Goalie Announcements (Dec 4)

All of the Waiver Draft waiting and other plans that happened during the week, really limited my time on the blog, but we'll get a quick goalie update in.

It's a busy Sunday with seven games on the docket, but none of them are survival games, which is bad news for a couple of teams, who couldn't make it out of Saturday's night schedule with a much-needed win.  I will certainly go into more detail about that in Monday's Newsletter.

We have an early start to the schedule today, so we'll go with the goalies that we expect to start, not all of them have been confirmed at this point in time.

In the early afternoon game, the Montreal Canadiens are in La-la Land to take on the Kings and we're expecting a pretty good game here.  Carey Price, although unconfirmed, should get the call for the Habs, while Peter Budaj is expected to take to the net for the Kings.  These are two of the top goalies in pool scoring, so far this season, and could end up being a good battle.

It's a shame for Wes that Budaj isn't active today, but I suppose there is no guarantee for a win, with Benson's top pick going at the other side.  Next week, however, that's when Budaj's numbers start to shine in the pool.

This afternoon in Raleigh, the expectation is that we'll see Andrei Vasilevskiy going for the Lightning, while Cam Ward should be getting the nod for the Hurricanes tonight.  Tampa is on back-to-backs today, while the Hurricanes had the day off on Saturday, so the goalie match-up makes sense.

This means Ryan versus Brian in the pool here in this game.  Ryan needs a big game from his Tampa keeper, as he is leading the Basement Dweller conversation and he doesn't need that mention on his record this year.

The Nashville Predators will play back-to-back today as well, as they played host to the Devils last night and will host again, with the Flyers in town.  It hasn't been confirmed, but we are expecting to see Steve Mason against Juuse Saros for this game, given the situations of both teams.

Brenda & Seward's team should have their goalie going for the visitors tonight, looking to set a season-high for points in the pool, as they are on the brink of a Mover & Shaker nod and one of the best weeks this season.  A road win would put a cherry on top of this week.

The Detroit Red Wings gave Jared Coreau the the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, so they have left Petr Mrazek to take on the New York Islanders tonight in Brooklyn.  The Islanders didn't play on Saturday, but their goaltending situation hasn't exactly been crystal clear these days and either goalie, Jaroslav Halak or Thomas Greiss could easily go.  I think the Islanders have proven me wrong on some of my guesses a few times already this year, so I hesitate to do so again.

Mrazek should be going, which is good news for Stacey C., while Halak could go for Troy or Greiss could easily go for Dale B..  Either way, it's all pool goalies in this one.

No Corey Crawford means that Scott Darling will likely be going on back-to-back nights, although that is still unconfirmed.  The Blackhawks have called up Lars Johansson, but it would seem like a stretch for him to make his NHL debut so quickly.  At the other side, we're expecting Connor Hellebuyck, as the Jets are also playing on back-to-back days and the Jets already saw Michael Hutchinson this weekend.

Hellebuyck will go for Tony today, while Darling belongs to Scott... 23rd place versus 7th.  The Waiver Draft will hopefully help that cause out a bit.

The Anaheim Ducks will be operating on back-to-back nights, so it should come as no surprise that Jonathan Bernier gets the start for the visiting Ducks, when they invade the Saddledome. The Flames are expected to keep running with the hot hand in Chad Johnson, trying to capitalize on a tired traveling team.

For a pool match-up, this is Eric versus John S., in a bit of a standings mismatch, 20th versus 4th.

The Minnesota Wild will take on the Edmonton Oilers tonight at Rogers Place and the traveling Wild will suit up their number one, Devan Dubnyk, most likely against Jonas Gustavsson, as Cam Talbot faced the Ducks last night in a late one.

This makes two starts for John S. tonight and he runs unopposed in the pool, as Gustavsson wasn't taken in the draft, nor did anyone take him in the Waiver Draft.  With the number of starts Talbot has made and will continue to make, the Monster's stock isn't all that high.