NHL Player News

Askarov stopped 20 of 23 shots in Friday's 4-1 loss to the Stars. The fourth goal was an empty-netter.

Askarov gave up one power-play goal in the first period and two even-strength tallies in the third to take his second straight loss. He's also allowed at least three goals in four of his last five outings. The 23-year-old goalie has come back down after riding a hot streak for much of November. He's now at a 10-8-1 record with a 3.14 GAA and a .901 save percentage over 19 starts. The Sharks' road trip continues with a tough game in Raleigh versus the Hurricanes on Sunday.

Oettinger stopped 16 of 17 shots in Friday's 4-1 win over the Sharks.

Oettinger has won five straight starts, giving him 13 victories on the year. That's tied for the most in the NHL alongside the Avalanche's Scott Wedgewood. Through 19 appearances, Oettinger is 13-4-2 with a 2.52 GAA and a .908 save percentage, and he's given up just nine goals on 138 shots during his winning streak. The Stars host the Penguins on Sunday for their next game.

Ivankovic posted a 23-save shutout in the University of Michigan's 3-0 win over Michigan State University on Friday.

A performance like that, in a battle between two highly-ranked programs, is a massive feather in the cap for Ivankovic. He's already earned three shutouts this season while going 16-3-0 for the No. 1 ranked Wolverines. He's also posted a 1.90 GAA and a .926 save percentage over 19 appearances. The Predators look to have a quality prospect on their hands, especially if he continues to improve from what he's done as a freshman so far.

Vejmelka will start in goal on the road in Friday's game versus the Canucks.

Vejmelka will get the nod after posting a 27-save shutout over the high-scoring Ducks on Wednesday. This is the first half of a back-to-back, which makes it likely Vitek Vanecek will get the nod Saturday versus the Flames. Vejmelka faces a Canucks team that has scored 13 goals over the last six games, winning just one of them.

Milner signed a professional tryout agreement Friday with the Capitals and will back up Logan Thompson versus the Ducks.

Milner never appeared in an NHL game during his career, ending his professional career in the AHL with Hershey. He's remained in the Capitals' orbit as their practice goalie this season and traveled with the team on this trip to California. Once Charlie Lindgren (upper body) is healthy, Milner will be released from his tryout.

Lindgren (upper body) will not dress for Friday's game versus the Ducks.

Lindgren's absence comes after he stopped 23 of 24 shots Wednesday versus the Sharks. The Capitals were unable to make a regular roster move to accommodate his absence, which suggests this is a fairly new development. They signed Parker Milner to a professional tryout agreement to be the backup to Logan Thompson on Friday.

Hart (lower body) won't suit up Friday versus the Devils and is considered day-to-day, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Hart apparently came out of his season debut Tuesday a little worse for wear. Akira Schmid will start Friday, with Jesper Vikman serving as the backup goalie. It's unclear if Hart will be ready for Sunday's game against the Rangers.

Schmid will protect the road goal versus the Devils on Friday, Mike Morreale of NHL.com

Schmid hasn't played the last two games for the Golden Knights after going 0-1-2 with 10 goals allowed over his previous three outings. He'll get his first start against the team that drafted him in 2018, the Devils, who enter Friday's contest on a three-game losing streak.

Gibson will protect the road goal versus the Kraken on Saturday, Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press reports.

Gibson will make his third start in the last five games. The 32-year-old has given up 19 goals over his last four outings, going 1-2-1 in that span. The Kraken are a low-scoring foe, and they've scored just 12 goals in their last six games.

Mrazek (lower body) was put on injured reserve Friday, per the NHL media site.

Mrazek is expected to miss the next 2-3 weeks, so this move doesn't impact his timetable. He's 3-3-0 with a 3.69 GAA and an .876 save percentage in seven outings this season. Anaheim is also missing netminder Lukas Dostal (upper body), and the Ducks are expected to lean heavily on Ville Husso for as long as those two goaltenders are injured. Vyacheslav Buteyets is also with Anaheim to serve as the No. 2 goaltender until Dostal or Mrazek return.