After not playing a game in two months due to a lower-body injury, Lars Haugen stepped-in and played very well vs. Canada on Thursday. He stopped 35 of 38 shots and kept Norway close, but ultimately fell 3-1. Today likely won't be any easier when he takes on Finland.
Despite allowing eight goals on 52 shots (.846 SV%) in Thursday's 8-4 loss to Finland, Starkbaum will be back in goal vs. Canada today. If the banged up Finns pushed eight passed him, things are not looking very bright for him this afternoon. Canada dominated their first game, expect much of the same here.
Hiller stopped all 21 shots that he faced in a 1-0 win over Latvia on Wednesday. Edgars Masalskis stood on his head at the other end of the ice, but Hiller was ultimately able to out-duel him . On Saturday, Hiller will face a 1-1-0 Czech team who have scored six goals in their first two contests.
Quick stopped 22 of 23 shots in a 7-1 walloping of Slovakia on Thursday. Quick gave up a goal :24 seconds into the second, but his team answered back with six unanswered goals in the next 15 minutes, making things rather easy on the Kings' tendy. On Saturday he will face a much stiffer test when the Americans take on the Russians.
Lehtonen won five of his last eight starts before departing for Sochi and sits at 22-15-10 with a 2.48 GAA and .916 SV% on the season. Tuukka Rask is expected to play the majority of games for Finland, but they will give Lehtonen a crack at a Norway team who lost 3-1 to Canada on Thursday.
Lundqvist stopped 27 of 29 shots in Wednesday 4-2 win over the Czech Republic. The Swedes were up 4-0 just four minutes into the second period and 'King Henrik' coasted to the W from there. Today he takes on a 1-0 Switzerland team who just squeaked out a 1-0 win over Latvia and who will start Reto Berra instead of Jonas Hiller.
Masalskis was excellent in Wednesday's tournament opener. He almost single handedly defeated the Swiss by stopping 38 shots, however with just eight seconds remaining, a fluky bounce off his own defenseman snuck by him. Latvia was unable to beat Jonas Hiller at the other end and suffered the 1-0 loss. The performance has kept the 33-year-old ahead of highly-rated youngster Kristers Gudlevskis from Syracuse Crunch. Latvia will look to upset the Czechs today, they lost 4-2 to Sweden in their opener.
Zetterberg has been dealing with a herniated disk that bothered him in December, but is reportedly much worse this time around. Zetterberg says that he is unable to move around very much and will not play for the remainder of the tournament as a result. Patrik Berglund will now centre the top line with Marcus Johansson sliding onto the third line. Niklas Kronwall will take over as Team Sweden captain. This is another big blow to Sweden's lineup who have now lost Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Henrik Sedin.
Despite Jonas Hiller posting a 21-save shutout on Wednesday vs. Latvia, Berra will get the nod on Friday while HIller goes again on Saturday vs. the Czech Republic. Berra has posted an 8-16-2 record with a 3.02 GAA and .896 SV% on a weak Flames team this season. He will have a tough test against a Sweden team who beat the Czech 4-2 in their tournament opener.
Team Sweden's captain was in such poor shape today that he was not even able to join his teammates for a picture. "We have been familiar with it for some months. He has treatment in the U.S., but he started here without any symptoms, and I think now the symptoms that he has is according to the disk problem," said Team Sweden doctor Bjorn Waldeback. Waldeback did not rule out the possibility that Zetterberg will play Friday, when Sweden takes on Switzerland in the second game of group preliminary play. However, Sweden might opt to rest Zetterberg and have him available when the tournament enters elimination stage.
Halak was 3-3 at the 2010 Olympics with a 2.41 goals-against average en route to fourth place finish, the best ever for Slovakia at the Olympics. Halak is 24-8-4 with a 2.26 GAA and .915 SV% with St. Louis this season. Today he will face Blues teammates David Backes, T.J. Oshie and Kevin Shattenkirk.
Haugen will make his first start in over two months after suffering a lower-body injury on December 8. Haugen is in his second season with Minsk Dynamo of the KHL. He has posted a 5-12-0 record with a 2.67 GAA and .910 SV% in 23 games this season. Making your first start in over two months will not be easy vs. an extremely talented Canadian team.
Varlamov will get the call over Sergei Bobrovsky who had been red-hot heading into the tournament. Varly is 28-11-5 with a 2.48 GAA and .924 SV% with the Avalanche this season. This morning's game should be a cake-walk for Varlamov and the Russians.
Starkbaum currently plays for Brynas IF of the Swedish Hockey League. He holds a record of 10-4-0 with a 2.20 GAA and .931 SV% in 15 games. He will need to be at his best to give Austria a shot at defeating Tukkaa Rask and a talented Finland squad.
Masalskis, 33, is in his third season Khanty-Mansiysk Yugra of the KHL. He has posted a 17-11-3 record with a 2.94 GAA and .910 SV% in 32 starts this season. He is an under-sized netminder at 5-foot-8 but will get the start over Tampa Bay prospect Kristers Gudlevskis, who is 6-foot-3 in Latvia's tournament opener.
Lundqvist is Sweden's unquestioned number-1 and will be leaned on heavily to lead his country to gold. He is expected to start nearly every game, but could rest in one preliminary game and give either Jonas Gustavsson or Jhonas Enroth an Olympic start. He was 22-18-3 with a 2.44 GAA and .918 SV% with the Rangers before the Olympics, but comes in red-hot having won five in a row with 1.77 GAA and .940 SV%. If Sweden is going to win a medal in this tournament, it is going to be because of 'King Henrik'.
Kristan has started 43 games for HK Nitra of the Extraliga (SVK), in those contests he has posted a 2.61 GAA and .912 SV%. He will be in tough throughout the tournament as he backstops and under-manned Slovenia squad. Thursday could be a long night as he takes on an uber-talented Russian team.
Rask will likely start the vast majority of Finland's games. Rask is 25-13-4 with a 2.11 GAA and .928 SV% with the Bruins this season. He is one of the most elite goaltenders in the world and with Finland missing some key players with injuries, Rask will need to be in top-form to earn them a medal.
Quick will start the tournament opener when the Americans take on Slovakia on Thursday. Quick missed nearly two-months with a grade-2 groin strain, but has been back since January 4 and started 16 games since then. In those 16 starts he is 6-8-2 with a 2.01 GAA and .918 SV%. The losing record is more a reflection of the Kings inability to score than poor goaltending on Quick's behalf. Team USA should not have the same problem as L.A with all the talent they have up front.
Carey Price will start the tournament opener, but Luongo will get the second game. Luongo backstopped Canada to gold in Vancouver in 2010, but has had a tough-go with the Canucks lately. He is 19-16-6 with a 2.38 GAA and .917 SV% on the season, but has lost five in a row while giving up 17 goals and posting an .880 SV%.
