NHL Player News

Vanecek made 21 saves in Saturday's 4-0 win over the Sabres.

In his first start for his new club since being acquired from the Sharks, Vanecek demonstrated the benefits of improved defensive play in front of him as he recorded his first shutout in nearly two years. The 29-year-old goalie won't see much work behind Sergei Bobrovsky down the stretch, but Vanecek should deliver better ratios than the career-worst 3.89 GAA and .882 save percentage he produced over 18 outings for San Jose.

Luukkonen stopped 32 of 35 shots in Saturday's 4-0 loss to the Panthers, with Florida's final goal getting scored into an empty net.

The 26-year-old netminder took his fourth straight loss, as the Buffalo offense failed to get off the plane in South Florida. Luukkonen hasn't done himself any favors of late either, posting a 4.40 GAA and .853 save percentage during his March losing streak as the Sabres sink to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

Georgiev stopped 24 of 28 shots in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Islanders.

Georgiev took a second straight loss, though this was better than the seven goals he allowed to the Avalanche on Thursday. The 29-year-old netminder will continue to struggle to win behind a team that took another step toward a youth movement at the trade deadline. Georgiev is now 12-21-1 with a 3.65 GAA and an .875 save percentage through 38 appearances this season. The Sharks' next game is Tuesday versus another low-scoring team, the Predators, but that doesn't guarantee Georgiev will be a strong fantasy play.

Sorokin stopped 38 of 40 shots in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Sharks.

Sorokin was busy, but he got the job done, limiting the damage to power-play goals from Nikolai Kovalenko and Will Smith. This was Sorokin's fourth win in his last five outings, and he's allowed just 12 goals in that span. He'll continue to see a heavy workload at least until Marcus Hogberg (upper body) returns -- Semyon Varlamov (lower body) is not expected back this season. Sorokin is now 24-19-4 with a 2.76 GAA and a .906 save percentage over 47 appearances this season. Look for Jakub Skarek to get the nod Sunday in Anaheim before Sorokin wraps up the road trip versus the Kings on Tuesday.

Oettinger allowed five goals on 27 shots in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Oilers.

Oettinger gave up three goals in the first period, and then the Stars' defensive blunders took over as the Oilers struck twice more in the middle frame. This was Oettinger's second road loss in a row, and he's given up five goals in each of those games. He's down to a 30-14-2 record with a 2.48 GAA and a .909 save percentage across 46 starts. Casey DeSmith will likely get the nod Sunday in Vancouver, but look for Oettinger to start in Winnipeg on Friday after a rare four-day gap in the schedule, which should allow him to mentally reset after this poor outing.

Skinner stopped 23 of 27 shots in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Stars.

Skinner had a 5-1 lead to protect after two periods, but he nearly let it slip away. The Stars scored three times in a span of 4:12 in the third, but they couldn't find an equalizer, allowing Skinner to pick up a win in consecutive outings for the first time since mid-January. He's now 22-15-4 with a 2.87 GAA and an .897 save percentage over 43 appearances. The Oilers head east for a four-game road trip next week, beginning Monday in Buffalo.

Stolarz made 27 saves in a 7-4 loss to Colorado on Saturday. He allowed five goals.

The game was actually quite close. Neither team really played defense, so both Stolarz and Mackenzie Blackwood faced some really tough shots. The game came down to mistakes, and the Leafs made a couple more than the Avs. Stolarz has lost his last two starts, one in overtime. However, he's still 13-6-3 with a 2.33 GAA and a .921 save percentage in 23 starts. He'll be fine.

Blackwood made 17 saves in a 7-4 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Since his arrival in Mile High, Blackwood is 18-7-2 with a 2.22 GAA and a .917 save percentage. However, a game of shinny broke out Saturday, and nothing was easy for him or Anthony Stolarz. Blackwood has won four straight games, and with the deadline deals to amp up the team's offense, the netminder may have an easy ride the rest of the way.

Hofer stopped 21 of 23 shots in Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to the Kings.

Hofer was pulled from his previous start last Sunday versus the Stars after giving up three goals on nine shots. This was a much better performance, but he came up short when Quinton Byfield ripped home the game-winning goal 27 seconds into overtime. Hofer slipped to 3-4-2 over 11 appearances since the start of January, and he's now 11-7-3 with a 2.89 GAA and an .899 save percentage over 24 appearances this season. The Blues play three games in four days for the next fantasy week, including a back-to-back next weekend, so look for Hofer to get another start in that span.

Kuemper stopped 19 of 20 shots in Saturday's 2-1 overtime win over the Blues.

Kuemper avenged his shootout loss from Wednesday, holding the fort and limiting the Blues to just a Nick Leddy tally in the third period of Saturday's game. This performance ended a three-game slide for Kuemper, who was 0-2-1 with 12 goals allowed on 79 shots in that span. It's a rare poor stretch for the 34-year-old netminder, who improved to 19-8-7 with a 2.32 GAA and a .912 save percentage over 35 outings this season. He'll likely cede the crease to David Rittich for Sunday's game in Vegas, but look for Kuemper to be back between the pipes Tuesday on home ice versus the Islanders.