What It Means:

Kari Lehtonen has started the last five games, so Dallas has decided to give him a breather on Tuesday by starting Niemi. The 33-year-old has not played well this year, allowing 3.20 goals per game with a .902 save percentage in 14 contests. In his last outing on December 1, the veteran netminder allowed five goals in a loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Our models do not think much of Niemi's chance versus the Ducks as they project him to be the second-worst goalie option on Tuesday, with only a 35.0 chance of winning while stopping 23.7-of-26.3 shot attempts.