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
St. Louis @ Columbus
Likely St. Louis starter: Jaroslav Halak - Can Halak keep his crazy hot streak going against the Blue Jackets? He’ll certainly get the chance to answer that question. (Source for both: Columbus Post-Dispatch.)
Likely Columbus starter: Steve Mason - The Blue Jackets really, really want Mason to be their goalie of the future. But they also really, really want to make the playoffs so expect Mathieu Garon to steal his fair share of starts. (Source for both: Columbus Post-Dispatch.)
Boston @ Pittsburgh
Likely Boston starter: Tim Thomas (Source: Joe Haggerty.)
Likely Pittsburgh starter: Brent Johnson - Sidney Crosby isn’t the Penguins’ head coach, so Johnson will get the nod. (Source: Rotoworld.)
Buffalo @ New Jersey
Likely Buffalo starter: Jhonas Enroth - Ryan Miller will be in the lineup, but just as a backup as he’s still banged up and Patrick Lalime is also on the mend. By process of elimination, that leaves Enroth, as I discussed last night.
Likely New Jersey starter: Johan Hedberg - Martin Brodeur is still dealing with his “elbow bruise” so Hedberg should get the start. (Source: Rotoworld.)
7:30 PM ET game
Toronto @ Florida
Likely Toronto starter: Jonas Gustavsson - J.S. Giguere received the start last night and lost, so it makes sense that “The Monster” will make an appearance. (Source: James Mirtle.)
Likely Florida starter: Tomas Vokoun (Source: Steve Goldstein.)
8:30 PM ET game
Phoenix @ Chicago
Likely Phoenix starter: Jason LaBarbera - The Coyotes are on a three-game losing streak, so it seems logical to give Ilya Bryzgalov’s backup a shot. (Source: Coyotes Web site.)
Likely Chicago starter: Marty Turco - Corey Crawford hasn’t had much luck this season, so the Blackhawks will turn to Turco to try to end their home slide. (Source: Chris Kuc.)
10:00 PM ET game
NY Islanders @ Anaheim
Likely NY Islanders starter: Dwayne Roloson - There’s a pretty stark contrast between Roloson’s work and Rick DiPietro’s, so don’t be surprised that Rolo gets the nod even as the team seems to collapse around him. (Source: NY Islanders Twitter page.)
Likely Anaheim starter: Jonas Hiller - I haven’t been able to confirm this - and he did have a full night of work facing 41 shots against the San Jose Sharks last night - but his backup isn’t at the Giguere/Bryzgalov level so don’t be shocked if he starts tonight too.