Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will start things off today with a 12:30 match. The Flyers will (LIKELY) start Steve Mason in goal. Mason has played well this year as he has a 27-16-6 record with a 2.56 GAA and a .915 SP.   He is 3-2 in his last 5 games. Marc-Andre Fleury is (LIKELY) for the Penguins. He is having a great year with 34 wins and a 2.28 GAA.  Go with Fleury in this one. Ben Scrivens has been (CONFIRMED) for the Oilers against Carolina. Scrivens has played pretty well this year with a 2.24 GAA and a .930 SP, but he has lost his last 2 games. Anton Khudobin is (LIKELY) for Carolina after Cam Ward played the last game. Khudobin had a good start to the season, but he has gotten leky with losses in 4 of his last 5 games.  Like Scrivens in this game.  Toronto is at Washington, and James Reimer is (LIKELY) for the Leafs. He did shutout the Kings in his last game, but his numbers are not great with a 3.23 GAA and a .914 SP. Jaroslav Halak is (LIKELY) for the Capitals and he is 2-2 in his last 4 games. The Canucks will visit Florida today, and Eddie Lack has been (CONFIRMED) for Vancouver. Lack has gone 2-3 in his last 5 games, allowing 18 goals during that period. Roberto Luongo (CONFIRMED) has also gone 2-3 in his last 5 games, but only allowing 13 goals. Still we like Lack in this game.   The Sharks will visit the Rangers in a 4:00 meeting. San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi (LIKELY) has been hot lately with 4 straight wins. He should face Henrik Lundqvist (LIKELY) for New York  Lundqvist has won 3 of his last 4 games allowing only 7 goals.  This is a tough one, but go with Niemi.  The Avalanche will face the Senators in Ottawa today.  Semyon Varlamov has been (CONFIRMED) for Colorado. He has had a great year with 33 wins, but he got lit up by Anaheim in his last game allowing 5 goals.  He is 4-2 in his lat 6 games though.  Craig Anderson is (LIKELY) for Ottawa despite his collison last game with Milan Michalek which knocked him out of the game. Anderson's 3.10 GAA is not good so we would go with Varlamov.  With Carey Price injured, Peter Budaj (CONFIRMED) will start today for Montreal against Buffalo. Budaj is only 8-8-2 on the year, and he has lost his last 4 games. Michal Neuvirth will (LIKELY) start for the Sabres, and he is only 4-8-2 on the year with a 2.78 GA. Like Montreal in this one.  Detroit is at Chicago this afternoon and Jimmy Howard is (LIKELY) for the Red Wings. He has a losing 14-15-10 record, and has lost 3 of his last 4 games. Corey ...

Exciting night yesterday in the NHL. San Jose right wing Martin Havlat had a big night with a goal and an assist in the Sharks 4-3 win over the Islanders. Havlat once had a lot of potential as a possible 90 point player, but injuries have taken their toll on him, and he has only  14 points in 35 games this year.  What a waste of talent.  New York forward Kyle Okposo had 2 assists in the loss, and with 67 points he is having a great year. Draft him high next season.  Okay game for San Jose goalie Antti Niemi as he had 35 saves in the win, and he has 33 wins on the season, but his .912 SP is a little bit unnerving. The Capitals beat the Canucks 4-3 as young Russian forward Evegny Kuznetsov scored his first NHL points by collecting 3 assists. Great game for the 21 year old rookie.  The amazing thing is that he did it in only 9:58 of time on ice, and on the 4th line no less.   Don't get too excited about him yet.  Goaltender Jaroslav Halak got the win with 35 saves, and he is playing well with 26 wins and a 2.25 GAA. He is pretty solid.  Detroit beat Edmonton 2-1 in a shootout as goaltender Jimmy Howard had a good game for the Wings with 21 saves. Howard has had a tough year with a losing record and this is his first win in 4 games, but he was sharp last night.  The Panthers beat the Devils 5-3 as Florida forward Brad Boyes had a goal and an assist. Boyes once scored 71 points for St Louis in the  2008-2009 season, but he has really struggled with injuries since then and has only 32 points on the year.  New Jersey defenseman Marek Zidlicky was a -4 by the way. Florida center Jonathan Huberdeau had 2 assists, but with only 27 points on the season, he has been a major disappointment. So much talent wasted.  Goaltender Pekka Rinne looks like he is rounding into shape for Nashville as he had 31 saves in a 3-2 victory over the suprisingly struggling Blackhawks. Rinne has good metrics with a 2.27 GAA and a .920 SP.  Get him if you can, as he is coming on strong.  Defenseman Roman Josi had a big night for Nashville assisting on all 3 goals. With 30 points in 51 games played he is a good defenseman choice.   Huge game for Rangers forward Carl Hagelin as he scored his first hat trick in the NHL. But he has only 28 points on the season, so we would not chase him.  He does have a lot of speed, but not yet so much skill.  Winnipeg goalie Ondrej Pavelec left the game early with an LBI. No word yet on how serious it is. Al Montoya replaced him, and if Pavelec is going to...

ALL GOALIES ARE CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT THE TIME OF PRINT Evgeni Nabokov will be facing his former team in the San Jose Sharks tonight on the Island.  Expect Antti Niemi in net after Stalock got the nod last night. Nabby should be pumped to be facing his former team but will have difficulty against the Sharks offense that has a lot of punch.....Eddie Lack (LIKELY) and the Vancouver Canucks will try and carry forward their fine performance against the Winnipeg Jets tonight against Jaroslav Halak and the Washington Capitals who are coming off a 2-0 shutout by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Halak is just 1-2 since coming over via trade as the Caps offense has been quieted lately.  Two goalies in need of a win to boost their confidence....Jimmy Howard is back in net for the Detroit Red Wings who are in desperate need of some wins as they battle for a playoff spot. The Edmonton Oilers come into town after losing to St. Louis last night.  Viktor Fasth (LIKELY) should be making his second start for the Oil. Fasth gives the Oilers a reasonable chance at a win here against a struggling Red Wing team...Cory Schneider looks to turn around his recent play against new Florida Panther and ex-teammate Roberto Luongo. The Cats showed some fight last night battling back from 1 5-2 deficit before falling short in a 5-4 loss to Tampa. A classic ‘pitcher's duel' could be in order...Pekka Rinne needs to steal this one for the Nashville Predators as they try to keep close in the playoff race.  Chicago will be looking to get back on track after losing to Colorado on Wednesday.  Corey Crawford gets the call after Antti Raanta spelled him last game out. Rinne seems to be getting stronger and the Hawks have been around .500 lately....Henrik Lundqvist returns to the net for the New York Rangers in hopes of reversing his team's 2-game losing streak. Ondrej Pavelec and the Winnipeg Jets are fighting for their playoff lives so expect a heated battle.....There has been word that Dallas Stars' G Kari Lehtonen is close to returning after suffering a concussion 2 games ago. Tim Thomas will get the nod so Lehtonen can recover fully. He will be facing Joey MacDonald of the Calgary Flames who will be making his first start since November 1st. The Stars have been on fire lately.  I wouldn't go against them....The final match of the night pits Jonas Hiller and the Anaheim Ducks against Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche. The Ducks have fallen from their lofty perch atop the ...

Howard gave up three goals on 31 shots in a 3-0 loss to the Rangers on Sunday. It was a lackluster performance by the Red Wings as a group, but it was the third game in a row that Howie has given up three-plus goals. He will take on the Blue Jackets in a game with huge playoff implications for both teams.

Howard surrendered four goals on 29 shots in a 4-3 come-from-behind loss to the Devils on Tuesday. It was a tough loss that bounced the Red Wings from the final playoff spot in the East. Howie gets the nod on Nicklas Lidstrom night in Detroit vs. Colorado. He is 1-1-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .898 SV% since the Olympics.

Howard did not play a game for Team USA in the Olympics, but that was expected. Heading into the Olympics he won three of five games with a 2.72 GAA and .895 SV%. With 24 games remaining, the Red Wings need him to be more consistent down the stretch if they are going to make the playoffs. Tonight vs. Montreal is a huge game for Detroit.