This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
You can count me among the many frustrated by Marc-Andre Fleury.
It's not that I think he's terrible. I don't and he's not. He's inconsistent. That's what drives the constant back and forth debate over him.
He's terrible.
Where's Lundqvist's Cup?
He's a first overall draft pick and disappears in the playoffs.
He's never had a decent defense in front of him.
That debate. Ad nauseam.
But, this season (and last season too) Fleury has been fantastic, surpassing expectations and providing as much as Pittsburgh could hope for with a thin defense in front of him.
The lackluster Pittsburgh defense is always a concern when drafting Fleury in fantasy, because that will impact his save percentage. But it hasn't so far. He's been beyond solid and not in the simple way way where he's just making all the right saves. He's been making some astounding saves to keep the wins coming for Pittsburgh.
Exhibit A. The below save on Friday night that kept the Penguins in the game. They didn't win, but wow, the man is on his game.
@myregularface another angle pic.twitter.com/QNqdnc5wtU
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 14, 2015Alright. We'll get into his stats a little below, but here's your starting goaltenders and injury breakdown for Saturday night.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check our Projected Goalies Grid
Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist) at Senators (Craig Anderson), 1:00 PM
Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) at Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Sharks (Alex Stalock) at Sabres (Chad Johnson), 7:00 PM
Canucks (Ryan Miller) at Maple Leafs (James Reimer), 7:00 PM
Avalanche (Reto Berra) at Canadiens (Mike Condon), 7:00 PM
Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Lightning (Andrei Vasilevskiy), 7:00 PM
Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury) at Devils (Cory Schneider), 7:00 PM
Flyers (Steve Mason) at Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Coyotes (Mike Smith) at Blue Jackets (Curtis McElhinney), 7:00 PM
Jets (Ondrej Pavelec) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 7:00 PM
Blackhawks (Corey Crawford) at Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
Wild (Devan Dubnyk) at Stars (Antti Niemi), 8:00 PM
Oilers (Cam Talbot) at Kings (Jonathan Quick), 10:00 PM
Injury News For Teams Playing Saturday
Ottawa Senators
Chris Phillips, D (back) - remains out
Clarke MacArthur, LW (concussion) - is without a timeline
Detroit Red Wings
Brad Richards, C (back) - returned to practice Thursday
Kyle Quincey, D (ankle) - will miss nine to 12 weeks
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) - may be out for a long time
Landon Ferraro, RW (knee) - was placed on IR Wednesday
Boston Bruins
Alexander Khokhlachev, C (hand) - will miss four-to-six weeks
David Pastrnak, LW (foot) - is out
Chris Kelly, RW (femur fracture) - will miss the entire season
San Jose Sharks
Logan Couture, C (foot) - is "making progress"
Raffi Torres, LW (suspension) - is a long ways from returning
Ben Smith, RW (head) - is out
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C (illness) - won't be back soon
Mike Weber, D (knee) - had surgery this week
Zach Bogosian, D (lower body) - returned to practice
Evander Kane, LW (MCL) - is still out
Robin Lehner, G (ankle) - is still out
Vancouver Canucks
Brandon Prust, LW (ankle) - will miss another few weeks
Brandon Sutter, C (lower body) - is day-to-day
Luca Sbisa, D (undisclosed) - remains on IR
Toronto Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D (groin) has no timeline for a return
Colorado Avalanche
Gabriel Landeskog, LW (suspension - will begin to serve a two-game suspension
Alex Tanguay, LW (knee) - is expected to miss an "extended period" of time
Brad Stuart, D (back) - returned to Denver to deal with his injury
Semyon Varlamov, G (groin) - did not suit up Thursday
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) - has been on Ir for over a month
Montreal Canadiens
Zack Kassian, RW (suspended) - has been suspended by the team since the start of the team
Michael Bournival, C (concussion) - is out
Carey Price, G (lower body) - is out through the weekend
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov, C (wrist) - has returned to practice
Tampa Bay Lightning
Ondrej Palat, LW (lower body) - is out
Mitchell Stephens, C (broken foot) - is out indefinitely
Pittsburgh Penguins
Bryan Rust, RW (arm) - is out
New Jersey Devils
Patrik Elias, LW (knee) - is making progress toward a return
Tuomo Ruutu, LW (fractured foot) - remains out
Philadelphia Flyers
R.J. Umberger, LW (lower body) - is sidelined
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, C (lower body) - returned to practice Tuesday
Carolina Hurricanes
James Wisniewski, D (ACL) - will miss most of the season
Arizona Coyotes
Nicklas Grossmann, D (lower body) - is traveling with the team
Joe Vitale, C (fractured orbital bone) - is still out
Steve Downie, RW (upper body) - isn't traveling with the team
Columbus Blue Jackets
David Clarkson, RW (lower body) - is on injured reserve
Alexander Wennberg, C (foot) - will miss a couple of weeks
Brandon Dubinsky, C (upper body) - didn't play Friday
Winnipeg Jets
Nothing
Nashville Predators
Carter Hutton, G (upper body) - is on IR
Eric Nystrom, LW (upper body) - is on IR
Paul Gaustad, C (lower body) - did not play Thursday
Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Garbutt, RW (illness) - didn't play Thursday
St. Louis Blues
Steve Ott, C (upper body) - isn't traveling with the team
Paul Stastny, C (foot) - is walking without issues now
Patrik Berglund, C (shoulder) - is on LTIR
Jaden Schwartz, LW (ankle) - is on IR
Minnesota Wild
Zach Parise, LW (knee) - will miss a few weeks
Marco Scandella, D (personal) - didn't play Thursday
Justin Fontaine, RW (knee) - is on IR
Tyler Graovac, C (hernia) - remains out
Dallas Stars
Curtis McKenzie, LW (lower body) - returned to practice
Brett Ritchie, RW (wrist) - has skated
Jyrki Jokipakka, D (lower body) - is doubtful for Saturday
Travis Moen, LW (upper body) - is close to a return
Edmonton Oilers
Lauri Korpikoski, LW (head) - is out
Benoit Pouliot, LW (illness) - practiced Friday
Matt Hendricks, LW (foot) - practiced Friday
Justin Schultz, D (back) - is still out
Rob Klinkhammer, LW (lower body) - remains sidelined
Connor McDavid, C (shoulder) - will miss months
Los Angeles Kings
Dwight King, LW (foot) - will miss a few more weeks
Matt Greene, D (upper body) - is improving
Hot:
Marc-Andre Fleury, G, PIT — Fleury has been very solid for the Penguins this season, even if he isn't at the top of the league in save percentage. He's been very valuable in fantasy, playing the second most games of any goaltender with eight wins (fourth overall), two shutouts (third overall), and a .931 save percentage (eighth overall). He's providing value even when the Penguins lose, putting up a .929 in Friday's loss to Columbus.
Sean Monahan, C, CGY — The 6-foot-3 center has been a key piece of Calgary's offense this season, at least what there is of Calgary's offense to be had. Their 2.44 goals per game is tied for 19th in the league. But Monahan has been able to keep his head above water. He's got four goals and an assist in the last four games, with a plus-1 rating and an average of 3.75 shots per game while playing as much as 22:48 in a game.
Cold:
Justin Abdelkader, LW, DET — Abdelkader may have gotten a big contract extension this week, but don't let that fool you into thinking that he's got fantasy value. Since scoring a hat trick in the season's opening game and two points in the game after, he's gone full blown arctic explorer he's so cold. In the next 14 games he has just two assists and not a single goal. He's been held without a shot three times and had just one five times. That's just not enough offensive possibilities for a guy who is a pretty mediocre 8.6% shooter historically.
Andre Burakovsky, LW, WSH — After a strong start to the season, Burakovsky has struggled to produce offense. He hasn't scored in nine games and grabbed his first point of that stretch with an assist on Friday night. He's only taken more than two shots once in that stretch, so there aren't any offensive outbursts happening that let you know he's playing the right way but snakebit. He's averaging just over a shot and a half per game and has seen his ice time dip below 10 minutes on two occasions. He's still an interesting depth player for fantasy, but picking him up right now might be bad timing.
Recommended Pickup:
Sam Bennett, C< CGY — The Flames rookie has found his rhythm. It took until his ninth game of the season to grab his first regular season NHL goal, but he figured it out quickly from there. In the last nine games he's put up four goals and six assists with a plus-2 rating (on a losing team). He's not taking a ton of shots or getting a ton of ice time, but there's still value to be found in Bennett even if his 19% shooting percentage indicates he's on a bit of a streak rather than settling in at a high-level of play at 19 years old.
