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Goalie nods: Backups galore as Olympic ‘tenders sit

ChadJohnsonBruins

All the latest from the blue paint...

B’s rest Rask, Sabres rest Miller

Boston will give Chad Johnson the start in Buffalo tonight and sit Tuukka Rask, who is fresh off a bronze medal-winning performance for Finland at the Winter Olympics.

Technically speaking, this will mean back-to-back starts for Johnson -- he played in Boston’s final game before the Olympic break as well, stopping 26 of 28 shots in a win over the Senators. The former Phoenix goalie has been quite good lately, posting a 1.83 GAA and .937 save percentagte in his last five starts.

The Sabres, meanwhile, are starting Jhonas Enroth after Ryan Miller played in Tuesday’s win over Carolina. Both Miller and Enroth participated in the Olympics -- for the U.S. and Sweden, respectively -- but Enroth didn’t get a game in Sochi, serving as Henrik Lunqvist’s backup for the entire tournament.

Elsewhere...

Kings at Avalanche: Another “rest the starters” scenario, as L.A. looks like it’ll go with Martin Jones (giving Team USA goalie Jonathan Quick a breather) while Colorado will go with J.S. Giguere (a night off for Russia’s Semyon Varlamov.)

Red Wings at Canadiens: Jimmy Howard, who was in Sochi as a member of Team USA but didn’t play, will get the nod for Detroit. Carey Price, who backstopped Canada to gold, re-aggravated an injury suffered at the Winter Gaems and will miss tonight’s contest. Peter Budaj starts in his place.

Blues at Canucks: Jaroslav Halak, who went into the Olympics as Slovakia’s No. 1 but was benched halfway through the tournament, will go for St. Louis. Roberto Luongo, who backed up Carey Price for Team Canada, will get a rest tonight as Vancouver gives Eddie Lack the start.