Grubauer was rewarded with the win after coming in and stopping all seven shots in Thursday’s victory over the Lightning. Grubauer has gone 3-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA and .901 SV% this season, but could make for a strong start behind the powerful Capitals offence. The Hurricanes come in having won three of five.
Murray stopped 24 of 26 shots in the Penguins 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes in his NHL debut on Saturday. Murray fell behind 2-0 just 15 minutes into the game, but was able to close the door for the remaining 45 minutes, but it still wasn’t enough. He draws a solid matchup tonight vs. a Blue Jackets team that has won two in a row, but have lost five of their last seven.
Murray, 21, was a third round pick (83rd overall) in 2012 and has been excellent in the AHL this season. He has gone 12-4-0 with a 1.84 GAA and .938 SV% with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). Tonight he will make his NHL debut against a Hurricanes team that ranks 24th in the NHL in scoring (2.41 goals per game).
Grubauer allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Capitals loss to the Stars back on November 19th. Braden Holtby started the last eight games, but Grubauer will start tonight in Florida. It will be the battle of the backups with Al Montoya going for the Panthers. Grubauer has won both of his road starts this season while allowing five goals on 50 shots (.900 SV%).
Grubauer allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Capitals loss to the Flames last Friday. It was his first loss of the season and he now sits 2-1-0 with a 2.59 GAA and .899 SV% in three games. Grubauer is a solid-spot start option with the right matchup, but that is not what he has tonight with the Stars in town.
Grubauer allowed one goal on 27 shots in the Capitals win in Florida on October 31st. Grubauer has won each of his two starts, while stopping 45 of 50 shots (.900 SV%) this season. With Braden Holtby starting last night, the Capitals will turn to Grubauer tonight vs. the Flames. Calgary has gone 3-3-0 while averaging 3.17 goals per game over that span.
Stephenson has been a healthy scratch in three of the last four games and has been reassigned after failing to record a point in nine games with the Capitals this season.
Eberle who has been practicing, is expected to get in two more practices before he makes his season debut on Friday vs. the Penguins. This is the best timing possible with the Oilers losing Connor McDavid for a couple of months. Eberle had 24 goals and 39 assists (63 points) in 81 games las season.
McCormick had six shots and plus-1 rating in four games with the Senators. His return to the AHL suggests that the Senators are expecting Mike Hoffman to return to the lineup on Tuesday in Montreal.
Grubauer allowed four goals on 23 shots in the Capitals win in Edmonton last Friday. It wasn’t a pretty performance, but the offence was able to do enough to earn him his first ‘W’of the season. On Saturday he takes on a solid Panthers team, but they will be without two of their top guns (Barkov & Jagr).
Eberle has missed the first 10 games of the season with a shoulder injury. He was placed on LTIR this morning, but is eligible to return whenever he is healthy. Eberle’s movement to LTIR allowed the Oilers to recall Leon Draisaitl. His return to practice is a good sign that he is on pace with his 4-6 week timetable—he is currently four weeks into that recovery.
Eberle has been placed on longterm injured reserve retroactive to the start of the season, which means he is eligible to return to the lineup whenever he is healthy. Eberle’s movement to LTIR gave the Oilers’ cap relief to recall Leon Draisaitl.
McCormick, 23, was a 2011 sixth round pick (171st overall) and will make his NHL debut tonight vs. the Coyotes. McCormick had 20 points (10G / 10A) in 62 games in his first AHL season and had one goal in four games this season.
Schwartz was injured in practice on Friday and will now miss 12 weeks or three months of time. This timetable would put Schwartz out until late-January which would likely see him miss 40 games. This is a terrible break for the Blues, who will likely move Robby Fabbri into the top six when he is healthy and could be forced to move some blueline depth to pick up a forward.
After being helped off of the ice at practice this afternoon, Schwartz was taken to the hospital to have his leg examined. This obviously is not good news for Schwartz or the Blues, who are expected to give a full update on Saturday morning. With Schwartz out and Robby Fabbri still sidelined, the Blues have recalled Ty Rattie from Chicago (AHL).
Schwartz reportedly had to be helped off of the ice by his teammates after crashing legs-first into the net. We saw Logan Couture suffer a serious injury in practice last week and it looks like Schwartz might be the latest victim of practice injuries. Stay tuned, but it doesn’t look good for Schwartz.
