The Daily Puck: Hank the Tank

Projected Goalie Starters

New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) at Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) 7:00 PM
Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Buffalo (Ryan Miller) 7:30 PM
Washington (Michal Neuvirth) at Ottawa (Craig Anderson) 7:30 PM
Carolina (Cam Ward) at Tampa Bay (Dwayne Roloson) 7:30 PM
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) at Atlanta (Ondrej Pavelec) 7:30 PM

Injuries for Teams Playing Friday

Day-to-Day (Includes DL players close to returning)

Mark Letestu (C) Pittsburgh – (Shoulder) Questionable to play Friday
Dustin Jeffrey (C) Pittsburgh -- (Leg) Doubtful to play Friday
Stephen Weiss (C) Florida – (Leg) Questionable to play Friday
Jochen Hecht (C) Montreal -- (Lower body) Questionable to play Friday
Steve Montador (D) Buffalo -- (Lower body) Probable to play Friday
Alexander Ovechkin (W) Washington -- (Undisclosed) Skating, expected to play next week
Jason Arnott (C) Washington -- (Groin) Out Friday, could possibly return next week
Eric Staal (C) Carolina -- (Lower body) Probable to play Friday
Mikael Samuelsson (W) Vancouver (Leg) Questionable to play Friday

Injured Reserve/Long-Term IR

Patrick Kaleta (W) Buffalo -- (Knee) Out Friday, could be done for the season
Zach Parise (W) New Jersey – (Knee) Practicing and expected to play again this year, but not Friday
Milan Michalek (W) Ottawa – (Foot) Probable to play Friday
Jamie McBain (D) Carolina – (Shoulder) Finally shed his no-contact jersey in practice, questionable to play Friday
Steve Downie (W) Tampa Bay -- (Knee/Ankle) Questionable to play Friday

Transactions

Jonas Hiller (G) Anaheim – Activated from IR
David Warsofsky (D) Boston – Signed to an entry-level deal
Nigel Dawes (W) Montreal – Re-assigned to the AHL
Andreas Engqvist (C) Montreal – Re-assigned to the AHL
Jason Missiaen (G) Rangers -- Signed with the Rangers
Brad Thiessen (G) Pittsburgh– Recalled from the AHL
Chris Osgood (G) Detroit -- Placed on long-term IR
T.J. Hensick (C) St. Louis -- Recalled from the AHL

Hot

Ilya Bryzgalov (G) Phoenix – Bryzgalov is on fire again, winning seven of his last nine starts, including a shutout of the Blue Jackets on Thursday. The Coyotes are far from an offensive powerhouse, so Bryzgalov has to be at the top of his game most nights - and he usually is. It's hard to see the Coyotes going deep into the playoffs, but a hot goaltender can certainly help a team advance a round or two.

Henrik Lundqvist (G) Rangers – Lundqvist has been nothing short of outstanding of late, literally carrying the Rangers on his back in their quest for a playoff berth. He leads the NHL in shutouts this season and seems to be a threat to pitch one every game he starts, which will probably be every game for the remainder of the season. With backup Martin Biron injured, the Rangers have been forced to plug Lundqvist into the lineup each and every night. The Rangers would love to clinch a playoff spot as soon as possible so they can give him some rest, but for now they have little choice but to continue playing him.

Cold

James Neal (W) Pittsburgh -- Since being acquired by the Penguins, Neal has all of one goal and three assists in 12 games - not exactly what Pittsburgh had in mind when they traded for him. Neal has not provided the Pens with the offense that was went missing when both Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby went down with injuries. Perhaps he will perform better if and when Crosby returns to the lineup, but it's anyone's guess at the moment as to when that is.

Victor Hedman (D) Tampa Bay – Hedman hasn't scored a goal since February 17 and only has two assists over that span. Hedman was never expected to be an offensive dynamo, but this is well below expectations. Making matters even worse is that his defensive play seems to have slipped as well, as evidenced by the beating his +/- ratio has taken recently. Since February 4 Hedman is a -5. Perhaps Hedman is just slumping like the rest of the team and will snap out of it before the playoffs, but that may be too late for your fantasy team.

Recommended Pickup

Ron Hainsey (D) Atlanta – Hainsey doesn't get anywhere near as much publicity playing on the blueline with Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom, but he has been hot lately with a goal and four assists over his past five games. Certainly not great numbers, but you could do worse than claiming a hot player at this point in the season.