The Daily Puck: Ovie Back on Track

The Daily Puck
by Kevin King

Toronto (Jean-Sebastien Giguere) vs. Carolina (Cam Ward), 7:00 p.m

Toronto injuries:

Colton Orr (RW) - Out with head injury. Was placed on IR by the Leafs on Saturday.

Carolina injuries:

No Relevant Injury News

N.Y Rangers (Martin Biron) vs. Washington (Braden Holtby), 7:30 p.m

Rangers injuries:

Dan Girardi (D) - Out with rib injury.
Brandon Prust (LW) - Game-time decision Monday night with foot injury.

Washington injuries:

Tyler Sloan (D) - Out; was injured during his conditioning assignment with AHL Hershey over the weekend.
Alexaner Semin (LW) - Out with thigh injury and not expected back until after the All-Star break.
Matt Bradley (RW) - Out until after the All-Star break with a broken finger.
Tom Poti (D) - Out, also until after the All-Star break with an undisclosed injury
Michal Neuvirth (G) - Out ... say it with me now - until after the All-Star break with a lower body injury. What is coach Bruce Boudreau going to use as a vague time-frame once the All-Star break is over with?

Nashville (Pekka Rinne) vs. Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff), 9:30 p.m

Nashville injuries:

Francis Bouillon (D) - Out with upper body injury. No timetable for a return.
Marek Svatos (RW) - Questionable for Monday night with lower body injury. He did not play Sunday in Edmonton, so maybe even should be considered doubtful.

Calgary injuries:

No Relevant Injury News

St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak) vs. Colorado (Peter Budaj), 9:30 p.m

St. Louis injuries:

Barret Jackman (D) - Questionable for Monday night with lower-body injury. Did not play Saturday night after sustaining the injury in Thursday night's game.

Colorado injuries:

Ryan O'Reilly (C) - Out; skated on the practice ice Saturday and still in line for a return soon after the All-Star break as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

Dallas (Kari Lehtonen) vs. Vancouver (Roberto Luongo), 10:00 p.m

Dallas injuries:

Toby Petersen (C) - Out for Monday's game with a leg injury.

Edmonton injuries:

Ales Hemsky (RW) - Out with head injury.
Jordan Eberle (C) - Out with ankle injury

Boston (Tim Thomas) vs. Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick), 10:30 p.m

Boston injuries:

Marc Savard (C) - Out and is back in Boston having head injury examined by doctors after suffering yet another likely concussion on Saturday night against the Avalanche.

Los Angeles injuries:

Marco Sturm (LW) - Out and on IR with knee injury.
Scott Parse (RW) - Out with hip injury, but resumed skating on Thursday. Still not expected back until late February at the earliest.

TRANSACTIONS

Zach Boychuk (C) - Recalled from Charlotte (AHL) by Carolina
Freddy Modin (LW) - Activated off of IR by Atlanta
Aaron Gagnon (C) - Assigned to Texas (AHL) by Dallas
Andreas Enqvist (C) - Assigned to Hamilton (AHL) by Montreal
Michael Del Zotto (D) - Recalled from Connecticut (AHL) by N.Y Rangers
Evgeny Grachev (C) - Recalled from Connecticut (AHL) by N.Y Rangers
Dale Weise (RW) - Assigned to Connecticut (AHL) by N.Y Rangers
Stefan Della Rovere (LW) - Recalled from Peoria (AHL) by St. Louis
Nikita Nikitin (D) - Recalled from Peoria (AHL) by St. Louis
Ian Cole (D) - Assigned to Peoria (AHL) by St. Louis
Ryan Reaves (RW) - Assigned to Peoria (AHL) by St. Louis
Lee Sweatt (D) - Recalled from Manitoba (AHL) by Vancouver
Sergei Shirokov (LW) - Re-assigned to Manitoba (AHL) by Vancouver

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Who's Hot

Martin Brodeur (G) New Jersey - A huge week for Brodeur and his owners. Marty won all three of his starts during the week, allowing only four goals in those three starts, including an impressive shutout of the Penguins.
Alex Ovechkin (LW) Washington - Ovie had his best fantasy week since that goofy extended first week of the season. It's strange to see only 19 goals from him through 49 games, but it's encouraging that the superstar got back into the form we're used to seeing with four goals and two assists in the last three games, including a hat-trick against the Leafs on Saturday night.

Who's Cold

Dustin Byfuglien (D) Atlanta - No coincidence that the slide going on in Atlanta ties-in to a poor run of form from their star defenseman. 2011 has been ugly for Byfuglien, as he has one point in all of January, and that was a goal on Jan. 2. He is suffering through a nine game drought without a point, and the Thrash are 2-7 in those nine games.
Nicklas Lidstrom (D) Detroit - Another of the NHL's top five blueliners is really struggling for the Wings. Lidstrom hasn't gotten on the scoresheet in over a week despite skating for 24 minutes a night. And like Byfuglien and the Thrashers, the Wings struggle when Lidstrom is cold...they have lost 14 of the 25 games in which Lidstrom hasn't gotten a goal or an assist.

Recommended Pickup

Evgeni Nabokov (G) - About a month ago I suggested adding Nabokov, and I was a little bit early on that one. But it appears now may be a good time to snag him, especially in those leagues that are absolutely goalie-starved. The Islanders will deal him off before the All-Star break is over, and if you have the roster space to spare, he might be worth hoarding.