Although Antti Niemi has a subpar 3.09 GAA and .892 save percentage in eight starts since returning from a cyst, the Sharks plan to keep putting him in between the pipes. "He plays his best when he's a workhorse, when he's ridden all the time and he's just getting to that now," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "His injury, his lack of a work-full training camp, his lack of an exhibition season hasn't been helpful for him, but that doesn't mean we don't believe in what he can and will do. I think when you even look at his year last year, we started by rotating some goaltenders back and forth, him and (Antero Niittymaki). And until Nemo really played and played and played, that's when he started to get in his groove." With that in mind, Niemi should be regarded as a the probable goaltender for Monday's contest.