Saturday, March 19, 2016

Goalie Announcements (Mar 19)



The Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers are already underway, at the time of this post, as those early starts really get things moving on a busy weekend.  In net for this game is Marc-Andre Fleury (John R.) and Steve Mason (Derek W.).  Neither pool team here are in the races, up at the top or for the Mover & Shaker, but they can certainly hope for a huge day, right?

In the next afternoon game, it will be the Carolina Hurricanes and the Minnesota Wild and we're expecting to see Derek W.'s other goalie in net for the Wild, Devan Dubnyk, as they chase down a playoff spot.  Dubnyk will have a money chase goalie at the other end, as Cam Ward (Neil) gets the call for the visitors.

The last afternoon game of the day will see the Rangers in San Jose to take on the Sharks.  New York is touring through some potential Cup Final opponents, so they're throwing Henrik Lundqvist (Derek & Dan) in most of these games, including today's, while the Sharks are expected to greet the East giant with their number one, Martin Jones (Scott).

The evening games start with Buffalo and Toronto, where it should be Chad Johnson (John P.) against Garret Sparks (Ryan), which has some meaning to it, as the money race rides on the Sabres' ability to play with these lesser teams in the lottery race.  Johnson hasn't been confirmed yet, but is expected, as Robin Lehner (Derek & Dan) is on the shelf with his ankle problems.

There's a non-pool game in Ottawa tonight, between the Habs and Sens, where it will be Ben Scrivens (Dropped) against Andrew Hammond (Dropped).  Both goalies had a spot once, but were dropped for someone better, in theory.

Kristy & Don are in both races this week, money and Mover & Shaker, and they have one of their goalies going today in Roberto Luongo, as the Panthers take on the Red Wings, who will be going with Jimmy Howard (Stacey M.), while Petr Mrazek (Tony) is still dealing with some issues.

It would have been an all-Troy match-up in Columbus, if Cory Schneider was healthy, but it will be Keith Kinkaid (non-pool) taking on Sergei Bobrovsky (Troy), when the Devils and Jackets go head-to-head.  Troy's bad luck continues, as his team falls in the standings.

Thomas Greiss (Eric) continues to try and prove that he's a number one goalie for the Islanders, helping Eric's team hold onto the Mover & Shaker lead in the week.  The Islanders are in Dallas tonight, taking on Kari Lehtonen (Dale C.) and the Stars, who are now reeling from all kinds of injuries these days.

Brian Elliott (Grant) has been activated by the St. Louis Blues and is expected to start against the Canucks tonight, in Vancouver, while on the other side, it will be Ryan Miller (Clayton), taking on a former team.  No real race participation to speak of here.

The Lightning are in Arizona, taking on the Coyotes, and the match-up here should be Ben Bishop (Allan) against Louis Domingue (Benson), which also doesn't have a great deal of value in any of the races here this week.

Finally, the Bruins will finish their California trip, as it should be Tuukka Rask (Dale C.) taking on Jonahtan Quick (Brenda & Seward) in the late game.  The pool duo is chasing down Jeremy, who doesn't have a start in this busy night, but there are lots of games, that the goalies shouldn't make that much of a difference.

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