NHL Player News

Hofer will get the starting nod at home against the Lightning on Friday, Lou Korac of NHL.com reports.

Hofer is coming off a 33-save shutout performance versus the Hurricanes on Tuesday and will now be making his third start in the Blues' last four contests. At this point, it seems the 25-year-old backstop has supplanted Jordan Binnington as the No. 1 option in St. Louis and will likely see the bulk of the workload moving forward.

Gustavsson stopped all nine shots he faced Thursday after replacing Jesper Wallstedt to begin the third period of a 6-2 loss to the Jets.

The two goalies have been working in a timeshare, but that arrangement may not last much longer. While Wallstedt has been struggling of late, Gustavsson has been locked in since the beginning of December, going 7-2-2 over his last 12 outings with a 2.13 GAA and .920 save percentage.

Halverson was called up from AHL Syracuse on Friday.

Halverson posted a 12-6-2 mark with a 2.42 GAA and an .899 save percentage in 20 AHL games this season before his recall. The Lightning have not announced any injury or illness to Andrei Vasilevskiy or Jonas Johansson at this time, which would have triggered the recall of Halverson.

Wallstedt gave up six goals on 20 shots before being replaced by Filip Gustavsson to begin the third period of Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Jets.

The hook from coach John Hynes had more to do with protecting Wallstedt's confidence than his actual performance. The 23-year-old netminder has just one win in his last five starts, going 1-2-2 with a 4.13 GAA and .860 save percentage, and he could be in danger of falling out of a timeshare with Gustavsson until he turns things around.

Morrissey scored the game-winning goal and added a power-play assist in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Wild.

The star blueliner gave the Jets a 3-0 lead when he ripped a one-timer past Jesper Wallstedt with just three seconds left in the first period. Morrissey has come firing out of the gates in January, getting onto the scoresheet in seven of eight games this month and producing three goals and nine points, and Thursday's GWG was his first of the season.

Vilardi picked up a goal and an assist, both on the power play, in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Wild.

After having a hand in a Jonathan Toews tally late in the first period, Vilardi lit the lamp himself midway through the second. Vilardi has gotten onto the scoresheet in four straight games, and in 11 contests since Christmas the 26-year-old winger has delivered three goals and 12 points as he marches towards a career-best campaign.

Toews scored a power-play goal and added an even-strength assist in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Wild.

The veteran center opened the scoring late in the first period, banging home the rebound on a Mark Scheifele shot. Toews has found a groove since Christmas, finding the back of the net in four straight games and collecting four goals and nine points in the last 11 contests, impressive numbers considering he had just three goals and nine points through his first 35 games with Winnipeg.

Scheifele scored an even-strength goal and added three assists, two on the power play, in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Wild.

Two of the helpers came in the first period, sparking the Jets to a 3-0 lead through the first 20 minutes. Scheifele has delivered four multi-point performance in the last five games, and over the last 12 contests he's racked up six goals and 17 points -- a surge that has put the 32-year-old center on track for his first career 100-point campaign.

Hellebuyck stopped 32 shots in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Wild.

The Jets headed into the first intermission up 3-0, and Hellebuyck made sure the outcome was never in much doubt after that. The three-time Vezina Trophy winner has had an uncharacteristically rough season so far, but he's won three straight starts, pushing his record to 12-12-4 with a 2.73 GAA and .901 save percentage.

McAvoy collected two assists (one on the power play) with four hits, three blocked shots and a plus-3 rating in Thursday's 4-2 win over the Kraken.

On the night the Bruins retired Zdeno Chara's No. 33, their current top blueliner sparked the offense by helping to set up the game's first and last tallies while taking care of business in the defensive end as well. McAvoy has gotten onto the scoresheet in seven of the last eight games, producing a goal and nine points over that stretch while adding 19 blocked shots, nine hits, eight shots on net, six PIM and a plus-8 rating to his ledger.