Rittich allowed four goals on 21 shots in the Flames loss in Montreal last Thursday. It was a tough season debut for Rittich, who draws another tough matchup tonight in Winnipeg. Rittich was 15-10-3 with a 2.81 GAA, .914 SV% and one shutout on the road a season ago.
Foegele has been on the COVID-19 reserve list and has not played since January 18th. Foegele should reclaim a spot in the Hurricanes' bottom-6 and is still searching for his first point of the season.
Kuemper made 14 saves on 16 shots in the Coyotes win over the Ducks last Thursday. It was a light night for Kuemper, who has given up two or less goals in four straight games and carries a 2.44 GAA and .910 SV% into Tuesday's game in St. Louis. The Blues have won three straight games and are averaging 3.44 goals per game, which ranks ninth in the NHL.
Foegele was activated on Friday and was on the ice for an optional practice, suggesting that he could be available for Saturday's home game vs. the Stars. Foegele, who has yet to record a point in three games this season, will likely replace Steven Lorentz and skate on the third line with Jordan Staal if he's made available.
Fiala was assessed a game misconduct for the first period hit and was suspended for three games on Friday. This means that the Wild will be without one of their top offensive weapons for the first three games of their four-game set with the Avalanche--he's eligible to return for the finale next Friday.
Jacob Markstrom started the first five games of the season, so Thursday will be Rittich's season debut. The 28-year-old has won 20-plus games in back-to-back seasons, going 24-17-6 with a 2.97 GAA, .907 SV% and two shutouts in 48 games last season. Tonight he faces a Canadiens team that has yet to lose in regulation and lead the NHL in scoring through six games (4.83 GF/gm).
Jones has been a healthy scratch for the last four games but will replace Slater Koekkoek Tuesday in Winnipeg. Jones had one assist and a minus-4 rating while playing 15:50 ATOI in the first three games of the season.
Kuemper stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Coyotes' 1-0 loss to Vegas on Sunday. After a bit of a tough start to the season, Kuemper has played really well in his last two starts, stopping 55 of the 58 shots (.948 SV%) that he's faced. He'll be thankful that he doesn't have to face the Golden Knights, after four straight starts vs. Vegas. He draws a great matchup vs. a Ducks team that he was 1-1-0 while allowing just five goals on 63 shots (.921 SV%) against in 2020.
Both Edler and Travis Hamonic left Wednesday's game vs. Montreal and did not return. During his postgame press availability, head coach Travis Green did not have an update on either defenseman. If both aren't available for Thursday's game, look for Olli Juolevi and Jordie Benn to be in the lineup.
The Hurricanes played in Nashville on Monday and had just one player n the COVID-19 protocol list and that was Jordan Staal. On Tuesday, their game with the Predators was cancelled due to four more players being added to that list, Foegele among them. The four players with confirmed positive tests must stay behind in Nashville and observe a 10-day isolation period in the team hotel.
Kuemper allowed three goals on 35 shots in the Coyotes shootout loss to the Sharks on opening night. Antti Raanta started Saturday’s game so Kuemper will be fresh to start a week where they will play the Golden Knights four times in seven days. Kuemper was 1-0-1 while stopping 74 of 76 shots (.974 SV%) in two games vs. Vegas last year.
Studnicka played 11:40 TOI in the season opener but was a healthy scratch on Saturday. With Ondrej Kase getting hurt on Saturday, Studnicka will draw into the Bruins lineup on Monday and is expected to skate on the second line with David Krejci and Nick Ritchie.
Studnicka started the season on the first line but will already get scratched in favour of Anders Bjork. Craig Smith will make his Bruins debut and replace him in the lineup but Bjork will be on the top pair with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
