Saturday, March 10, 2018

Goalie Announcements (Mar 10)



I was thinking about doing this post yesterday, but there were only four games on the docket and only three of them had pool goalies, so it wasn't all that interesting to drum up.  Our Mover & Shaker leader had his goalies play the night before, so there wasn't much in that part of the story either.

Now it's Saturday, it's a new day and a busy one on the schedule.  We've got 11 games on the slate today, seven of which are in the morning/afternoon, possibly preparing for Daylight Savings to hit overnight, where we'll all lose that hour of sleep, but the days feel a bit longer.

Chris' team still holds the Mover & Shaker lead into Saturday, with 24 points to his 7th place team's name and if we're looking at 5 points difference for this post, there are six teams chasing his down for the weekly title.  Stuart, Neil, Cam, Wes, Derek B. and Eric, in that order, are all trying to get at the weekly honour.  Let's see who has what playing today.

Jake Allen (Cam) versus Jonathan Quick (Chris)
No confirmation, at the time of the post, about the afternoon game in Los Angeles, but it is expected that we'll see Jonathan Quick give Chris the first of two starts today and it's an all-Mover & Shaker game there, as it is also expected that we'll see Jake Allen for the Blues, giving Cam's team, which starts 4 points back of Chris' team, a big start.  Allen hasn't been sharp this season, but an injury has given him back the number one title.

Philipp Grubauer (Grant) versus Martin Jones (Chris)
The San Jose Sharks haven't announced their starting goalie for the day and there is an equal argument for either of their goalies, but this is a possible start for Chris as well with the Capitals invading the tank.  It could be Martin Jones today, which would be good for Chris, but it could also be Aaron Dell today, given that it's an afternoon game, which isn't quite so good for Chris.

Henrik Lundqvist (Brian) versus Roberto Luongo (Stuart)
Out of two possible starts for Stuart's team on Saturday, the first confirmation came fairly early, as the Florida Panthers will indeed go with the red-hot Roberto Luongo, who has found the fountain of youth, of sorts, after coming back from injury in the last week.  I'm not sure Stuart's team really needed the help, but he's got just a little bit more with a regular start from the Panthers again.  Stuart's team starts only 1 point behind Chris' squad, so it'll be a close race to the finish.

Connor Hellebuyck (Neil) versus Petr Mrazek (Mike)
The first of the goalies of note to be confirmed on the day was Connor Hellebuyck of the Jets, as he and his team will be in Philadelphia this afternoon for a date against the Flyers.  This is the first of two possible starts for Neil's team, which was opening the day's action only 3 points out of the Mover & Shaker nod, so his team was certainly in good shape at the start of the day.

Darcy Kuemper (Neil) versus Jonathan Bernier (Scott)
Neil's second goalie start was also confirmed fairly early, as the Coyotes open up back-to-back days with action.  In their first game on Saturday, they will go with Darcy Kuemper again, who has been great in recent starts, already picking up a win this week for Neil's side and then looking for another to help guide the pool team to weekly greatness.

Alex Stalock (N/A) versus Cam Talbot (Wes)
The Edmonton Oilers are getting the road-weary Mininesota Wild tonight in the late game of Hockey Night in Canada and Wes is expected to get another start from Cam Talbot tonight.  Wes' team starts the day only 4 points back of Chris' leading team and he's hoping that the Wild don't have anything left in the tank after beating the Canucks on Friday night.

Cory Schneider (Jeremy) versus Juuse Saros (Eric)
This was beginning to look like a game where neither Stuart or Eric would get a start out of it, but the Predators have announced that Juuse Saros would get the nod against the Devils this evening and that means Eric isn't out of luck today.  Eric's team starts the day 5 points out of the Mover & Shaker and gets a tough start, but anything can happen at this point.  Those Predators are a really good team.

J-F Berube (N/A) versus Tuukka Rask (Clayton)
Disappointing news for Derek B., as his goalie for the Blackhawks, Anton Forsberg, doesn't get the nod on Saturday morning against the Bruins.  Derek's team has moved back into 13th place this week, but he will need his skaters to get the job done today, in order to keep his team at the equator.

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