The Daily Puck: Slumping Star

Projected Goalie Starters

Rangers (Martin Biron) at New Jersey (Johan Hedberg), 7:00 p.m. ET
St. Louis (Ty Conklin) at Buffalo (Ryan Miller), 7:30 p.m. ET
Boston (Tim Thomas) at Ottawa (Robin Lehner), 7:30 p.m. ET
Detroit (Joey MacDonald) at Florida (Tomas Vokoun), 7:30 PM p.m. ET
Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky) at Carolina (Cam Ward), 8:00 p.m. ET
Anaheim (Curtis McElhinney) at Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom), 8:00 p.m. ET
Columbus (Steve Mason) at Chicago (Corey Crawford) 8:30 p.m. ET

Injuries for Teams Playing Friday

Day-to-Day (Includes DL players close to returning)
Valtteri Filppula (C) Detroit – (Knee) Out until next week.
Steve Montador (D) Buffalo -- (Concussion) Probable to play Friday.
Martin Brodeur (G) New Jersey – (Knee) Could start Saturday.
Chris Campoli (D) Ottawa – (Lower body) Out until next week.
Sergei Gonchar (D) Ottawa -- (Lower body) Unlikely to play Friday and Saturday.
Steve Bernier (W) Florida -- (Flu) Questionable to play Friday.
Dmitry Kulikov (D) Florida -- (Ankle) Out until next week.
Ville Leino (W) Philadelphia -- (Lower body) Day to day.
Marek Zidlicky (D) Minnesota – (Shoulder) Could play Friday.
Steve Mason (G) Columbus – (Bronchitis) Questionable to play Friday.
Bryan McCabe (D) Florida – (Jaw) Will play Friday.

Long Term or IR
Mike Modano (C) Detroit -- (Wrist) Scheduled to return next Saturday.
Jonas Hiller (G) Anaheim – (Head) Could possibly return next week.
Chris Osgood (G) Detroit – (Groin) Taking shots, could be back in a couple of weeks.
Guillaume Latendresse (W) Minnesota – (Hip) Will see a specialist next week, hoping to return in early-mid March.
Derek Boogaard (W) Rangers -- (Concussion) Has begun light workouts, but still no timetable for his return.
Ruslan Fedotenko (W) Rangers -- (Appendectomy) Has started practicing, out for another 10-14 days.
Zach Parise (W) New Jersey – (Knee) Hoping to be cleared to skate in early March.
Jaroslav Halak (G) St. Louis – (Hand) Out until next week at the very least.
Daniel Alfredsson (W) Ottawa – (Back) Out for two weeks.
Josh Harding (G) Minnesota – (Knee) Skating in pads, still weeks away from playing.
Derick Brassard (C) Columbus – (Hand) Out 2-3 weeks.

Transactions

Jarkko Ruutu(W) Anaheim – Traded from Ottawa.
Nigel Dawes (W) Atlanta –Recalled from the AHL.
Fredrik Modin (W) Atlanta– Placed on IR.
Alexander Burmistrov (C) Atlanta – Placed on IR.
Lance Bouma (W) Calgary –Re-assigned to the AHL.
John Moore (D) Columbus – Recalled from the AHL.
Derek Dorsett (W) Columbus – Placed on IR.
Paul Mara (D) Montreal –Traded from Anaheim.
Jacob Josefson (C) New Jersey – Recalled from the AHL.
Tim Sestito (C) New Jersey – Placed on waivers.
Pierre Parenteau (W) Islanders – Signed a one-year contract extension.
Andre Benoit (D) Ottawa – Recalled from the AHL.
Colin Greening (C) Ottawa – Recalled from the AHL.
Tim Wallace (W) Pittsburgh – Re-assigned to the AHL.
Ben Bishop (G) St. Louis -- Recalled from the AHL.
Evan Oberg (D) Vancouver -- Recalled from the AHL.
Jay Leach (D) New Jersey -- Re-assigned to the AHL.
Jaroslav Halak (G) St. Louis -- Placed on IR.

Hot

Olli Jokinen (C) Calgary – Jokinen may no longer be the player he used to be, as he only has 13 goals on the season, but his play, and the play of the entire team, has picked up since the turn of the calendar. Over his last six games, Jokinen has four goals and seven assists. With his troubles over the past couple of seasons there is a pretty good chance he may be hanging out on your waiver wire and can do you some good.

Ilya Bryzgalov (G) Phoenix – There may have been some doubts about Bryzgalov heading into the season. He plays for a team without much offense and only had one good year under his belt, so the doubters had their ammunition. Couple that with the trouble he's had with injuries and some personal problems and his numbers may not quite be where Phoenix and Bryzgalov want them, but they are headed in the right direction.

Cold

James Neal (W) Dallas -- February has not been a kind month to Neal as he only has one solo assist in eight games. Neal is still having a solid season with 20 goals and 38 points, but those points are getting harder and harder to come by of late and Neal's lack of scoring has coincided with the Stars' poor play. If Brad Richards is out long-term, then Neal's slump will be even more ominous.

Ondrej Pavelec (G) Atlanta – The Thrashers and Pavelec were a nice story earlier this season but both have come back down to earth recently. The Thrashers are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games to find themselves out of a playoff spot, and Pavelec has only won two games since Jan. 17. The clock seems to have struck midnight on Cinderella.

Recommended Pickup

Marc-Andre Bergeron (D) Tampa Bay – The Lightning signed Bergeron mid-season to spruce up their power play, and that is exactly what he is doing. True, his play in his own zone can scare his teammates to death, but he has a rocket shot from the point and should produce a solid amount of points for a Tampa team that is second in the Eastern Conference.