Kuemper took a serious backseat to Devan Dubnyk last season and ended the year at 14-12-2 with a 2.60 GAA and .905 SV%. Overall he is 27-22-6 with a 2.48 GAA and .910 SV% in 63 career NHL games. Tonight he will make his first start of the season against a Kings team who has lost their first three games—while being outscored 12-2.
Kuemper did not skate on Wednesday or Thursday because of an illness, so he will not back-up in Game 1, instead that duty will go to Niklas Backstrom. Kuemper will likely be kept away from the team until he is healthy. The team can not afford to get sick in the playoffs.
Fiala, 18, had 11 goals and nine assists (20 points) in 33 games with Milwaukee this season. The 2014 11th overall pick did not have a point in his NHL debut on March 24th.
Dumoulin, 23, had one goal in eight games with the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh has been forced to play with five defensemen recently because of cap issues, but with the absence of the salary cap in the playoffs allows the Penguins to recall Dumoulin for the postseason. Dumoulin scored four goals with 29 assists (33 points) in 62 games with WBS.
Kuemper will be making his first start since January 6th (93 days ago) tonight in Nashville. Kuemper will give Devan Dubnyk a rest after Dubnyk started the last 39 straight games. Kuemper has gone 13-12-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .904 SV% in 27 starts this season. He will take on a Predators team who have lost four in a row.
Fiala was a minus-1 while playing 11:25 in the only game he played in during his recall. His return to the minors suggests that Matt Cullen will be back in the lineup on Saturday.
Perry wound up on the third line late in Friday’s game against the Penguins and head coach Bruce Boudreau will stick with it tonight in Vancouver. Perry comes in with four goals and one assist in his last five games. He will skate with Jiri Sekac and Rickard Rakell.
Edler has missed the last eight games with an upper-body injury, but it looks like he will play tonight. According to the Canucks website, he has been activated from IR. He skated with Yannick Weber in the morning skate, so expect that to be the case tonight in Arizona. He has 17 points (5G / 12A) in 55 games this season.
Edler resumed skating last week and he has been making some progress after missing the last seven games, but it doesn’t look like he will play tomorrow. Monitor his status leading up to Thursday’s game in Arizona.
Forsberg allowed four goals on 31 shots in the Blue Jackets 4-2 loss to Buffalo last night. He has struggled at the NHL level, going 0-4-0 with a 4.69 GAA and .866 SV%, so he will swap places with Oscar Dansk.
Forsberg allowed six goals on 46 shots in the Blue Jackets 6-3 loss on Long Island on February 14th. Curtis McElhinney has started the last four games, but they will get Forsberg in tonight vs. the Sabres. Forsberg has a good shot to earn his first career NHL victory.
Forsberg allowed six goals on 46 shots in the Blue Jackets 6-3 loss on Long Island on February 14th. Curtis McElhinney has started the last four games, but they will get Forsberg in tonight vs. the Sabres. Forsberg has a good shot to earn his first career NHL victory.
Edler missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury that he suffered over the weekend. Originally the extent of the injury was not known, but GM Jim Benning announced after yesterday’s game that Edler is week-to-week. Expect him to miss at least two weeks.
Edler will not be in the lineup against the Wild tonight because of a lower-body injury that he suffered on Saturday in Calgary. With Edler out, Yannick Weber will be back in the lineup and Adam Clendening will man the point on the Canucks top power-play unit. Consider Edler day-to-day until the Canucks release more information.
Edler left Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury and his absence from the morning skate is not a good sign that he will be available tonight vs. the Wild. Coach Willie Desjardins did not have an update on Edler’s status and said that he is still under evaluation.
Edler left Saturday’s game in the second period and did not return. There was no update on Edler’s condition following the game, but expect an update in the next 24 hours.
Forsberg allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Blues Jackets loss to Arizona on February 3rd. He has gone 0-2-0 4.34 GAA and .861 SV% in three NHL starts this season. He draws a rough matchup on Long Island—New York is fifth in the NHL with a 3.02 goals per game.
Ceci was a healthy scratch on Tuesday, but will be back in the lineup on Thursday. Ceci has 14 points (3G / 11A) in 51 games this season.
Armia will start his Winnipeg Jets career in the AHL with St. John’s. He ranked fifth in point with Rochester having recorded 10 goals and 15 assists (25 points) in 33 games.
