Saturday, March 03, 2018

Goalie Announcements (Mar 3)



Cam's handle on the Mover & Shaker nod wavered ever so slightly, just enough for Tony's team to jump up on it, taking the lead and going into Saturday's action already at the 30-point mark and with 10 projected games left to play. Cam's team is only 1 point back, while both Kristy & Don and Brian are 2 points back and Dale B.'s team dropped to 3 points back. This would be your top five teams looking at the Mover & Shaker and if we really wanted to tighten things up, Stuart and Eric are only 4 points back... maybe we should include them in our look at the starting goalies today too.

Looking at the schedule today, the Stadium Series game is really playing havoc with the times today, as there are five afternoon games and only one late game tonight, not to mention the late start for Hockey Night in Canada for the outdoor game.  It will also leave seven games to play on Sunday as well, so there is that.

Nevertheless, let's see what goalies will impose their will on the Mover & Shaker today, shall we?  Of course, we have to remember, with the early starts comes a wee bit of guessing, so bear with me.

Mike Condon (N/A) versus Antti Raanta (Ryan)
This would have been Tony's only start... if Craig Anderson didn't already get the win in Vegas last night. No, this will be a Mike Condon start for the Senators (or so we'll assume), leaving a non-pool goalie to contest against Ryan's keeper, Antti Raanta in the desert on Saturday evening.  Ryan's team is only 2 points clear of the Basement Dweller and should get a good game out of his goalie, given that it will be a tired Senators team tonight.

Jake Allen (Cam) versus Ben Bishop (Kristy & Don)
It's an all-Mover & Shaker match-up this afternoon in Dallas, as Cam's team looks to take back the reins, while Kristy & Don have a couple points to make up to catch Tony's team.  Jake Allen hasn't quite been confirmed at the time of the post, but the Blues really need him to get on track, if they are going to make a run for the playoffs, while Ben Bishop has been confirmed and he'll be in charge of keeping the Blues out of the playoff race for another day.

This is both team's only possible start today.

Alexandar Georgiev (N/A) versus Cam Talbot (Wes)
This would be Brian's only possible crease appearance on Saturday and his goalie also saw action last night, as Henrik Lundqvist beat the Flames.  This leaves their young Russian backup goalie to take on Wes' goalie (in theory) tonight, as the Rangers take on the Oilers.  There's no reason why this won't be Cam Talbot tonight, but anything can happen there, I guess.

No starts for Dale B. or Stuart tonight, so that only leaves Eric's team for a possible start.

Antti Niemi (N/A) versus Tuukka Rask (Clayton)
It doesn't look like Eric's start is to be, although this entire game is unconfirmed.  The Bruins could go either way tonight, but as the Bruins try to chase down the Lightning for top spot in the Atlantic, it seems more reasonable that they go with their number one tonight.  Tuukka Rask is the expected keeper, especially with no game again until Tuesday night.

Frederik Andersen (Mike) versus Braden Holtby (Grant)
And some bonus coverage for tonight's outdoor game, as neither goalie will play for one of the Mover & Shaker candidates heading into tonight's action.  Both Mike and Grant's pool teams are tied at 17th place in the weekly scoring with 16 points each, 14 points back of the top spot in the week.  They could both use the points for whatever gains they still want to make this season.  It's a battle of number ones, assuming this game even goes.  The concerns due to the wind are still there, but the NHL still plans to go ahead at the moment.

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