Antti Niemi will start in Friday's game against the Detroit Red Wings. Niemi has bested Detroit in his career to this point. He has a 1.97 GAA and .932 save percentage in seven games against the Red Wings. He also led San Jose past Detroit in seven games in the second round of the 2011 playoffs.

Antti Niemi practiced on Thursday after getting Wednesday off for a maintenance day. Niemi will likely start Friday against the Red Wings as he is coming off a nice 3-1 win over Nashville in which he made 19 saves. Niemi is a good lower level first goalie or a great second goalie in deeper pools.

Antti Niemi blocked 19 of 20 shots Tuesday as the Sharks defeated Nashville by a score of 3-1. After missing the start of the season due to injury, Niemi has now earned a win in three of his first four starts. Although he's a notch below some of the league's elite goaltending options, he's a useful second-tier selection.

San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan stated that the team will ride Antti Niemi as their clear number one goalie this season. In other words, don't expect a goalie platoon like the first half of 2010-11, even once Antero Niittymaki returns from his injury. Thomas Greiss and Niittymaki will probably just spot Niemi rest during the occasional back-to-back game, so don't bother stashing either backup on your team unless you plan on dropping them right after a random start. Niemi, on the other hand, should be a high-end starter behind a strong team.

Antti Niemi was incredible on Saturday night as San Jose beat Boston 4-2. Niemi was especially good in the third period as he shut down the Bruins. He finished the game with 37 saves on 39 shots. Niemi has been a real stud since his return. His record improved to 2-1-0 on the season.

On Monday night, goalie Antti Niemi made his first start since the surgical removal of a cyst near his knee shortly before the start of training camp, but he was mediocre in a 3-2 loss at home to the Anaheim Ducks. "Overall, I felt pretty good," said the Sharks' netminder, who made 19 saves, "but obviously I wanted to get a couple of those goals back."

Antti Niemi allowed 3 goals on only 22 shots in Monday night's 3-2 loss to the Anahiem Ducks. Niemi made his season debut for the San Jose Sharks but could not save his club tonight. Pronounced healthy, with his return complete Niemi switches his focus to having another strong season. The Sharks look like a dangerous team this year and Niemi should have no problem putting up wins.

Antti Niemi will play between the pipes on Monday. It will be Niemi's first start of the season. He had to undergo surgery to remove a cyst and he missed the entire preseason and three regular season contests because of it. We wouldn't be surprised if Niemi is a little rusty, but it shouldn't take him long to overcome that.

Antti Niemi should be making his first start of the season in Monday night's rematch against the Anaheim Ducks. "There's a real good chance that Nemo gets his first game tomorrow as long as everything goes as planned," San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said today. Stay tuned for an official confirmation on our part tomorrow. Niemi is recovering from surgery to remove a cyst.

Antti Niemi (cyst) is healthy enough to serve as the San Jose Sharks backup goaltender on Friday. That's obviously not the role Niemi owners would like to see him in, but it's a huge step in the right direction. The San Jose Sharks will play again on Saturday and Niemi will probably start in that game. We'll keep you posted.