This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
The Daily Puck
by Kevin King
- It's going to be very interesting to see how the Islanders come out and play at 3:00 against the Sabres after Friday night's royal rumble. With a lot, A LOT, of suspensions looming for the Isles, a young team HAS to be distracted right?
- Love that the 12:30 NBC games are back on Sunday afternoons, and love that they're keeping it old school with two Original Six teams going today ... the Wings and B's.
- Enjoy another heavy slate of Sunday games; it's starting to feel like fantasy football Sunday these last couple of weeks with all of the Sunday games. A lot of weekly leagues are coming down to the last day of the week!
Boston (Tim Thomas) vs. Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 12:30 p.m
Boston injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Detroit injuries:
Chris Osgood (G) - Remains out with sports hernia but should return this upcoming week.
Brad Stuart (D) - Remains out with jaw injury that he suffered in early January but should return this week.
Valtteri Filppula (C) - Out for Sunday with knee injury. Could return by next weekend.
NY Islanders (Mikko Koskinen) vs. Buffalo (Ryan Miller), 3:00 p.m
Islanders injuries:
Kevin Poulin (G) - Out for season after dislocating his knee early in the week.
Buffalo injuries:
Steve Montador (D) - Out for Sunday as he recovers from concussion. Could return Tuesday night.
Patrick Kaleta (RW) -
The Daily Puck
by Kevin King
- It's going to be very interesting to see how the Islanders come out and play at 3:00 against the Sabres after Friday night's royal rumble. With a lot, A LOT, of suspensions looming for the Isles, a young team HAS to be distracted right?
- Love that the 12:30 NBC games are back on Sunday afternoons, and love that they're keeping it old school with two Original Six teams going today ... the Wings and B's.
- Enjoy another heavy slate of Sunday games; it's starting to feel like fantasy football Sunday these last couple of weeks with all of the Sunday games. A lot of weekly leagues are coming down to the last day of the week!
Boston (Tim Thomas) vs. Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 12:30 p.m
Boston injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Detroit injuries:
Chris Osgood (G) - Remains out with sports hernia but should return this upcoming week.
Brad Stuart (D) - Remains out with jaw injury that he suffered in early January but should return this week.
Valtteri Filppula (C) - Out for Sunday with knee injury. Could return by next weekend.
NY Islanders (Mikko Koskinen) vs. Buffalo (Ryan Miller), 3:00 p.m
Islanders injuries:
Kevin Poulin (G) - Out for season after dislocating his knee early in the week.
Buffalo injuries:
Steve Montador (D) - Out for Sunday as he recovers from concussion. Could return Tuesday night.
Patrick Kaleta (RW) - Probable to return on Sunday after missing three weeks with broken hand.
Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Felury) vs. NY Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 3:00 p.m
Pittsburgh injuries:
Sidney Crosby (C) - Out for Sunday with whispers that he may be sidelined for the rest of the season, as he cannot seem to make any progress recovering from concussion.
Evgeni Malkin (C) - Out for season with torn ACL and MCL in knee.
Eric Tangardi (C) - Out for Sunday as he also battles to recover from a concussion.
Dustin Jeffrey (C) - Doubtful for Sunday with undisclosed injury.
Chris Kunitz (LW) - Out for Sunday but should be back within the next week.
Arron Asham (RW) - Out with upper body injury. No timetable for return has been.
Eric Godard (RW) - Should play Sunday, but is staring down a 10-game suspension from the NHL after leaving the bench to join the Friday night brawl against the Islanders.
NY Rangers injuries:
Chris Drury (C) - Out. Will miss six weeks with knee injury that will require surgery.
Columbus (Steve Mason) vs. Dallas (Kari Lehtonen), 3:00 p.m
Columbus injuries:
Ethan Moreau (LW) - Out for Sunday but is very close to a return from rib injury that he suffered in early January.
Derek Dorsett (RW) - Out. Suffered a possible concussion on Friday night against the Avs.
Dallas injuries:
Krys Barch (RW) - Out. Placed on IR by Stars on Saturday with an eye injury.
Toby Petersen (C) - Doubful for Sunday with leg injury, should be back in lineup either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) vs. Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky), 3:00 p.m
Los Angeles injuries:
Marco Sturm (LW) - Out for Sunday with knee tendinitis.
Philadelphia injuries:
NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY NEWS
Carolina (Cam Ward) vs. Atlanta (Ondrej Pavelec), 5:00 p.m
Carolina injuries:
Jussi Jokinen (LW) - Out for Sunday with lower body injury.
Atlanta injuries:
Fredrik Modin (LW) - Out for Sunday. Doesn't seem to be making a very quick recovery from upper body injury.
Freddy Meyer (D) - Out. Upper body injury may get Meyer placed on IR.
San Jose (Antti Niemi) vs. Florida (Tomas Vokoun), 5:00 p.m
San Jose injuries:
Antero Niittymaki (G) - Out.
Florida injuries:
Dmitry Kulikov (D) - Will not play Sunday due to ankle injury.
Bryan McCabe (D) - Out for Sunday but could return within a week after missing nearly a month with a broken jaw.
Cory Stillman (LW) - Probable to play on Sunday after missing two games this week for the Panthers with upper body injury.
Anaheim (Jonas Hiller) vs. Edmonton (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 p.m
Anaheim injuries:
NO RELEVANT INJURY NEWS
Edmonton injuries:
Shawn Horcoff (LW) - Out for Sunday as he battles bronchitis.
Gilbert Brule (C) - Out. May be sent to AHL on conditioning assignment as he has been out of the lineup more than he has been it for most of the season.
TRANSACTIONS
Brett Carson (D) Carolina - Re-assigned to Charlotte (AHL)
Jeff Taffe (LW) Chicago - Recalled from Rockford (AHL)
Ryan Johnson (C) Chicago - Placed on IR with undisclosed injury.
Jason Williams (RW) - Agreed to terms on two-way contract with Dallas
Krys Barch (RW) Dallas - Placed on IR with eye injury
Francis Wathier (LW) Dallas - Re-assigned to Texas (AHL)
Joe Callahan (D) Florida - Recalled from Rochester (AHL)
Tim Wallace (RW) Pittsburgh - Recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Who's Hot
John Tavares (C) NY Islanders - Lost in the headlines made by over 300 minutes in penalties between the Isles and Pens on Friday night was another terrific performance by Tavares. Johnny T had a goal and three helpers in one of the most hate-filled games we've seen in a very, very long time. He's on a four-game point streak, and has gotten on the scoresheet in five of the last six.
Antti Niemi (G) San Jose - The Sharks are rolling out West, and Niemi may have the most to do with that. Niemi has won four of his last five starts, and in the one loss he took, against the Devils on Friday, he only allowed two goals. He has not allowed more than three goals in any game since January 3.
Who's Cold
James Neal (LW) Dallas - Neal is having a nightmare February. After getting to the 20-goal mark nearly a month ago, Neal has not scored since, and has not even popped up on the scoresheet with an assist in that time.
John-Michael Liles (D) Colorado - Another player having a frigid February, Liles hasn't notched a point in three weeks. Liles remains on pace to wind up right near his preseason projections (10 G, 28 A), but that won't be the case much longer if it stays like this.
Recommended Pickup
Michael Grabner (RW) NY Islanders - Grabner is one of the most under-the-radar players in the entire NHL. After taking a while to get his legs under him in his first full season in the NHL, Grabner has 12 goals in the last 13 games for the Isles, yet is only owned in about half of all fantasy leagues.
