The Daily Puck: Hot Hawks

Projected Goalie Starters

Ottawa (Craig Anderson) at New Jersey (Martin Brodeur) 7:00 PM.
Toronto (James Reimer) at Islanders (Al Montoya) 7:00 PM.
Edmonton (Devan Dubnyk) at Philadelphia (Sergei Bobrovsky) 7:00 PM.
Buffalo (Ryan Miller) at Pittsburgh (Marc-Andre Fleury) 7:00 PM.
Boston (Tim Thomas) at Montreal (Carey Price) 7:30 PM.
Chicago (Corey Crawford) at Florida (Tomas Vokoun) 7:30 PM.
Colorado (Peter Budaj ) at Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom)  8:00 PM.
Vancouver (Roberto Luongo) at Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov) 9:00.
Nashville (Pekka Rinne) at San Jose (Antti Niemi) 10:30.

Injuries for Teams Playing Friday

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

Radek Martinek (D) Islanders - (Groin) Expected to play Tuesday.
Gilbert Brule (W) Edmonton - (Illness) Skating with the team, questionable to play Tuesday.
Daniel Carcillo (W) Philadelphia - (Flu) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Jeff Carter (C) Philadelphia - (Illness) Probably to play Tuesday.
Mike Grier (W) Buffalo - (Lower Body) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Patrick Kaleta (W) Buffalo  - (Knee) Doubtful to play Tuesday.
Chris Kunitz (W) Pittsburgh - (Lower body) Probable to play Tuesday.
Patrice Bergeron (C) Boston - (Personal) Expected to play Tuesday.
Duncan Keith (D) Chicago - (Finger) Expected to play Tuesday.
Andrew Brunette (W) Minnesota - (Illness) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Cal Clutterbuck (W) Minnesota - (Upper body) Out for Tuesday.
Mason Raymond (W) Vancouver- (Shoulder) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Derek Morris (D) Phoenix - (Lower body) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Patric Hornqvist (W) Nashville - (Illness) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Dan Boyle (D) San Jose - (Upper body) Not practicing, questionable to play Tuesday.
Antero Niittymaki (G) San Jose (Groin) Ready to play.

Long Term or IR

Jaroslav Spacek (D) Montreal - (Knee) Out in 3-5 weeks.
Evgeni Dadonov (W) Florida - (Finger) Had the cast removed, skating but can't hold a stick, out at least another week.
Peter Mueller (W) Colorado - (Concussion) Out for the season.
Guillaume Lantendresse (W) Minnesota - (Groin) Questionable to play Tuesday.
Chris Higgins (W) Vancouver - (Thumb) On the road trip, doubtful for Tuesday.
Kevin Bieksa (D) Vancouver - (Foot) On the road trip, doubtful for Tuesday.
Milan Michalek (W) Ottawa - (Foot) Probably out for the season.
Steve Sullivan (W) Nashville - (Groin) Out 4-6 weeks.

Transactions

Kyle Wilson (C) Columbus - Recalled from the AHL.
Tim Kennedy (W) Florida - Has been placed on re-entry waivers.
Ty Wishart (D) Islanders -Re-assigned to the AHL.
Mark Katic (D)Islanders - Re-assigned to the AHL.
T.J. Hensick (C) St. Louis - Recalled from the AHL.
Tyler Johnson (C) Tampa Bay- Signed a three-year entry level contract.
Victor Oreskovich (W) Vancouver - Recalled from the AHL.
J.P. Levasseur (G) Anaheim - Re-assigned to the AHL.
Ray Emery (G) Ottawa - Recalled from the AHL.
Andrew Desjardins (C) San Jose - Recalled from the AHL.
John McCarthy (W) San Jose - Re-assigned to the AHL.
Clay Wilson (D) Florida - Recalled from the AHL.

Hot

Marian Hossa (W) Chicago - Hossa has been a bit of a disappointment this season in Chicago as big things were expected from him.  Eighteen goals is nothing to sneeze at, but for the money Chicago is paying, not to mention the players traded away to fit his salary under the cap, the Blackhawks were hoping he would return to the 40+ goal scorer he was in past seasons.  That is not going to happen, but Hossa does have six goals in his last seven games, perhaps a sign that he will have a big playoff season.

Corey Crawford (G) Chicago - The Blackhawks seemed to have a Stanley Cup hangover during the first half of the season as they were struggling and out of the playoff picture.  Some of those problems may have been due to the unsettled goaltending situation as Marty Turco proved that last season's down year wasn't a fluke.  Crawford has had the starting job for a few months now, but has cemented it over the past few weeks by winning eight straight games and leading the Hawks to within four points of the division leading Red Wings.

Cold

Brandon Dubinsky (C) Rangers - Dubinsky has been ice cold of late with only one assist in his last seven games.  Dubinsky has been known to drive both management and the coaching staff crazy with his inconsistent play, and with the team barely holding onto a playoff spot, Dubinsky needs to find his offensive game, and he needs to find it now.

Kris Letang (D) Pittsburgh - Letang was having the type of offensive season that most players dream of during the first half of the season, but the loss of top forwards Evgeni Malkin for the season and Sidney Crosby for the past couple of months has slowed down his offensive production.  He has only one assist in his past seven games and is certainly missing those superstars.

Recommended Pickup

Andrej Sekera (D) Buffalo - If you're looking for someone who is probably on your waiver wire and might help you out during the playoffs, than Sekera could be it.  Sekera has come out of nowhere to post two goals and 10 points over his past five games.  The Sabres need all the offense they can get as they are also in a playoff drive and will use Sekera as long as he stays hot.