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Goalie nods: Poulin starts again, Scrivens goes for L.A.

Kevin Poulin

New York Islanders goalie Kevin Poulin looks over the ice during the third period of the NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils Monday, Jan. 17, 2011, in Uniondale, New York. The Devils beat the Islanders 5-2. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

AP

All the news and notes from around the crease...

Isles go back to Poulin

The Islanders will start Kevin Poulin for the third consecutive game on Thursday against the Kings.

Poulin, who looks to be making a serious run at Evgeni Nabokov’s starting gig, stopped 32 of 33 shots in a 3-1 win over Nashville on Tuesday and now has a 1.76 GAA and .939 save percentage in his last four starts.

Poulin’s counterpart tonight will be another backup thrust into the starting gig -- Ben Scrivens.

Scrivens will be L.A.'s starter until further notice after Jonathan Quick was diagnosed with a Grade 2 groin strain. Scrivens hasn’t played much this year -- just two starts -- but in his last game, a 3-1 loss to the Coyotes, he stopped 30 of 33 shots faced.

Johnson returns for B’s

Little-used backup Chad Johnson will be in goal for the Bruins tonight when they host Columbus at TD Garden.

Johnson, mostly a spectator to Tuukka Rask this year, has two starts on the season and has gone 1-1-0 with a 2.53 GAA and .900 save percentage. In his last outing, a 3-1 loss to the Islanders, Johnson made 31 saves.

Columbus will counter with Sergei Bobrovsky, who has lost four of his last five starts.

Elsewhere...

-- Jonas Hiller will be back in goal for Anaheim tonight, spelling the red-hot Frederik Andersen, as the Ducks take on Tampa Bay. The Lightning will counter with Ben Bishop, who was outstanding in Tuesday’s 2-1 shootout win over Montreal, stopping 28 of 29 shots.

-- It’s Mike Smith vs. Corey Crawford in Thursday’s Coyotes-Blackhawks matchup, a rematch of the opening round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs.

-- In St. Louis, Jean-Sebastien Giguere will take on Jaroslav Halak as the Blues host the Avalanche. Giguere is 5-0-0 this season with a 1.00 GAA and .970 save percentage, while Halak is 9-2-2 with a 2.25 GAA and .909 save percentage.

-- Looks like it’ll be Kari Lehtonen vs. Reto Berra in the Dallas-Calgary game, and Antti Niemi vs. Roberto Luongo in the San Jose-Vancouver game.