The Daily Puck: Sabres Slumping

The Daily Puck
by Kevin King

Projected Goalie Starters

Carolina Panthers (Cam Ward) vs. Washington Capitals (Semyon Varlamov), 5 p.m
Boston Bruins (Tuukka Rask) vs. Atlanta Thrashers (Ondrej Pavelec), 5 p.m
Columbus Blue Jackets (Steve Mason) vs. Detroit Red Wings (Jimmy Howard), 5 p.m

Injuries for Teams Playing Sunday

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

Tom Poti (D) Washington - (Groin) Played nearly 25 minutes and netted his second goal of the season Friday night. Sat out of Saturday's practice, but should be in the lineup Sunday evening.
Mike Green (D) Washington - (Shoulder) Practiced fully on Saturday and is expected to be in the lineup against Carolina on Sunday.
Jordan Caron (C) Boston - (Flu) Missed Friday's game against Carolina and sat out of Saturday's practice. It's a good bet that he will get the scratch on Sunday as well.
Fredrik Modin (LW) Atlanta - (Upper Body) Still listed as day-to-day despite not seeing any game action in two weeks.
Marc Methot (D) Columbus - (Upper Body) Did not play Friday night against the Red Wings, and seems unlikely to play as the Jackets take on Detroit again Sunday evening.
Chris Osgood (G) Detroit - (Groin) Does not look like Osgood will be on the bench for Sunday's game against Columbus, as Joey MacDonald, who will go to the AHL once Osgood is ready, is still with the Wings.

Long Term or IR

Tyler Sloan (D) Washington - (Undisclosed) Was placed on IR earlier this week. Unclear if he will be ready to return when he is eligible to come off of IR on November 30^th.
Marco Sturm (LW) Boston - (Knee) Shooting for a mid-December return from off-season surgery.
Marc Savard (C) Boston - (Concussion) Earlier this week was cleared to return to full-contact practice, but still no time frame for a return to game action.
Kristian Huselius (RW) Columbus - (Ankle) Was placed on IR three weeks ago and no clear idea on when he is expected to return.
Ethan Moreau (LW) Columbus - (Hand) Is getting closer to a return, but there is still no crisp time frame.
Kris Draper (LW) Detroit - (Groin) Is lightly working out with the team but still no clear return date.
Mike Modano (C) Detroit - (Wrist) A tendon in Modano's wrist was slashed by a skate blade on Friday night against the Jackets and he will miss a significant amount of time.

Transactions

Joffrey Lupul (RW) Anaheim - Assigned to Syracuse (AHL) on long-term conditioning assignment
Jamie Arniel (C) Boston - Recalled from Providence (AHL) on an emergency basis
Benn Ferreiro (C) San Jose -Recalled from Worcester (AHL)
Tommy Wingels (C) San Jose - Recalled from Worcester (AHL)
Brian Fahey (D) Washington - Assigned to Hershey (AHL)

Hot

Alexander Semin (LW) Washington - Friday night's hat-trick may be the beginning of yet another Semin hot streak. He's a no-brainer start in all fantasy formats, but has he jumped past Ovechkin as the top winger in the game?
Toby Enstrom (D) Atlanta - Last year Enstrom was incredibly under-valued, and the same story is playing out this year. He's incredibly consistent, and so long as he keeps playing in the Siberia of the NHL, he'll fly under the radar and end up with 70 points.
Carey Price (G) Montreal - I feel like I'm taking the easy way out by putting Price's name here, again, but it's well deserved. If you're lucky enough to have him on your roster you keep waiting for a step back, but he is absolutely locked in.

Cold

Every forward on the Sabre roster not named Thomas Vanek - seven goals in the last four games for the Sabres, and three of those goals are by forwards. Two of them are off of the stick of Thomas Vanek. Other than Vanek, there may not be a forward on the Sabre roster worth having in your starting lineup.
Brian Rafalski (D) Detroit - Putting him here is the kiss of death with Rafalski having a game Sunday evening, but he hasn't done anything this week for the Wings, and is a minus-2.
Michal Neuvirth (G) Washington - It may be a little unfair to call Neuvirth cold, since he has only moved aside for starter Semyon Varlamov, but simply put, he has stopped earning. In fantasy leagues everywhere this week, Neuvirth was dumped more than Kim Kardashian.

Recommended Pickup

Alex Pietrangelo (D) St Louis - The youngster from King City, Ontario seems to be getting comfortable in his first full season in the NHL. He's seeing a lot more ice than he did to start the year, and his production has increased accordingly with the extra playing time.