Fantasy Watch: Goalie Starts

Feb 18th - 24th

Anaheim Ducks (3) – Giguere has won his last four starts and should start in all three games this week.

Atlanta Thrashers (2) – Lehtonen should receive both starts in this shortened week for Atlanta.

Boston Bruins (3) – Thomas has struggled in February, but should see action in all three games.

Buffalo Sabres (3) – Expect Miller to start all three games this week.

Carolina Hurricanes (4) – With a busy four game week, Grahame may steal a start from Ward

Calgary Flames (4) – Even with four games expect Kiprusoff to receive all the starts.

Chicago Blackhawks (4) – Look for Lalime to steal one start from Khabibulin

Columbus Blue Jackets (3) – Leclaire appears to be healthy again and should receive all three starts this week.

Colorado Avalanche (4) – Look for Budaj and Theodore to split the starts this week.

Dallas Stars (3) – Smith should get one start this week due to back-to-back games.

Detroit Red Wings (3) – Hasek and Osgood will continue to split the starting duties.

Edmonton Oilers (3) – Roloson is pretty much out of the picture, which benefits Garon who should receive all the starts this week.

Florida Panthers (3) – Look for Vokoun to start all three games.

Los Angeles Kings (3) – LaBarbera should receive all three starts this week.

Minnesota Wild (3) – Expect Backstrom to receive all three starts this week.

Montreal Canadiens (3) – Huet has struggled recently but will most likely start all three games this week.

Nashville Predators (3) – Ellis and Mason have been splitting the starts recently.

New Jersey Devils (4) – Brodeur will be in for a busy week with four games on the schedule.

New York Islanders (4) – DiPietro should start all four games this week.

New York Rangers (3) – Newly resigned Lundqvist should get all three starts this week.

Ottawa Senators (3) – Gerber has struggled recently, so expect Emery to receive two starts this week.

Philadelphia Flyers (3) – Biron has been awful lately and should yield a start to Nittymaki

Phoenix Coyotes (4) – With four games on the schedule, Tellqvist may steal a start.

Pittsburgh Penguins (4) – With Fleury still sidelined, Conklin and Sabourin will continue to share the starting duties.

San Jose Sharks (4) – Nabokov should receive all four starts this week.

St. Louis Blues (3) – Look for Legace to start all three games this week.

Tampa Bay Lightining (3) – Expect Ramo to get at least one start this week.

Toronto Maple Leafs (3) – Look for Toskala to start all three games this week.

Vancouver Canucks (3) – Luongo should receive all the starts this week.

Washington Capitals – Kolzig may yield a start to Johnson due to back-to-back games.


For Illegal Curve, I'm Jonny Remis

NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• “I’m a buyer for sure,” said Thrashers GM Don Waddell when asked about the upcoming trade deadline. In other Thrashers news, Ilya Kovalchuk may start the NHL All-Star Game after all, writes Craig Custance of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Chuck Kobasew was the star in the Bruins' 4-3 shootout victory over the Rangers yesterday afternoon. Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe has a very good article on the physicality and grinding nature of a full NHL season.
• The Sabres ended their ten game winless streak on Friday, and then reverted right back to their losing ways on Saturday with a 4-2 loss at Toronto. Thomas Vanek was benched for the third period of last night's game.
• The Southeast continues to be the weakest division in the NHL, writes Luke Decock of the News Observer.
• The Panthers were defeated 5-3 by the Capitals last night but there was a bright spot, as rookie Shawn Matthias scored twice.
• Crosby or no Crosby, the Penguins shutout the Habs last night in Montreal by a score of 2-0. Although they defeated the Habs without Crosby, his loss is a big blow to the Penguins.
• Colin White can hardly see out of his right eye but he has not let that get in the way of his hockey career, writes Rich Chere of the Newark Star-Ledger. The Devils know they need to score more, but they are content winning games 1-0 and 2-1.
• While the Rangers received one point for their 4-3 shootout loss at Boston yesterday, they will not make the playoffs if they continue to play the way they currently are, opines Larry Brooks of the NY Post. With his #2 due to be retired on Thursday, John Dellapina of the New York Daily News has a must-read article about Brian Leetch and his family.
• Here is Larry Brooks of the NY Post with his weekly Slap Shots column.
• "It was just a total team fall-apart," said Islanders coach Ted Nolan after his team blew a 3-1 lead at home to the Flyers and ended up losing the game 5-3.
• With Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley on the sidelines, it was difficult to determine who was the best team in the Eastern Conference and who was the worst last night as the Lightning defeated Ottawa 2-0. Apparently John Paddock can be sarcastic, writes Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Meanwhile, Erin Nicks of the Sun wonders if Senators fans even want Marian Hossa back.
• The Flyers stormed back from a two-goal deficit on the road by riding the Scott Hartnell train, as the power-forward tallied a hat trick in his team`s 5-3 victory over the Islanders.
• Dany Sabourin shut the door last night in Montreal, leading the Penguins to a 2-0 victory and first place in the Atlantic Division. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette analyzes the fast-appoaching trade deadline from the Pittsburgh perspective.
• The Lightning shutout Ottawa last night, making it two straight shutout road wins, writes Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune.
• In the face of adversity, the Leafs have now won three straight games, after their 4-2 victory over Buffalo last night. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star says the Leafs are playing themselves out of top draft position. Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle doesn't want to think about all the trade talk.
• The Capitals rode Nicklas Backstrom's first career four point night to a 5-3 victory over Florida, and a .500 record.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• The Ducks are thoroughly enjoying their current road trip because their dads are along for the ride, writes Dan Wood of the Orange County Register.
• Eric Francis of the Calgary Sun brings to light the fact that the Flames may not be able to re-sign Daymond Langkow this off-season. When it comes to re-signing the team's free agents this off-season, Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Herald shares the same concerns as Francis.
• The Hawks defeated the Coyotes 2-1 in a shootout last night, making it four straight victories for the young club.
• Jose Theodore will start his eighth straight game tonight as the Avalanche host Columbus.
• "Those are two points we lost that we should have had," said Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock after yesterdays 3-1 loss at Dallas. It appears that Duvie Wescott's time in Columbus has come to an end.
• Mike Smith is one of the top backups in the NHL, and he strutted his stuff yesterday by leading his team to a 3-1 victory over the streaking Blue Jackets.
• The Wings went into San Jose last night and only allowed 18 shots against in defeating the Sharks 6-3. Wings star Henrik Zetterberg is far more popular in Sweden than his is in his NHL hometown, writes Shawn Windsor.
• With both teams coming off blowout losses, it should be a spirited affair this afternoon in Atlanta between the Oilers and Thrashers. Here is Jim Matheson's weekly Sunday column.
• Wild coach Jacques Lemaire had encouraging words for his team yesterday as they are set to head out on a west coast road trip. Michael Russo of the Star Tribune examines the possibility of the Wild looking into acquiring Marian Hossa.
• The Predators defeated the Blues 5-2 on Saturday and set two franchise records in the process.
• "I liked our effort throughout," said Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky after his team's 2-1 shootout loss at home to the Blackhawks.
• The Sharks continued their struggles against the Red Wings last night with their third loss against them this season.
• The Blues can take very little from their 5-2 loss to the Predators on Saturday.
• The Kings continue to have the Canucks number after defeating them 4-3 at GM Place last night.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

Nightly Recap - Sabourin Picks up Relief Win

Pittsburgh 6 - Ottawa 5 - Dany Sabourin entered the game with the Pens down 2-0 and earns the relief win in a shootout. After playing in only 9 games last year backing up Roberto Luonogo, Sabourin has appeared in more games this year than all of last year. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza had three points each for the Sens, Pittsburgh's Ryan Malone also collected three points.

Nashville 3 - Detroit 2 - Martin Erat was in on all three Predator goals, putting up a goal and two assists. Erat started off slow this season recording only 6 points in his first 11 games, but in his past 10 games, he has scored 14 points, including 5 multi-point nights. Chris Mason stopped 28 in the win.

Chicago 2 - Calgary 1 - Chicago scored both of their goals tonight on the penalty kill, it was Patrick Sharp's fifth shorthanded goal of the month (!) and Jacob Dowell put in the other in his NHL debut. Khabibulin stopped 30 saves in the win. The Flames are now 3-7-0 in their last 10.

Colorado 3 - Edmonton 2 - The Avalanche ended a four game road losing streak, receiving goals from Milan Heduk, Karlis Skrastins and Marek Svatos. Joni Pitkanen returned to the lineup tonight for the Oilers after missing 13 games with a knee.

Tomorrow's Games (all times Eastern)
12:00pm NYI@BOS,
1:00pm WSH@PHI
2:00pm CLB@MIN
4:00pm PHX@ANA
7:00pm TB@CGY
7:30pm MTL@BUF, NYR@FLA, NJ@ATL
8:30pm TOR@DAL, VAN@STL