The Daily Puck: A New King

Projected Goalie Starters

Atlanta (Chris Mason) at New Jersey (Johan Hedberg), 5:00 PM
Montreal (Carey Price) at Florida (Tomas Vokoun), 5:00 PM
Nashville (Pekka Rinne) at Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom), 6:00 PM
Islanders (Rick DiPietro) at Detroit (Jimmy Howard), 7:00 PM
Ottawa (Brian Elliott) at Columbus (Mathieu Garon), 7:00 PM
Vancouver (Cory Schneider) at Dallas (Kari Lehtonen), 8:00 PM
Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky) at Anaheim (Jonas Hiller), 8:00 PM
Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov) at St. Louis (Jaroslav Halak), 8:30 PM
Colorado (Craig Anderson) at Calgary (Miikka Kiprusoff) 9:00 PM

Injuries for Teams Playing Friday

Day-to-Day (Includes DL players close to returning)
Evander Kane (W) Atlanta – (Arm) Was a game-time decision for Thursday's game, will likely be so for Friday.
David Booth (W) Florida - (Hip) Probable to play Friday.
Cory Stillman (W) Florida - (Back) Probable to play Friday.
Radek Dvorak (W) Florida – (Shoulder) Questionable to play Friday.
David Legwand (C) Nashville – (Lower body) Questionable to return Friday.
Pascal Leclaire (G) Ottawa – (Lower body) Out at least another week.
Roberto Luongo (G) Vancouver - (Personal) Will backup Cory Schneider on Friday.
Radim Vrbata (W) Phoenix - (Lower body) Will be a game-time decision Friday.

Long Term or IR
Nikolai Antropov (W) Atlanta – (Hip) No timetable has been given for his return.
Mike Modano (C) Detroit – (Wrist) Best-case scenario is a February return.
Zach Parise (W) New Jersey – (Knee) Won't start skating until March, could be out for the season.
Andrei Markov (D) Montreal – (Knee) Out for the season.
Steve Sullivan (W) Nashville – (Lower body) Expected to miss 10-14 days.
Matthew Lombardi (C) Nashville – (Concussion) Still no timetable for a return to action.
Martin Erat (W) Nashville - (Upper body) Doubtful to play Friday, but should return shortly thereafter.
Guillaume Latendresse (W) Minnesota – (Hip) Could be out for the season.
Josh Harding (G) Minnesota - (Knee) Unlikely to return this season.
Marek Zidlicky (D) Minnesota – (Shoulder) Expected to miss a couple of weeks.
Kyle Okposo (W) Islanders – (Shoulder) Not on the current road trip but should return mid-January.
Mark Streit (D) Islanders – (Shoulder) February is still the best bet for his return.
Pavel Datsyuk (C) Detroit – (Hand) Out 4-6 weeks.
Dan Cleary (W) Detroit – (Hand) Out 4-6 weeks.
Jason Spezza (C) Ottawa – (Shoulder) Out a minimum of six weeks.
Mason Raymond (W) Vancouver - (Thumb) Has been cleared to play.
Sami Salo (D) Vancouver - (Achilles) Practicing with team, could return mid to late January.
Chris Pronger (D) Philadelphia - (Foot) Had surgery, out 2-4 weeks.
Ryan Getzlaf (C) Anaheim - (Nose) Nasal fractures will keep him out until next week.
David Perron (W) St. Louis - (Concussion) Still suffering symptoms, no timetable yet.
Andy McDonald (C) St. Louis - (Concussion) Still suffering symptoms, no timetable yet.
T.J. Oshie (W) St. Louis - (Ankle) Could return in late January.
Peter Mueller (W) Colorado - (Concussion) No timetable for his return
Chris Stewart (W) Colorado - (Hand) Hoping to return to action in mid-January.
Daymond Langkow (C) Calgary - (Neck) Season and career could be over.

Transactions

Tim Stapleton (C) Atlanta – Recalled from the AHL.
Nick Palmieri (W) New Jersey – Recalled from the AHL.
John Curry (G) Pittsburgh – Re-assigned to the AHL.
Brian Rolston (C) New Jersey – Recalled from the AHL.
Jared Spurgeon (D) Minnesota –Recalled from the AHL.
Mark Fraser (D) New Jersey –Re-assigned to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.
Andrew Gordon (W) Washington – Re-assigned to the AHL.
Derek MacKenzie (C) Columbus –Activated off the IR.
Nikolai Antropov (W) Atlanta – Placed on IR.
Jesse Joensuu (W) Islanders – Recalled from the AHL.
Dylan Reese (D) Islanders – Recalled from the AHL.
Bryan Rodney (D) Carolina – Re-assigned to the AHL.
Jon Matsumoto (C) Carolina – Re-assigned to the AHL.

Hot

Jiri Hudler (W) Detroit – Hudler is starting to justify our faith in him as he was one of the top sleeper picks come draft time. After a slow start to the season that included some time on the bench, Hudler has finally started to pick up his play lately with two goals and four points in his last four games. The loss of Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary has opened up additional playing time for Hudler and he looks set to take advantage of the opportunity.

James Wisniewski (D) Montreal – Christmas came a little late for Wisniewski but he and his fantasy owners received a nice gift when he was traded from one of the worst teams in the NHL (Islanders) to a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup. At the time of the trade Wisniewski was leading the Isles in scoring, but one would think he should be able to put up even better numbers since he will now be surrounded by better talent.

Cold

Carey Price (G) Montreal – Going into the season, Price had an enormous amount of pressure on him. The Canadiens traded playoff hero Jaroslav Halak, thus handing the starting job to Price, and for the first two months he responded by putting up Vezina Trophy numbers, however he has hit a cold streak over his last nine games, posting only two wins.

Zdeno Chara (D) Boston – The big Z just hasn't looked like the same player now for almost an entire calendar year. He has only one assist in his past six games, and only 10 on the season to go with four goals. Perhaps the hand injury he suffered last season is still giving him trouble.

Recommended Pickup

Marco Sturm (W) Los Angeles – Sturm's trade to the Kings couldn't have worked out better for him. He will have a chance to get his feet wet by playing on the third or fourth line, but the Kings have already let it be known that Sturm will eventually be a top-six forward. Should be worth a waiver claim in your fantasy league.