Goalie Announcements (Jan 20)

Happy Hockey Day in Canada, everyone!  It kind of snuck up on me, the grand day of non-stop hockey coverage on CBC and Sportsnet, involving every Canadian team.  Ron & Don are operating from Corner Brook, Newfoundland today and it might be worth tuning in for... for some of it, at least.

But we should start with the goalie survivor pool, since that's what we're all here for anyways and then we'll talk a bit more about Hockey Day in Canada.

Both survival games on Friday night were a bust!  The Golden Knights lost in overtime to the Panthers and the Capitals lost to the Canadiens in regulation, meaning that both Wilton and Grant would be heading into Saturday with nothing in hand.

13 games on the schedule for Saturday and since Washington already finished back-to-back nights, they wouldn't be playing, meaning that Grant will have to wait until Sunday for his last kick at the can, while Wilton does have one possible game today and an outside shot at one on Sunday as well, so what may come of it all?

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Wilton) versus Devan Dubnyk (Brenda & Seward)
Believe it or not, it is also Hockey Day in Minnesota too, so the Wild will get a primo game at home today, with the Eastern Conference's best team in town to play.  This is where Wilton gets his start, as Andrei Vasilevskiy is expected to return to the crease to continue his hockey pool leading ways.  The Wild should be amped up to make this into a pretty exciting game and they are also expected to be throwing their number one to the wolves, Devan Dubnyk.  Brenda & Seward are looking to capture their second Mover & Shaker of the season and they currently trail this week by 1 point, so a win would be a great help in that cause today, not to mention playing spoiler.

Connor Hellebuyck (Neil) versus Mike Smith (Ryan)
The Hockey Day festivities get underway early in Calgary, with an afternoon match-up between the Jets and the Flames, a 1pm MT start for those looking to catch the game on TV.  Both Neil and Ryan have goalies going in this one, as they battle internally between themselves in the standings, 1 point separating the two sides, 20th and 22nd in the standings.

Tuukka Rask (Clayton) versus Carey Price (Dale C.)
The Montreal Canadiens don't get a Canadian rival today, they get one of their Original Six rivals instead, the Boston Bruins.  The Canadiens played last night, so we're expecting the goalie that didn't play, Carey Price, giving Dale C. a start, as he chases down Clayton's team, which should have Tuukka Rask going at the other end.  The two teams here are only 5 points apart, 8th and 12th in the standings.

Frederik Andersen (Mike) versus Craig Anderson (Tony)
It's Andersen versus Anderson again to make up the Battle of Ontario.  The Maple Leafs are in Ottawa to take on the Senators, who will be wearing those sharp NHL100 Classic jerseys again tonight.  Mike and Tony have their keepers going again in this one, but this match-up in the pool standings isn't quite as close as the last couple of games, as Tony's team has seen some real improvement of late, jumping into the top 10 for the first time this season, sitting 9th, 29 points clear of Mike's 17th place team.

Jacob Markstrom (Wes) versus Cam Talbot (Wes)
Both the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers are coming off their bye week breaks and they will feature two Wes goalies tonight and with Wes only 1 point clear of the Basement Dweller position this week, he's hoping for a 0-0 draw into the shootout for maximum points from his keepers.  Neither team has been that good defensively this year, so it is way more likely that he'll just be getting a win from one of these keepers.