Draisaitl missed practice on Monday and will miss his second game in a row on Tuesday. The Oilers’ star forward remains day-to-day and the Oilers will re-evaluate him before deciding whether or not he will travel with the team on their upcoming road-trip.
Malone has recorded three points (2G / 1A) in three games with Bakersfield and could make his Oilers debut on Tuesday. Malone has been recalled because Leon Draisaitl (concussion) is on IR and Drake Caggiula (undisclosed) is also sidelined.
Draisaitl has missed three practices in a row and will be held out of the lineup with an eye injury that he suffered when he was high-sticked on Monday. With Drasaitl out, Kailer Yamamoto is expected to play on the Oilers’ top line.
Smith allowed three goals on 45 shots in the Flames’ overtime win in Los Angeles on Wednesday. After losing on opening night, Smith has won three in a row while stopping 110 of 116 shots (.948 SV%). Moving to Calgary was supposed to lessen Smith’s workload, but he has now faced a whopping 40.0 shots per game through four outings.
Carrick missed the last two games with a minor upper-body injury, but was skating on the third pairing at Friday’s practice which suggests that he will play tomorrow. Carrick has one assist and two shots in 15:02 TOI/GM through two games this season.
Smith stopped all 43 shots that he faced in the Flames shutout win over the Ducks on Monday. It was a sensational performance from the first-year Flame, who is now 2-1-0 with a 1.68 GAA, .957 SV% and one shutout in his first three starts this season. Tonight he takes on a Kings team that has started the season 2-0-0 with 3.00 goals for per game.
Smith gave up three goals on 28 shots in the Flames’ win over the Jets on Saturday. Smith’s Flames career has gotten off to a great start, as he has stopped 67 of 72 shots (.931 SV%) that he has faced through two starts. Tonight he will start in Anaheim, where the Flames have had basically no success for years.
There is no indication when Caggiula suffered the injury, but he was not on the ice for Sunday’s practice, so don’t expect him to play vs. the Jets. With Caggiula out, Zack Kassian will take his spot on the third line and Anton Slepyshev will draw into the lineup.
Smith allowed just two goals on 44 shots in the Flames 3-0 opening night loss in Edmonton. Smith was exceptional in his Calgary debut but the Flames had no answers for Connor McDavid, who recorded a hat trick on the night. Smith will look to record his first ‘W’ in a Flames uniform when they host the Jets tonight.
Pickard was placed on waivers on Thursday and cleared Friday afternoon. The Maple Leafs waited for him to clear because now they can send him to the Toronto Marlies (AHL) and keep him in their system. This is a smart move for Toronto, who’s current backup goaltender is veteran Curtis McElhinney, who has had his fair-share of struggles during his career.
Kulak, who had 10 points (2G / 8A) in 22 AHL games and three assists in 21 NHL games a season ago was expected to be in the opening night lineup, but Matt Barkowski will get the first crack alongside Michael Stone tonight.
Smith spent the last six seasons in Arizona, but was traded to the Flames this summer and will take over as their No.1 netminder for the 2017-18 season. Smith’s fantasy value improves with the move, as he goes from a team who gave up the second most shots per game (34.1) to a team that gave up the eighth fewest (28.7). However, his Flames career might get off to a rocky start as he goes up against Connor McDavid and the Oilers.
After just one season in Florida, Demers is on the move to his third team in three years after being traded to the Coyotes on Sunday. Arizona was in need of a right-shot defenseman and they have found their man in the 29-year-old Demers. The Canadian-born blueliner is coming off of a season in which he collected a career-high nine goals with 19 assists (28 points) in 81 contests for Florida. With Jakob Chychrun to miss a lot of this season, Demers will slide right into a top-4 role, likely alongside Alex Goligoski.
