Goalie Announcements (Apr 4)

Six nights left in the NHL regular season and we've got two races and five teams left in them.

Brian and Dale B. are neck-and-neck, with our buddy down under taking the tie-breaker, but still with time to play, both looking for the big money for 1st place.

Marcie jumped back into the 3rd place position with 2 points on Monday night, holding a 1-point advantage over Eric's team and 4 points over Ryan's team.

We know the races, so let's see who's on track for starts tonight.

Cam Ward (Brian) versus Devan Dubnyk (John S.)
Brian will have some representation tonight, as the Carolina Hurricanes head into Minnesota to take on the Wild on Tuesday night.  Ward will be his only crease participant tonight and this one certainly won't be easy for the Hurricanes, as the Wild are desperate to find their mid-season form again.  Dubnyk found a win against the Avalanche on the weekend and will try to build on that win with another win against the lesser Hurricanes.

Chad Johnson (John S.) versus John Gibson (Dale B.)
The Ducks have yet to confirm their goalie tonight and if Gibson was to go, it would be the only start that Dale gets.  I would guess that Jonathan Bernier might get the nod again, unless the Ducks have designs on Gibson getting his legs underneath him before the playoffs, but then you'd have to ask "why?" since Bernier has been running hot for this long.  Now, if Bernier went, it would still be a money game, since he belongs to Eric.

Mike Smith (Marcie) versus Antti Niemi (Wilton)
In the Big D tonight, the Coyotes and Stars will go head-to-head in a non-playoff bound game, but the game has some meaning in the hockey pool standings, as Marcie gets a start from the visiting dogs and it's certainly a game that could go either way, depending on which Coyotes or which Stars team shows up.

Cam Talbot (Marcie) versus Jonathan Quick (Kristy & Don)
The Oilers should still have designs on the Pacific Division title, so I would imagine that Talbot should still get the start, despite the Kings not in the playoff picture anymore.  This would give Marcie two starts tonight, but Talbot's has yet to be confirmed, at the time of this post.  Marcie should be in good shape to defend 3rd place, at least from the crease.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Ryan) versus Tuukka Rask (Troy)
The Boston Bruins are in a position to clinch a playoff spot tonight at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but Ryan is hoping for a win from his visiting goalie, as those points are far more important to him than the Bruins making the playoffs.  The Lightning won't have Steven Stamkos in the lineup tonight, as he's not ready to go quite yet, but the Lightning are getting healthier, increasing the chances of a win, ever so slightly.