Saturday Daily Puck: Johnny Rotten

Saturday Daily Puck: Johnny Rotten

This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.

If you didn't watch the Flames/Bruins game on Friday, you missed the height of drama. This game had everything. Comebacks, emotional storylines, highlight reel plays, a return to the lion's den, buzzer beaters, battles...

Johnny Gaudreau got the Flames on top just 33 seconds into the game on a Zdeno Chara miscue, then assisted on a Mark Giordano goal to put the Flames up 2-0.

The Bruins tie it up and what does Gaudreau do? He gives his team the lead again. They're up 3-2 on two goals and an assist from Johnny Hockey. But Boston ties it before we enter the third period.

With just 1:06 left in the game, Calgary is on the power play. Dougie Hamilton, the former Bruin who didn't want to be there and got traded away over the summer, in his first return trip to Boston, trips Brad Marchand to give Marchand a penalty shot. Just over a minute left and Marchand, on his second goal of the game, gives the Bruins the lead on a short-handed penalty shot.

Drama! Action! Adventure!

But we're not done.

There's just a fraction under two seconds remaining in the game and Jiri Hudler ties it.

Then Gaudreau caps the hat trick in overtime, with an assist to Hamilton.

Redemption! Thrills!

You couldn't manufacture a game better than this. And you can't even start to retell the whole thing. It was physical and fast. Gaudreau and Marchand -- scoring five goals and an assist between the two diminutive forwards -- got into it, going to the box together.

If you need to convince a disbelieving friend that hockey is the most thrilling game around, replay this one for them. If they still don't like hockey, check for a pulse.

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid

Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Jets (Michael Hutchinson), 3:00 PM
Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 4:00 PM
Islanders (Jaroslav Halak) at Senators (Craig Anderson), 7:00 PM
Predators (Pekka Rinne) at Red Wings (Petr Mrazek), 7:00 PM
Canadiens (Mike Condon) at Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Maple Leafs (James Reimer) at Blues (Jake Allen), 7:00 PM
Blue Jackets (Curtis McElhinney) at Flyers (Steve Mason), 7:30 PM
Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov) at Wild (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 PM
Bruins (Tuukka Rask) at Canucks (Ryan Miller), 10:00 PM
Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Sharks (Alex Stalock), 10:30 PM

Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday

Washington Capitals
Marcus Johansson, LW (undisclosed) - will be a game-time decision
Jakub Vrana, RW (wrist) - is expected to miss at least another couple months
Brooks Orpik, D (lower body) - is not traveling with the team on their current road trip

Winnipeg Jets
Ondrej Pavelec, G (knee) - will be out until the end of January at the earliest

Pittsburgh Penguins
Kris Letang, D (undisclosed) - its unlikely that Letang plays Saturday
Olli Maatta, D (upper body) - could return Saturday

Los Angeles Kings
Dwight King, LW (foot) - is another couple weeks from returning
Matt Greene, D (upper body) - is out indefinitely
Trevor Lewis, C (undisclosed) - left practice on Friday and is questionable for Saturday

New York Islanders
Kirill Petrov, RW (foot) - remains out
Jean-Francois Berube, G (lower body) - is on injured reserve
Eric Boulton, LW (lower body) - is out

Ottawa Senators
Milan Michalek, LW (finger) - is on IR
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) - is still without a timetable
Chris Phillips, D (back) - is week-to-week
Mika Zibanejad, C (head) - remains out
Andrew Hammond, G (head) - has had another setback in his recovery

Nashville Predators
Mike Fisher, C (lower body) - is on IR
Paul Gaustad, C (upper body) - remains out
Miikka Salomaki, RW - has bee on IR since last Thursday
Gabriel Bourque, LW (lower body) - is also on IR
Petter Granberg, D (Achilles) - hasn't been activated since being claimed off waivers

Detroit Red Wings
Kyle Quincey, D (ankle) - will miss at least another month
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) - is on long-term IR
Drew Miller, LW (jaw) - will undergo surgery Saturday and miss six weeks
Teemu Pulkkinen, RW (shoulder) - will miss six-to-eight weeks

Montreal Canadiens
Alexander Semin, LW (undisclosed) - remains out
Zack Kassian, RW (suspended) - continues to be out with a suspension from the team
Michael Bournival, C (concussion) - has cleared waivers and was sent to the AHL
Brendan Gallagher, RW (hand) - will miss at least another month
Carey Price, G (leg) - will miss another five weeks at a minimum
Torrey Mitchell, C (lower body) - is likely to be out

Carolina Hurricanes
Nathan Gerbe, LW (lower body) - is on IR
James Wisniewski, D (ACL) - is still out since tearing his ACL in the season opener

Toronto Maple Leafs
Joffrey Lupul, LW (lower body) - was placed on IR Thursday
Stephane Robidas, D (knee) - is without a timetable to make his season debut

St. Louis Blues
Patrik Berglund, C (shoulder) - remains on long-term IR
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) - won't be back soon

Columbus Blue Jackets
Fedor Tyutin, D (nose) - remains day-to-day and did not play Friday
Rene Bourque, LW (undisclosed) - had an initial timeline that would have him back soon, but his timetable hasn't been updated
David Clarkson, RW (back) - has returned to practice
Jared Boll, RW (foot) - is on IR
Cody Goloubef, D (jaw) - is likely to be out another five or so weeks
Markus Hannikainen, RW (shoulder) - is expected to miss two months

Philadelphia Flyers
Radko Gudas, D (suspension) - is still serving a suspension
Mark Streit, D (groin) - remains out
Ryan White, RW (shoulder) - has practiced
Sam Gagner, C (upper body) - didn't play Friday, but could be back soon

Colorado Avalanche
Brad Stuart, D (back) - is still out
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - remains out
Ben Street, C (chest) - is on IR

Minnesota Wild
Tyler Graovac, C (hernia) - has practiced, but isn't ready to return

Boston Bruins
Chris Kelly, RW (broken femur) - will be out for the rest of the season
David Pastrnak, LW (foot) - doesn't have a timeline for his return
Kevan Miller, D (concussion) - skated, but didn't play in Friday's game

Vancouver Canucks
Jake Virtanen, LW (hip) - is considered week-to-week
Brandon Sutter, C (abdomen) - has undergone surgery and will miss four-to-six weeks
Luca Sbisa, D (hand) - is day-to-day
Chris Higgins, LW (undisclosed) - may play Saturday

Tampa Bay Lightning
Tyler Johnson, C (undisclosed) - didn't practice Friday
Ondrej Palat, LW (lower body) - has been cleared for contact in practice, but may not play this weekend
Cedric Paquette, C (upper body) - may play Saturday

San Jose Sharks
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) - will continue to serve his 41-game suspension
Logan Couture, C (foot) - has been practicing
Ben Smith, RW (head) - has skated at practice, but isn't returning to game action yet

Hot
Evander Kane, LW, BUF — Since coming back from injury, Kane is starting to show that he may be in his prime and be the kind of impact player that the Sabres hoped they had acquired. After scoring two goals on Friday night, he has three straight multi-point games, putting up a total of five goals and two assists in his last five games. Injury bothering him? Doesn't look like it.

Max Domi, LW, ARI — Arizona's rookie sensation isn't slowing down. We're over a quarter of the way into the season and coach Dave Tippett continues to rely on him as a top player. Domi played 19:20 in Friday's game, scoring both of the Coyotes goals in their 5-2 loss. Domi has points in five of his last six games, tallying two goals and five assists over that span.

Cold
Jori Lehtera, C, STL — At 26, Lehtera had a big impact in his first NHL season, scoring 14 goals and 30 assists through 75 games for St. Louis. Maybe there's the sense that since it was his first season in the NHL we could expect some improvement even though he's far from being a developing prospect. We haven't seen that. In fact, we aren't talking about improvement at this point, if you've rostered him you'd be happy to see him coming close to last season's numbers. He's currently on pace for nine goals and 34 points. He has no points in his last five games and has just a single goal over the last 21 games.

Nick Leddy, D, NYI — Leddy was a steal for the Islanders last year and he remains effective defensively, but the goals just won't come for the Minnesota-native. He put up 10 goals and 37 points last year. This year, he has no goals and is on pace for just 18 points.

Recommended Pickup
Sam Reinhart, C, BUF — 2014's second overall draft pick has been overshadowed in the press by 2015's second overall draft pick, but he's heating up. Coach Dan Bylsma has been singing Reinhart's praises lately, noting his work ethic and how much he's improved his game. His value is probably best in deep leagues because he's probably not scoring 25 goals or anything this season, but he's nonetheless been effective. He has three goals, 10 shots and a plus-3 rating over his last three games. How much does Bylsma think Reinhart has improved? In two of his last three games Reinhart has crossed 19 minutes of ice time. He hadn't done that at all this year before those games.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dustin Nelson
Dustin is a former RotoWire contributor. He is a writer based out of NYC. His fantasy team is full of loafers.
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