The Daily Puck: Sliding Into Tampa Bay?

The Daily Puck
by Kevin King

Projected Goalie Starters

Dallas (Andrew Raycroft) vs. Detroit (Chris Osgood), 5 p.m
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) vs. Chicago (Marty Turco), 7 p.m
Washington (Semyon Varlamov) vs. Ottawa (Brian Elliott), 7:30 p.m
Montreal (Carey Price) vs. Colorado (Craig Anderson), 8 p.m

Injuries for Teams Playing Sunday

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

Matt Greene (D) Los Angeles - (Head) It hasn't been called a concussion yet, but Greene was shaken up earlier in the week and went back to Los Angeles for testing with the Kings still on the road through Tuesday.
Fernando Pisani (RW) Chicago - (Upper Body) Returned to the ice Friday night against Detroit and should be good-to-go.
Viktor Stalberg (LW) Chicago - (Upper Body) Won't play Sunday but is probable to return to the Blackhawk lineup on Wednesday night against the Preds.
Tyler Sloan (D) Washington - (Hip/Groin/Flu) Sloan seemed all set to return from the hip/groin injuries that landed him to the IR, but now he has caught the flu bug that has been going around the Caps' dressing room and is likely not to skate on Sunday against Ottawa.
Alexander Semin (LW) Washington - (Lower Body) No timetable was discussed by coach Bruce Boudreau, and his status remains unclear while Boudreau continues to give the media as little information as possible about injuries during the Caps' losing streak.
Pascal Leclaire (G) Ottawa - (Lower Body) Sustained injury in warm-ups on Friday night and missed his scheduled start. While no official word has come down as to the severity of the injury, do not expect him to start Sunday.
Milan Hejduk (RW) Colorado - (Groin) Did not play on Friday night against Ottawa, and is highly questionable to go for the Avs on Sunday night.
Kyle Quincey (D) Colorado - (Shoulder) Did not play on Friday night, and has been wearing a sling, so his status for Sunday is doubtful to say the least.
Paul Stastny (C) Colorado - (Back) His sore back kept him out of Friday night's game and will be a game-time decision on Sunday night. Keep an eye out for updates on Stastny as the day progresses.

Long Term or IR

Mike Modano (C) Detroit - (Wrist) Won't return until February at the earliest.
Scott Parse (RW) Los Angeles - (Torn Labrum) Won't be back on the ice until March.
Brad Richardson (RW) Los Angeles - (Upper Body) On injured reserve, information about nature of the injury and a timetable for his return has been hard to find, so consider him out indefinitely.
Marco Sturm (LW) Los Angeles - (Knee) The Kings and Sturm have a target return date set for December 23rd.
Willie Mitchell (D) Los Angeles - (Lower Body) Typical when it comes to the Kings and injuries, Greene is being vaguely called "week-to-week" after leaving Thursday's game against St. Louis.
Marian Hossa (RW) Chicago - (Lower Body) Ruled out for Sunday night's game against the Kings, but is nearing his return, which could come in Chicago's next game, on Wednesday night.
Patrick Kane (RW) Chicago - (Leg) In the same boat as Hossa; very close to returning to the ice for the Blackhawks, but it won't be Sunday.
Jeff Schultz (D) Washington - (Thumb) A mid-January return is likely for Schultz who fractured his thumb over a week ago.
D.J King (LW) Washington - (Undisclosed) No specific injury has been announced, but King was placed on IR to clear a roster spot for Andrew Gordon earlier in the week.
Boyd Gordon (C) Washington - (Undisclosed) Will miss one-to-two weeks, and like D.J King, no specific injury has been announced.
Andre Markov (D) Montreal - (Knee) Had season-ending surgery earlier this month.
Chris Stewart (RW) Colorado - (Hand) Shouldn't be expected to return any earlier than mid-January.
Peter Mueller (C) Colorado - (Concussion) Has made very little progress in recovering from a concussion that he suffered in September.
Kyle Cumiskey (D) Colorado - (Concussion) Has not skated since suffering his concussion on October 30th.

Transactions

Dan Sexton (RW) Anaheim - Assigned to Syracuse (AHL)
Nathan Lawson (G) NY Islanders - Recalled from Bridgeport (AHL) on emergency basis.
Dale Weise (C) NY Rangers - Assigned to Connecticut (AHL)
Nikita Nikitin (D) St. Louis - Assigned to Peoria (AHL)

Hot

Matt Duchene (C) Colorado - Nobody in the NHL is hotter than Duchene, with seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the last three games for the Avs. Many had Duchene pegged for a breakout season, and he's living up to all the hype, and then some, sitting right outside of the pace for a 90-point season.
Tomas Fleischmann (LW/C) Colorado - OK, so maybe there is another player in the NHL as hot as Matt Duchene, and it just happens to be the guy who plays on Duchene's left wing. Fleischmann also has four goals and three assists in Colorado's last three games, but his plus-minus is even one notch higher than Duchene. Think the Capitals are wishing they would have held onto the talented Czech?
Brian Boucher (G) Philadelphia - Boucher has been on fire for nearly two weeks now, posting four wins in his last five starts while putting up a meager 1.16 goals-against in those starts. He definitely has the fire power in front of him to keep the wins coming, even if he does start letting in more than one goal a night.

Cold

Chad LaRose (LW/RW) Carolina - On November 19th, LaRose had the best game of his NHL career, scoring twice, while logging two assists and earning a plus-four. His name has not appeared on the score sheet since that night.
Steve Montador (D) Buffalo - About a month ago, people across all league formats were adding Montador. He had a nice plus-minus and would pop up on the score sheet every other night or so. Like Chad LaRose, Montador has done nothing offensively since November 19th, a stretch of 12 games.
Ales Kotalik (RW) Calgary - From a fantasy perspective, Kotalik has long been forgotten about since those 25-goal seasons in Buffalo. However, Kotalik has been so bad since returning from a knee injury that kept him out until early December that he is teetering on not having a job much longer. He is 0-for the season in seven games, and is lucky to see more than 10 minutes of ice on any given night.  

Recommended Pickup

Evgeni Nabokov (G) Free Agent - If you have goaltending issues and Nabokov is available in your league you almost have to snag him. It looks like Nabby will likely end up signing with Tampa Bay, where he would slide in and be the unquestioned number one on a team that doesn't give up a lot of shots ... they just have goalies who let a lot of those shots go in the net.