This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
So, what has gotten into these Buffalonian Sabres? A miserable team, seemingly destined for the cellar, Buffalo – despite still sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic division – is suddenly just four points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres have won four in a row and 10 of their last 13, including Monday's shootout win over Ottawa. Though they're still dead last in the NHL in goals, their offense has come alive recently, but the most important aspect has been the most important player on the ice – the goaltender.
Jhonas Enroth has taken command of the Sabres' goaltending job, consistently playing well enough to win, and I'd argue that's contributed to the rest of the team's confidence, which in turn leads to more goals and better play at home, where Buffalo's won six in a row. You certainly can't say it's improved defense that's done it – though the individual numbers have recently been better for the blueliners, Enroth is still getting bombarded by shots in nearly every game. He's been carrying them. Can he keep it up? Signs of cracking are certainly showing up, with 10 goals allowed in the last three games.
Speaking of cracking, the Oilers played so badly against the Rangers on Sunday – Edmonton's 15th loss in 16 games – that team management had enough with coach Dallas Eakins, so they gave him his walking papers after only 112 games as an NHL head coach.
But you can't blame Eakins for the Oilers' disaster. Outside of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall, he had no players to work with. Edmonton's D corps is probably the worst in the entire NHL both offensively and defensively, and the team has badly mismanaged the development of Justin Schultz, a superstar-level talent languishing on a team that's so bad on the blue line, it could never afford (or was never willing) to demote him to the AHL as a punishment for irresponsible play. And the forward corps is miserable too – there's practically no toughness at all on this team, Nail Yakupov in particular is a disaster on skates, and the bottom two lines have precious few guys suited to grinding roles. So I side with Yahoo's Nick Cotsonika – fire Craig McTavish and Kevin Lowe. This team's been bad under a multitude of coaches under Lowe, and under two already under McTavish – both fired prematurely, in my opinion. So what's new coach Todd Nelson going to fix here?
At least the McTavish-Nelson pairing will get an easy start to things Tuesday against the equally brutal Coyotes.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Lightning (Evgeni Nabokov) at Flyers (Steve Mason), 7:00 PM
Ducks (Frederik Andersen) at Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier), 7:30 PM
Hurricanes (Cam Ward) at Canadiens (Carey Price), 7:30 PM
Blue Jackets (Sergei Bobrovsky) at Red Wings (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 PM
Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 7:30 PM
Kings (Jonathan Quick) at Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
Bruins (Tuukka Rask) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Sabres (Michal Neuvirth) at Jets (Ondrej Pavelec), 8:00 PM
Wild (Darcy Kuemper) at Blackhawks (Scott Darling), 8:30 PM
Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist) at Flames (Karri Ramo), 9:00 PM
Oilers (Viktor Fasth) at Coyotes (Mike Smith), 9:00 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Tuesday
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ben Bishop, G (lower body) – Knocked out of Monday's game with injury
Ondrej Palat, LW (lower body) – Supposed to return at some point on road trip
Radko Gudas, D (illness) – No go on Monday
Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan White, RW (chest) – Still facing late-December, early-January return
Vincent Lecavalier, C (hip) – Back at practice Monday, so could go Tuesday
Anaheim Ducks
Eric Brewer, D (foot) – Out into January
Francois Beauchemin, D (finger) – Practiced Saturday – seems to be making rapid progress
Dany Heatley, LW (groin) – In the AHL on a "long-term" conditioning assignment
Corey Perry, RW (knee) – Still out another 2-3 weeks
John Gibson, G (groin) – On-ice workout last week; may not have a job when healthy
Toronto Maple Leafs
Leo Komarov, LW (concussion) – Remains out indefinitely
Roman Polak, D (ankle) – Skated in practice Saturday
Carter Ashton, RW (suspension) – Just two games left on ban
Carolina Hurricanes
Alexander Semin, LW (lower body) – Hit IR Thursday; no timetable offered
Jordan Staal, C (leg) – Skating with the team, but still far off
Jiri Tlusty, LW (undisclosed) – Didn't go Saturday, but seems likely for Tuesday
Andrej Nestrasil, C (upper body) – Placed on IR Monday
Montreal Canadiens
Lars Eller, C (upper body) – Practiced without contact Monday
Bryan Allen, D (illness) – You'd figure he can return at any time
Mike Weaver, D (concussion) – Non-contact practice Monday
Columbus Blue Jackets
Mark Letestu, C (groin) – Skated for first time since surgery Monday
Ryan Murray, D (knee) – Participated in optional practice Friday; promising
Scott Hartnell, LW (finger) – Hit IR Friday; expected out a couple weeks
Fedor Tyutin, D (lower body) – Practiced fully Monday
Artem Anisimov, C (triceps) – Out 2-3 months
Cody Goloubef, D (knee) – In AHL on conditioning stint
Detroit Red Wings
Jonas Gustavsson, G (shoulder) – On ice for conditioning last week
Justin Abdelkader, LW (upper body) – Expected to play Tuesday
Stephen Weiss, C (shoulder) – Out a few days; unlikely for Tuesday
Danny DeKeyser, D (upper body) – Hoping to return Tuesday
Washington Capitals
Dmitry Orlov, D (wrist) – Progress is slow; he's not close
Aaron Volpatti, LW (neck) – Finally played in an AHL game Friday
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov, C (hand) – Cleared to play
Scottie Upshall, LW (ankle) – Also cleared
Shawn Thornton, LW (groin) – Has missed three straight; Tuesday uncertain
Los Angeles Kings
Slava Voynov, D (personal) – Going to stand trial later this month; still suspended indefinitely
St. Louis Blues
Brian Elliott, G (knee) – Practicing on limited basis
Carl Gunnarsson , D (concussion) – On the ice for workouts lately
Boston Bruins
Simon Gagne, LW (personal) – Remains away from team due to family issue
David Krejci, C (groin) – May play on road trip starting Tuesday, but no sure thing
Adam McQuaid, D (thumb) – Remains out into January
Nashville Predators
Taylor Beck, LW (concussion) – No timetable on return offered yet
Viktor Stalberg, LW (knee) – Remains out with no timetable
Paul Gaustad, C (lower body) – Couldn't go Saturday; Tuesday return possible
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C (lower body) – Didn't go Saturday; Tuesday status uncertain
Andrej Meszaros, D (head) – Didn't play Monday; doesn't seem likely for Tuesday
Josh Gorges, D (undisclosed) – Didn't play Monday either; also unlikely for Tuesday
Mike Weber, D (knee) – Out through Christmas after minor surgery
Torrey Mitchell, RW (lower body) – Left Monday's game
Winnipeg Jets
Jacob Trouba, D (undisclosed) – Probably for Tuesday
Toby Enstrom, D (lower body) – Out another week-plus yet
Zach Bogosian, D (lower body) – Out a matter of weeks still
Minnesota Wild
Matt Cooke, LW (hip) – Practiced Monday; nearing a return
Keith Ballard, D (concussion) – Placed on IR Monday
Josh Harding, G (illness) – Out indefinitely with the return of his MS
Ryan Carter, C (upper body) – Hit IR Monday
Jared Spurgeon, D (illness) – Won't play Tuesday
Chicago Blackhawks
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D (knee) – Remains out long term after surgery
Corey Crawford, G (foot) – Expected to return by the weekend
New York Rangers
Derick Brassard, C (illness) – Sent back to New York with the mumps
Calgary Flames
Mikael Backlund, C (abdomen) – Remains out indefinitely
Sam Bennett, LW (shoulder) – Hoping to resume skating at some point in January
Ladislav Smid, D (upper body) – Hit IR Saturday
Edmonton Oilers
Boyd Gordon, C (back) – Placed on injured reserve Saturday
Benoit Pouliot, LW (foot) – Remains out without updates
Nikita Nikitin, D (back) – Idling on the sideline with no timetable
Oscar Klefbom, D (foot) – Didn't go Sunday
Arizona Coyotes
Brandon Gormley, D (lower body) – Practicing, but no word on return
Lauri Korpikoski, LW (lower body) – Injury announced out of the blue Monday
Hot
Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CLM – Since getting a day off at the end of November after he posted a five-game losing streak, Bob has found his game – and so has his team. He's started the last six for the Jackets, and he's won each one of those games, posting a 1.91 GAA and .943 save mark while actually getting a reasonable amount of offensive support. Despite a rough, injury-marred start to the year, Bobrovsky's numbers are starting to approach his career norms. He's a legit fantasy goalie again! The ups and downs in Bob's short career have been a bit dizzying, I must say.
Tyler Seguin, C, DAL – This just in: The NHL leader in goals and points is hot. I know – it's groundbreaking. But as goal-scoring continues to languish around the league, Seguin's an even rarer bird than he'd normally be. Truly, he's been hot all year long, but he's been extra good lately, scoring goals in four straight games and collecting seven points (four on the power play) and a plus-2 rating in that span. He does it all, and he plays huge minutes for the Stars every single night. And Seguin's still only 22 years old. Scare yourself with this: He can still get better.
Cold
Chris Kreider, RW, NYR – Things have been tough for Kreider lately. He hasn't scored a goal since Nov. 8 – a span of 13 games, plus three he's sat out – has only three assists in that span, and has lately dealt with neck spasms as well as reduced ice time. He's been dropped to the fourth line in theory, although in practice, he skated 14:17 on Sunday, which is a lot for a fourth-liner. Still, he's been under 15 minutes – his average for the year – in four of his last five games. He'll turn things around at some point if healthy, but dreams of a 50-point breakout are starting to fade into unrealism.
Jeff Carter, C, LA – Ah, the good old days. Remember when Carter started the season white-hot, racking up 12 points in the first eight games? Well, we all knew that wouldn't last. The last 23 games have yielded a grand total of two goals and seven points for Carter, and he has just two points in the last 12, with his last goal having come back on Nov. 18. He's been a regular visitor to the minus column of late, with a minus-7 over that 12-game stretch, shaving half the progress off his season rating. And yet, even with all that, even with his shooting rate well down – he's averaging just barely two shots per game after averaging more than three per game last year – Carter continues to see heavy minutes as the top-line right wing for the Kings. So at least there's that to hang your hat on. Yay?
Recommended Pickup
Sean Couturier, C, PHI – It's easy to forget after a slow (scoring-wise) start to his NHL career that Couturier was once one of the most highly regarded prospects in the draft, a potential No. 1 pick who ended up falling to the Flyers at the eighth spot after consecutive 96-point seasons in the QMJHL. But remember that aside from the lockout two seasons ago, he's never played in the AHL – Philadelphia jumped him straight to the big leagues. In any case, he's found his offensive touch lately, recording points in six consecutive games, including goals in the last two. Over that span, he's totaled three markers, four assists, a plus-3, three power-play points and five PIM. Does that get your clock ticking? He's widely available, so make your inquiries now.
