Saturday, April 21, 2018

Goalie Announcements (Apr 21)



Cory Schneider versus Andrei Vasilevskiy
In the first of two 1pm MT starts on Saturday, the New Jersey Devils will try to get out from behind the 8-ball, if only partially, in Game 5 in Tampa Bay.  No one was really counting on the Devils to do a whole lot in this series, yet they have been fairly competitive, despite where the series stands, going into today.  The Devils will need their best players to be just that, if they wish to keep plugging away at these Bolts, but the Lightning have the muscle and the firepower to get this job done today.

It's hard to say whether or not the Devils coaching staff will change their minds about who should start in goal, but Cory Schneider has been very good in his two starts, registering the team's only win in this series, so it does seem very likely that he will get the nod today, while Andrei Vasilevskiy will go out and prove why he was a top-3 vote-getter in the Vezina Trophy running this year.

Sergei Bobrovsky versus Braden Holtby
The deadlocked series between the Blue Jackets and the Capitals returns to the Verizon Center this afternoon, in the other 1pm MT start, and this series has been dominated by the road team through the first four games of the series, but the Capitals do have an ace up their sleeve.... Braden Holtby didn't start either of those games at home earlier in the series.  Holtby came in to start Game 3 in Columbus, won both those games and now likely has the momentum, if you can call it that, heading into Game 5.  The Capitals are really under the gun with all of the high expectations and if they're going to do it, they better get after it now.

I don't think we should expect anything less than Sergei Bobrovsky at the other end today.

Frederik Andersen versus Tuukka Rask
The Boston Bruins are on the verge of getting through the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, a prime time game, 6pm MT start on CBC.  The Bruins have really hooked the Leafs behind the 8-ball and it sounds like they will get Patrice Bergeron back from a 1-game absence, due to injury. which only makes things that much harder for those young buds.  The Maple Leafs have had their shots at taking down the big, bad Bruins, but it hasn't quite worked out in their favour just yet.  Somehow, they need to find new and inventive ways to use their speed around the playoff smarts and experience on the other side.

No surprises in net tonight, as it will be Frederik Andersen for Toronto, Tuukka Rask for Boston and they're either playing again on Monday night or Boston is setting up to play the winner of the New Jersey/Tampa Bay series.

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