Goalie Announcements (Jan 2)

The cycle begins again and we're looking at the goalie survivor pool today.  There are four games out of the 11 on the schedule that could possibly involve one of our surviving team's goalies and that's what we'll feature here this afternoon.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Wilton) versus Frederik Andersen (Mike)
Big Atlantic Division game in Toronto tonight, as the Tampa Bay Lightning are in to take on the Maple Leafs and it should come as no surprise, that both teams are going to be flexing their goaltending muscle tonight.  That means that Wilton gets one start, for sure, with Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Lightning, as the top player in the hockey pool takes on Frederik Andersen at the other end.  Mike's team isn't quite out of the money race just yet, but his goalie will have to start giving his team a boost, trying to make up the 47-point gap between 17th and 3rd.

Braden Holtby (Grant) versus Cam Ward (Stacey M.)
The Washington Capitals are a go tonight in Carolina, which means that Grant will indeed get a start tonight and given the way that the schedule has formed for the Capitals, it shouldn't come as a surprise that it is Braden Holtby in net tonight.  At the other side, it looks like Cam Ward has indeed taken the top goalie spot for the Hurricanes, as he'll open up the new calendar year in the crease tonight.  Stacey M. is climbed back into the top 10 recently and her ascent in the standings might continue with a regular starter in Carolina.

Keith Kinkaid (Stuart) versus Carter Hutton (Benson)
Well, here was a bit of a surprise.  The New Jersey Devils are participating in a battle of the backups tonight, despite not really needing to, according to the schedule, not having back-to-backs at the moment.  Keith Kinkaid gets the nod for Stuart, instead of Jeremy getting a survivor start.  Carter Hutton is also somewhat of a surprise starter, since the Blues don't play tomorrow night either.  Benson could be happy about that, since he could use the points to help chase down Dale B. for 1st place.

Pekka Rinne (Dale B.) versus Marc-Andre Fleury (Scott)
Doesn't appear that Wilton will get two starts tonight, as Marc-Andre Fleury was the first goalie off the ice for the Golden Knights at practice, usually signaling that he will be the starter.  Scott's goalie will get to play spoiler again though, trying to keep Dale B. from extending his lead tonight, as his goalie will be the one at the opposite end for the Nashville Predators, Pekka Rinne getting the nod to start the New Year.