I know it's early, but the so-so play of Viktor Fasth has me wondering how long Bruce Boudreau will play the 1/1A goalie card.

Jonas Hiller and Fasth both seemed to excel, while sharing starts last season. Fasth has been given the nod in two of the Ducks first three games and has looked average at best. Although he is 1-1-0 and is coming off a nice win in Winnipeg, he is certainly not the same dominant netminder that won his first 10 NHL games last season. Is Fasth's shaky start a 'sophomore slump' or was he playing above his head in the lockout shortened season?

Fasth was in net for all six Colorado goals in the season opener, only stopping 23 of the 29 shots he faced. Several of the goals could be classified as grade 'softies.' I initially chalked it up to opening night jitters. In his next start, a 3-2 win over Winnipeg, he stopped 15 of 17 shots. While it's great he won the game, he was never really tested as the Jets couldn't muster much of an attack. It was a good confidence win for he and the Ducks, yet still not enough to gauge his overall level of play.

I thought Hiller, while not perfect, looked more comfortable in his lone start, a 4-3 overtime win over the Wild. He stopped 30 of 33 shots, including 16 of 17 in a very lopsided second period. Even with a 3-1 lead he had to be good to give Anaheim the chance they needed to win the game.

The Ducks host the New York Rangers in the home opener on Thursday and I fully expect to see Hiller between the pipes. The Rangers are coming off a very lopsided 9-2 (EDIT: had Ducks score in here. Oopsie) loss against the Sharks and will look to exact some revenge in Anaheim. It should be a good test for a well rested Hiller.

It will take a few more starts to get a better feel for how each goalie is going to play this season and at that point I would hope that Boudreau decides to go with the hot hand instead of splitting time to be fair.

What do you think? What have you see so far? Who should be the number one or should Fasth and Hiller continue to split the starts?

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