This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
The Daily Puck
by Kevin King
- Maybe Rick DiPietro needed to get knocked out a long time ago, because the Isanders are playing absurdly well since "the punch" on February 2. The young guns from Long Island scored 16 goals over the weekend, capping it off with a 7-6 overtime win in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.
- Oh yeah - Valentine's Day ... I remember when I lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan for a couple years as a kid. Every year they played at home on V-Day, and they played on pink ice to mark the occasion. From what I remember it was atrocious, and after looking it up, they still do it, and it's still atrocious ... but apparently the people in Kalamazoo still go crazy for the pink ice. Could this be an idea to draw more than 2,000 people to a game in Atlanta?
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) vs. St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak), 8:00 p.m
Vancouver injuries:
Dan Hamhuis (D) - Out with concussion.
Keith Ballard (D) - Out for Monday and will miss three-to-four weeks with knee injury.
St. Louis injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Washington (Michal Neuvirth) vs. Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov), 8:00 p.m
Washington injuries:
Tom Poti (D) - Out with groin injury, and it is anybody's guess as to when he will return, as it's been a season-long problem..
Eric Fehr (RW) - Out for Monday. Could return from shoulder injury in one-to-two weeks.
Phoenix
The Daily Puck
by Kevin King
- Maybe Rick DiPietro needed to get knocked out a long time ago, because the Isanders are playing absurdly well since "the punch" on February 2. The young guns from Long Island scored 16 goals over the weekend, capping it off with a 7-6 overtime win in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon.
- Oh yeah - Valentine's Day ... I remember when I lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan for a couple years as a kid. Every year they played at home on V-Day, and they played on pink ice to mark the occasion. From what I remember it was atrocious, and after looking it up, they still do it, and it's still atrocious ... but apparently the people in Kalamazoo still go crazy for the pink ice. Could this be an idea to draw more than 2,000 people to a game in Atlanta?
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) vs. St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak), 8:00 p.m
Vancouver injuries:
Dan Hamhuis (D) - Out with concussion.
Keith Ballard (D) - Out for Monday and will miss three-to-four weeks with knee injury.
St. Louis injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Washington (Michal Neuvirth) vs. Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov), 8:00 p.m
Washington injuries:
Tom Poti (D) - Out with groin injury, and it is anybody's guess as to when he will return, as it's been a season-long problem..
Eric Fehr (RW) - Out for Monday. Could return from shoulder injury in one-to-two weeks.
Phoenix injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff) vs. Colorado (Peter Budaj), 10:00 p.m
Calgary injuries:
Alex Tanguay (LW) - Out for Monday with neck strain; did not even travel with the team on their two-game road swing.
Adam Pardy (D) - Out for Monday and out indefinitely with upper body injury.
Colorado injuries:
Adam Foote (D) - Questionable for Monday, maybe highly questionable after missing last three games with a leg injury.
Jonas Holos (D) - Doubtful for Monday after sustaining head inury on Friday night that kept him sideline on Saturday night.
Kyle Cumiskey (D) - Out for Monay night and out indefinitely with whiplash.
T.J. Galiardi (LW) - Out. Will be out six-to-eight weeks after undergoing forearm surgery last week.
Craig Anderson (G) - Back with the Avs after a two-day leave of absence for personal reasons, but will only backup Peter Budaj on Monday night.
TRANSACTIONS
Freddy Meyer (D) Atlanta - Placed on IR (upper body) retroactive to February 3
Spencer Machacek (RW) Atlanta - Recalled from Chicago (AHL)
Zach Hamill (C) Boston - Re-assigned to Providence (AHL)
Zac Dalpe (C) Carolina - Recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
Jerome Samson (RW) Carolina - Recalled from Charlotte (AHL)
Nick Leddy (D) Chicago - Re-assigned to Rockford (AHL)
Jeff Taffe (LW) Chicago - Re-assigned to Rockford (AHL)
Matt Halischuk (C) Nashiville - Re-assigned to Milwaukee (AHL)
Robin Lehner (G) Ottawa - Re-assigned to Binghamton (AHL)
Bobby Butler (RW) Ottawa - Re-assigned to Binghamton (AHL)
Jim O'Brien (C) Ottawa - Re-assigned to Binghamton (AHL)
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Who's Hot
Michael Grabner (RW) NY Islanders - On Sunday I had Grabner as my recommended pickup, and after a hat-trick against the Sabres on Sunday afternoon he probably isn't available on the waiver wire anymore. Grabner now has 24 goals on the season ... not bad for a guy who was only at eight goals on New Year's Day.
Drew Stafford (RW) Buffalo - In a crazy game that saw 13 goals between the Sabres and Isles on Sunday, Stafford netted his second hat-trick of the week. Stafford has bounced on and off of fantasy rosters for most of the season because of injuries, but for those who stashed him away, waiting for him to get healthy, they are reaping the benefits of keeping Stafford, who is an unrestrcited free agent this summer.
Jonathan Quick (G) Los Angeles - Quick was terrific on Sunday, stopping all 40 shots that he saw in L.A's 1-0 shutout of the Flyers. He hasn't allowed more than three goals in a game since January 8, and has not lost in regulations since January 20.
Who's Cold
Ryan Miller (G) Buffalo - The Sabres do what a lot of NHL teams do during intermissions. The pee-wee players from around the area come out and have a shootout against Sabretooth, the Sabres mascot. Naturally, he lets every kid score. Well, that's what Ryan Miller looked like on Sunday afternoon against the Islanders. Despite a positive run by the Sabres, last year's Vezina winner is giving up a lot of goals, and a lot of soft goals.
J.P. Dumont (RW) Nashville - Dumont's nine-game cold streak is bizarre. It's out of character for him, but it's also odd because the last time Dumont did pop up on the scoresheet, it was a hat-trick against the Coyotes on January 18.
Cam Barker (D) Minnesota - Nobody expected Barker to put up Nik Lidstrom type of numbers on the blueline for the Wild, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while right? Maybe not. Barker hasn't logged a point since January 2, a 16-game stretch.
Recommended Pickup
Johan Hedberg (G) New Jersey - With Marty Brodeur likely sidelined all week, you may want to sneak in and grab The Moose until Marty comes back. The boys from the swamp are back to playing very, very well defensively and have won four straight games. If you need goaltending, it's a shrewd move to make before lineups lock for the week.
