This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Last night's highlight should have been the NHL's second Stadium Series game at Yankee Stadium between the Rangers and the Islanders, but Ben Scrivens stole the show. Scrivens led the Oilers to a 3-0 victory over the Sharks despite being outshot 59-27.
It was an embarrassing and record-setting defeat for San Jose as they fired a franchise best total of shots at a brick wall. The real marker there is that Scrivens' 59 saves was the most by a NHL goaltender in a shutout in the franchise era ('67-'68). It was an incredible performance. No lie, if you google "59," Ben Scrivens comes up on the first page.
Fantasy relevant add on there? No. Why was I googling "59"? I don't really recall. Did I alter the Wikipedia page on "59" shortly after midnight to a picture of Ben Scrivens' #30 jersey? No. I don't know who did that.
Scrivens deserves to be in the hot section below. Since his debut with Edmonton on January 16 he has faced 154 shots in four games. 38.5 per game. He's only allowed seven goals for a .955 save percentage.
If you pick up Scrivens, it's not going to be all roses. No goalie is going to maintain a .955 save percentage when they're facing about 39 shots a game and the wins have been hard to come by for for Edmonton who are 18-32-6 this season, second worst in the league. But early indications are that Scrivens success as a backup wasn't luck. He's good and could be a key piece of the puzzle in coming seasons for an Edmonton team that, on paper, should be having some success by now.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Montreal Canadiens (Carey Price) at Boston Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Florida Panthers (Tim Thomas) at Toronto Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier), 7:00 PM
Washington Capitals (Michal Neuvirth) at Columbus Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky), 7:00 PM
Tampa Bay Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson), 7:30 PM
New Jersey Devils (Cory Schneider) at Dallas Stars (Kari Lehtonen), 8:30 PM
Minnesota Wild (Niklas Backstrom) at Colorado Avalanche (Semyon Varlamov), 9:00 PM
San Jose Sharks (Alex Stalock) at Calgary Flames (Karri Ramo), 9:00 PM
Buffalo Sabres (Ryan Miller) at Phoenix Coyotes (Thomas Greiss), 9:00 PM
Philadelphia Flyers (Steve Mason) at Anaheim Ducks (Jonas Hiller), 10:00 PM
Pittsburgh Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Los Angeles Kings (Jonathan Quick), 10:30 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Thursday
Montreal Canadiens
Ryan White, RW - (upper body) is still weeks away from a return to the active lineup, according to coach Michel Therrien
Davis Drewiske, D - (shoulder) has not been cleared to play, but traveled with the team for Thursday night's game in Boston
Alex Galchenyuk, C - (hand) skated on a separate sheet of ice during Monday's practice and won't be back quite yet
Boston Bruins
Dennis Seidenberg, D - (ACL & MCL) is out for the season
Adam McQuaid, D - (leg) is still not ready to return to action
Florida Panthers
Shawn Matthias, C - (illness) missed Tuesday's game with the flu
Mike Mottau, D - (leg) is dealing with a leg injury
Aleksander Barkov, C - (lower body) will practice Friday and looks on track to return Saturday vs. Columbus
Toronto Maple Leafs
Dave Bolland, C - (ankle) participated in his first game-day skate since Nov. 2 when he hit the ice Tuesday prior to the Leafs' contest with the Lightning
David Clarkson, RW - (elbow) skated in full gear before practice Wednesday, but won't return tonight
Trevor Smith, LW - (hand) returned to practice Monday and looks like he could be back from injured reserve at some point this week
Carter Ashton, LW - (undisclosed) left Wednesday's practice with an undisclosed injury
Frazer McLaren, LW - (shoulder) will join the Maple Leafs in Winnipeg on Friday
Washington Capitals
Jack Hillen, D - (leg) is skating on his own and may be ready to return to the lineup sometime after the upcoming Olympic break
Evgeny Kuznetsov, C - (leg) said he "would keep his word" and will join the Capitals when the current KHL season is over
Mikhail Grabovski, C - (leg) did not join the team in Buffalo on Tuesday
Columbus Blue Jackets
Jared Boll, RW - (ankle) remains out following surgery in December
Marian Gaborik, RW - (collarbone) skated lightly on his own Thursday
Blake Comeau, LW - (knee) may have been reinjured Tuesday against the Senators
Tampa Bay Lightning
Mattias Ohlund, D - (knee) is out for the season
Steven Stamkos, C - (leg) skated about 15-20 minutes Tuesday in a normal-colored blue jersey, but isn't ready to return yet
Ottawa Senators
Mark Stone, RW - (undisclosed) skated on his own Monday morning
Chris Phillips, D - (undisclosed) sat out of Tuesday's game
New Jersey Devils
Peter Harrold, D - (foot) was not activated from IR prior to Sunday's game against the Rangers
Dallas Stars
Stephane Robidas, D - (leg) began skating on his own almost two weeks ago, but is unlikely to return tonight
Minnesota Wild
Mikko Koivu, C - (ankle) joined the Wild on the team's current four-game road trip but didn't practice, but will not play
Josh Harding, G - Harding did not join the Wild on the team's current four-game road trip because he's making changes in his treatment for multiple sclerosis
Jared Spurgeon, D - (foot) joined the Wild on the team's current four-game road trip but didn't practice
Colorado Avalanche
David Van der Gulik, RW - (undisclosed) has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Jan. 10
Cory Sarich, D - (back) has been ruled out indefinitely
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, G - (back) remains day-to-day
San Jose Sharks
Raffi Torres, LW - (knee) said there was "maybe" a possibility he could play before the Olympic break, but that won't be tonight
Adam Burish, RW - (back) has started skating again, but won't be ready for game play for a while
Logan Couture, C - (hand) is nearing a return, however he won't join the team on their two-game road trip this week against Edmonton and Calgary
Tyler Kennedy, LW - (undisclosed) left Wednesday's game in the second period, no word on his avilability
Tomas Hertl, C - (knee) won't be back anytime soon
Calgary Flames
Patrick Sieloff, D - (infection) has been cleared for off-ice activity
Michael Ferland, LW - (knee) is out for the seaosn
Michael Cammalleri, C - (concussion) is expected to suit up for Thursday's game
Curtis Glencross, LW - (ankle) remains out
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C - (finger) said Tuesday that he probably won't return until after the Olympic break
Drew Stafford, RW - (shoulder) did not play Monday
Patrick Kaleta, RW - (knee) is out for the season
Matt D'Agostini, RW - (upper body) is on IR
Philadelphia Flyers
Zac Rinaldo, LW - (ankle) is expected to play Thursday against the Ducks
Anaheim Ducks
Viktor Fasth, G - (lower body) was able to work out on the ice Monday morning
Stefan Noesen, C - (knee) is out for the season
Sheldon Souray, D - (wrist) is out for the season
Pittsburgh Penguins
Tomas Vokoun, G - (pelvis) faced shots during Tuesday's practice
Pascal Dupuis, RW - (knee) will undergo his ACL surgery on Feb. 12
Chris Conner, RW - (hand) remains out
Joe Vitale, C - (wrist) remains on IR
Beau Bennett, RW - (wrist) skated on his own last week, but won't be back tonight
Los Angeles Kings
Alec Martinez, D - (elbow) is not traveling with the team
Hot
Mark Giordano, D, CGY: Giordano has returned from injury and been as productive as he's ever been. He's currently on a seven-game point streak that features three goals and four assists. Through just 35 games this season he's got eight goals and 17 assists, which puts him on pace 14 goals and 31 assists. That'd be career best totals in goals and points for the vet of eight seasons.
Alexander Steen, LW, STL: When Steen was injured on December 21 he was on pace to shatter career best marks across the board. He's still likely to do that and it's largely because, since his return on January 18 he has been as hot as he's been all season. He didn't score in the first game back, but he has three goals and four assists in the five games since then. He's also got 25 shots over that six-game stretch. On pace for his first 40 goal season (he's never even had a 30 goal season), Steen is at least in the discussion for breakout player of the year.
Antoine Vermette, C, PHO: Vermette is on a five-game point streak with seven goals and two assists in his last seven games. During that point streak he's a plus-5 with 16 shots. There's hope of this continuing too. Phoenix ranks tenth in the league in scoring and has been putting up decent offensive numbers lately.
Cold
Dustin Brown, RW, LAK: Brown is completely without a point over the last eight games. He's never been a huge scorer, but he's a consistent 20-goal scorer and a team leader needs to step up when a his team is struggling to produce offense. Brown's slump has come at a miserable time for a Kings team who has just 13 goals over their last eight games and are 2-5-1 over that stretch. He's on pace for his slowest year of offensive production in both goals and assists since his second year in the league. Brown is also a minus-4 through his slump.
Olli Jokinen, C, WPG: The veteran center has gone six games without registering a point. The slump is poorly timed for the veteran, as the team is starting to pull together its offensive game under new coach Paul Maurice. Jokinen finds himself on a third line that features winger Devin Setoguchi (no points in his last seven games and just one goal in his last 26 games) and defenseman turned winger Dustin Byfuglien (two points in his last six games, both coming in the same game). While the line is full of offensive threats, it doesn't feel very threatening at the moment.
Chris Stewart, RW, STL: The 6' 2", 231 pound winger had something of a breakout season last year with 18 goals and 18 assists over 48 games. He was a physical force and could produce offense nightly. This year has been a slight step back from that production and that's no thanks to a recent slump. Stewart hasn't scored in nine games and only has a single assist in that time. On a Blues team that seems likely to win every night, he's a minus-4 and has two games where he didn't even register a shot during that nine game span. He's bound to turn it around, but I'm not looking his way for weekly games until I see it happen.
Recommended Pickup
Nick Spaling, LW, NSH: Now in his fifth season, Spaling has been a role player who hasn't necessarily shown that he's going to become an offensive threat. So, his recent production is surprising, especially on a team that has been struggling for offense. Spaling has already matched his career high of 10 goals and 12 assists. Those aren't overly impressive numbers for fantasy, but he has been on something of a hot streak lately. With three goals and four assists over his last eight games, he's worth looking at in deeper format leagues. He may be able to bridge the gap until the Olympic break when you can expect a lot of injured players to get healthy for the final push to the playoffs.
