THE GOALIE EDGE: 12/19/2013 primepucks.com Thu 12/19/13 1:25 PM

ALL GOALIES CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT TIME OF PRINT Steve Mason will be going in his fourth straight start breaking the pattern of two starts and then Emery. In fact, Mason will start for the 6th time in last 7 games and 11th time in past 14. Mason continues to play well in net while the Flyers are finding their offensive game.  Perhaps playing against his former team had a little to do with this start.  Curtis McElhinney will get back in net for the Columbus Blue Jackets after missing a little time to injury. The Jackets have won 4 of 7 and are becoming tough to play against.  Mason should be able to stonewall the visiting Jackets....  Jaroslav Halak will look to get back in the win column against his former team, the Montreal Canadiens. I'm sure he will be stoked to show up his old team, but Carey Price has been playing equally well and this should be a duel between the net minders. Tough call, but slight edge to home team....Calgary visits Detroit at an opportune time as the Red Wings have struggled with injuries to the main components of their team. If you can believe this, the Wheels have lost 6 in a row and have lost starter Jimmy Howard for a few weeks.  However, Jonas Gustavsson has been playing well this year except for his last 2 outings when he let in 5 against a superior Anaheim Ducks team and 4 against the Mighty Pens of Pittsburgh the game prior. The Monster hasn't been the answer as he now has lost 4 in a row.  The Flames have been playing tighter games and if Detroit can't solve starter Karri Ramo, fans may start to get a little uneasy seeing the losing streak extended....Josh Harding will get some treatment for his MS so expect him to miss a few starts. Not considered anything but a maintenance call, fantasy owners should not worry, he will return as the No. 1 in Minnesota. Niklas Backstrom gets the nod and will be up against a somewhat depleted Pittsburgh offense with Malkin and Letang out. Jeff Zatkoff (LIKELY) gets the call as the Pens played last night against the NY Rangers and Fleury was in net. Perhaps a letdown for the Pens, and we all know how the West has been beating up the Eastern Conference teams....Anders Lindback gets the start against his former team, the Nashville Predators. That seems to be the trend tonight with 4 such matchups going.  Tampa Bay has played well without the services of Superstar Steven Stamkos but Lindback has suffered some tough losses in his past two outings.  Carter Hutton has played well since returning to the crease after riding the pine for 13 games. In his four starts since, he has gone 3-1 with his only loss a 3-1 tilt against Chicago.  The Bolts should shine in this home game...Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche will get their shot at the Edmonton Oilers and their inept offense. There is only so much Devan Dubnyk can do if the Oilers aren't scoring. Shutout in 2 of their last 3 games, there might be some big changes coming soon in Oil City.  The Avs are just too good to lose this one at home....The suddenly surging Florida Panthers head into Ottawa to take on Craig Anderson and the Senators.  Winners of 4 in a row and 6 of their last 7, the Cats are making a statement that they want to dance come April.  Scott Clemmensen (LIKELY) starts again as Tim Thomas gets to mend another day. The Senators are coming off a 5-2 beating at the hands of the New Jersey Devils and Anderson hasn't even been a shadow of his former self.  With this being Ottawa's 3rd game in 4 nights, the Cats might get their claws in too deep for the Sens to recover...Chad Johnson (LIKELY) gets a shot against rivals, the Buffalo Sabres, whom they are playing a home-and-home series tonight and Saturday. Ryan Miller (LIKELY) goes for the Sabres in hopes of winning back-to-back games since November 15th. Tough task against the big, bad Bruins...Toronto needs to find a way to win tonight after winning just once in the past 6 games and 3 in their last 13.  James Reimer (LIKELY) gets the start against Mike Smith (LIKELY) and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes are currently on a 4-game road trip through Western Canada and Buffalo. The Leafs had a tough stretch against some formidable opponents lately and Mike Smith hasn't been his awesome self this year with a 2.94 GAA and .911 SP.   Leafs send the Coyotes packing....The Stars are mired in a ‘win-one, lose-one' kind of stretch in their schedule and now face a red-hot goaltender and team, Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks who have won 7 of their last 8 games. Kari Lehtonen will be back in net after a night off against Colorado but is not drawing a favorable matchup. Canucks roll....Speaking of red-hot, rookie sensation, surprise, phenom, or whatever you want to call him, Martin Jones (LIKELY) of the Los Angeles Kings will look to continue his blinding start as he takes on the San Jose Sharks on home ice. Jones only has 3 shutouts in 6 NHL starts, all wins.  Oh, and he also is sporting a 0.82 GAA and a .97s SP.  That's right!  Simply amazing.  LA and their suffocating defense will have their hands full with the Sharks coming to town, but the Kings are playing lights out lately that not even the Kings could beat the Kings now.  Antti Niemi (LIKELY) gets the start in what should be a whale of a game to watch. I was gonna say "shark of a game" but that would've been silly. FANTASY MUST-STARTS Roberto Luongo, Vancouver @ Dallas Chad Johnson, Boston @ Buffalo Steve Mason, Philadelphia vs. Columbus Semyon Varlamov, Colorado vs. Edmonton SLEEPER ALERT Scott Clemmensen, Florida @ Ottawa Karri Ramo, Calgary @ Detroit Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota @ Pittsburgh DAILY GOALIE PICKS Steve: (45-29) Steve Mason Ray: (41-32) Roberto Luongo Mike: (37-27) TBA