Evening Preview (Apr 3)

There isn't a great deal of intrigue among tonight's three games in the NHL, as there is only one of them that has any sort of meaning towards the playoffs, the other two are just something to watch for the sake of watching it.

There isn't even a whole lot of intrigue in the hockey pool out of these three game.  No games that have any merit to the money race, one top 10 game and Scott trying to get out of last place.  Boring!

Wake me when it's Thursday, would you?

Anders Nilsson (Stuart) versus Henrik Lundqvist (Scott)
We know that the Ottawa Senators have now secured 31st place in the NHL standings, which means they'll have the best odds for the draft lottery, but they won't be making that pick... the Avalanche will be.  What a dud of a season.

In the pool, this game only really has any meaning to Scott, as his goalie will be going and trying to help him get out of the hockey pool basement.  Scott's team is only 1 point clear of the weekly Basement Dweller nod and 4 points back of Derek B. in the overall basement.  Stuart's team is cruising right along and will get a visiting goalie start for whatever that's worth, not a whole hell of a lot, really.

Jake Allen (Steve) versus Cam Ward (N/A)
The St. Louis Blues could move into 2nd place in the Central with a regulation win in Chicago tonight, not quite having the ROW tie-breaker against the Jets, so the Blackhawks will be tasked to spoil their progress tonight.

Steve gets a rare start tonight from Jake Allen and the Blues, the only pool start in this game.  Steve's team is eyeing up 17th spot after an okay night last night, where his team lifted up to 7 points on the week and is only 2 points back of Brian's team and only 3 points back of Clayton and Troy, so there's certainly room to move tonight for his side.

David Rittich (Ryan) versus Ryan Miller (N/A)
The Calgary Flames have already rested some key players on their last California road trip of the season, so one could expect to see some more of that in this meaningless game against the Anaheim Ducks tonight.

The Flames are not giving away their goalie plans for the playoffs and they are continuing to rotate their keepers a bit, going again with David Rittich tonight, giving Ryan's team another start before the end of the season.  Ryan's team opens up the night in 13th, 5 points out of the top 10, so a win tonight could get him nice and close with only a few nights to go after this.

Looks like we'll be adding Sean Monahan's name to the list of healthy scratches, ahead of the playoffs, since he didn't take a spin on a regular line this morning, while Matthew Tkachuk and Mikael Backlund did.  That's two in and one out.  Wes loses out on a game, still defending 10th place, while Troy and Grant see their players back in.