NHL Player News

Knight turned aside 19 shots on 22 tries in Monday's 4-3 overtime preseason win over Minnesota.

Knight made his preseason debut Monday, where he ran into trouble in the third period before shoring up his defenses down the stretch in the OT win. The 25-year-old netminder is coming off an up-and-down campaign, where he posted a 19-25-11 record, a 2.82 GAA, a .902 save percentage and three shutouts across 55 regular-season appearances. Considering it was his first full season as a starter and Chicago invested in its defensive core by bringing in Bowen Byram, Knight could see his numbers rise during the 2026-27 campaign.

Pickard made 16 of 20 saves in Monday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Blackhawks.

Pickard allowed one goal in each of the first three periods before he allowed the OT winner to Chicago's Bowen Byram just under 30 seconds into the extra stanza. The 34-year-old netminder has played each of Minnesota's last two preseason outings, where he has a combined stat line of 30 saves on 36 total attempts. Despite Monday's struggles, the veteran netminder is expected to play a role for Minnesota early in the season with Filip Gustavsson (hip) expected to miss roughly one month.

Murashov turned aside all 13 shots he faced in Monday's 4-1 preseason win over Buffalo.

Murashov played the first half of Monday's contest, while Joel Blomqvist finished out the game. The Penguins goaltending depth chart is murky at this time, and it seems unlikely that the team will carry three goaltenders for much, if any, of the regular season. General manager Kyle Dubas said Aug. 22 his expectation is that Murashov and Blomqvist will be competing for a roster spot this year, so it's a situation to keep an eye on as training camp continues.

Montembeault turned away seven of eight shots on net he saw in Monday's 3-2 overtime preseason win over the Senators.

While Montembeault started the preseason off on the wrong foot by allowing a goal to William Eklund just under 90 seconds into regulation, he recovered decently and kept the Senators off the scoresheet for the remaining 30 minutes he played. The 29-year-old netminder has played solid this preseason, now totaling 20 saves on 21 total attempts across two preseason outings. He'll continue to face the tough task of winning back one of the team's top two goalie spots, as Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler currently appear to be the favorites for Montreal's goalie tandem in the 2026-27 campaign.

Ersson stopped 32 of 35 shots on net in Monday's 3-2 overtime preseason loss to the Canadiens.

Ersson's first official game with Ottawa ended up being a mixed bag, where he allowed just one goal across the first 51 minutes before surrendering two tallies to Cole Caufield down the stretch. While the late collapse was slightly discouraging, the blame isn't all on Ersson, who looked a step above his output from 2025-26. In 33 regular-season games a year ago, the 26-year-old backstop struggled with a 3.12 GAA and an .870 save percentage. With a performance that contained highs and lows, we'll likely see Ersson suit up one more time this preseason before an official decision is made regarding Ottawa's backup netminder.

Tarasov stopped all 15 shots he faced during Monday's 1-0 preseason shootout loss to the Blue Jackets.

Even though it was an exhibition game, it was a good start to Tarasov's Red Wings tenure. The 27-year-old netminder signed a one-year, $2 million contract with Detroit on the opening day of free agency in July, but he will need to fend off the up-and-coming Trey Augustine for the backup gig to John Gibson throughout the remainder of training camp.

Greaves turned aside all 16 shots he faced in Monday's 1-0 preseason shootout win over the Red Wings.

Greaves played the first 40 minutes of this game, while Pheonix Copley replaced him to start the third period. Elvis Merzlikins (shoulder) has no timeline for a return, so Greaves is poised to handle the majority of starts for Columbus in the early going, even with the addition of veteran Cam Talbot to the goaltending room.

Garand made 28 saves on 31 shots during Monday's 3-2 preseason loss to the Devils.

Garand played the entirety of Monday's game. A fourth-round pick by the Rangers in 2020, Garand is looking to earn the No. 2 gig behind Igor Shesterkin in 2026-27. Joonas Korpisalo, who has much more NHL experience than Garand, is also competing for that role, but Garand impressed in three games with the Rangers last season, going 2-0-1 with a .948 save percentage and 1.62 GAA. Head coach Mike Sullivan also mentioned Garand's overall development at the start of training camp, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post, so the Rangers' goaltending depth chart is far from certain at this point.

Allen stopped all three shots he faced in Monday's 3-2 preseason win over the Rangers.

Allen played the first period of Monday's contest before giving way to Nico Daws for the rest of the game. Unless the Devils bring in another netminder at some point during the 2026-27 season, Allen should receive the bulk of the starts for a team that is expected to return to the postseason after missing out in 2025-26.

Pickard will guard the road crease in Monday's preseason contest against the Blackhawks, per Jack Bushman of Chicago Hockey Now.

Pickard will return to action after stopping 14 shots in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win against Chicago. The 34-year-old netminder struggled last season with a 5-6-2 record, a 3.68 GAA and an .871 save percentage across 16 regular-season appearances. With Filip Gustavsson (hip) likely to miss time to begin the 2026-27 season, Pickard will likely serve as the team's No. 2 option between the pipes in the interim. Monday's preseason outing should help ease the veteran netminder into his new system.