This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Carey Price is doing it all for Montreal. They're in the hunt for the President's Trophy and don't have the numbers of a team who should be in that hunt. Their 48.5% CF% ranks 23rd in the league (just above Edmonton and just below Arizona), their 121 even-strength goals ranks 18th (just above Toronto), their shot differential of -86 ranks 21st (just above Arizona), they allow 28 shots per 60 minutes of even-strength play (8th worst in the league), and their power play ranks 26th.
What's the difference been? Well, they have a handful of things they're doing right, like having the sixth best penalty kill in the league, but anyone who points to anything other than a single stat is trying to fool you. Their even strength save percentage (Sv%) is .938, the best mark in the NHL. In all situations that Sv% is .929, which is also the best in the league.
Carey Price is the primary reason the Canadiens are in the place they are. Backup goaltender Dustin Tokarski has been ok in his 13 starts, but Price has earned a decision in all 56 of his starts this season and has been outstanding. While I'd argue that Pekka Rinne and Devan Dubnyk (yup, Dubnyk -- I dug into the precedent of goaltenders winning the Vezina with as few starts as Dubnyk previously) should get the other two finalist positions for the Vezina, there is no doubt at all that Price is this year's winner.
How cool has he been? In the middle of leading his team to a 3-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday, he stopped during a time out to take a selfie with a fan.
I'll dig a bit more into his numbers below.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Detroit Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) at Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury), 12:30 PM
Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at New York Rangers (Cam Talbot), 5:00 PM
Carolina Hurricanes (Anton Khudobin) at Columbus Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky), 5:00 PM
St. Louis Blues (Jake Allen) at Dallas Stars (Kari Lehtonen), 6:00 PM
Philadelphia Flyers (Ray Emery) at Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson), 7:00 PM
Boston Bruins (Niklas Svedberg) at Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:30 PM
Nashville Predators (Pekka Rinne) at Anaheim Ducks (Frederik Andersen), 8:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Sunday
Detroit Red Wings
Johan Franzen, RW - (concussion) skated for a little bit Friday but left the ice before practice began.
Darren Helm, LW - (oblique) did not play Saturday.
Jonas Gustavsson, G - (concussion) will not play.
Tomas Jurco, RW - (eye) was held out of Saturday's game.
Alexei Marchenko, D - (oblique) joined the team on their current road trip.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pascal Dupuis, RW - (blood clot) has skated.
Sidney Crosby, C - (illness, maybe) was scratch late before Saturday's game because he "wasn't feeling well."
Evgeni Malkin, C - (undisclosed) won't play Sunday.
Olli Maatta, D - (shoulder) out for the season.
Florida Panthers
Roberto Luongo, G - (shoulder) has don on-ice workouts.
Al Montoya, G - (groin) is out for another week or so.
New York Rangers
Kevin Klein, D - (upper body) will miss a few weeks.
Henrik Lundqvist, G - (neck) is still without a timetable for his return.
Carolina Hurricanes
Ryan Murphy, D - (illness) did not play on Saturday.
Jack Hillen, D - (concussion) will not be back on Sunday.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Jeremy Morin, LW - (chest) remains out.
Matt Calvert, LW - (concussion) is without a timetable.
Jack Skille, RW - (shoulder) is out for the season.
David Clarkson, RW - (oblique) is out for 3-5 weeks.
Boone Jenner, LW - (back) will travel with the team.
Austin Madaisky, D - (undisclosed) is out for the season.
St. Louis Blues
Olli Jokinen, C - (upper body) will miss both of the team's weekend games.
Kevin Shattenkirk, D - (abdominal surgery) has skated but is not yet ready to play.
Dallas Stars
John Klingberg, D - (upper body) is probable to play Sunday.
Valeri Nichushkin, LW - (hip) practiced Monday and will travel with the team, but remains seven-to-10 days away from returning coach Ruff said last week.
Trevor Daley, D - lower body) remains out.
Travis Moen, LW - (upper body) is not progressing from his injury as quickly as the Stars anticipated.
Philadelphia Flyers
R.J. Umberger, LW - (hip/abdominal muscles) will undergo surgery Wednesday.)
Radko Gudas, D - (knee) should return to the ice soon.
Michael Del Zotto, D - (upper body) has been ruled out for Sunday's game.
Ottawa Senators
Zack Smith, C - (wrist) has been cleared to take full contact in practices.
Robin Lehner, G - (concussion) isn't ready for a return.
Chris Neil, RW - (thumb) remains out.
Clarke MacArthur, LW - (concussion) will not play Sunday or soon.
Chris Phillips, D - (undisclosed) is not viewed as close to a return.
Boston Bruins
Brett Connolly, RW - (broken finger) had surgery last week and won't play Sunday.
Kevan Miller, D - (shoulder) is on LTIR.
David Krejci, C - (knee) has skated, but not with the team.
Washington Capitals
Jay Beagle, C - (upper body) won't play Sunday.
Michael Latta, C - (upper body) is out.
John Erskine, D - (neck) skated on Thursday, but is a ways from a return.
Brooks Orpik, D - (lower body) has been ruled out for Sunday's game.
Brooks Laich, C - (upper body) will not play Sunday.
Justin Peters, G - (lower body) was hurt in Friday's game and doesn't appear ready to return.
Nashville Predators
Eric Nystrom, LW - (lower body) is expected to be out for the next three weeks.
Anaheim Ducks
Tim Jackman, RW - (lower body) should resume skating in a week.
Korbinian Holzer, D - (concussion) remains out.
Sami Vatanen, D - (lower body) is out.
Hot
Carey Price, G, MTL -- Yes, Price should be getting 100% of the Vezina vote at this point. He ranks first in the NHL in wins with 38, first in Sv% at .936, first in GAA at 1.91, second in shutouts with seven, and he's played the fourth most minutes of any goaltender in the league. Not only are his overall numbers wildly impressive, he's been fantastic lately as well. He's been over a .925 Sv% in eight of his last 10 starts. He's been over .950 in five of those. Price is unreal, as evidenced by this save on Saturday.
Sidney Crosby, C, PIT -- Pittsburgh got shutout by the Bruins on Saturday and Crosby didn't play due to illness (maybe, it wasn't entirely clear), but Sid the Kid has been getting dumped on regularly by the media since the start of 2015. That's mostly because he's scoring less per game than he has in previous seasons and he's scoring less in 5-on-5 situations in particular, which tends to be more indicative of how a player is doing and how their future performances will be. Here's the problem with that analysis: It's only partly true. He's playing fewer minutes per game than he has in most seasons and he's getting fewer power play minutes per game than in previous season. And while his shooting rate is down some from previous years (though not the worst of his career), his shooting percentage is crazy low at 5-on-5. That's a statistic that tends to regress toward career-mean and isn't really that variable historically. He's likely to start getting some bounces going his way. The big problem with that analysis that he's struggling is that among players who have played at least 200 minutes this season Crosby has the best points per 60 minutes of all situation play (P/60) of any player in the NHL. Lots has been made about how we won't have a 100-point scorer in the NHL this season, but with lower point totals around the league, you have to compare players to each other to get a good sense of what a player offers comparatively. Crosby is tied with Evgeni Malkin for the best scoring rate in the league, which doesn't sound like a player struggling to me. He has four goals and eight assists over his last nine games, with a plus-2 rating, two power play goals, and an average of three shots per game.
Cold
Kyle Okposo, RW, NYI -- Fair or unfair, Okposo has done very little to help owners or the Islanders since returning from injury. He missed a good chunk of time and there's little doubt that he will bounce back, it's just a question of how long it takes for him to get back in the groove of the game. In the three games since his return he has no points, a minus-5 rating, and seven shots. However, if you look at some WOWY numbers for the Islanders. (WOWY stands for with or without you, a set of comparative numbers that look at how players perform when on the ice together versus when they are on the ice without each other.) You see that Okposo's presence make John Tavares even better than he already is. They historically have strong numbers together, but they've posted a 55.7% CF% when on the ice together this season, which is higher than either are posting without the other and is generally a really great number. With those two together again, it won't be long before the puck starts hitting the back of the net again.
Jimmy Howard, G, DET -- Howard has not been doing owners or the Red Wings many favors down the stretch. If we go back to February 14, his first start after returning from injury, he's been under a .900 Sv% seven times in 12 appearances. He's also posted those kind of eggs in four of his last five starts (though one was in relief and he only faced seven shots in a little under a period). Nonetheless, these aren't numbers that are helping owners. Detroit is largely a defensively sound team and Howard should be able to get back on track, but his recent numbers are a concern. He'll certainly get the chance to rebound, with Jonas Gustavsson out, experiencing concussion-like symptoms since being run over in a game earlier this month.
Recommended Pickup
Justin Fontaine, RW, MIN -- This may seem like a strange pick. Fontaine is a second-year depth player for the Wild, who has largely been playing on the team's fourth line recently (with a couple of games where he was bumped to the second or third). Here's the thing: Fontaine is hugely underrated at large. He may only be worth a look in deeper formats, but he's worth a look. In his last 15 games he has four goals (two game-winners) and seven assists. He's a plus-8 and he's averaging 2.2 shots per game. His minutes aren't huge and he's not going to get any power play time, but the advanced stats back up that this is likely the kind of player he is. He has a 53.3 CF% while taking some rough zone starts at -9% ZSO%Rel. He's capable of posting solid offensive numbers and producing. Lest we forget, he scored 13 goals and eight assists through 66 games of his rookie season. That's not nothing for a depth player in his rookie season.
