Tuesday Daily Puck: Red-Hot Blueshirts Return Home

Around the Rink

Ah, the midseason hot streak. It's exciting and concerning all at once. As a Rangers fan, I'm naturally excited to see my team winning pretty much every game lately – the Stars beat them on Dec. 29, and that's the only loss they've taken since Dec. 6, when they took a one-goal defeat in Detroit. Indeed, they've won 13 of their last 14 games, and several opposing coaches have said they look like the best team in the league.

That's amazing. But it's also a problem. These midseason hot streaks can't last forever – the Blueshirts aren't going to win 35 of their next 40 or anything like that. I mean, they might, and that'd be amazing, but it's not terribly likely. No, the odds-on scenario is that they taper off at some point and return to being merely a good team. And then the playoffs will come along, as they always do, and they'll reward the team that's hot in April rather than the team that's hot in January. Of course, being hot in January helps you get there.

There is, however, a strong argument to be made that this Rangers team is better – and certainly has been playing better – than the one that fell to the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final last year. They dominated those same Kings on their just-concluded West Coast trip, which also included wins over those mighty Ducks and the Sharks.

Even if it turns out to be ephemeral, it's been amazing to watch this team lately, and a lot of it has to be chalked up to great coaching by Alain Vigneault. The Rangers come as close as any team I've ever seen to playing mistake-free hockey. When they do make mistakes, they have the speed to get back on defense, the willingness to get in front of shots, and the skill to make deft defensive plays that create offense. When all that fails, they have Henrik Lundqvist behind them.

Just as importantly, this is a team that's found its lost offense – much of it attributable to Rick Nash's astounding resurgence, as he's already matched his goal total from last year in 26 fewer games. But it's not all Nash. Martin St. Louis, slow to adjust to the bright lights of New York last year, has bounced back in a big way, particularly lately, tallying 12 points over the course of the team's streak. Ryan McDonagh's return from an early-season injury has stabilized the defense, and Dan Boyle's recovery from an early hand injury has improved the power play. Kevin Klein has emerged as an unlikely offensive contributor who (as it turns out) has a legit shot from the blue line and is willing to step up into the play. Youngsters Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast have carved out bottom-six lineup spots, and Vigneault trusts them in all situations.

It's exciting to watch, and it's a heck of a setup for Tuesday's matchup against the crosstown-rival Islanders, who currently own first place in the Metropolitan Division, five points up on the Rangers.

Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)

Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) at Sabres (Michal Neuvirth), 7:00 PM
Islanders (Jaroslav Halak) at Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist), 7:00 PM
Wild (Niklas Backstrom) at Penguins (Marc-Andre Fleury), 7:00 PM
Avalanche (Calvin Pickard) at Hurricanes (Cam Ward), 7:00 PM
Oilers (Ben Scrivens) at Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
\Canucks (Ryan Miller) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Panthers (Roberto Luongo) at Jets (Michael Hutchinson), 8:00 PM
Senators (Craig Anderson) at Stars (Kari Lehtonen), 8:30 PM
Sharks (Antti Niemi) at Coyotes (Devan Dubnyk), 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
Victor Hedman, D (lower body) – Considered unlikely for Tuesday after leaving Monday
Tyler Johnson, C (lower body) – "A good chance" he'll sit Tuesday
Radko Gudas, D (knee) – Hit IR over weekend

Boston Bruins

Simon Gagne, LW (personal) – Won't return to the Bruins this year

Detroit Red Wings
Jimmy Howard, G (groin) – Only a slight tear, but out until at least All-Star break
Jakub Kindl, D (elbow) – Back at practice; return date uncertain
Johan Franzen, RW (upper body) – Return from IR uncertain, but not expected to be long-term
Jonas Gustavsson, G (shoulder) – Was practicing with team, but no recent updates
Tomas Jurco, RW (back) – Has disc issue; could hit IR

Buffalo Sabres
Brian Gionta, RW (concussion) – Skated Sunday, but may not play this week
Cody McCormick, C (blood clot) – Out of hospital, but no timetable for return
Marcus Foligno, LW (finger) – Remains out around 4-6 weeks
Chris Stewart, RW (flu) – Didn't practice Sunday
Torrey Mitchell, RW (foot) – Will return Tuesday

New York Islanders
Lubomir Visnovsky, D (upper body) – Hit IR last week; timeline unclear
Mikhail Grabovski, C (lower body) – Didn't play Saturday; Tuesday status uncertain

Minnesota Wild
Keith Ballard, D (concussion) – Still having symptoms; considering retirement
Marco Scandella, D (head) – Didn't play Sunday; Tuesday looks liffy

Mikael Granlund, C (wrist) – Hopes to be back by end of month
Darcy Kuemper, G (lower body) – Coming up on projected "at least one week" of absence

Pittsburgh Penguins
Olli Maatta, D (shoulder) – Likely out for the year
Blake Comeau, LW (wrist) – Out about three more weeks
Patric Hornqvist, RW (lower body) – Out about three more weeks
Pascal Dupuis, RW (blood clot) – Out for the year

Colorado Avalanche
Jamie McGinn, LW (back) – Out for the year
Jesse Winchester, LW (concussion) – Still battling symptoms; shut down
Ryan Wilson, D (shoulder) – Out for the year
Ben Street, C (hand) – Practiced fully Friday; could be activated this week
Patrick Bordeleau, LW (knee) – Out another 5-7 weeks

Edmonton Oilers
Tyler Pitlick, RW (spleen) – Done for the year

St. Louis Blues
Chris Porter, LW (lower body) – Remains out at least into late February

Vancouver Canucks
Dan Hamhuis, D (groin) – Won't play Tuesday

Nashville Predators
Eric Nystrom, LW (undisclosed) – Not much info revealed here, but he's on IR
James Neal, RW (lower body) – Practiced Monday; Tuesday return possible
Ryan Ellis, D (lower body) – Hit IR Saturday; out a couple weeks or so

Florida Panthers
Shawn Thornton, LW (groin) – Skating, but not practicing
Aleksander Barkov, C (illness) – Expected back in Tuesday

Winnipeg Jets
Grant Clitsome, D (upper body) – Hit IR last week post-surgery; out indefinitely
Jacob Trouba, D (upper body) – Out into February

Ottawa Senators
Chris Neil, RW (knee) – Skating, but no word on return date
Mark Borowiecki, D (leg) – No word on whether he's out of his boot
Zack Smith, C (wrist) – Remains out "multiple months" after mid-December injury

Dallas Stars
Tyler Seguin, C (illness) – Didn't practice Monday; Tuesday status in doubt
Valeri Nichushkin, LW (hip) – Remains out into March
Erik Cole, RW (illness) – Expected to play Tuesday
Vernon Fiddler, C (lower body) – Questionable for Tuesday
Patrick Eaves, RW (ankle) – Should be approaching return in the next couple weeks
Jamie Benn, C (undisclosed) – Questionable for Tuesday's game

San Jose Sharks
Raffi Torres, LW (knee) – Remains out long-term
Mike Brown, RW (leg) – Out about another 2-4 weeks
Tyler Kennedy, LW (shoulder) – Increasing practice exertion
Mirco Mueller, D (upper body) – Hit IR Saturday

Arizona Coyotes
Zbynek Michalek, D (upper body) – Didn't play Saturday; chance to play Tuesday
Martin Hanzal, C (upper body) – Didn't go Saturday; unlikely for Tuesday

Hot

Kevin Shattenkirk, D, STL – The new-minted All-Star has been riding the rip-roaring St. Louis offense to tons of production lately – so much that he's only eight points short of last year's career-high 45, and just three short of last year's 26 power-play points. Over the last five games, Shattenkirk has collected a Bobby Orr-like eight points, including a pair of goals, and four of those points have come on the power play. The guy is legitimately on pace to put up 40 points on the power play. Wow.

Mark Streit, D, PHI – In a dismal season for the Flyers, Streit has been the lone bright spot on a defensive unit that's been utterly hopeless as a whole. Despite being 37 years old, he's on a career-high scoring pace and has already exceeded last year's production on the power play. Streit's been a scoresheet regular of late, but not just during his current four-game point streak – dating back to Dec. 3, he's notched a point in 15 of the last 19 games, with 18 total points in that span. Only one of those points was a goal, but under the category of "what have you done for me lately," he scored that goal Monday against the Lightning.

Cold

Cam Atkinson, RW, CLM – Atkinson's had a tough time building on last year's 21-goal, 40-point effort this season, and things have been particularly rough lately. Since missing nearly a week with an upper-body ailment, he's returned with three scoreless games in a row, tallying just four total shots on goal and a minus-5 rating in that span. And he doesn't get a pass because he was hurt – Atkinson had gone six straight without a point prior to the injury. He continues to see top-six minutes and plentiful power-play time, but he's sure not doing much with it for an inconsistent Columbus team.

Jason Garrison, D, TB – Ostensibly one of Tampa's top defenders, Garrison's without a point in five games since returning from a brief IR stint, and he's been playing reduced minutes, too. Though he's averaging more than 20 minutes of ice time per game, Garrison hasn't even cleared 19 minutes in any of those five outings since returning, his power-play time has been sparing, and he's minus-4 to boot. At least Garrison can pin things on his injury to some degree, as he was clipping along at a pretty solid pace prior to being hurt a few days before Christmas.

Recommended Pickup
Jason Demers, D, DAL – The move from San Jose to Dallas has resulted in increased minutes and a production uptick for Demers, who was practically useless with the Sharks, but has tallied eight points in 21 games with the Stars. That's not a ton, but he's also been a penalty-box regular lately and is accumulating hits pretty steadily, making Demers a solid add in deeper formats. Don't expect the world, but he's the kind of role player who can help.