Goalie Announcements (Oct 6)

Finally! It's the first Saturday of the hockey season and we're in for a great day of hockey.  There are 12 games on the schedule and one of them is going to face off really soon, so a quick post today would probably be in my best interest, if I'm going to do this at all.

Cam Talbot (Mike) versus Keith Kinkaid (Neil)
The Oilers and the Devils are starting the regular season in Sweden, under the cover of the NHL Global Series, where they each played a preseason game against European opponents to prepare for one game abroad.  Today is the day for that game abroad.  All indications are pointing to the team's number ones, so Talbot to go for the Oilers and Kinkaid, the healthy one, goes for the Devils.

In the pool, both Mike and Neil still haven't gotten off to the best of starts, 19th & 18th, respectively to start the day, but this is the day where everyone starts to get points and it really begins to get fun.

Cam Ward (Scott) versus Jake Allen (Steve)
The St. Louis Blues are the first of three teams on this post, scheduled to be wearing their alternate jerseys tonight and they are throwing them back quite a ways.  For the occasion, the Blackhawks will be in town for a Central Division match-up and it could be an okay game to watch, if you had to.

Expect Chicago newcomer Cam Ward to get the nod for the Blackhawks and for Scott's 2nd place team tonight, while Jake Allen should be getting the call again for the Blues, despite an ugly first start, which gives Steve's 10th place team a key start, looking for 2 points.  Steve's team only trails Scott's by 4 points, right in the thick of that opening week race.

John Gibson (Kristy & Don) versus Antti Raanta (Brian)
The Coyotes are bringing back the Kachina jerseys, the pattern that they started in Phoenix with and they will be doing so with a division rival in the house, the Anaheim Ducks.  Gibson and the Ducks have gotten off to a good start, while Raanta and the Coyotes are still searching for their first win of the season and they'll be looking good doing it.

Kristy & Don's team sit at 11 points to start the day, while Brian's team sits at 8 points, 6th and 13th place, respectively as well.

Jacob Markstrom (Chelsea) versus Mike Smith (Brian)
In the last of the marquee, alternate jersey games, there will be a rematch from opening night in Calgary, where the Flames will host the Canucks.  There's no reason as to why the goalies won't be the same as opening night, meaning that Brian gets two starts tonight, with the inclusion of Mike Smith.  For Chelsea, it appears this will be her only start for her 14th place team today, but if it is anything like Wednesday night, she should be okay with that.

Henrik Lundqvist (Scott) versus Carter Hutton (Wes)
The Sabres will host the Rangers in another one of those 5pm MT starts and we should see Lundqvist versus Hutton tonight in goal.  Scott, technically, gets his first start of the night here, while Wes will also see the first of two starts in this game as well.

Wes' team isn't off to the best of starts quite yet, but getting both goalies to play will certainly help.  His team opens up the night in 21st place with 5 points, only 10 points out of the lead.

Craig Anderson (Mike) Frederik Andersen (Derek B.)
The Toronto Maple Leafs, supposedly a super power on paper this year, only scraped by the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the week, a much lesser team, and they'll play game two against another lesser opponent in the Senators, making it an Andersen/Anderson game.

Mike gets his second start of the day from the visiting Sens, while Derek's team, fresh off an overtime loss last night, only gets the one start tonight.  Derek sits in 22nd place, having a win under his belt, but no goals, remarkably.

Roberto Luongo (John P.) versus Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.)
Neither the Panthers nor the Lightning have played yet this week and they both open their regular season in Tampa Bay, where we're expecting Roberto Luongo to take to the crease for the Panthers, albeit unconfirmed, while Andrei Vasilevskiy will get the nod for the Bolts today, as expected.

John's team is right in the thick of the race at the top, sitting 4th with 13 points, while Dale's team has been waiting for this game all week, sitting in 15th to start the day, 6 points back of his goalie game rival.

Juuse Saros (Eric) versus Thomas Greiss (Stuart)
The Predators are in Brooklyn to take on the Islanders tonight and Eric is getting his first start of the start of the regular season with Juuse Saros getting the nod for the Predators.  Stuart, the reigning champ, will get his only expected start in this one from Thomas Greiss.

Eric's team is hanging out in the middle of the standings, in need of a win, while Stuart's team is only 2 points ahead of Eric's, so a win to the visitors could tighten their own personal race up considerably.  Nashville has to be the heavy favourite in this one, but the Islanders are planning on surprising a few people this year.

Carey Price (Stacey M.) versus Matt Murray (Wilton)
In each of their opening games, the Canadiens stuck in well against the Leafs, while the Penguins snuck out a barn burning win against the Capitals.  When these two meet up, it does turn into a pretty good game and I think we can expect some excitement from this match-up tonight.  Stacey's team gets her only start from Carey Price tonight, while Wilton gets the first of two starts from Matt Murray on the other side.

Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy) versus Ben Bishop (Clayton)
Huge game at the top of the Central Division standings, when the Jets head to Dallas to take on the Stars, and it is also a pretty big game at the top of the hockey pool standings, since Jeremy will get a start here for his 1st place team, while Clayton gets a start for his 3rd place team.  The difference between these two is only 1 point, so it is very much a swing game in the standings, no matter which way you look at it, no matter how early in the season it is.

Marc-Andre Fleury (Troy) versus Devan Dubnyk (Wes)
The Golden Knights didn't get off to the best of starts at home this week and the Wild didn't either on the road.  Now the scene flips for each side, the Wild are in their home opener and they are expecting big things this season.  We're looking for both Fleury and Dubnyk to redeem themselves after opening night losses, but only one is going to be able to do it.  Troy and Wes might have to arm wrestle for these points, it's going to be so close.

Brian Elliott (Jeremy) versus Semyon Varlamov (Wilton)
The last game for the post is belongs to the traveling Flyers, taking on the Avalanche in Denver tonight.  Two second starts for pool teams in this one, as Jeremy gets another nod from Brian Elliott and the visitors, while Wilton is playing catch-up in the standings with Semyon Varlamov and the home side.  Both teams are good skating, high-powered offensive sides, so this could make to be a very entertaining game.