NHL Player News

Thompson will patrol the home crease versus Detroit on Friday, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports.

Thompson is having a fabulous season as he is 26-4-5 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.32 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Thompson has struggled of late, going 1-2-0 in his last three starts, allowing nine goals on 80 shots (.887 save percentage). The Red Wings are a tired team, coming off a 4-2 home loss to Utah on Thursday. Detroit is generating 2.84 goals per game, 19th in the NHL.

Lyon stopped 15 shots in Thursday's 4-2 loss to Utah.

The Red Wings outshot the visitors 40-19 on the night, but Utah took full advantage of the scoring chances it got. Lyon has lost back-to-back starts, and while he hasn't made much of a push to take over the starting role, the veteran netminder has been mostly solid this season in a backup role. Over 11 appearances since the calendar flipped to 2025, Lyon has gone 4-3-1 with a 2.69 GAA and a .902 save percentage.

Vejmelka made 38 saves in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Red Wings.

The 40 shots on net represented the biggest volume Vejmelka had faced since he got barraged with 50 in a win over Carolina on Nov. 13. The 28-year-old netminder has won five of his last six starts, posting a stellar 1.71 GAA and .935 save percentage over that stretch while seizing the top job in the Utah crease in the process. Vejmelka could be leaned on heavily over the final weeks as the team tries to stay in the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

Georgiev stopped 25 of 32 shots in Thursday's 7-3 loss to the Avalanche.

Georgiev had won his last two outings, but his former team put a halt to his momentum. Nathan MacKinnon had five points and Cale Makar led the way with six points -- each of them scored twice on Georgiev, who had one of his worst games of the campaign. For the season, the 29-year-old netminder is now at 12-20-1 with a 3.64 GAA and an .876 save percentage across 37 appearances. Even if he struggles, Georgiev may see a heavy workload for a while, as the untested Georgi Romanov (two career appearances) is his backup following the trade of Vitek Vanecek to the Panthers. The Sharks' next game is Saturday at home versus the Islanders.

Blackwood stopped 31 of 34 shots in Thursday's 7-3 win over the Sharks.

Two of the goals against were in the third period after the Avalanche were already well in control of the contest. This was Blackwood's fifth win in his last six outings, a span in which he's allowed 15 goals. The 28-year-old netminder is up to 23-16-5 with a 2.50 GAA and a .915 save percentage over 45 appearances this season. The Avalanche have a much tougher challenge for their next game when they host the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Luukkonen made 20 saves in a 6-5 loss to the Lightning on Thursday.

This was a bit of a pond hockey game, where the Sabres went up 5-3 midway through the second before the Bolts struck three times to take the win. Luukkonen has lost three straight starts after getting pulled 7:57 into a game against the Canes at the end of February. Before that, he was on a 6-2-0 run. Luukkonen is now 20-19-4 with two shutouts, a 3.14 GAA and .890 save percentage in 45 starts.

Montembeault stopped 29 of 32 shots in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Oilers.

Montembeault never let the Canadiens get more than one goal behind in this contest. He nearly guided it to a shootout, but Evan Bouchard tallied at 4:53 of overtime to end Montembeault's heroics. The 28-year-old netminder's four-game winning streak came to an end, and he's now at 22-21-4 with a 2.89 GAA and a .900 save percentage over 47 appearances this season. The Canadiens' road trip out west continues Saturday against the low-scoring Flames.

Skinner stopped 25 of 27 shots in Thursday's 3-2 overtime win over the Canadiens.

The Oilers let a couple of one-goal leads get answered in regulation, but Evan Bouchard clutched up at 4:53 of overtime to get the win. Skinner had gone five outings without a victory, losing three times in that span. For the season, the 26-year-old netminder is 21-15-4 with a 2.84 GAA and an .898 save percentage across 42 appearances. As long as the Oilers don't acquire a goalie before Friday's trade deadline, Skinner will remain the No. 1, though his play makes him a middling option in most fantasy formats.

Vladar allowed three goals on 27 shots in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Stars.

Vladar drew a tough matchup for his third appearance of the road trip. The Flames impressed early to jump out to a 2-0 lead, but the Stars' top players were too much for Vladar to handle, as Wyatt Johnston scored once and Jason Robertson tallied twice for the comeback. Vladar is down to 8-11-6 with a 2.98 GAA and an .893 save percentage after going 1-1-1 during the Flames' gauntlet trip. He is likely to continue sharing the goaltending duties with Dustin Wolf as the Flames make an attempt at the last wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Vasilevskiy made 28 saves in a 6-5 win over Buffalo on Thursday.

There really wasn't much defense played Thursday, and Vasilevskiy was the busier of the two netminders. Chalk this up to a run-and-gun game. Vasilevskiy hadn't allowed this many goals since Nov. 27 in a loss to the Capitals. He's cruising in Vezina territory this season.