Goalie Announcements (Oct 13)

You can't go using a team's alternate jersey logo in your post without using a header picture with it too.  The throwback to the old Phoenix Coyotes jerseys are pretty nice and the dogs are going to be using them again tonight, among the 13 other games on the schedule for this Saturday.

It's an early post this morning, because the action gets started right away, so here's hoping that some of these match-ups are right, because there will be some assumptions made, due to the lack of information.

For those keeping score at home, only six teams are left to try and qualify for the non-active goalie survivor pool.  I mean, you could probably side bet the hell out of this, if you wanted, but this year, it isn't a real thing.  Stuart, Brenda & Seward, Dale C., Eric, Mike and Grant are your six teams that qualified in Week One, but have yet to qualify in Week Two.  Let's see if they're going to get any help today.

Cam Talbot (Mike) versus Henrik Lundqvist (Scott)
The first of two 11am MT starts sees the Oilers on their extended eastern road trip head onto Broadway to take on the Rangers.  Between Friday and early Saturday morning, we still haven't seen any confirmation of one goalie or the other, but I think it will be fair to say that we'll see the number ones again today, as Talbot and the Oilers will only be playing game three of the season, while Lundqvist is still trying to find his form this season.

For both Mike and Scott, this game should represent the first of two starts each for them in today's busy schedule.  They are certainly a couple of the fortunate ones, who could pull points out of the crease today.  Scott currently leads the unofficial tally for goalie minutes played heading into today, while Mike's team has certainly missed the Oilers not playing much in these first couple of weeks.

Marc-Andre Fleury (Troy) versus Brian Elliott (Jeremy)
The second of these two early, early games sees the Golden Knights roll into Gritty-town to take on the Flyers.  Brian Elliott has been tapped in some reports early on this morning as being the expected keeper for the home side today, while we should be seeing Marc-Andre Fleury for the traveling Knights.  Both goalies have gotten off to some rocky starts, so they can certainly use this game to turn their fortunes around.

Troy's team is currently trailing Jeremy's team by only 3 points at the start of play today and his team has had a slightly better week as well.  This appears to be the only start for either team in today's schedule, so one team better make the most of it.

Jack Campbell (N/A) versus Craig Anderson (Mike)
It may have taken a key injury for this to happen, but the Kings are riding a pretty hot goaltender right now and that ride is taking them into Ottawa, where things are not quite as hot.  The Senators have not won in either of their two opening games at home, so Craig Anderson will be tasked with the job of getting that first one in the book.

This will be Mike's second start of the day, getting rid of both starts by early in the afternoon and then he'll only have his skaters to worry about in the evening.  Mike's team currently sits at 10 points this week, only 3 points clear of the current Basement Dweller-to-be.  It's not quite a comfortable spot, so wins are very important.

Jimmy Howard (Tony) versus Tuukka Rask (Jesse)
The Boston Bruins were nice enough to change their start time for today's game, to help the viewership of the Red Sox, so they'll play the Red Wings at 1pm MT today.  The Bruins had tapped Tuukka Rask earlier in the week to get the start, since Jaroslav Halak got the last start earlier in the week, while the Red Wings hadn't tapped one or the other of their goalies by the early morning, but we're expecting to see Jimmy Howard this afternoon.

In the standings, Tony has his sights on the Mover & Shaker nod this week, while Jesse is only 1 point better than Mike above him in this post, hovering above the Basement Dweller by only 4 points.  Both of these teams are having their only starts here in this game, so for whichever goal they are trying to achieve, they're only hope from the crease comes in Boston.

Curtis McElhinney (N/A) or Petr Mrazek (Stacey C.) versus Devan Dubnyk (Wes)
The great crap shoot of the day belongs to the Carolina Hurricanes, who have yet to announce their goalie for tonight's game in Minnesota, at the time of the post, and it could be newcomer Curtis McElhinney, taking a start away from the pool, or it could be Petr Mrazek, getting back into the net after sitting for a couple of games.  On the other side, it is expected, albeit unconfirmed, that we'll see Devan Dubnyk in the Wild net, after a couple of days off.

Stacey C. should be getting at least one start tonight, but this is game that could make it a pair of starts, if luck should fall down his way.  His team could certainly use a little bit more of it, since it will start action in 20th place.  Wes should be getting two starts as well today, trying to improve upon the 13 points he has this week and staying well away from the Basement Dweller nod.

Casey DeSmith (N/A) versus Antti Niemi (N/A)
A week ago, the lowly Montreal Canadiens embarrassed the Pittsburgh Penguins in their own barn, beating them 5-1 and fortunately for them, they can turn that around and give them a dish of revenge in their own barn tonight.  The Penguins don't have their number one though, which might be a plus for the Canadiens, but neither to the Habs, as the team announced this morning that Carey Price is out with the flu and they have recalled Charlie Lindgren to take his spot in the lineup.

Tough luck for Stacey M., who was banking on this game for a start tonight.

Sergei Bobrovsky (Kristy & Don) versus Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.)
It's a monster goaltending match-up in Tampa Bay tonight, as two of the league's top keepers will match-up this evening at Amalie Arena.  Sergei Bobrovsky is the likely starter for the Blue Jackets, while Andrei Vasilevskiy will make his third start of the season for the Lightning tonight.  Both teams have some pretty good offenses, so if the score remains low, you know that these two had themselves one hell of a night.

Dale currently holds the Basement Dweller spot for the week, having only 7 points through Thursday night's action and Friday night's off-day, and he'll be leaning on his top pick tonight to try and help his team out of this hole.  The duo, however, currently sit in 2nd place, 4 points back of the lead and they have real potential to close that number down tonight.

Jacob Markstrom (Chelsea) versus James Reimer (Dale C.)
On a night where the Florida Panthers will celebrate Roberto Luongo's 1,000th NHL game, they'll welcome his other long-term team in his career, the Vancouver Canucks for the ceremony.  It's too bad that Luongo is hurt and can't play, but that's another story altogether.  We do know that it will be James Reimer in the home net tonight, but it hasn't been confirmed either way for the Canucks.  Jacob Markstrom is thought to be the number one, but Anders Nilsson did look pretty good against Tampa the other night and that could have earned him another start.  We're just not sure.

Markstrom would be a pool start for the Canucks, whereas Nilsson wouldn't be and I would think that Chelsea is really hoping for that start.  Dale should be getting a second start with Reimer tonight, which should aid his attempt of getting out of the Basement for the week.

Frederik Andersen (Derek B.) versus Braden Holtby (Stacey C.)
All hands are going to be on deck for a shootout at the Capital One Arena in Washington, as the Maple Leafs will be in town to take on the champs, the Capitals.  The goaltenders will have their hands full in this one as well and the jobs will fall to Frederik Andersen and Braden Holtby tonight, as you may imagine, as either team will need their number one to get those valuable points in the standings.

Surprisingly, both goalies are on pool teams in the bottom half of the standings, but Derek's team is running hot at the moment, 18 points this week, only 3 points back of the leader for Mover & Shaker, and he's riding the hotter team into this game as well.  Stacey C.'s team isn't quite as hot this week, only 11 points through Friday, but the Capitals could show those kids a thing or two and help his team out a little.

Robin Lehner (Chelsea) versus Pekka Rinne (John P.)
Both goalies projected for tonight's game in Nashville are carrying shutouts into this game, so something will have to break.  Robin Lehner got a shutout win in his first start as an Islander, while Pekka Rinne continues to play some stellar hockey for Nashville.  The Islanders are trying to prove that they can still hang with the big boys, despite a dismal summer, while the Predators are the big boys and they intend to keep it that way.

Chelsea's team rocketed out to a good start in Week One, but quickly cooled down in Week Two, somewhat in the hunt for the Basement Dweller nod this week with only 10 points, so far.  John P. also saw his team get off to a good start, but they have managed to maintain this week, sitting with 15 points. 

John Gibson (Kristy & Don) versus Ben Bishop (Clayton)
Pretty big game in Dallas tonight, as the Ducks travel to take on the Stars, as both teams are off to some pretty good starts to the season.  The Ducks, on the shoulders of John Gibson, have yet to lose in regulation in four games, while Ben Bishop has stood tall for the Stars in his three starts, although he was kind of lit up by the Leafs earlier in the week.  Nevertheless, this could work out to be an entertaining match-up, especially from the goal crease.

This game is a big one at the top of the overall pool standings, since the duo sit in 2nd, getting their second start of the day in this one, while Clayton's team gets the Dallas start, sitting in 3rd place in the standings, only 1 point back.  Depending on how the action swings tonight, this game could be a good swing game in the standings.

Jake Allen (Steve) versus Cam Ward (Scott)
I think we can expect some good ol' fashioned Central Division fireworks in Chicago tonight, when the Blues and Blackhawks go head-to-head at the Madhouse on Madison.  The Blues aren't off to the strongest of starts, 1-1-1, and the Blackhawks have yet to lose in regulation, 2-0-2, and both teams should be sending their number ones to the crease tonight.  Jake Allen should get the nod, while Cam Ward has been given the nod... yeah, this has some real potential for a good dust up or two.

More importantly, this is a good clash in the middle of the hockey pool standings, where Steve currently sits 10th, only 1 point clear of Scott in 12th, so the swing potential here is pretty good too.  These are fun games to find for this blog post.

Carter Hutton (Wes) versus Antti Raanta (Brian)
This is one of the later games that is harder to project for starting goalies, more so for the home side than the visitors.  Carter Hutton has been playing well for the Sabres to start the season, so there's a pretty good chance that he'll get the nod again tonight.  Antti Raanta, on the other hand, hasn't been great for the Coyotes, but they haven't been great for him either.  He did win his last game, so that leads me to believe that he'll get the start tonight, but neither goalie has been confirmed and could flip just as easy.

If this is indeed the goalie match-up, it's a good one in the pool.  Wes' team trails Brian's team by 5 points in the overall standings, but there are eight spots in between teams in the standings, so it would have to be quite the game of hopscotch to get over them.  By this time in the night, those numbers will surely have changed.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Semyon Varlamov (Wilton)
In the late game tonight, the Flames are in Denver to take on the Avalanche and the Flames have promised this start, in part, to their backup David Rittich, who has made a couple of relief appearances already this year and is now in need of a start, so he can start to show his stuff.  His opponent at the other end, Semyon Varlamov, will be playing a terrible host, as the team in front of him is certainly quick and skilled, making Rittich's job that much harder.  This could be a fun game to finish the night, if all goes according to plan.

In the pool, it's two teams heading in opposite directions, as Ryan's team, banking on the Flames tonight, is only 1 point clear of the Basement Dweller nod for this week, while Wilton's team, resting on the laurels of the Avalanche, sits in 6th place, within a good day's worth of points from the money spots.