Friday Daily Puck: Reaching the Milesdoan

Stars captain Jamie Benn triggered the goal light for the 200th time in his (regular season) career Thursday night to the detriment of the Predators. I love tracking milestones, and so much so that I'd pay to somehow tap into the stats behind every key milestone or achievement unlocked in my personal life, including the silly stuff. For example, tell me how many pounds of pizza I've consumed. Let's also quantify -- in Fitbit fashion -- the amount of steps I've taken over 33 years so I know whether that'd be enough to traverse the globe. The possibilities are endless here, but to shift the attention back onto pucks...

Players reaching milestones of late:

Alexander Steen (STL) LW - 200th career goal (12/3)
Antti Niemi (DAL) G - 400 games played (12/1)
Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) G - 60 career shutouts (11/1)

Players approaching milestones:

Roberto Luongo (FLA) G - Five wins shy of 450 for his career.
Ryan Miller (VAN) G - 39,197 minutes played. Needs 955 more to move into 25th all-time.
Eric Staal (MIN) C - One point away from 800 in his career.
Jarome Iginla (COL) RW - One game away from 1,500.
Shane Doan (ARI) RW - One goal from No. 400.
Marian Hossa (CHI) RW - Four assists removed from 600 career helpers.

Source: NHL.com milestones

Featured Matchups

Blue Jackets PP: 1, PK:18 at Red Wings PP:25, PK:9, 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Sergei Bobrovsky (14-5-2, 2.03, .930), Petr Mrazek (8-5-3, 2.84, .908)
Key Injuries:David Clarkson (back), Dalton Prout (back), Justin Abdelkader (knee), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Johan Franzen (concussion),Darren Helm (upper body), Jimmy Howard (groin), Alexey Marchenko (upper body), Brendan Smith (knee), Joe Vitale (concussion)

Love him or hate him, but coach John Tortorella is operating a well-oiled machine in Columbus. Boone Jenner is the only Blue Jacket currently toiling on the undesirable side of the plus-minus category at minus-4. That's not all that surprising given that he put up a minus-15 rating in his 30-goal breakout last season, though he's hurting fantasy owners by cracking the scoresheet only once every three games on average.

Injuries, injuries and more injuries. Something tells me Red Wings GM Kenny Holland has been busy studying how well the Lightning overcome adversity. The Bolts had the 12th most man-games lost last season (294)* yet still found a way to clip the Winged Wheel in the playoffs. As a die-hard fan of the Wings, I was stoked to see veteran goalie Jimmy Howard taken off injured reserve Wednesday, but seven skaters remain in that very spot. Thomas Vanek continues to impress in a third-line role. He's up to 13 points in 16 games, with four helpers and a tally since returning from a hip injury Nov. 20. Crafty forward Andreas Athanasiou returns to face Columbus after missing 12 games.

Oilers PP:10, PK:11 at Wild PP:17, PK:12, 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Talbot (13-9-3, 2.61, .914), Devan Dubnyk (11-6-3, 1.65, .946)
Key Injuries:Brandon Davidson (shoulder), Mark Fayne (undisclosed), Andrew Ference (hip), Eric Gryba (undisclosed), Darnell Nurse (lower body), Iiro Pakarinen (leg), Victor Bartley (triceps), Zac Dalpe (knee), Christian Folin (knee)

Talbot rattled off seven wins (including a pair of shutouts) in his first eight starts. However, the Oilers now have a banged-up blue line strewn together by AHL call-ups, and the starting backstop suddenly owns a 2.61 GAA -- if the season ended today, that'd be the worst rate of his career.

Minnesota is the superior faceoff team by a mile. That should keep the puck out of Dubnyk's territory to a significant degree, but with the way the Saskatchewan native is going -- 11-6-3, 1.65 GAA .946 save mark and four shutouts -- you might actually wish for a high volume of shots knowing he's likely to stop most everything that comes his way. Is fifth-year center Charlie Coyle the most underappreciated man in the league? I haven't heard much chatter about No. 3, even though he currently owns the team lead with nine goals.

Rangers PP:9, PK:10 at Blackhawks PP:19, PK:30, 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Henrik Lundqvist (12-8-1, 2.55, .912), Scott Darling (5-2-1, 2.39, .919)
Key Injuries:Corey Crawford (illness), Brent Seabrook (upper body), Jonathan Toews (back), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Rick Nash (groin),Matt Puempel (concussion), Jimmy Vesey (upper body), Mika Zibanejad (leg)

The Rangers' lethal offense should keep the Corey Crawford-less Blackhawks on their toes. New York may lead the league in goals per game, but surprisingly, they're ranked 26th in shots on net and third worst in the league with a Corsi For Percentage at 46.1. This tells me that the Blueshirts aren't faring well in terms of possession metrics, but they've been remarkably efficient when they do put some lumber on the puck. After all, a team shooting percentage of 12.6 is unreal.

Not only is Chicago's top tender ailing, but bonafide two-way talents -- forward Jonathan Toews and defenseman Brent Seabrook -- are also out of action. The penalty kill? Pathetic. But on the plus side, the 'Hawks should be well rested having not played since Tuesday, when Darling spun a 22-save shutout against the visiting Coyotes. Speaking of Darling, he can't afford to be complacent, as he moves from facing the league's worst team to one of the best.

Sharks PP:13, PK:14 at Ducks PP:5, PK:21, 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (13-9-1, 2.04, .920), John Gibson (9-7-4, 2.58, .911)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Nicolas Kerdiles (concussion), Rickard Rakell (upper body), Clayton Stoner (lower body), Nate Thompson (achilles), Tomas Hertl (knee), David Schlemko (ankle)

Jones grabbed Star of the Week honors, earning recognition for his active three-game win streak for which he allowed just one goal in each contest. Unfortunately, Team Teal's power play is in a funk. The success rate of 18.5 is four percentage points lower than how it finished last year, when only two teams -- Anaheim and Chicago -- were deadlier on the man advantage. Patrick Marleau, the Sharks' all-time leader in several areas, including power-play goals (154), has struck on the man advantage for only three points this season.

Anaheim edged Carolina at home Wednesday in a taxing 6-5 shootout effort. Only seven teams have drawn more penalties than the Ducks so far, though the Quackers rank 21st on the penalty kill, so a little more discipline could go a long way.

Other Matchups

Capitals PP:23, PK:15 at Sabres PP:3 PK:29, 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (12-6-2, 2.18, .923), Robin Lehner (5-8-4, 2.41, .921)
Key Injuries:Zach Bogosian (knee), Nicolas Deslauriers (knee), Tyler Ennis (groin), Taylor Fedun (shoulder), Josh Gorges (foot), Dmitry Kulikov (back), Matt Niskanen (upper body)

The Capitals may be tough in regulation, but the same cannot be said for the shootout sequence. Washington is 0-for-2 in that situation and 52-of-61 for the franchise record. I always find it to be a buzzkill watching my fantasy goalie go to a shootout, as that's typically when fantasy leagues pump the brakes on the scoring for said game.

Buffalo boasts the third-ranked power play, converting those bad boys at a 23-percent clip. Six of Matt Moulson's seven goals this season have taken place with the man advantage, and Kyle Okposo, who signed on with the Sabres as an unrestricted free agent this summer, leads the team with 14 power-play points (11 helpers).

Blues PP:8, PK:2 at Devils PP:20, PK:6, 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Carter Hutton (2-4-1, 2.98, .888), Keith Kinkaid (3-1-2, 2.59, .928)
Key Injuries: Marc Savard (concussion), Pavel Zacha (face), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body)

This is the second leg of a back-to-back set for both teams. Hutton is expected between the pipes for St. Louis, and while backups have been known to surprise, I'd avoid the Thunder Bay, Ontario native like the plague. He's 0-3-0 with a putrid 4.01 GAA in four road games, and it doesn't help that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has skated to a minus-9 rating thus far.

New Jersey hasn't lost a regulation game at the Prudential Center this season, though the team is no better than 17th in the NHL for goals, shots on goal, power-play percentage or cumulative shooting percentage. Since returning from a personal leave on Nov. 23, winger Michael Cammalleri has left a blazing trail with 11 points in eight games, albeit with no man-advantage markers in the past five.

Recommended Pickup

Bryan Rust (PIT) RW:

Rust came out of nowhere to record his first career hat trick while facing the Senators on Monday night. Granted, one goal came on a penalty shot and another with the cage unguarded, but I think he's poised to do more damage for fantasy owners in deep leagues, or similarly, those in need of a cheap upside play in daily fantasy settings. Chris Kunitz, his left-wing linemate, is a dual threat in the sense that he can score and set up goals aplomb, and Rust cut his teeth during the 2016 postseason playing alongside the great Evgeni Malkin. Rust is still in the infancy of his NHL career, but he's collected three points (one goal, two assists) in six games against Saturday's opponent, the Lightning, and the Penguins are getting production from all angles of late, including a jaw-dropping 24 goals over the past four games. If nothing else, he's a sneaky play in the short term.

* Source: mangameslost.com