Hiller was the unexpected start last night after Viktor Fasth went down with a lower-body injury in warmups. Fasth is unable to go again tonight, so it will be Hiller against the Coyotes. He is 2-0-0 with a 1.92 GAA and .931 SV% in two starts against Phoenix this season.
Brodeur allowed three goals on 25 shots in a win over Anaheim on Wednesday. It was his fifth consecutive win and seventh in his last eight while posting a ridiculous 1.38 GAA and .942 SV%. Despite the tough matchup vs. the Sharks tonight, it is hard not to have some faith in the winningest goalie in NHL regular season history.
Crawford allowed three goals on 25 shots in a win over the Jets on Thursday. It was a strong bounce-back game after being pulled on Tuesday. It will be Crawford's 14th straight appearance as he continues to be the Hawks workhorse with Nikolai Khabibulin on IR and Antti Raanta only having 47 minutes of NHL experience. He has a tough matchup on the road vs. Vancouver.
Backstrom who resumed practicing with the team on Friday has already been cleared to return to a back-up role today vs. the Jets. He was concussed on a Nazem Kadri hit 10 days ago. Backstrom has a 3.29 GAA and .874 SV% which fails in comparison to Josh Harding's 1.48 and .939. Barring any injury or until Harding stumbles, Backstrom has clearly taken a back seat to Harding.
Niemi shut the door on 36 of 37 shots in the Sharks 5-1 victory over the Lightning on Thursday. The win moved him to 2-2-3 with a 3.13 GAA and .906 SV% in November. Tonight he will likely take on the Devils for the first time. Niemi is 6-1-2 at home, he should be a strong start against a low-scoring New Jersey squad.
Price gave up two goals on 27 shots in a win over the Wild on Tuesday. He will be in the cage tonight when the Penguins come to town. Price is 6-5-2 with a 1.99 GAA and .939 SV% at home this season.
Carter is still considered to be a few days away from returning and will likely need to participate in a few more practices before he plays. If he is unexpectedly activated off of IR and plays tonight, we will update.
Scrivens was not very busy on Thursday. The Devils only threw 15 shots at him, he stopped 13 of them in the overtime loss. The loss snapped a four game winning streak, but he will look to get back in the win column tonight vs. Colorado.
Lehtonen allowed three goals on 27 shots in a loss to the Rangers on Thursday. The Stars were all over New York, but Henrik Lundqvist was excellent on the night. He would face the Blues in St. Louis tonight. Lehtonen is 8-1-0 with a 1.93 GAA and .936 SV% on the road this season.
Smith allowed four goals on 30 shots in an overtime loss to the Avalanche on Thursday. It was his second loss at home this season, but he has yet to lose one in regulation. He has another tough matchup against the Ducks tonight. In two starts vs. Anaheim this season, Smith is 0-1-1 with a 2.89 GAA and .910 SV%.
Fehr has been scratched in the last nine games after recording one goal and five assists with a minus-5 rating in 14 games. He is expected to skate on a line with Brooks Laich and Troy Brouwer.
Still, the Sharks improved to 8-0-1 this season with Burns in the lineup. Burns has faced the Devils (tonight's opponent) just four times in his career, with one goal and one assist.
Eray has not recorded a point in the last four games and has just one assist in his last 10 games. Erat has not worked out for the Capitals since acquiring him from the Predators last season.
Skinner played 17:56 with two shots in his first game back from an upper-body injury. Skinner skated with Eric Staal for the first time in his career, but he has already been dropped to the third line with rookie Elias Lindholm and veteran Radek Dvorak for this afternoon's contest.
Westgarth missed the last 10 games after being injured on October 28. He had been taking part in full-contact practice so this is not surprising. He is not fantasy relevant however. Westgarth is a tough-guy who is averaging just 4:06 TOI through six games.
Berglund has missed the last three games after suffering an upper-body injury on November 16. After scoring 17 goals in 48 games (0.354 G/PG) last season, he has just one goal in 18 games (0.055 G/PG) this year. Monitor his status prior to puck-drop.
Ward allowed three goals on 29 shots in Monday's loss to the Bruins. It was a decent outing for his first start after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury. He gets the nod this afternoon against Boston again. It is a tough matchup, but he will certainly be looking to redeem himself after Monday's loss.
Johnson allowed two goals on 32 shots in a win over the Blue Jackets on November 14. It was his second win of the season, to go along with his 2.30 GAA and .917 SV%. Today he faces a Hurricanes team who have lost three straight. Every time he starts he has spot start value because the Bruins are a great team.
McQuaid was a full participant in practice on Friday so there was some optimism that he could suit up this afternoon. however he will miss his seventh straight game after being injured on November 9.
Lehner allowed four goals on 41 shots in a loss to the Flyers on Tuesday. WIth Craig Anderson 1-6 in his last seven, the Senators will give Lehner a shot tonight. He has been good this season, posting a 2.37 GAA an .939 SV% in nine appearances. In his first career start vs. the Red Wings, Johan Franzen scored five goals in a game Lehner was pulled from.
