Goalie Announcements (Mar 12)

It's good to see a fresh team jump up to the top of the weekly standings, as Stacey C.'s team went bucky on Monday night, picking up 11 points and taking an early lead into a somewhat busy Tuesday night.  The big night saw his team jump up five spots in the standings, going from 17th to 12th and if his team continues to roll, there's still plenty of room to move.

Five teams were not necessarily as lucky, finishing with no points out of Monday night's action, even though everyone had at least a couple of skater games on the night, not to mention all the starts mentioned yesterday.

Ben Bishop (Clayton) versus Linus Ullmark (Steve)
Big swing game down near the middle of the standings, as both Clayton and Steve are tied at 550 points, but Steve doesn't quite have the tie-breaker in this case and sits below Clayton's team, as their goalies go head-to-head in Buffalo tonight.  This race doesn't have a whole lot to do with the money, just the best finish possible.  Both teams have had their injury struggles, so 2 or more points from this game would go a long ways.

Braden Holtby (Stacey C.) versus Matt Murray (Scott)
Who doesn't love the Capitals and Penguins rivalry?  The Blue Jackets have been doing their best to elbow way in their way in there, but it's just not the same.  Both teams are throwing the numbers ones out there tonight, including Stacey's best goalie on the week's best team (through one night), Braden Holtby, and Scott's number one goalie on... well, the week's tied for 11th best team, Matt Murray.  Who doesn't want to see this match-up?  Maybe the pool teams that have Pheonix Copley and/or Casey DeSmith, but I digress.

Tuukka Rask (Jesse) versus Joonas Korpisalo (N/A)
We know that the Bruins are going to start Tuukka Rask, good news for Jesse's team!  Jesse's team has been mounting an assault on the top four teams, trying to desperately catch-up and Rask has been a big part of that push and another start tonight should be a big help.  The Jackets, on the other hand, played last night and there hasn't been much in the way of media availability, nor a morning skate, so confirmation on the goalie is still up in the air, but it seems very likely that Korpisalo will get the nod tonight.

Jonathan Bernier (N/A) versus Carey Price (Stacey M.)
Another Original Six match-up tonight in Montreal, where the Canadiens are playing host to the Red Wings and Stacey M. gets the only pool start here tonight, as Carey Price gets the nod once again.  The Habs have fallen out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture before tonight's game and they'll be leaning heavily on their number one to get them back in there and I'm sure that's alright with Stacey, who has seen her team give up some space to both 1st and 3rd place on Monday night.

Darcy Kuemper (Neil) versus Jordan Binnington (N/A)
The Coyotes are going to run Darcy Kuemper ragged or so it would appear.  Kuemper was yanked early against the Blackhawks last night, so the dogs will give him the ability to redeem himself right away against the Blues in St. Louis tonight.  Neil's team probably doesn't mind that it's the only one again getting a goalie start against the Coyotes, but the Blues have been playing some good hockey of late as well and could be in for another rude welcome, if they're not careful.

Aaron Dell (Troy) versus Connor Hellebuyck (Jeremy)
Western Conference division leaders go head-to-head in Winnipeg tonight and with the Sharks playing last night in Minnesota, please see all the reasons why they haven't announced their goalie intentions tonight through the Blue Jackets above, they haven't, but it seems fair to think Aaron Dell will get the nod.  I was so confident, I used him as the header graphic.  The Jets, on the other hand, are using Connor Hellebuyck to greet the Sharks in their barn tonight, good for Jeremy's pool team, which is another that doesn't have any points from Monday and is in need of some.  Even the Sharks on back-to-back nights, should make this into a pretty good game.

Mackenzie Blackwood (N/A) versus David Rittich (Ryan)
Ryan gets the only start in Calgary, when the Flames host the Devils tonight... one pool start in a game seems to be a running tone tonight, but it is what it is.  Ryan's team gets a David Rittich start from the Flames and his team is one of the five that failed to pick up points last night, so a little bit of help would be greatly appreciated.  If you have been following along on these posts, there has been a little rivalry between Ryan and Neil's team and Ryan's team gave up the lead (and more!) last week and now he needs to start getting those points back.  It all starts again tonight.

Pekka Rinne (John P.) versus John Gibson (Kristy & Don)
Well, the Nashville Predators gave Pekka Rinne an extra night off of work over the weekend, so he should be good and fresh to go tonight in Anaheim, but we still haven't heard if it is the case or not, so we'll be in the dark, like John is right now... but he's more hopeful that it is the case than maybe some of us are.  Kristy & Don, however, do know that John Gibson will get the nod for the Ducks and they'll be pleased with that, since they are still trying to reel in Grant and his 3rd place team, but are just spinning their wheels in 4th and not getting very far, very fast.  Does that change tonight?