This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Late-Monday-night-into-early-Tuesday-morning thoughts:
1. Pretty much no matter where you live, the hunt for the Stanley Cup pushes well into air-conditioning season, which had its grand opening for me in Philadelphia to start this week. Sooner or later, no matter where you live, you can't help but watch the NHL playoffs in Sun Belt conditions. That marathon postseason really is the great equalizer.
2. The best thing to do if you run into a hot goalie in the playoffs is to have a hotter one on your team.
3. Corey Perry isn't human.
4. Keith Yandle is a disaster reel on skates. I've never seen someone with such a knack for making the wrong play or being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't know what the opposite of "magical" is ("dull" isn't nearly extreme enough), so I now propose a new word: "yandle." Henceforth, when something is said to be yandle, the speaker is remarking that it's almost magically un-magical.
5. The generously 5-foot-5 Nathan Gerbe weighs considerably more than Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Dustin Byfuglien weighs nearly as much as both of them put together.
6. On that note, I know a lot of people are in favor of taking the fighting out of hockey, but when did they take the fighting out of boxing?
7. Starting Karri Ramo in goal is one of the top signs that you're going to lose in the playoffs. Of course, starting Jonas Hiller is a pretty good sign of the same. The Flames have a hell of a core of skaters now, but they need a legitimate No. 1 goalie to take that next step.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Blackhawks (Corey Crawford) at Wild (Devan Dubnyk), 8:00 PM
Ducks (Frederik Andersen) at Flames (Karri Ramo), 9:30 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Tuesday
Chicago Blackhawks
Kris Versteeg, RW (lower body) – Traveling for Game 3; status unclear
Minnesota Wild
Justin Fontaine, RW (lower body) – Didn't play in Game 2; Tuesday status uncertain
Anaheim Ducks
John Gibson, G (flu) – Wasn't available for Game 2, but could return as backup Tuesday
Calgary Flames
Raphael Diaz, D (lower body) – Skating with team; could return Tuesday
Mark Giordano, D (biceps) – Full participant in practice over weekend
Lance Bouma, C (upper body) – Practicing too; Tuesday return possible
Hot
Corey Perry, RW, ANA – It's not exactly news, but with his two assists in Game 2, Perry now owns a postseason-leading 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in just six games. He's got four power-play points and has only been held off the scoresheet one time. At least stat-wise, Perry's legitimately bordering on doing a Gretzky thing so far in these playoffs, and I don't use The Great One's name lightly. Can anyone stop this guy?
Cold
Rick Nash, LW, NYR – After going scoreless and minus-1 in Game 3 against Washington, Nash is sitting on a very modest four points – and just one goal – in eight playoff games thus far. It hasn't been for lack of effort – he put seven pucks on net Monday in Washington, only to be shut out by Braden Holtby like the rest of his teammates – but the Rangers' offense has fallen asleep in the playoffs following an outstanding season, and they need Nash to step up with postseason contributions befitting a 42-goal scorer.
Recommended Value Play
Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA – Honestly, even though he's one of the most expensive players, Perry is probably about as good a value as you can ask for in a daily-game play at this point. But Silfverberg has performed admirably in his own right during these playoffs, he's seeing consistent second-line ice time, and – perhaps most importantly – the Ducks are going up against the weakest goalie situation in these playoffs right now. With seven points in six games so far in the postseason, the Swedish winger has offered fantasy owners tremendous value.
