Smith will make his third straight start Monday in Toronto. Smith stopped 35 of 36 shots in the Oilers win in Boston on Saturday afternoon. It was a fantastic outing for the veteran netminder, who has stopped 58 of the 62 shots (.935 SV%) in his previous two outings. Tonight he'll take on a Maple Leafs team that is on a 10-game point streak, going 9-0-1 while scoring 4.90 goals per game over that span. Source: Jack Michaels
Francouz will start Monday against the Islanders. Francouz gave up five goals on 32 shots in Colorado's loss to Minnesota on December 27th. The Avalanche have rolled with Philipp Grubauer for their last four games but they'll get Francouz back between the pipes against the Isles. He is 6-1-0 with a 1.94 GAA and .943 SV% in seven road starts and will see an Islanders team that has lost four in a row on home ice, scoring 2.75 goals per game. Source: Marc Moser
Varlamov will get the nod against his former team on Monday. Varlamov allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Islanders loss in Toronto on Saturday. Varlamov has taken over as the Islanders' go-to netminder as of late and will start his fifth consecutive game on Monday. He is 2-2-0 with a 2.03 GAA and .932 SV% in the previous four and tonight he faces a Colorado team that is 3-2-1 while scoring 4.83 goals per game in their last six. Source: Andrew Gross
Hellebuyck will start Monday in Montreal. Hellebuyck surrendered three goals on 44 shots in the Jets loss in Minnesota on Saturday. Hellebuyck has started every game since the Christmas break but has struggled mightily, going 1-2-2 with a 4.25 GAA and .880 SV% in five games. On the plus side, he'll face a Montreal team that has lost five straight (0-4-1) while scoring 2.60 goals per game.Source: Mitchell Clinton
Price will start Monday vs. the Jets. Price allowed three goals on 37 shots in the Canadiens loss to the Penguins on Saturday. That's four straight losses for Price, who has posted a 4.08 GAA and .871 SV% during that time. Tonight he faces the Jets for the second time this season--he stopped 27 of 29 shots in a 6-2 win in Winnipeg in the Canadiens' final game before the Christmas break. Source: @CanadiensMTL
Merzlikins led the Blue Jackets onto the ice for warmups. Merzlikins allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Blue Jackets loss to the Sharks on Saturday. Since taking over the No.1 job, Merzlikinsn has gone 2-1-0 while stopping 86 of the 91 shots (.945 SV%) that he has faced. So far so good and tonight he faces a Kings team that has gone 2-4-1 with 2.29 goals per game in their last seven. BSource: Mark Scheig