The Daily Puck: Will the King Wear His Crown?

Projected Goalie Starters

New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) at Boston (Tim Thomas) 7:00 PM.
Ottawa (Craig Anderson) at Carolina (Cam Ward) 7:00 PM.
Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist) 7:00 PM.
Buffalo (Ryan Miller) at Montreal (Carey Price) 7:30 PM.
Washington (Michal Neuvirth) at Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky) 7:30 PM.
Islanders (Al Montoya) at Tampa Bay (Dwayne Roloson) 7:30 PM.
Edmonton (Nikolai Khabibulin) at Nashville (Pekka Rinne)  8:00 PM.
Toronto (James Reimer) at Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom) 8:00 PM.
Columbus (Steve Mason) at Colorado (Brian Elliott) 9:00 PM.
St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak) at Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov) 10:00 PM.

Injuries for Teams Playing Tuesday

Day-to-Day (Includes DL players close to returning)

Craig Anderson (G) Ottawa - (Lower body) Signed a four-year contract, expected to start Tuesday.
Mathieu Darche (W) Montreal - (Groin) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Marc Staal (D) Rangers - (Undisclosed) Not practicing, questionable for Tuesday.
Sergei Gonchar (D) Ottawa - (Concussion) Out for Tuesday, possibly the season.
Henrik Lundqvist (G) Rangers - (Neck/Head) Probable to play Tuesday.
Steve Montador (D) Buffalo  - (Lower body) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Patrick Kaleta (W) Buffalo - (Knee) Doubtful for Tuesday.
Jochen Hecht (W) Buffalo - (Upper body) Out for Tuesday, could play this weekend.
Tomas Plekanac (C) Montreal - (Lower body) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Simon Gagne (W) Tampa Bay - (Neck) Not expected to play Tuesday.
Jeff Halpern (W) Montreal - (Lower body) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Alexander Ovechkin (W) Washington - (Undisclosed) Not expected to play until next week.
Jason Arnott (C) Washington - (Undisclosed) Doubtful to play Tuesday.
Eric Fehr (W) Washington - (Shoulder) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Marek Zidlicky (D) Minnesota - (Hamstring) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Cam Barker (D) Minnesota - (Upper body) Skating, but still doubtful to play Tuesday.
Grant Clitsome (D) Columbus - (Knee) Out for Tuesday.
Anton Stralman (D) Columbus - (Lower body) Doubtful for Tuesday.
Milan Hejduk (W) Colorado - (Shoulder) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Martin Hanzal (C) Phoenix - (Lower body) Questionable to play Tuesday.

Long Term or IR

Semyon Varlamov (G) Washington - (Knee) Close to returning, out for Tuesday.
Jamie McBain (D) Carolina - (Shoulder) Ahead of schedule, skating, but still out for Tuesday.
Brad Marchand (W) Boston - (Suspension) Eligible to return Tuesday.
Milan Michalek (W) Ottawa - (Foot) Out for Tuesday, could return Thursday.
Ryan Malone (W) Tampa Bay - (Abdomen) Could return in early April.
Steve Downie (Ankle) Tampa Bay - (Ankle) Out for Tuesday, could play this weekend.
Mike Green (Concussion) Washington - (Concussion) Did not skate Monday, no timetable for a return.

Transactions

Ben Smith (W) Chicago - Re-assigned to the AHL.
Stefan Elliott (D) Colorado - Signed a three-year entry-level contract.
Brad Lukowich (D) Dallas -Placed on re-entry waivers.
Mike Duco (W) Florida - Re-assigned to the AHL.
Jonathan Hazen (W) Florida - Signed.
Nate Prosser (D) Minnesota - Recalled from the AHL.
Joe Sova (D) New Jersey - Signed to an entry-level contract.
Tyson Strachan (D) St. Louis - Re-assigned to the AHL.
T.J. Hensick (C) St. Louis - Re-assigned to the AHL.
Tyler Brenner (W) Toronto - Signed a two-year contract.
Alexandre Bolduc (C) Vancouver - Recalled from the AHL.
Garret Mitchell (W) Washington - Signed to a three-year entry-level contract.
Matt Cooke (W) Pittsburgh - Suspended until after the 1st round of the playoffs.

Hot

Ville Leino (W) Philadelphia - The Flyers as have not been playing all that well of late, but Leino sure has. Leino was never able to find a spot on the top two lines in Detroit, mainly because he wasn't able to take advantage of the playing time he was given. He still has a problem cracking those top two lines in Philly, but with 17 goals and 48 points, including three goals and six points in his last six games, Leino is certainly making the most of his ice time now.

Ray Emery (G) Anaheim - Emery finally made his debut for the Ducks on March 13, saving all nine shots he faces. He was then given back to back starts and picked up victories over St. Louis and Los Angeles where he gave up only two goals on 63 shots.  With Jonas Hiller's return still up in the air, Emery could give you a few more positive starts down the stretch.

Cold

Patric Hornqvist (W) Nashville - Hornqvist has been ice cold of late with only one goal in his last 17 games, and only four assists during that span. The Predators have been teetering on the playoff brink and need any and all offense that they can find, so this has not been the greatest timing on Hornqvist's part.

Braden Holtby (G) Washington - Talk about a tale of two weeks. Last week Holtby was a hot pickup as he looked invincible in net for the Caps, but once Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov proved themselves healthy, it was back to the AHL he went. It looks like the Capitals don't want to trust their playoff lives to Holtby, not quite yet anyway, and will roll with Neuvirth and Varlamov for the remainder of the season.

Recommended Pickup

Kimmo Timonen (D) Philadelphia - Timonen sort of flies under the radar with all of the other big names on the Flyers, but he can puts up decent numbers and certainly won't hurt your +/-. Timonen will also see more power play time until Chris Pronger returns from injury.