This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Lots of fantasy hockey seasons are coming to an end. For some folks they were over much earlier, but if you were in the race for the title in your league to the end (or if your league runs to the end of the regular season or beyond), congratulations on a good season, whether you won or lost.
I made the finals in my dynasty head-to-head league after shutting out my semi-final opponent last week, but I couldn't survive the first bad week of goaltending I've gotten from the trio of Pekka Rinne (see below), Devan Dubnyk, and Cory Schneider. On top of poor performances in net, injuries to Evgeni Malkin, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Victor Hedman set me back even further. It was a disappointing end, but in that dynasty league I will be back with a strong squad and be competitive again next year.
Best of luck to anyone still playing.
Now, onto the preview of Sunday's games.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Pittsburgh Penguins (Thomas Greiss) at Philadelphia Flyers (Steve Mason), 12:30 PM
Washington Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Detroit Red Wings (Petr Mrazek), 5:00 PM
Montreal Canadiens (Carey Price) at Florida Panthers (Roberto Luongo), 5:00 PM
Ottawa Senators (Craig Anderson) at Toronto Maple Leafs (Jonathan Bernier), 7:30 PM
St. Louis Blues (Jake Allen) at Chicago Blackhawks (Corey Crawford), 7:30 PM
*Confirmed Starters
Injury News For Teams Playing Wednesday
Pittsburgh Penguins
Christian Ehrhoff, D - Ehrhoff (upper body) will not play in Saturday's game against the Blue Jackets nor Sunday's game against the Flyers, Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. (4/3/2015)
Evgeni Malkin, C - As expected, Malkin (undisclosed) will sit out Saturday's game against the Blue Jackets. (4/4/2015)
Kris Letang, D - Letang hasn't resumed skating or exercising since sustaining a concussion in last Saturday's win over the Coyotes, Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. (4/1/2015)
Philadelphia Flyers
Luke Schenn, D - Schenn is slated to undergo abdominal surgery Thursday, Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (4/1/2015)
Washington Capitals
Jay Beagle, C - Beagle (shoulder) has been ruled out for the entirety of the Capitals' three-game road trip that begins Thursday in Montreal, Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post reports. (4/1/2015)
Dmitry Orlov, D - The Capitals recalled Orlov (wrist) from his conditioning stint with AHL Hershey on Thursday, the team's official site reports. (4/2/2015)
Detroit Red Wings
Tomas Jurco, RW - Jurco (upper body) is not practicing Friday, MLive.com's Ansar Khan reports. (4/3/2015)
Jonas Gustavsson, G - Gustavsson (concussion) should get medical clearance in the near future, Ansar Khan of MLive reports. (3/31/2015)
Erik Cole, RW - Cole (upper body) is not practicing Friday, MLive.com's Ansar Khan reports. (4/3/2015)
Montreal Canadiens
No news
Florida Panthers
Nick Bjugstad, C - Bjugstad (back) is out for the season after undergoing back surgery on Friday, Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. (3/27/2015)
Al Montoya, G - Montoya (groin) worked out with goaltending coach Robb Tallas and strength coach Tommy Powers before the Panthers' morning skate on Thursday, George Richards of the Miami Herald reports. (4/2/2015)
Ottawa Senators
Chris Neil, RW - Coach Dave Cameron said Thursday that Neil (thumb) has been cleared for contact. (4/2/2015)
Milan Michalek, LW - Coach Dave Cameron said Thursday that Michalek (concussion) is not close to a return. (4/2/2015)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Stephane Robidas, D - Robidas (shoulder) is aiming to begin skating again in mid-June or early July at the latest, Mark Masters of TSN reports. (4/3/2015)
Trevor Smith, C - Smith left Saturday's game against the Bruins with what the Leafs are calling an upper-body injury. (4/4/2015)
Peter Holland, C - Holland (lower body) will not play Saturday against the Senators, Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reports. (4/4/2015)
St. Louis Blues
Alexander Steen, LW - Steen (lower body) resumed skating with the team Saturday, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. (4/4/2015)
Vladimir Tarasenko, RW - Tarasenko (lower body) won't play in Friday's game against the Stars, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. (4/3/2015)
Chicago Blackhawks
Joakim Nordstrom, C - Nordstrom (upper body) took part in a non-contact practice Wednesday, ESPN Chicago reports. (4/1/2015)
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D - Van Riemsdyk will miss eight weeks after undergoing wrist surgery on Tuesday, CSN Chicago's Tracey Myers reports. (4/3/2015)
Patrick Kane, RW - Kane (upper body) will not be eligible to return from the Blackhawks' injured reserve list until the postseason due to salary-cap restrictions, Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune reports. (4/2/2015)
Hot
Tyler Seguin, C – With the Stars pretty much out of the playoff hunt having fallen six points back, getting Seguin to the 40-goal plateau will be one of the few goals left and he is doing his best to get there. The 23-year-old has scored in four straight games picking up seven total points in that time. Despite missing 10 games with a knee injury, Seguin has vaulted up to seventh in scoring and fourth in goals on the season. With the off-season to recover more fully from his injury, Seguin might be the favorite to lead the league in scoring in 2015-16.
Rasmus Ristolainen, D – In a lost season for the Sabres (some might say intentionally lost) the play of their 2013 first round pick has been a bright spot. The 19-year-old has an ugly minus-30 rating, but he is up to 20 points, including seven points in his last five games. As the Sabres get better over the next few years, Ristolainen will be one of the key pieces to their rebuild and he is showing a glimpse of what he can do.
Cold
Pekka Rinne, G – Rinne has hit another cold stretch allowing three or more goals in each of his last three games. While the Predators have managed to pick up an overtime point in two of those games, it does nothing to help his fantasy owners who may have been sunk by his performances at the worst time. Since coming back from a knee injury in February, Rinne has posted a 2.44 goals against and .913 save percentage, both of which are respectable marks, but a far cry from his performance over the whole season of 2.14 goals against and .924 save percentage. He has also given up more than three goals 11 times since returning compared to nine times before his injury. How far the Preds go in the playoffs will depend a lot on Rinne's performance. It won't be a surprise if we learn in the off-season that his knee was in worse shape than we knew during this stretch run.
Martin St. Louis, RW – St. Louis recently returned after missing eight games with a knee injury, so we are picking on him a bit, but whether it's due to injury or not he has been ineffective for a long stretch. He has just four points in the 12 games he has played since February 22 and has just 48 points on the season. This will be his first season with fewer than 60 points since before the lockout – the 2004-05 lockout. The Rangers are hoping for a playoff rejuvenation, but at age 39 his fantasy owners should be thinking about moving on for next season.
Recommended Pickup
Chris Tierney, C – Tierney has been up and down a few times with San Jose, but he has earned a role since being called up for good on February 4. He has 17 points in 26 games since that date – good for a very respectable 0.65 points per game, a pace for better than 50 points over a full season. The former second round draft pick is just 20 years old and had 24 points in 27 AHL games this year. With a disappointing season coming to an end for the Sharks it seems likely that some changes with be made in the off-season. Tierney could find himself with an even bigger role on the team as soon as next year.
