Allen allowed four goals on 33 shots in the Blues’ win in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. It wasn’t the greatest outing but it was enough to walk away with the win in the season opener. Tonight he will make his second start of the season and it comes against what should be a strong Stars offence, that was shut down by Marc-Andre Fleury last night.
Holtby gave up four goals on 32 shots in the Capitals’ shootout win in Ottawa on Thursday. Despite not leading once all game the Capitals walked away with a ‘W’ in their season opener and will be looking to make it two in a row in their home opener. Holtby takes on a Canadiens team that narrowly escaped Buffalo with a shootout victory of their own on Thursday.
With Ryan Miller now in Anaheim, Markstrom is the man in Vancouver and he will start his run as the No.1 tonight vs. the Oilers. Last year he went 10-11-3 with a 2.63 GAA and .910 SV% but will need to be better if the Canucks are to have any success. He is a terrible option tonight vs. Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers.
Mason was yanked after allowing five goals on 20 shots in the Jets’ 7-2 opening night loss to the Maple Leafs. His Jets’ career certainly didn’t get off to a good start but Paul Maurice will show some confidence in Mason by going back to him tonight in Calgary. Both teams had embarrassing losses in their openers, so we’ll see who shows up tonight.
Gibson allowed four goals on 30 shots in the Ducks’ win over Arizona on Thursday. The Ducks got off to a slow start but settled in late in the second and took over in the third. It wasn’t a great start, but Gibson will see a lot of action while he’s healthy and should win far more frequently than not.
Raanta missed the Coyotes’ season opener because of a lower-body injury, but he has deemed himself ready to go for Saturday’s game vs. the Golden Knights. In two years as the Rangers’ backup, Raanta posted a 2.25 GAA and .921 SV% and gets his crack as an No.1 netminder with Arizona. He makes for a strong start against a Vegas team that does not look very good on paper.
After two and a half seasons as the Blackhawks’ backup, Darling was dealt to the Hurricanes this summer where he is expected to take over as their No.1 goalie. Last season, the 28-year-old netminder was 18-5-5 with a 2.38 GAA and .924 SV% and now he’ll play behind one of the best young bluelines in the NHL. His first start will likely come against a Wild team that was second in the NHL in scoring last season (3.21 GF/PG).
Lazar was a healthy scratch in the season opener, but will draw in for Garnet Hathaway tonight. Lazar will play on the third line with Sam Bennett and Kris Versteeg. He had one goal and two assists in four games after joining the Flames last season.
Jagr had been practicing on the Flames third line since joining the team earlier this week, but he isn’t quite ready to play, so he will sit tonight and Curtis Lazar will draw into the lineup. Expect Jagr to be in the lineup on Monday vs. the Blue Jackets.
Lehtonen surrendered two goals on 11 shots after replacing Ben Bishop and was handed the loss last night vs. the Golden Knights. Despite the rough outing, the Stars will stick with their plan of going with Lehtonen on the tail-end of the back-to-back. Things get more difficult tonight as they travel to St. Louis to see a Blues team that looked good on opening night.
Saros will start in Pittsburgh because Pekka Rinne has never won a game (regular season or playoffs) in Pittsburgh, so they will roll the dice with the 22-year-old. Saros had a really good season as Rinne’s backup last year, going 10-8-3 with a 2.35 GAA, .923 SV% and one shutout. The Penguins haven’t had a good start to the season, but that might be a reason to stay away from Saros—they will be a motivated team after getting embarrassed on Thursday.
