindgren profiles as a solid spot-start option in this matchup.

Dostal is set to start on the road against Tampa Bay on Saturday, per the NHL media site.

Dostal has a 2-2-1 record, 2.82 GAA and .904 save percentage in five appearances this season. He's allowed just two goals in each of his past two outings, posting a .931 save percentage over that span. Tampa Bay has a 1-4-2 record and ranks 27th in goals per game with 2.57.

Merzlikins is set to start on the road against Pittsburgh on Saturday, according to Jeff Svoboda of the Blue Jackets' official site.

Merzlikins has a 2-1-0 record, 2.68 GAA and .927 save percentage in three appearances this season. He went 2-1-0 with a 3.28 GAA and an .873 save percentage in three regular-season outings versus Pittsburgh last year. Pittsburgh has looked good so far this season, posting a 6-2-0 record while averaging 3.50 goals per game.

Johansson is set to start at home against Anaheim on Saturday, per Benjamin Pierce of the Lightning's official site.

Johansson has gone 1-1-0 while stopping 58 of 64 shots (.906 save percentage) across two games this season. The Ducks are off to a strong 4-2-1 start and rank fifth in goals per game with 3.71, so they might be a tough matchup for Johansson. The decision to deploy Johansson on Saturday suggests that Andrei Vasilevskiy will probably get the start at home against Vegas on Sunday.

Ellis (undisclosed) will miss Saturday's road game against Toronto, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Ellis was originally going to start Saturday, according to Friedman, but he's not 100 percent. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (lower body) will make his season debut instead after being activated off injured reserve Thursday. Ellis won his NHL debut Wednesday, stopping 29 of 31 shots against Detroit.

Luukkonen will guard the road goal against Toronto on Saturday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

Luukkonen will make his season debut because Colten Ellis (undisclosed) is unavailable. The 26-year-old Luukkonen had a 24-24-5 record with two shutouts, a 3.20 GAA and an .887 save percentage across 55 appearances during the 2024-25 regular season. After missing the first seven games of the year due to a lower-body injury, he was the backup netminder behind Alex Lyon in Friday's 5-3 win over the Maple Leafs.

Skinner will defend the road net against Seattle on Saturday, Tony Brar of Oilers TV reports.

Skinner is coming off a 19-save effort in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime win over Ottawa. He has a 2-2-1 record this season while stopping 110 of 121 shots. Seattle ranks 23rd in the league with 2.75 goals per game this campaign.

Wedgewood will guard the road goal against the Bruins on Saturday, per Corey Masisak of the Denver Post.

Despite allowing four goals on 11 shots in only 13:40 of playing time during Thursday's 5-4 shootout loss to Carolina, Wedgewood will make his ninth straight start. He has a 5-0-2 record with a 2.33 GAA and a .910 save percentage through eight appearances this season. Boston ranks 13th in the league with 3.22 goals per game this campaign.

Gibson will patrol the home crease against St. Louis on Saturday, per Lou Korac of The Hockey News.

Gibson's two-game winning streak ended in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Buffalo. He has a 2-2-0 record this campaign while stopping 82 of the 94 shots he has faced. St. Louis is tied for 21st in the league with 2.86 goals per game this season.