Hogberg allowed four goals on 45 shots in the Senators loss in Columbus on Monday. Hogberg has lost three straight (0-2-1) while posting a 4.61 GAA and .874 SV%. Tonight he faces a Canucks team that has gone 4-1-1 while scoring an impressive 4.33 goals per game in their last six games.
Tonight will be Schneider's first start since January 18th. He was pulled after giving up four goals on 17 shots in the Devils 5-0 loss in Columbus. Schneider is still looking for his first win of the season, going 0-6-1 with a 4.65 GAA and .852 SV% thus far. With that said, if he's going to get a win, his best chance would be tonight against the league's worst team.
Duclair was forced to leave Monday's game in Columbus and is not expected to play tonight in Nashville. To fill that hole, the Senators have recalled Filip Chlapik from Belleville (AHL).
Varlamov stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Islanders win over the Sharks on Sunday. Varlamov has won two straight while stopping 50 of the 52 shots (.962 SV%) that he’s faced. Tonight he faces the Rangers for the third time this season—he is 0-2-0 while giving up nine goals on 63 shots (.857 SV%) in the first two meetings.
The 2020 first-round pick is top-three protected, and the 2022 third-rounder is conditional on the Islanders winning the Stanley Cup this season. Pageau is in the midst of a career year, scoring 24 goals and adding 16 assists in 60 games this season. The 27-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free-agent on July 1.
Varlamov allowed one goal on 22 shots in the Islanders win over the Red Wings on Friday. The win snapped a three-game losing skid for Varlamov, who will make his 35th start tonight vs. the Sharks. In his first start against the Sharks, Varlamov stopped 24 of 26 shots in a 2-1 overtime loss (Nov.23).