This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
As the year 2015 draws to a close, and 2016 looms over the horizon, now is a time for dreaming of the future, and please indulge me in an NHL-related dream.
Right now, the Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars are threatening to run away with their respective conferences. This is partially true in points, but especially true in terms of goal differential. There is a lot of season left, and things could change, but, at the moment, the Capitals and Stars look likely to emerge as the favorites to make it to the Stanley Cup Final.
If this happens, it would be truly fantastic. Sure, it doesn't have the cache of some more "classic" matchups, but this could also be one of the most exciting finals matchups in years. These are two of the most dynamic offenses in the league. The Stars are running away from the rest of the league in terms of goals scored, led by Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. The Capitals are, of course, led by Alex Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer of his era, and he has plenty of help, especially with the emergence of Evgeni Kuznetsov. They've also gotten amazing goaltending from Braden Holtby, a true x-factor in this (hypothetical) matchup.
Basically, from an impartial standpoint, a Capitals-Stars Stanley Cup would be the best thing we could see this season. The matchup is amazing on paper, and we could actually see some real goal scoring explosions in the playoffs. Now, there's the little matter of playing out the rest of the season, plus making it through the postseason.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Maple Leafs (James Reimer*) at Penguins (Matt Murray), 7:00 PM
Sabres (Chad Johnson) at Capitals (Braden Holtby), 7:00 PM
Devils (Corey Schneider) at Senators (Andrew Hammond), 7:30 PM
Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist) at Lightning (Ben Bishop), 8:00 PM
Flyers (Steve Mason) at Sharks (Martin Jones), 10:30 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Wednesday
Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D (knee) – No timetable for return
Nick Spaling, C (upper-body) – Expected to miss extended time
Garret Sparks, G (lower-body) – Expected to miss extended time
Penguins
Beau Bennett, RW (upper-body) – Out 4-6 weeks
Marc-Andre Fleury, G (concussion) – No timetable for return
Kris Letang, D (undisclosed) – Day-to-day
Ben Lovejoy, D (face) – Day-to-day
Sabres
Robin Lehner, G (ankle) – Could return to practice soon
Cody McCormick, C (blood clots) – No timetable for return
Mark Pysyk, D (lower-body) – Week-to-week
Capitals
John Carlson, D (undisclosed) – Did not play Monday
Michael Latta, C (arm) – Day-to-day
Brooks Orpik, D (lower-body) – Out indefinitely
Devils
Patrik Elias, LW (knee) – Not yet ready to return
Bobby Farnham, LW (upper-body) – Close to returning
Tuomo Ruutu, LW (illness) – Day-to-day
Senators
Cody Ceci, D (upper-body) – Week-to-week
Curtis Lazar, C (lower-body) – Out Tuesday
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) – Out indefinitely
Milan Michalek, LW (finger) – On injured reserve
Chris Phillips, D (back) – Likely to retire
Rangers
None
Lightning
Jonathan Drouin, C (lower-body) – Did not play Monday
Yanni Gourde, LW (finger) – Day-to-day
Ondrej Palat, LW (ankle) – Did not play Monday
Joel Vermin, RW (hand) – Out 6-8 weeks
Flyers
Michael Del Zotto, D (upper-body) – Did not play Sunday
Sam Gagner, C (concussion) – On injured reserve
Vincent Lecavalier, C (back) – Skating, return date unknown
Mark Streit, D (groin) – Did not play Sunday
Sharks
Logan Couture, C (thigh) – No timetable for return
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) – Still suspended
Hot
Robby Fabbri, C, STL – Fabbri was able to stick with the Blues, despite being merely 19 years old, and he's been able to contribute a bit on a deep team, especially recently. After lighting the lamp Tuesday against Nashville, he has four goals in his last five games. That gives him nine goals on the season, and he could end up with 20 when the season ends.
Matt Beleskey, LW, BOS – Beleskey was busy Tuesday. In addition to scoring two goals, he picked up 10 penalty minutes in the wild third period of the Bruins-Senators game. Beleskey was considered a questionable signing this offseason for the money he got, but he does have seven goals and 19 points now, and he has four points in his last three games.
Cold
Jack Johnson, D, CLM – The Blue Jackets scored six goals Tuesday against Dallas, but Johnson wasn't able to get in on the fun. He has zero points in his last four games, before that he missed two games, and before that he had another four game stretch without points. On the year, he's a minus-16. Unless he really starts piling up the points, that's a major problem.
Ryan Kesler, C, ANA – Kesler is another player whose coldness is a season long condition. He has one point, a goal, in his last 10 games, and he's a minus-3 in those games. He only has four goals on the season, which is not what the Ducks were hoping for, obviously. He's not even helping defensively. Perhaps, at his advanced age, his best days are behind him.
Recommended Pickup
Jason Zucker, LW, MIN – The 23-year-old Zucker has nine goals and eight assists through 35 games. That's solid, but that's not necessarily the reason to pick him up. The real reason is that he's taken 96 shots on goal so far. That's a lot of shots, but it also isn't a particularly good shooting percentage. However, we are talking about a guy who has a career shooting percentage of 12.5%, and he is down at 9.4% this year. Last year, he was all the way up at 16.9% in what was his first season playing more than 21 games. In short, his shooting percentage will likely go up, and if it does, and he keeps shooting as much as he is, he could be in for a real goal boost.
