The Daily Puck: Ready to Burst

November 17 Daily Puck

Projected Goalie Starters

Boston (Tim Thomas) at Rangers (Henrik Lundgvist), 7:00 p.m.
Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Atlanta (Ondrej Pavelec), 7:00 p.m.
Ottawa (Pascal Leclaire) at Carolina (Cam Ward), 7:00 p.m.
Buffalo (Ryan Miller) at Washington (Michal Neuvirth), 7:00 p.m.
Tampa Bay (Dan Ellis) at Islanders (Rick DiPietro), 7:00 p.m.
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) at Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury), 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak) at Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 7:30 p.m.
Anaheim (Curtis McElhinney) at Minnesota (Nicklas Backstrom), 8:00 p.m.
San Jose (Antti Niemi) at Colorado (Peter Budaj), 9:00 p.m.
Chicago (Marty Turco) at Edmonton (Nikolai Khabibulin), 9:30 p.m.
Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov) at Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff), 9:30 p.m.
Columbus (Steve Mason) at Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick), 10:30 p.m.

Rotowire Goalie Grid

Player Injuries

Boston vs. Rangers

Boston

Johnny Boychuk - Questionable, making progress from forearm injury and could return Wednesday.
Marc Savard - Out, looking at returning in early January.
Marco Sturm - Out, also looking at returning sometime in early January.
David Krejci - Questionable, missed Monday and unlikely to play Wednesday but day-to-day.

Rangers

Derek Boogaard - Questionable, missed Monday and not likely to play Wednesday.
Dan Girardi - Questionable, took puck to the face Monday against Pittsburgh.
Michal Rozsival - Out, will miss about the next week due to shoulder injury.
Vaclav Prospal - Out, latest reports have him coming back in mid-to-late December.
Chris Drury - Out, has now missed four out of the six weeks diagnosed following finger break.

Florida vs. Atlanta

Florida

Jay Garrison - Probable, expected to make return Wednesday after missing time with groin injury.
Steve Bernier - Out, will miss 3-4 weeks after undergoing orbital surgery.
Byron Bitz - Out, still weeks away after undergoing sports hernia surgery.

Atlanta

Eric Boulton - Questionable, did not participate in Tuesday's practice.
Fredrik Modin - Questionable, did not practice Tuesday due to an upper-body injury.

Ottawa vs. Carolina

Ottawa

Brian Lee - Questionable, hasn't played since suffering neck injury a week ago.

Carolina - No injuries reported.

Buffalo vs. Washington

Buffalo

Craig Rivet -- Questionable, missed Saturday and Monday with effects of food poisoning.
Drew Stafford - Questionable, did not play Monday due to upper-body injury suffered Friday.

Washington

Boyd Gordon - Probable, skated Tuesday and said he'd play Wednesday despite knee injury.
Tom Poti - Questionable, missed practice Tuesday and isn't likely to play Wednesday.
Semyon Varlamov - Questionable, won in Hershey Sunday, stopping 21 of 24 shots in 8-3 win.

Tampa Bay vs. Islanders

Tampa Bay

Dana Tyrell - Probable, battled flu last week but was able to skate in Sunday's contest.
Simon Gagne - Out, skated during Tuesday's practice for first time, wearing a non-contact jersey.
Vincent Lecavalier - Out, expected to miss 4-5 weeks after undergoing successful hand surgery Monday.

Islanders

Doug Weight - Questionable, left Tuesday's practice with back tightness.
Jack Hillen - Questionable, not expected to play Wednesday, suffered concussion-like hit last Thursday.
Kyle Okposo - Out, Considering timeline of December return, he's worth scooping up now and stashing.
Milan Jurcina - Out, should return to action within the next two weeks from hamstring injury.
Andrew MacDonald - Out, looking at another week to three weeks before coming back from hand. 
Mark Streit - Out, eligible for All-Star voting but not expected to play until after the All-Star game.
 
Vancouver vs. Pittsburgh

Vancouver

Ryan Parent - Questionable, didn't play Monday and has dealt with sore groin for the last week.
Alexandre Bolduc - Out, hasn't played since October with ankle injury.
Guillame Desbiens - Out, not expected to play after breaking hand in fight in early November.
Sami Salo - Out, not expected to play until sometime after Christmas.

Pittsburgh

Tyler Kennedy - Probable, skated during Tuesday after missing Monday's game with flu.
Jordan Staal - Out, looking at a return sometime around Christmas. 
Paul Martin - Probable, missed Tuesday's practice as maintenance day but expected to play.

St. Louis vs. Detroit

St. Louis

David Perron - Out, still feeling effects of concussion two weeks later, frustrating fantasy owners.
Barret Jackman - Out, still a week away from possible return due to knee injury.
T.J. Oshie - Out, check back on Oshie's status sometime around Groundhog Day.
Roman Polak - Out, not expected back until the turn of the new year.

Detroit

Chris Osgood - Out, missed Tuesday's practice and not expected back this week despite earlier reports.
Kris Draper - Out, back practicing with teammates but no timetable for a return.
Mike Modano - Probable, practiced Tuesday, team will wait 'til after Weds. practice to give go-ahead. 

Anaheim vs. Minnesota

Anaheim

Sheldon Brookbank - Questionable, didn't play Tuesday with hamstring injury.
Todd Marchant - Probable, played Tuesday despite dealing with upper-body injury.
Kyle Chipchura - Out, getting close to returning from concussion.
Joffrey Lupul - Out, hoping for an end-of-November return.
Andy Sutton - Out, didn't play Tuesday but nearing return from broken thumb.

Minnesota

Cal Clutterbuck - Questionable, missed third period of Sunday's game and is day-to-day.
Chuck Kobasew - Out, has missed last two games with groin injury.
Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Out, still experiencing, you guessed it, concussion-like symptoms.
Josh Harding - Out, talented prospect has long recovery from knee surgery ahead of him.
Guillaume Latendresse - Out, still on IR with groin injury.
Brent Burns - Out, eligible to return from suspension on November 19 against Detroit.

San Jose vs. Colorado

San Jose

Douglas Murray - Questionable, missed Monday's game with lower-body injury.

Colorado

Kyle Cumiskey - Out, missing time with a concussion.
TJ Galiardi - Out, looking at a six-week recovery time after undergoing right wrist surgery.
Peter Mueller - Out, no recent updates on his status, but he's not expected back anytime soon.
Craig Anderson - Out, back at practice but not expected to play until next week.
Kyle Quincey - Questionable, made it through practice Tuesday; game-time decision Wednesday.
 
Chicago vs. Edmonton

Chicago

Troy Brouwer - Probable, missed Tuesday's practice but expected to play Wednesday.

Edmonton

Theo Peckham - Probable, left Monday's practice early but is expected to play Wednesday.
Ladislav Smid - Questionable, missed last two practices after Sean Avery cheap shot hit.
 
Phoenix vs. Calgary

Phoenix

Shane Doan - Out, skated prior to practice Tuesday, better guidance on return by week's end.

Calgary

Ales Kotalik - Out, no recent news on his recovery from a knee injury.
Raitis Ivanans - Out, no given timetable for a return to action.
Daymond Langkow - Out, still battling from numbness with no return in site.

Columbus vs. Los Angeles

Columbus

Mike Commodore - Questionable, activated off IR last week but team hasn't played since Friday.
Derek MacKenzie - Out, not expected to play with lower-body injury Wednesday.
Rick Nash - Probable, took part in practice Tuesday and is expected to play Wednesday.
Anton Stralman - Questionable, flu-ridden, status TBD after team's morning skate.
Kristian Huselius - Out, no timetable for a return from ankle injury.
Ethan Moreau - Questionable, getting closer to a return from hand injury.

Los Angeles

Willie Mitchell - Out, looking at a 3-5 week recovery time from fractured wrist.
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Out, likely out another three weeks with broken finger.
Scott Parse - Out, knee surgery will keep him out 3-4 months one day after scoring first goal.

Hot

Patrick Marleau - Marleau netted a goal and added two assists Monday. He's been kind of quiet for a high draft pick following last year's 44-goal showing. In other words, despite his 17 points Marleau is likely due for more outbursts like Monday's. He's going to go on a run right here.

Scott Hartnell - His composite stats have become much more respected the past couple years as a PIMs guy who puts up his fair share of points, too. We all know that. With Daniel Carcillo out for three weeks, there's a good chance his penalty minutes increase - he had 12 PIMs Tuesday night.

Cold

Pekka Rinne - He's allowed at least three goals in each of his last seven starts. Hopefully the return of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter will be enough to get his numbers turned around - 4-5-2, 3.06 GAA, .904 saves percentage.

Kyle Quincey - Quincey returns for the first time in nearly two weeks after missing time with a concussion. Quincey averaged 34 points his last two years but has zero through his first 12 in 2010-11. He's an above average defensive producer in hits, blocked shots and shots on goal. Stay tuned, if he shows any life he could go from the cold list to hot faster than an Al Iafrate slapper.

Recommended Pickup

Arron Asham - Asham is fitting in nicely on the Pens' No. 2 line with Evgeni Malkin. Asham seems to be finally recovered from a shoulder injury that hampered at the beginning of the season and has three points in five games. Of course, Asham is more of a PIMs guy than anything, but with the added category of hits he has added value. Guys like Asham and Matt Cooke are producing for Pittsburgh and likely available on many waiver wires.