Luongo allowed three goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. Tonight he is expected to go head-to-head with his Team Canada teammate Carey Price. Winner is the starter in Sochi? Doubt it. But Luongo should make for a strong start as the Canadiens rank in the bottom one-third of the league in scoring.
Green will miss his fourth consecutive game and it looks more and more like he will not be back until after the Olympics. WIth Green out, Julien Brouillette will make his NHL debut tonight.
Timonen missed the last two games with a foot injury, but will return to the lineup toning vs. Colorado. He will play alongside Brayden Coburn and also man the point on the top power-play unit. He has two goals and 17 assists (19 points) in 55 games this season.
This season has been a struggle for Backstrom. He has not played well and he has had to deal with multiple injuries throughout the first four months of the season. Johan Gustafsson has been recalled and will serve as Darcy Kuemper's back-up. Backstrom will likely be held out until after the Olympic break.
Datsyuk has not played since the Winter Classic on January 1st. The Red Wings are slowly starting to get healthy and they are still sitting in the last WIld Card spot in the East despite playing most of January with an AHL dominant roster. Datsyuk will centre a line with Darren Helm and Daniel Alfredsson tonight in Florida.
Varlamov allowed five goals on 43 shots in a 5-1 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday. This loss was more on the rest of the Avs and less on Varlamov. They were badly outplayed all night and Varly was hung-out to dry. They will look to bounce back tonight in Philadelphia. Varlamov stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 win the first time he faced the Flyers on January 2.
Kuemper stopped 34 of 35 shots in Tuesday's win over the Lightning. It was Kuemper's best performance in two weeks, as he moved to 7-3-2 with a 2.20 GAA and .931 SV% since being recalled. He has been hot and you should continue to enjoy this surge of success tonight vs. the Predators.
Enroth gave up three goals on 28 shots in yet another loss on Monday vs. the Oilers. Enroth is still stuck with one win (1-11-5) and remains as risky of a spot-start as there is in the NHL right now. Tonight it looks like he will meet a Senators team for the first time this season. Ottawa has won three of five while averaging 3.00 G/PG over that span.
Neuvirth stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 1-0 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday. The Caps were unable to put one by Evgeni Nabokov, so Neuvirth was the tough-luck loser. In his three consecutive starts he went 1-1-1 with a 2.90 GAA and .913 SV%. Tonight he will run into a Jets squad who have been a completely different team under Paul Maurice (9-2-0).
Pavelec stopped 28 of 29 shots in a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. It marked his 18th victory of the season and his seventh in his last nine starts. His recent stretch of strong goaltending has brought his GAA (2.95) and SV% (.902) to points of acceptability. He draws a good matchup vs. the Capitals tonight. I know they have Ovi, but go look at their lines, you've probably never heard of a couple of their current roster players.
Bernier stopped 44 of 47 shots but walked away on the wrong side of a 4-1 final on Tuesday vs. Florida. Tuesday was the eighth time that Bernier has made 40-plus saves in a game this season. The Maple Leafs are still getting outshot on a regular basis and forcing their backstop to stand on his head. Things will not get any easier tonight when Bernier faces the Lightning.
Anderson stopped 46 of 48 shots in a 3-2 OT loss to the Penguins on Monday and then was given Tuesday night off. It looks like he will be back in the crease tonight with the lowly Sabres in town. He has taken advantage of Buffalo this season going 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and .987 SV% in two starts.
Talbot gave up four goals on 36 shots in a loss to the Islanders in his last start back on January 21. What once looked like a goalie controversy, but was never really a goalie controversy, is not even close to a goalie controversy now. Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned number-1 and Talbot can be used as a strong matchup spot-start. Tonight he has a good matchup with the Oilers coming into MSG.
Talbot gave up four goals on 36 shots in a loss to the Islanders in his last start back on January 21. What once looked like a goalie controversy, but was never really a goalie controversy, is not even close to a goalie controversy now. Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned number-1 and Talbot can be used as a strong matchup spot-start. Tonight he has a good matchup with the Oilers coming into MSG.
Bishop allowed two goals on 26 shots in a 2-1 loss in Minnesota on Tuesday. Bishop has won five of his last 10 starts while posting a 2.39 GAA and .925 SV%. Tonight he looks for his 28th win as he takes on an inconsistent Maple Leafs team coming off of a bad loss to the Panthers on Tuesday.
Mason gave up two goals on 22 shots as the Flyers beat the Sharks 5-2 on Monday. Mason is 3-1-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .949 SV% in his last four starts. Despite taking the regulation loss in his first meeting with the Avalanche, Mason played very well stopping 29 of 31 shots. Tonight he will be looking to chalk up his 13th home victory of the year.
Anderson stopped 46 of 48 shots in a 3-2 OT loss to the Penguins on Monday and then was given Tuesday night off. It looks like he will be back in the crease tonight with the lowly Sabres in town. He has taken advantage of Buffalo this season going 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and .987 SV% in two starts.
Timonen is skating on a regular D-pair with Brayden Coburn and participating with the top-unit in power-play drills, all signs pointing towards him returning. With the Olympics just a few days away, Timonen wants to get a few games in before heading to Sochi to represent Finland for the fourth time. Andrej Meszaros will sit with Timonen coming back.
Thomas stopped 20 of 21 shots in 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. The Panthers were all over the Maple Leafs in this one and Thomas made the necessary saves to preserve the victory. Tonight he meets the Red Wings for the fourth time this season. He has had a lot of success vs. his hometown team (Flint, MI native) going 3-0-0 with a 2.21 GAA and .911 SV% against Detroit this season.
Nabokov stopped all 22 shots he faced in a 1-0 victory over the Capitals on Tuesday. It was Nabby's 10th win and second shutout in 27 starts this season. He gets a great matchup tonight with the Calgary Flames in town.
