Niemi will work between the pipes as the starter Friday evening against the Canucks, Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reports.
Analysis:
The writing was on the wall with this news, as fellow puck stopper Kari Lehtonen landed on IR with an upper-body injury Thursday. Niemi has been somewhat lucky against teams in the Pacific Division this season, having notched wins in all of three starts despite a 2.97 GAA and .889 save percentage in that span.