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Goalie nods: Bernier goes back-to-back, Crawford looks to rebound

Bernier

News and notes from around the crease...

Leafs roll with Bernier

Jonathan Bernier will start for the second consecutive game on Thursday as the Leafs take on the Preds in Toronto. Bernier stopped 35 of 37 shots against the Islanders on Tuesday, and that performance was good enough to keep James Reimer bolted to the pine.

It’s worth noting Bernier’s lone shutout this season came against Nashville on Oct. 10.

Speaking of Nashville, the Preds will give rookie Mark Mazanec his fifth straight start tonight. Mazanec’s been very good since taking the No. 1 gig from Carter Hutton, and shut out the Red Wings in Detroit on Tuesday.

Crawford back in for Chicago

After getting yanked in a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Colorado on Tuesday, Corey Crawford will get a chance to make amends with a start tonight against Winnipeg.

There was some though rookie Antti Raanta would get the nod, but it’s possible the ‘Hawks are going with Crawford given his experience against the Jets -- he’s posted a 2-0-0 record vs. Winnipeg this year with a 1.00 GAA and .962 save percentage.

As expected, the Jets will counter with Ondrej Pavelec on Thursday night.

Elsewhere...

-- Jaroslav Halak will be in for the Blues, two nights after stopping 23 of 24 shots in a win over Buffalo. He’ll be up against Tuukka Rask in the Boston goal, and Rask is coming off an even better performance after making 43 saves in a win over the Rangers last time out.

-- It’s Ryan Miller vs. Ray Emery in the Buffalo-Philly game, and Justin Peters vs. Jimmy Howard in the Carolina-Detroit game. Peters is an interesting choice given Cam Ward is now healthy.

-- Top-flight goaltending matchups in Dallas, Phoenix and L.A. tonight. Kari Lehtonen goes for the Stars, taking on Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers’ net; Semyon Varlamov and Mike Smith will do battle in the desert; Cory Schneider goes up against Ben Scrivens in Hollywood.

-- Devan Dubnyk will go for the Oilers tonight, no word yet on who the Panthers will start. It’s even foggier in San Jose, as neither the Bolts or Sharks have announced their starters for this evening.