The Daily Puck: Scoring Bender

The Daily Puck
by Kevin King

- Tragic news off the ice in Buffalo, where one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise, Rick Martin, died tragically after suffering a heart attack while driving over the weekend in a suburb of Buffalo. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Martin's family.
- Buffalo played inspired hockey in wake of the tragic news, throttling Ottawa 6-4 to seize the number seven spot in the Eastern Conference.
- As always, remember to check our starting goalie grid for the latest confirmed starters for tonight's games....and good luck!

Tampa Bay (Dwayne Roloson) vs. Toronto (James Reimer), 7:00 p.m

Tampa Bay injuries:

Steve Downie (LW) - Out with ankle injury.
Pavel Kubina (D) - Out, serving the final game of three-game suspension.
Randy Jones (D) - Out, most likely for the remainder of the season due to foot/ankle injury.

Toronto injuries:

Tim Brent (C) - Doubtful. Left Saturday night's game against Buffalo early after taking a stick to the eye.
Fredrik Sjostrom (RW) - Out. Should return from upper-body injury within the week, but it won't be Monday.

San Jose (Antti Niemi) vs. Chicago (Corey Crawford), 8 :00 p.m

San Jose injuries:

Scott Nichol (C) - Out with upper-body injury.

Chicago injuries:

Brian Campbell (D) - Doubtful after not making it out of the first period on Sunday afternoon against the Caps, apparently aggravating an existing lower-body injury.
Dave Bolland (C) - Out with concussion.

Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom) vs. Vancouver (Roberto Luongo), 10:00 p.m

Minnesota injuries:

Cal Clutterbuck (RW) - Doubtful because he is suffering from headaches still after taking a hit to the head two weeks ago.
Clayton Stoner (D) - Questionable with lower-body injury that has forced him to sit out of the last three games for the Wild. Likely a game-time decision.
Mikko Koivu (C) - Questionable and also a likely game-time decision with finger injury that has kept him out for nearly a month.
Guillaume Latendresse (LW) - Out after leaving Friday night's game against Dallas with a lower-body injury that is related to the groin and hip injury that kept him out for four months.
Cam Barker (D) - Out with upper-body injury.

Vancouver injuries:

Tanner Glass (LW) - Questionable with an upper-body injury that forced him out of the lineup Saturday night against Calgary.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Who's Hot

Thomas Vanek (LW) Buffalo - Vanek is on a five-game bender where he has two goals and six assists for the surging Sabres. He is a plus-5 over that stretch and looks likely to finish the season with 30 goals and 40 assists.
Shane Doan (RW) Phoenix - Doaner is a marvel at 34. The Phoenix captain has gotten on the scoresheet in 13 of the last 15 games for the 'Yotes and is the model of consistency once again in every fantasy format.

Who's Cold

Craig Anderson (G) Ottawa - Anderson had been going good for his new club...until Sunday, when he got lit up. He was yanked after allowing four goals on 17 shots as the Senators lost 6-4 in Buffalo. It's just enough to put doubt into his fantasy owners heading into the playoffs in most weekly leagues and also crunch time in roto formats.
Todd Bertuzzi (RW) Detroit - Bertuzzi is showing his age perhaps a bit as the season finishes up. He is 0-for-March, a six-game stretch, and his minutes have been reduced a bit as Mike Babcock has let-off the gas a bit with his veterans with an eye on keeping them as fresh as possible for the playoffs.

Recommended Pickup

Martin Erat (RW) Nashville - For some reason Erat is widely available despite being on a stretch of four games in which he has notched two points, and a five-game point streak (3 G, 6 A) overall. The Preds have a four-game week ahead which adds even more value to the red-hot winger.