News and notes from around the crease...
Nabokov faces ex-mates
Evgeni Nabokov will face San Jose for the first time in his career tonight, when the Sharks take on the Isles at Nassau.
Nabokov spent the first 10 years of his NHL career in San Jose, winning 293 games while backstopping the Sharks to a pair of Western Conference finals. Friday’s start will mark the second straight for the Russian netminder, as he was in goal for Monday’s 7-4 over the Canucks on Monday.
For the Sharks, Antti Niemi will get the nod in goal.
Halak starts for Washington
Jaroslav Halak will get his fourth start for the Caps since coming over from Buffalo at the trade deadline, as he’ll be in goal tonight versus the Canucks.
Halak is 1-2-0 with a 2.37 GAA and .920 save percentage since joining the Caps and played very well in his last game, stopping 32 of 34 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Penguins. It’s worth noting that Washington head coach Adam Oates is going right back to Halak for tonight’s game, rather than giving Braden Holtby a shot -- all told, it’ll be four straight appearances for Halak as Holtby has been backing up since Mar. 6.
No word yet on who Vancouver will start, though Eddie Lack looks probable.
Elsewhere...
Oilers at Red Wings: Jimmy Howard for Detroit, Viktor Fasth likely for Edmonton
Devils at Panthers: Cory Schneider vs. Roberto Luongo (read more here)
Predators at Blackhawks: Pekka Rinne vs. Corey Crawford
Rangers at Jets: Henrik Lundqvist vs. Ondrej Pavelec
Flames at Stars: Joey MacDonald vs. Tim Thomas
Ducks at Avs: Jonas Hiller vs. Semyon Varlamov