News and notes from the crease...
Stalock gets second start
San Jose’s Alex Stalock will make just his second start of the season on Tuesday vs. Calgary.
“Last start was a very good one for us [vs. Ottawa], and he came in against Vancouver and played well,” Sharks head coach Todd McLellan explained. “He deserves the chance.”
The decision to start Stalock coincides with No. 1 goalie Antti Niemi struggling. The Finnish netminder has lost five straight while allowing 18 goals on 148 shots, a save percentage of .878.
What’s more, the Sharks are without a regulation victory since the aforementioned game against Ottawa, which they won 5-2.
Calgary will counter with Swiss netminder Reto Berra tonight.
Poulin goes again
The Islanders’ revolving goalie door has opened back up for Kevin Poulin.
Poulin will be in goal on Tuesday vs. Nashville, two nights after allowing four goals on 31 shots in a loss to Montreal on Sunday.
While he’s been splitting time with Evgeni Nabokov recently, Poulin will get consecutive starts for the first time this season, and that’s a big development. The Isles are clearly unhappy with Nabokov’s play thus far and are looking for something -- anything -- to snap them out of their current four-game losing streak.
Poulin will go up against Nashville’s Marek Mazanec on Tuesday. Mazanec will make his first NHL start in place of Carter Hutton, who has struggled recently.
Elsewhere...
-- It’s an all-American matchup in Buffalo as Ryan Miller takes on Jonathan Quick in the Sabres-Kings game. Quick has played well recently, stopping 44 of 45 shots in his last two victories.
-- Martin Brodeur will go for New Jersey tonight at MSG. The Rangers will counter with Henrik Lundqvist, who has a 1.40 GAA and .949 save percentage in his last five games.
-- It’s Sergei Bobrovsky vs. Braden Holtby in Washington for Jackets-Caps, and Semyon Varlamov vs. Justin Peters in Carolina for Avs-'Canes.
-- Frederik Andersen will look to go 6-0-0 this year with the start against Florida tonight, while the Panthers will counter with Tim Thomas. It’s worth noting that Andersen is coming off a stellar effort against Vancouver, stopping 35 of 36 shots in a 3-1 win on Sunday.
-- Ondrej Pavelec vs. Jimmy Howard in Winnipeg-Detroit, Steve Mason vs. Craig Anderson in Philly-Ottawa and Mike Smith vs. Jaroslav Halak in Phoenix-St. Louis.