Goalie Announcements (Jan 3)

A weird early start for the Toronto Maple Leafs today has set this blog post up really early and you know what that means!  It's put out your best guess time!

Eight games on the schedule in total for this Thursday, not overly busy, but still a decent potential for points tonight.  Scoring really ramped up last night and the pool is trending to a pretty good scoring rate for the week, so let's hope that it keeps up.

Clayton and Eric both saw big gains on Wednesday night, as their teams share the Mover & Shaker lead in Week Fourteen at 21 points.  Jesse's team has also seen some good gains, up at 20 points, right in the mix.  Wes and Jeremy are also right there, tied at 19 points and then there is a bit of a drop to Wilton's team at 16 points.

Brian did see his team get out of the basement spot for the time being, passing both Stuart and Neil, who are both at 4 points, but Brian's team is only a point better, so there's still some concern on his side.  Four teams are at 6 points and still spinning their wheels a bit, but maybe a win or two tonight would sort those problems out.

Devan Dubnyk (Wes) versus Michael Hutchinson (N/A)
Well, if you've read the Morning Notes from earlier today, you'd know that the Leafs are in goalie trouble and it looks like they will be turning to recently-acquired keeper Michael Hutchinson to carry the ball this afternoon.  It could be him for more than one game too, which is slightly concerning.  Since the game isn't far from happening, we'll take a stab at saying that Dubnyk will go for the Wild, but that's certainly unconfirmed.  I'm sure Wes would appreciate the help, if he can get it.

Mike Smith (Brian) versus Tuukka Rask (Jesse)
The Calgary Flames are on back-to-back nights tonight, heading into Boston after a decisive win in Detroit last night.  With David Rittich down to injury, it sounds as though Mike Smith will go back-to-back in these games, offering Brian another chance to bump his way up in the standings some more.  No word on the Boston goalie, at the time of the post, so after a good performance at the Winter Classic, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Tuukka Rask go again.

Roberto Luongo (John P.) versus Linus Ullmark (Steve)
We do have a confirmed pair of starters for tonight's game in Buffalo, as the Panthers will send Luongo to the cage and the Sabres will send Ullmark in response.  Both John and Steve's teams are at 10 points this week, just carrying along in the middle of the pack, looking for a couple more points to stay clear of the bottom.  Ullmark has been most notably been keeping Steve in the rookie race this season, as his 21 points has his team 6th in that race and it could bump up to a tie for 5th with a win tonight.

Petr Mrazek (Stacey C.) versus Michal Neuvirth (Stuart)
It looks like it will be Michal Neuvirth going for the Flyers, if the reports are correct this morning, good news for Stuart's team.  As we know from earlier in the post, his team is struggling this week and a win would certainly aid in its recovery.  Neuvirth has 1 win in four appearances, since being activated on Stuart's team, so the struggle is real.  It's a confirmed match-up with Petr Mrazek going in the Hurricanes net tonight, giving Stacey C. another start.  Stacey's team is up at 15 points this week, but still holding steady in 18th place, 2 points back of 17th.  Maybe 2 points from Mrazek tonight will bump him up a spot?

Collin Delia (N/A) versus Robin Lehner (Chelsea)
Chelsea's team gets another start this week, this time out of Robin Lehner and the Islanders, as he has been tapped to go against the Blackhawks already this morning.  Chelsea's team is up at 13 points this week, humming right along, and a win here would be a good boost.  Her team is tied for 4th in the pool in wins with 26, so it hasn't been her keepers holding her back.  The Blackhawks are going back to Collin Delia tonight, who is a decent candidate for a pickup in the next Waiver Draft, assuming Corey Crawford might not be back any time soon.

Jacob Markstrom (Chelsea) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
All signs are pointing to a return for Carey Price in the Montreal net tonight, after missing three games with a lower-body injury.  Good news for Stacey M.'s team, which hasn't hit the double-digit mark in the week just yet, sitting at 9 points.  Her team has fallen out of the money spots again, back in 4th place, 1 point back of 3rd to start the night.  The Canucks traded away their big backup yesterday, so without having much time for their new temporary backup to get acclimated with the team, I would expect Markstrom back in, but again... unconfirmed.

Pheonix Copley (N/A) versus Jake Allen (Steve)
The Blues will get the traveling Capitals, who are playing in the first half of back-to-backs, tonight and they have tapped Jake Allen to go out there and right the ship, after losing their last two games.  Steve's team has dropped out of the top 10, if only marginally, but he gets a second start tonight, which should certainly help his cause.  His team is tied for 10th in wins this season with 21, a couple more get him closer to a tie for 7th.  Since the Caps are on back-to-backs, St. Louis and Dallas, I would be giving the Blues to Copley and saving Holtby for the Stars.  That's just me though.

Andrei Vasilevskiy (Dale C.) versus Jonathan Quick (Derek B.)
Finally, in the late game tonight, the Lightning and Kings are going at it and I'm thinking it should be the number ones here.  The Bolts will want to continue rolling and the Kings haven't been too bad of late, so they'd probably want to keep the mojo flowing.  Neither have confirmed, but I like the odds of this match-up.