Niemi will be the road starter versus the Lightning on Saturday, per the NHL.com roster report.

EDGE Analysis

Niemi will complete the back-to-back set after getting the best of the Panthers with a 23-save outing in Sunrise, Florida on Friday. Montreal evidently would rather take the chance on a potentially weary Niemi than ice 21-year-old Michael McNiven for his NHL debut, which makes a lot of sense considering the next opponent is a Lightning squad with the league's best offense at 4.13 goals per game.