Whether you’re interested for fantasy hockey reasons or just want to know which goalie your team is playing in a given day, we thought it might be helpful to share our best guesses (based on various previews from newspapers and Web sites plus our own instincts) on who might start each day.
7:00 PM ET games
Boston @ Ottawa
Likely Boston starter: Tim Thomas - He’s been outstanding so far this season, so why not give him as many starts as he deserves? (Source: Stanley Cup of Chowder.)
Likely Ottawa starter: Brian Elliott - Pascal Leclaire isn’t quite ready yet, so Elliott it is. (Source: Silver Seven Sens.)
NY Islanders @ Philadelphia
Likely NY Islanders starter: Rick DiPietro (Source: Islanders Twitter page.)
Likely Philadelphia starter: Brian Boucher - Sergei Bobrovsky played last night, so chances are, Boucher will get the nod.
Nashville @ Detroit
Likely Nashville starter: Pekka Rinne (Source for both: On the Forecheck.)
Likely Detroit starter: Chris Osgood - Jimmy Howard is dealing with back problems, so Osgood will get a chance to prove himself for the millionth time in his career as a Red Wings goalie. (Source for both: On the Forecheck.)
NY Rangers @ Toronto
Likely NY Rangers starter: Henrik Lundqvist - Trusting the bunch at Pension Plan Puppets on this one. (Source for both: Pension Plan Puppets.)
Likely Toronto starter: J.S. Giguere - The Monster started last time, so the rotation goes back to Giguere. (Source for both: Pension Plan Puppets.)
Florida @ Montreal
Likely Florida starter: Tomas Vokoun - Vokoun should get the vast majority of starts for the Panthers, just like the goalie he’s likely to face. (Source for both: George Richards of On Frozen Pond.)
Likely Montreal starter: Carey Price (Source for both: George Richards of On Frozen Pond.)
Pittsburgh @ Carolina
Likely Pittsburgh starter: Brent Johnson - At least I hope so.
Likely Carolina starter: Cam Ward - He played last night, so there’s a chance they will start the backup, but my best guess is Ward tonight against the Penguins.
8:00 PM ET games
Atlanta @ St. Louis
Likely Atlanta starter: Ondrej Pavelec - We covered this one already.
Likely St. Louis starter: Jaroslav Halak - Halak has been fantastic so far this season. (Source: St. Louis Today.)
Buffalo @ Dallas
Likely Buffalo starter: Patrick Lalime - Ryan Miller played last night, so I think Lalime will get his shot against a struggling Stars team.
Likely Dallas starter: Andrew Raycroft - Kari Lehtonen played every game this season, so it sounds like Raycroft will play for the first time now. (Source: Dallas Stars Twitter page.)
Chicago @ Minnesota
Likely Chicago starter: Marty Turco - Another guess here.
Likely Minnesota starter: Niklas Backstrom - Another start for the Wild’s workhorse. (Source: Minnesota Wild Web site.)
9:00 PM ET games
Tampa Bay @ Phoenix
Likely Tampa Bay starter: Dan Ellis (Source: Damian Cristodero.)
Likely Phoenix starter: Ilya Bryzgalov - My best guess, part XVIII.
Columbus @ Colorado
Likely Columbus starter: Steve Mason - The face of their franchise starts tonight. (Source: Columbus Dispatch.)
Likely Colorado starter: Peter Budaj - The good news out of Colorado is that Craig Anderson’s injury isn’t too bad. (Source: Denver Post.)
More starting goalies later on. Good lord there are a lot of games tonight.