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.
7:00 pm ET game
Tampa Bay @ Toronto
Likely Tampa Bay starter: Dan Ellis - Neither Lightning goalie has been consistently strong so far this season, but Ellis has been better than Mike Smith for the most part. (Source.)
Likely Toronto starter: Jonas Gustavsson - If “The Monster” does indeed receive another start, it will be his sixth in a row. I guess J.S. Giguere has been lost in the rotation? (Source.)
8:00 PM ET games
Phoenix @ Nashville
Likely Phoenix starter: Ilya Bryzgalov - His six game winning streak - and the Coyotes seven game streak - ended against the Ducks, but he’ll play his eighth consecutive game tonight. (Source.)
Likely Nashville starter: Pekka Rinne (Source.)
St. Louis @ Chicago
Likely St. Louis starter: Ty Conklin - It sounds like Conklin will get the start tonight and then Jaroslav Halak will get Wednesday’s start against Washington. (Source.)
Likely Chicago starter: Corey Crawford - Looks like it will be a game between backups tonight, at least if you call Crawford the backup in Chicago still. If he does indeed play tonight, it will be his fourth appearance in five games. (Source.)
10:00 PM ET game
Atlanta @ Colorado
Likely Atlanta starter: Ondrej Pavelec - He’s been absolutely on fire lately, so he probably won’t sit until he is tired. (Source.)
Likely Colorado starter: Peter Budaj - Sounds like it will be some time until Craig Anderson will be back for the Avalanche. (Source.)
10:30 PM ET game
Detroit @ San Jose
Likely Detroit starter: Jimmy Howard (Source.)
Likely San Jose starter: Antero Niittymaki - It seems like he has the upper hand over Antti Niemi once again. (Source.)