The Daily Puck: Tough Times For Miller Owners

- For all of those Ryan Miller owners out there, ouch. He struggled again Monday night in Calgary and appears to be well aware that he is carrying the team on his back.

- On the other side of the coin, Jonathan Quick posted another shutout in a 4-0 win over San Jose in late action out west.

- Staying with the goaltending theme, the star of the night had to be Chris Osgood, who notched the 400th win of his NHL career with a victory over the Avalanche. Osgood certainly earned the win, stopping 46 pucks and making several highlight reel saves.

Carolina (Cam Ward) vs. Toronto (Jonas Gustavsson), 7:00 p.m

Carolina injuries:

Jiri Tlusty (LW) – Doubtful for Tuesday night, but he is getting close and could even return Wednesday

Toronto injuries:

Mike Brown (LW) – Out 4-to-6 weeks with broken finger
Jean-Sebastien Giguere (G) – Out two weeks with groin injury

Atlanta (Ondrej Pavelec) vs. Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury), 7:00 p.m

Atlanta injuries:

Nik Antropov (LW) – Will not play Tuesday against Pittsburgh. It is unclear what type of injury he has and how long he will be out

Pittsburgh injuries:

Jordan Staal (C) – Doubtful for Tuesday and Wednesday, but his availability for the Saturday's Winter Classic should be determined in the next few days
Mike Comrie (C) – Out indefinitely with hip injury
Arron Asham (RW) – Questionable with undisclosed injury that kept him out Sunday
Brent Johnson (G) – Doubtful for Tuesday night due to an illness
Eric Godard (RW) – Doubtful for Tuesday after being punched in the face by Ottawa's Matt Carkner over the weekend

Montreal (Carey Price) vs. Washington (Semyon Varlamov), 7:00 p.m

Montreal injuries:

Andrei Markov (D) – Out for the season with knee injury
Josh Gorges (D) – Questionable with a knee injury that kept him from practicing on Monday

Washington injuries:

Jeff Schultz (D) – Out Tuesday night, but eyeing a return to the ice in time for Saturday's Winter Classic
Boyd Gordon (C) – Doubtful for Tuesday with a foot infection that has caused him to miss the team's last six games
Tom Poti (D) – Doubtful for Tuesday after taking a stick to the head and exiting Thursday night's game in the first period
Mathieu Perreault (C) – Questionable for Tuesday after breaking his nose in a fight Sunday night

Boston (Tuukka Rask) vs. Tampa Bay (Dan Ellis), 7:30 p.m

Boston injuries:

Mark Stuart (D) – Out with a broken finger but on track to get his cast taken off later this week
Brad Marchand (RW) – Doubtful for Tuesday after sitting out Monday's game with an undisclosed injury

Tampa Bay injuries:

Steve Downie (LW) – Out indefinitely with an ankle injury
Mattias Ritola (C) – Out again Tuesday as he tries to overcome Meniere's disease
Mike Smith (G) – Out with knee injury

Chicago (Marty Turco) vs. St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak), 8:00 p.m

Chicago injuries:

Corey Crawford (G) – Out Tuesday after falling ill over the Christmas break
Patrick Kane (RW) – Set to return Tuesday night after missing eight games

St. Louis injuries:

Andy McDonald (C) – Remains out while recovering from a concussion
Dave Scatchard (C) – Out 3-to-5 weeks with knee injury
David Perron (RW) – Out indefinitely while also recovering from a concussion
T.J Oshie (LW) – Out indefinitely, but skated last week to test his injured ankle

Dallas (Kari Lehtonen) vs. Nashville (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 p.m

Dallas injuries:

Niklas Grossman (D) – Questionable Tuesday due to the flu bug that has floated around the Dallas dressing room
Tom Wandell (C) – Questionable for Tuesday with the same illness

Nashville injuries:

Matthew Lombardi (C) – Out, struggling to overcome concussion
Martin Erat (RW) – Questionable for Tuesday after leaving last Thursday's game early with an upper-body injury
Steve Sullivan (LW) – Questionable after also getting injured late in Thursday's game
David Legwand (C) – Questionable but unlikely to play Tuesday night. Still struggling with LBI that has cost him three weeks
Jordin Tootoo (RW) – Out after voluntarily joining the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse and behavioral health program

Anaheim (Jonas Hiller) vs. Phoenix (Jason LaBarbera), 9:00 p.m

Anaheim injuries:

Jason Jaffray (RW) – Out until at least February after tearing left ACL in September
Aaron Voros (RW) – Out 2-to-3 more weeks with fractured orbital bone
Nick Bonino (C) – Questionable Tuesday after sitting out Sunday, a game he was expected to play in

Phoenix injuries:

Ilya Bryzgalov (G) – Cleared to play Tuesday, but as of yet a starter has not been named. Keep an eye on the goalie grid and the comments section of this article for updates
Taylor Pyatt (LW) – Out with no concrete timetable for a return. Still recovering after getting knocked out in a fight with Pittsburgh's Deryk Engelland last week
Radim Vrbata (RW) – Questionable Tuesday after missing Sunday's game. Will likely be a game-time decision again Tuesday

Buffalo (Ryan Miller) vs. Edmonton (Nikolai Khabibulin), 9:00 p.m

Buffalo injuries:

Derek Roy (C) – Out, most likely for the rest of the season.
Tim Connolly (C) – Will not play Tuesday night but should be back on the ice this coming weekend
Tyler Myers (D) – Questionable for Tuesday after being scratched from Monday's lineup with an illness

Edmonton injuries:

Shawn Horcoff (LW) – Out at least two months with a knee injury
Jim Vandermeer (D) – On the shelf for a couple of weeks with an ankle injury
Ales Hemsky (RW) – Out with no firm timetable for a return, but has made recent progress in his recovery from a groin injury
Gilbert Brule (C) – Placed on IR retroactive to December 20, still dealing with illness
Tom Gilbert (D) – Probable Tuesday night after a minor knee knock Sunday

Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky) vs. Vancouver (Roberto Luongo), 10:00 p.m

Philadelphia injuries:

Chris Pronger (D) – Out 4-to-6 weeks while recovering from surgery to repair broken bone in his foot
Matt Walker (D) – Out up to two months after hip surgery a little more than a week ago
Ian Laperriere (C) – Out, and not sure if he will return at all this season as he battles to overcome concussion symptoms

Vancouver injuries:

Mason Raymond (LW) –Still at least two weeks away from returning from broken thumb
Sami Salo (D) – Out indefinitely with terrible Achilles injury. Will not even resume skating until late January

Transactions

Keith Aucoin (C) Washington – Recalled from Hershey (AHL)
Mike Brodeur (G) Ottawa – Re-assigned to Binghamton (AHL)
Matt Climie (G) Phoenix – Re-assigned to San Antonio (AHL)
Hannu Toivonen (G) Chicago – Re-assigned to Rockford (AHL)
Aaron Gagnon (C) Dallas – Recalled from Texas (AHL)
Jan Mursak (RW) Detroit – Recalled from Grand Rapids (AHL)
Jeff Petry (D) Edmonton – Recalled from Oklahoma City (AHL)
Chris Mueller (C) Nashville – Signed two-way contract with Nashville, will begin with Predators
Mats Zuccarello (RW) NY Rangers – Recalled from Connecticut (AHL)

Around the League

Who's Hot

Matt Gilroy (D) NY Rangers – Gilroy has two goals and an assist in his last two games, and he is also a plus-4 over that stretch. Gilroy is not a viable fantasy option quite yet, but in deeper leagues he may start to warrant some consideration.

Dustin Brown (RW) Los Angeles – Brown has three goals and an assist in the last two games for the Kings, but really, who isn't hot on the Kings roster? They're getting terrific goaltending and putting a lot of pucks in the net.

Who's Cold

Ryan Miller (G) Buffalo – Hate to keep harping on it, but factors beyond Miller's control make him just an average fantasy goaltender now. With Derek Roy out for the season and management not exactly proactive in their search for offense, it could be a long 2011 for Sabres fans and Miller owners.

Nathan Horton (RW) Boston – Horton's name has not popped up on the scoresheet in six games. He is a minus-3 over that stretch.

Recommended Pickup

Stephen Weiss (C) Florida – Weiss has been tremendous for the Panthers in the last month. He has picked up 12 points (5G, 7A) in 12 December games, yet he is still available in a lot of leagues. Weiss plays in relative anonymity for the Panthers, but don't let that stop you if you need help at the center position.