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Goalie nods: Isles finally give Berube a start

Pittsburgh Penguins v New York Islanders

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 02: Jean-Francois Berube #30 of the New York Islanders watches a shot just miss the net during the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 2, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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A new chapter in the NHL’s weirdest goalie situation will be written tonight in Buffalo.

The visiting Islanders will give Jean-Francois Berube his first start of the year. This is the same Berube that’s been on the active roster since the opening day of the regular season, and the same Berube that’s played a grand total of five minutes and 37 seconds this year, which came in relief of Jaroslav Halak during Saturday’s 6-2 loss to the Jackets.

After making a name for himself with the Kings’ AHL affiliate -- helping them win the Calder Cup in 2015 -- Berube was claimed off waivers by the Isles in October of last season. He then proceeded to appear in seven games for New York, going 3-2-1 with a 2.71 GAA and .914 save percentage.

This year, the 25-year-old has been stuck behind Halak and Thomas Greiss. He’s also been stuck in limbo -- if the Isles wanted to send him down to the American League to get some playing time, they’d have to expose him to waivers. And apparently there’s a big fear he’d get claimed, because carrying three goalies this year has proven to be a headache.

More: Isles don’t seem to know what to do with Berube

For the Sabres, Robin Lehner gets the call.

Elsewhere...

-- Matt Murray has been terrific lately, and looks to start again when the Pens host the Kings. No word yet on a L.A. starter.

-- Excellent matchup in Montreal, as Martin Jones and the Sharks take on Carey Price at the Habs. These two squared off two weeks ago in San Jose, and Jones bested Price in a 2-1 win.

-- Braden Holtby gets a night off in Carolina, as the Caps will start Philipp Grubauer. The ‘Canes will go back to Cam Ward, who was yanked from a wild game on Tuesday against the Canucks. Ward surrendered three goals on 18 shots, but Carolina came back to beat Vancouver 8-6.

-- It’s expected that James Reimer will give Roberto Luongo a breather, after Luongo was yanked from Tuesday’s loss in Minnesota. Calvin Pickard is in for Colorado, replacing the injured Semyon Varlamov.

-- As we wrote about earlier, Chad Johnson makes his eighth straight start tonight when Calgary hosts Columbus. The Jackets are expected to go with Sergei Bobrovsky, as per usual.

-- Andrei Vasilevskiy gets the nod ahead of Ben Bishop, as the Bolts visit Vancouver. Ryan Miller, who was also hooked in that aforementioned Canucks-'Canes game, goes right back in for the start.