This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
This season has to be the year of the goalie, right? Backups Jared Coreau, James Reimer, Jonathan Bernier, Darcy Kuemper, Peter Budaj and Carter Hutton all notched wins last night, with Bernier and Hutton doing it in shutout fashion. Henrik Lundqvist and Carey Price haven't been as dominant as everyone thought they'd be, and instead it's Devan Dubnyk and Sergei Bobrovsky emerging as the front-runners for the Vezina Trophy.
All eight teams on Sunday will be putting their best foot forward, but the Blues, Flyers and Canucks may have to re-evaluate their goaltending situations depending on the outcomes of the games. Jake Allen hasn't been consistent enough to give the Ken Hitchcock farewell tour any assurance of a deep playoff run, Steve Mason is wearing out his welcome in Philadelphia after posting 33 wins in his first full season on Broad Street, and the Canucks have to decide when exactly they want to do with impending free agent Ryan Miller and when they want to give the reins to Jacob Markstrom.
Featured Matchups
Wild (PP: 13, PK: 6) at Blackhawks (PP: 14, PK: 28), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Devan Dubnyk (22-7-3, 1.77, .940), Corey Crawford (16-9-3, 2.47, .922)
Key Injuries:Artem Anisimov (illness), Marcus Kruger (upper body), Victor Bartley (triceps)
This is as about as A-list as you can get. Minnesota and Chicago head into Sunday's game tied with 59 points apiece in a two-horse race for the division and conference title, though they couldn't have done it anymore differently. The Wild have seven players with at least 25 points, with Eric Staal leading the way like it's 2006 with 39 points. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, have just five, but have two elite point-per-game players in Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin, who have pulled much of the offensive weight with Jonathan Toews still part of the under-25 club. You have to think the Wild have the edge here with superior better teams, a campaign from Dubnyk that Dwayne Roloson would approve, and no key injuries. Bonus milestone watch: Marian Hossa's next goal will be the 500th of his career.
Blues (PP: 7, PK: 5) at Ducks (PP: 9, PK: 13), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jake Allen (17-11-3, 2.76, .900), John Gibson (17-10-7, 2.34, .920)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Korbinian Holzer (personal), Nicolas Kerdiles (concussion), Clayton Stoner (abdomen), Nate Thompson (achilles), Carl Gunnarsson (lower body)
If Allen isn't careful, Carter Hutton could be a threat to his job. The Blues defense made it easy for Hutton in a 4-0 win against San Jose, but Allen's been pulled in two consecutive starts, playing just 45 minutes total. With the win, the Blues are now 5-5 in their past 10 games, but have to string some wins together – they have not won consecutive games since Dec. 1. Ryan Kesler, who is a nightmare matchup against anybody, has three goals in his past four games, and should feast on a team that is short on elite centers. Anaheim has an easily exploitable advantage with last change on home ice and more consistent goaltending, although that isn't exactly a compliment for Gibson. Bonus milestone watch: Corey Perry is three points away from 700 for his career.
Other Matchups
Flyers (PP: 4, PK: 19) at Capitals (PP: 16, PK: 3), 1:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Steve Mason (14-14-6, 2.87, .901), Braden Holtby (21-8-4, 1.85, .933)
Key Injuries:Matt Read (lower body)
The Flyers are feisty and a sneakily good offensive team, and Jakub Voracek is unlikely to face any supplemental discipline for his boarding major, which according to Ron Hextall was a "terrible" call. The Caps are very good defensively and they're gunning for their ninth straight win, but it will be difficult to notch their second straight shutout after blanking Chicago on Friday. Justin Williams is four assists shy of 400 for his career and John Carlson is five assists shy of 200, but the most impressive record is Karl Alzner's 500 consecutive games played streak, a feat only two other defensemen have accomplished in NHL history: Jay Bouwmeester and Keith Yandle (active).
Devils (PP: 28, PK: 10) at Canucks (PP: 27, PK: 22), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cory Schneider (12-14-7, 2.73, .909), Ryan Miller (12-10-3, 2.64, .914)
Key Injuries:Yohann Auvitu (lower body), Vernon Fiddler (lower body), Andy Greene (upper body), Sergey Kalinin (undisclosed), John Moore (concussion), Derek Dorsett (neck), Erik Gudbranson (wrist), Jannik Hansen (knee), Ben Hutton (upper body), Philip Larsen (upper body)
Roberto Luongo and Eddie Lack are long gone, so the goalie bromance reunion won't be happening. However, Schneider will face familiar faces and also the player he was essentially traded for – NHL All-Star Bo Horvat, who leads the Canucks with 30 points in 44 games and continues to solidify his case as the team's future captain. Taylor Hall has traditionally given the Canucks fits because of his speed, but the Devils aren't nearly as fast as the Hall-led Oilers, and the Devils have even more trouble scoring than the Canucks, believe it or not.
Recommended Pickup
Bo Horvat, C, VAN – The ninth overall pick in 2013 has three goals and nine points his past nine games, and anyone who's cared to pay attention to the Canucks this year can see that he's the team's true No. 1 center with Henrik Sedin declining and Brandon Sutter destined to score 20 goals a season for the rest of his career. He's also second on the team with a 53.9 faceoff win percentage and 404 faceoff wins.
