Oilers goalie Cam Talbot is aiming to return to Edmonton’s lineup within the next week, notes Postmedia’s Robert Tychkowski. He acknowledges that he may not be 100% recovered at that time but as long as there’s no risk of re-aggravating his injury, he will be prepared to play. That may take some of the pressure off GM Peter Chiarelli who has been scouring the league for extra goaltending depth in recent weeks. As it turns out, one of the goalies he was looking into – Winnipeg’s Michael Hutchinson – happens to be hurt himself now on a day-to-day issue.
Other goaltending notes from around the league:
- Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been ruled out of playing on Thursday against Toronto as a result of a lower-body injury sustained on Thursday night, head coach Bruce Boudreau told Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. Dubnyk told his bench boss that he doesn’t think it’s a particularly bad injury although an MRI will ultimately determine the extent of it. Unless they think Dubnyk can dress as the backup, Minnesota will have to call up a goaltender before puck drop tomorrow, likely one of Niklas Svedberg or Steve Michalek, their current tandem with AHL Iowa.
- Blues goalie Carter Hutton took part in practice on Wednesday which signals that he is nearing a return to the lineup, notes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hutton is eligible to be activated off injured reserve on Friday and could be in line to start one of their upcoming back-to-back games against Winnipeg over the weekend.
- Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen has seen his workload reduced this season with the addition of Ben Bishop but told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News that he’s happy with where he is even with his role being reduced. The 34-year-old has posted a .909 SV% heading into Wednesday’s start against the Islanders, his highest mark since 2013-14. Speaking of that start, Lehtonen set a new NHL record for most appearances made by a Finnish-born goaltender with 624, passing Miikka Kiprusoff.