This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
I have no brilliant soliloquy for you today. Let's just skip straight to Tuesday's action.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Stars (Kari Lehtonen) at Bruins (Tuukka Rask), 7:00 PM
Senators (Robin Lehner) at Sabres (Jhonas Enroth), 7:00 PM
Oilers (Viktor Fasth) at Islanders (Jaroslav Halak), 7:00 PM
Rangers (Cam Talbot) at Maple Leafs (James Reimer), 7:30 PM
Flyers (Ray Emery) at Canadiens (Carey Price), 7:30 PM
Ducks (Frederik Andersen) at Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 7:30 PM
Coyotes (Mike Smith) at Blues (Jake Allen), 8:00 PM
Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Predators (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 PM
Wild (Devan Dubnyk) at Jets (Ondrej Pavelec), 8:00 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Tuesday
Dallas Stars
Travis Moen, LW (lower body) – Placed on IR last week; no timeline offered
Rich Peverley, (chest) – No return timetable still
Patrik Nemeth, D (arm) – Somewhere from 3-6 weeks away from returning
Valeri Nichushkin, LW (hip) – Like Nemeth, 3-6 weeks
Boston Bruins
No news is good news
Ottawa Senators
Zack Smith, C (wrist) – Remains out with no firm timetable
Chris Phillips, D (general soreness) – Could miss a week or two
Craig Anderson, G (hand) – Could be the backup Tuesday
Buffalo Sabres
Cody McCormick, C (blood clots) – Unlikely to return this season
Mikhail Grigorenko, C (knee) – Expected to miss the next two weeks
Edmonton Oilers
Taylor Hall, LW (ankle) – Getting an MRI
Tyler Pitlick, RW (spleen) – Done for the year
Nikita Nikitin, D (shoulder) – Out into March
Benoit Pouliot, LW (foot) – Couldn't go Monday; Tuesday in question
New York Islanders
Kyle Okposo, RW (eye) – Iffy timetable has him back in March
Michael Grabner, RW (undisclosed) – Placed on IR on Sunday
Cal Clutterbuck, RW (upper body) – Didn't go Sunday; Tuesday in question
Calvin de Haan, D (face) – See: Clutterbuck, Pascal
Eric Boulton, LW – Lingering on IR with no particular timeline
New York Rangers
Henrik Lundqvist, G (neck) – Out at least three weeks with vascular issue
Jesper Fast, RW (knee) – Out 2-3 weeks
Toronto Maple Leafs
Jonathan Bernier, G (illness) – Practiced Monday
Dion Phaneuf, D (hand) – No timetable
Philadelphia Flyers
Kimmo Timonen, D (blood clots) – Could be back in action in two weeks
Braydon Coburn, D (foot) – Traveling with the team
Rob Zepp, G (leg) – Injured in the AHL on Saturday
Steve Mason, G (knee) – Getting knee scoped; timetable unclear
Zac Rinaldo, LW (suspension) – Three games left on suspension
Michael Raffl, LW (pneumonia) – Not traveling with the team
Shayne Gostisbehere, D (knee) – Expected to resume playing at some point in February
Montreal Canadiens
P.A. Parenteau, RW (concussion) – Back on the ice; could return to game action soon
Anaheim Ducks
Hampus Lindholm, D (lower body) – Day-to-day
Frederik Andersen, G (upper body) -- Day-to-day after being hurt Sunday
Florida Panthers
Willie Mitchell, D (upper body) – Not at practice Monday
Sean Bergenheim, LW (illness) – Didn't go Sunday; Tuesday in question
Arizona Coyotes
Martin Hanzal, C (upper body) – Expected to miss much of this week
Mikkel Boedker, LW (spleen) – No timetable, but hopes to return this year
Joe Vitale, C (upper body) – Out at least through the middle of this week
St. Louis Blues
Jori Lehtera, C (concussion) – Could return Tuesday
Kevin Shattenkirk, D (abdominal surgery) – Out a matter of weeks
Chris Porter, LW (ankle) – Supposed to be fully recovered
Tampa Bay Lightning
Matt Carle, D (hip) – Out until at least late March
Michael Blunden, RW (knee) – Season-ending surgery a strong possibility
Jason Garrison, D (lower body) – Didn't go Sunday
Radko Gudas, D (knee) – Done for the regular season
Nashville Predators
Colin Wilson, LW (upper body) – Missed Sunday's game against the Panthers
Ryan Ellis, D (lower body) – Skated on his own before Tuesday's morning session
Mattias Ekholm, D (upper body) – Left Sunday's game
Minnesota Wild
Matt Cooke, LW (sports hernia) – Out 5-6 weeks with surgery
Ryan Carter, C (upper body) – Expected to miss extended time after Monday injury
Jason Zucker, LW (upper body) – Also hurt Monday and out for extended period
Winnipeg Jets
Adam Lowry, LW (illness) – Practiced Monday
Matt Halischuk, RW (lower body) – Out "a while"
Evander Kane, LW (shoulder) – Had successful surgery Saturday
Jay Harrison, D (upper body) – Had a full practice Monday
Hot
John Klingberg, D, DAL – There's hot, and then there's Klingberg. The rookie blueliner has been pulling his best Brian Leetch impression lately, having racked up a simply ridiculous 10 points in his last six games. That's amazing for a forward; it's ridiculous for a defenseman. Kling has quickly ascended to the top pairing in Dallas, and if not for the time he spent in the AHL to start the season, he'd be on pace for 20 goals and nearly 60 points. Need I say more?
Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN – Duh. Dubnyk wasn't totally on his game Monday, stopping a modest 22 of 25, but it was enough for his eighth victory in nine decisions since joining the Wild. Four of those wins have been shutouts. That's just crazy. I've never seen someone morph into an elite fantasy netminder so quickly.
Cold
Michael Hutchinson, G, WPG – A frontrunner on the goalie ratio leaderboards for much of the season, Hutchinson has hit the skids lately. Despite turning in a relatively strong effort his last time out, Hutch has started only one of the Jets' last four games now, with a three-game stretch in which he yielded 13 goals leading the Jets to turn back to Ondrej Pavelec more often. For his part, Pavelec's played relatively well, which may mean that Hutchinson ends up with a little less than 50 percent of the starts going forward.
Martin St. Louis, RW, NYR – It seemed for much of this year that St. Louis had adjusted to life in New York and was something resembling his old self again, but he's now sitting on about a month straight without a goal and has just one lonely assist to show for his last seven games. He's averaging a shade under two shots per game for the season – by far his worst rate since he broke out as a 70-point scorer in 2002-03 – and it's been particularly noticeable recently, as he's put just 12 pucks on goal in his last eight games. Age 40 is creeping up, and it's starting to show.
Recommended Pickup
Travis Hamonic, D, NYI – Hamonic isn't the sort of blueliner who gets much hype in fantasy circles, as he tends to simply be a reliable defender in his own zone who sees minimal power-play time, but he's been piling up assists at quite a nice pace recently – six in the last seven games. And he's seen more than six minutes of man-advantage ice over the last two games, although his time there has been rather sporadic throughout the season. We'll need to see him skate big power-play minutes for a few more games in a row before we declare this a trend, but it's certainly promising.
