The Washington Capitals have signed goaltender Reid Cooper to an amateur tryout agreement and he will be the team's backup goalie to Darcy Kuemper for the season finale on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, the team announced.
The team, which has been eliminated from playoff contention, says usual backup Charlie Lindgren is injured.
The Capitals are following in the footsteps of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have used amateur goalies as backups the past three games.
Cooper, 24, posted a 20-6-1 record with three shutouts, a 1.92 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage in 27 games with NCAA Division III Curry College in Milton, Mass. this season.
Previously, Cooper played three seasons at Robert Morris University. In addition, Cooper played two seasons in the British Columbia Hockey League with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and Coquitlam Express.
The Panthers say goaltender Alex Lyon will start his eighth consecutive game on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Lyon is 6-0-1 during his run, which started when Sergei Bobrovsky was sidelined by an illness.
The Panthers need a win to overtake the New York Islanders for the first wild-card spot in the East, which would allow them to avoid the league-leading Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs.
Goaltender Craig Anderson was in the starter's net at morning skate prior to the team's final home game of the season Thursday against the Ottawa Senators.
The 41-year-old goaltender, who has been out with an upper-body injury since late March, has made no decisions on his future beyond this season.
Playing his old team, the Senators, could be a fitting sendoff for Anderson, who has provided a strong veteran presence for the Sabres the past two years.
The Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday.
Former Regina Pats defeceman Stanislav Svozil will make his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The third-round pick was called up earlier this week after the Connor Bedard-led Pats lost Game 7 of their WHL playoff series against the Saskatoon Blades.
The Blue Jackets will have some of the best odds to land the first pick in this year's NHL Draft Lottery -- with Bedard sure to go first overall.
Per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, Svozil was asked if he joked about potentially playing with Bedard in Columbus next season.
“I didn’t joke about it. I was serious," Svozil said.
With their playoff seeding cemented in as the West's final wild-card spot, it looks like the Winnipeg Jets will give a few of their stars the night off in their regular-season finale against the Colorado Avalanche.
Josh Morrissey, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nate Schmidt all stayed on the ice for extra work at the morning skate, which could lead to them being held out of the lineup in preparation for the playoffs.
Pierre-Luc Dubois and Nikolaj Ehlers will also not be in the lineup. The team announced that Ehlers is not in the concussion protocol and is out with an upper-body injury. He will be re-evaluated on Friday and head coach Rick Bowness said it was too early to tell if Ehlers would be available for Game 1 of their opening-round series.
Jets forward Adam Lowry will play, and forward Dominic Toninato was recalled from the AHL and will also be in the lineup.
Colorado Avalanche
Forward Artturi Lehkonen will return to Avs lineup on Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.
Lehkonen has been out since March 12 with a broken finger.
He has 20 goals and 29 assists in 62 games this season.
AHL Forwards Nick Swaney and Damien Giroux will make their NHL debut with the Minnesota Wild against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, per Michael Russo of The Athletic.
The Wild, having already secured a playoff berth, are resting a number of players including Kirill Kaprizov, Jonas Brodin, Jared Spurgeon and Matt Boldy.
Rookie defenceman Calen Addison will be moving up to play right wing on the fourth line alongside Swaney and Giroux.
Swaney has 16 goals and 28 points in 46 AHL games this season. Giroux has played 65 games, recording three goals and 18 points.
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