Projected lineups, starting goalies for today
Latest line combinations, defense pairs, injury news from NHL.com writers
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NHL.com @NHLdotcom
DUCKS (10-13-4) at MAPLE LEAFS (17-9-2)
7 p.m. ET; SNO, Victory+
Ducks projected lineup
Cutter Gauthier -- Mason McTavish -- Alex Killorn
Frank Vatrano -- Ryan Strome -- Troy Terry
Brock McGinn -- Isac Lundestrom -- Leo Carlsson
Ross Johnston -- Jansen Harkins -- Brett Leason
Cam Fowler -- Jacob Trouba
Brian Dumoulin -- Radko Gudas
Jackson LaCombe -- Olen Zellweger
Lukas Dostal
John Gibson
Scratched: Pavel Mintyukov, Drew Helleson, Sam Colangelo
Injured: Robby Fabbri (lower body), Trevor Zegras (lower body)
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Matthew Knies-- Auston Matthews -- Mitch Marner
Max Pacioretty -- John Tavares -- William Nylander
Pontus Holmberg -- Fraser Minten -- Max Domi
Steven Lorentz -- Connor Dewar -- Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe -- Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit -- Conor Timmins
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Scratched: Alex Nylander, Nikita Grebenkin, Nicholas Robertson, Phillippe Myers
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Bobby McMann (lower body), David Kampf (lower body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower body)
Status report
The Ducks did not hold a morning skate after a 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. ... McCabe will return after missing the past five games after taking a puck to the head on November 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. … Defenseman Marshal Rifai was assigned to Toronto of the American Hockey League on Thursday. Forward Nikita Grebenkin was recalled.
CAPITALS (19-6-2) at BLUE JACKETS (12-13-3)
7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MNMT
Capitals projected lineup
Aliaksei Protas -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael -- Dylan Strome -- Taylor Raddysh
Hendrix Lapierre -- Lars Eller -- Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime -- Nic Dowd -- Ivan Miroshnichenko
Martin Fehervary -- John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin -- Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun -- Trevor van Riemsdyk
Charlie Lindgren
Logan Thompson
Scratched: Dylan McIlrath, Alexander Alexeyev, Jakub Vrana
Injured: Alex Ovechkin (lower body), Sonny Milano (upper body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
James Van Riemsdyk -- Sean Monahan -- Kent Johnson
Dmitri Voronkov -- Cole Sillinger -- Kirill Marchenko
Zachary Aston-Reese -- Adam Fantilli -- Mathieu Olivier
Mikael Pyyhtia -- Sean Kuraly -- Kevin Labanc
Zach Werenski -- Dante Fabbro
Ivan Provorov -- Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen -- Jordan Harris
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Jack Johnson, Daniil Tarasov
Injured: Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Justin Danforth (lower body)
Status report
The Capitals will use the same lineup from a 4-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday with Lindgren replacing Thompson in goal. … Greaves will make his season debut after being recalled from Cleveland of the American Hockey League on Wednesday. … Danforth, a forward, was injured during a 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. Pyyhtia will replace him.
KINGS (17-8-3) at DEVILS (18-10-3)
7 p.m. ET; FDSNW, MSG
Kings projected lineup
Trevor Moore -- Anze Kopitar -- Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele -- Quinton Byfield -- Tanner Jeannot
Kevin Fiala -- Phillip Danault -- Alex Laferriere
Alex Turcotte -- Samuel Helenius
Mikey Anderson -- Vladislav Gavrikov
Joel Edmundson -- Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare -- Jordan Spence
Kyle Burroughs
David Rittich
Darcy Kuemper
Scratched: Andreas Englund, Akil Thomas
Injured: Trevor Lewis (lower body), Drew Doughty (ankle)
Devils projected lineup
Ondrej Palat -- Jack Hughes -- Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier -- Dawson Mercer
Paul Cotter -- Erik Haula -- Stefan Noesen
Tomas Tatar -- Justin Dowling -- Nathan Bastian
Brenden Dillon -- Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler -- Johnathan Kovacevic
Luke Hughes -- Brett Pesce
Jacob Markstrom
Isaac Poulter
Scratched: Nick DeSimone, Kurtis MacDermid
Injured: Curtis Lazar (knee), Jake Allen (upper body)
Status report
The Kings held an optional skate on Thursday, but are likely to use 11 forwards and seven defensemen. ... Haula did not participate in the skate but is expected to play. ... Allen will miss his second straight game, but the goalie did skate on his own Thursday. "We'll see where he's at going into practice [Friday] and make a determination from there," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said of Allen's injury.
BLACKHAWKS (9-17-2) at ISLANDERS (11-12-7)
7:30 p.m. ET, CHSN, MSGSN
Blackhawks projected lineup
Ilya Mikheyev -- Connor Bedard -- Philipp Kurashev
Taylor Hall -- Ryan Donato -- Tyler Bertuzzi
Nick Foligno -- Jason Dickinson -- Teuvo Teravainen
Patrick Maroon -- Lukas Reichel -- Craig Smith
Alex Vlasic -- Connor Murphy
Nolan Allan -- Kevin Korchinski
Wyatt Kaiser -- TJ Brodie
Arvid Soderblom
Drew Commesso
Scratched: Louis Crevier
Injured: Seth Jones (foot), Laurent Brossoit (knee), Petr Mrazek (groin), Alec Martinez (neck)
Islanders projected lineup
Maxim Tsyplakov -- Bo Horvat -- Jean-Gabriel Pageau
Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Kyle Palmieri
Simon Holmstrom -- Casey Cizikas -- Pierre Engvall
Matt Martin -- Kyle MacLean -- Oliver Wahlstrom
Dennis Cholowski -- Noah Dobson
Alexander Romanov -- Ryan Pulock
Isaiah George -- Scott Mayfield
Ilya Sorokin
Marcus Hogberg
Scratched: Hudson Fasching, Grant Hutton
Injuries: Semyon Varlamov (lower body), Anthony Duclair (lower body), Mathew Barzal (lower body), Adam Pelech (upper body), Mike Reilly (heart surgery)
Status report
The Blackhawks did not hold a morning skate. Martinez, a defenseman who missed a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers, left practice early Wednesday and is being evaluated. … Smith is expected to play after not playing Tuesday. … Mayfield (illness) will play after he missed a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. … Lee (illness) is a game-time decision.
