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. Here’s what’s on tap for this afternoon’s starts. We’ll get you tonight’s starting goalies later today. We’ll also update this post when starters are confirmed.
12:00 pm
Carolina @ Boston
Carolina’s starter: Cam Ward will start for Carolina. It was originally slated to be Justin Peters in this game, but Ward missed their last game after the birth of his son, Nolan. (Source)
Boston’s starter: Tim Thomas starts for Boston, a late decision by head coach Claude Julien. (Source)
1:00 pm
New Jersey @ NY Islanders
New Jersey’s starter: Johan Hedberg will start once again. With Martin Brodeur still out, Hedberg is the de facto starter. (Source)
New York’s starter: The rock solid Rick DiPietro of late will get the start once again for the Isles as they look to snap their 14-game losing streak. (Source)
Calgary @ Philadelphia
Calgary’s likely starter: Miikka Kiprusoff will get the start this afternoon. (Source)
Philadelphia’s starter: Ride the hot hand, baby. Sergei Bobrovsky figures to get the start here. And he will. (Source)
Ottawa @ Pittsburgh
Ottawa’s starter: Pascal Leclaire gets the nod against the team he faced off with in the playoffs last year. (Source)
Pittsburgh’s starter: It appears that Marc-Andre Fleury will get the start if Sportsnet is to be believed. Update: Yes, Fleury will start. (Source)
2:00 pm
Nashville @ Minnesota
Nashville’s likely starter: Pekka Rinne should be getting the start. Rinne’s the man and while he could use a break, Nashville could use the win too. (Unconfirmed)
Minnesota’s starter: Jose Theodore will get the start. He had a rough outing against Philly and he’ll hope he can have better fortune against the Predators. (Source)
4:00 pm
Chicago @ Anaheim
Chicago’s likely starter: Marty Turco figures to get the start. After a rough outing against San Jose on Wednesday, facing the Ducks could give him the chance to bounce back. UPDATE: Corey Crawford will get the call to start. (Source)
Anaheim’s likely starter: Jonas Hiller should get the start as the Ducks haven’t played since Sunday. (Unconfirmed)
5:00 pm
Tampa Bay @ Washington
Tampa Bay’s likely starter: Hunch you can’t bank on is Dan Ellis getting the start. Mike Smith has gotten the nod the last couple times out, so it could be Ellis’ turn to start. (Unconfirmed)
Washington’s likely starter: You have to think Semyon Varlamov will get the call with Michal Neuvirth being a bit wonky and Braden Holtby sent back to the AHL. (Unconfirmed)