This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
Tuesday's a heavy slate by playoff standards, with four games in the works, making it one of the more interesting days for daily gamers. Unfortunately, playoff hockey's kind of a crapshoot in this regard, if you ask me – with a lot of close, tightly contested games between teams with two good goalies, our fantasy contests become much more closely tied to the bounce of the puck and the unpredictability of defensive breakdowns.
We've seen our first real goalie change of the postseason already, as Corey Crawford's been parked on the bench following two horrendous outings (nine goals in four periods) in Nashville to start the first round. Fortunately for the 'Hawks, they pulled out Game 1 behind Scott Darling and then won Sunday's Game 3 behind Darling again, and it'll be the 26-year-old rookie who draws the nod in net again Tuesday. If he delivers another outing anywhere near as good as his first two in these playoffs, Darling could very well establish himself as Chicago's top goalie moving forward in the postseason.
Ben Bishop's Game 1 missteps caused some speculation about whether the Lightning might make a goalie switch too, but he quieted that with a big-time effort in Game 2. On the flip side, Petr Mrazek dominated for the Wings in Game 1, but was yanked in Game 2. Now that series heads to Detroit in a 1-1 tie, and the Wings are sticking with Mrazek; meanwhile, Jimmy Howard did look strong in relief Saturday. There could be a change on the horizon here, especially if Tampa gets off to a fast start on the road.
The story for the Capitals so far has been the non-scoring of Alex Ovechkin, who has just a single goal and no assists to show in the first three games against the Islanders. The Caps are in a hole right now, trailing 2-1 with Tuesday's Game 4 in New York, so they need their superstar to play superstar; if he doesn't, they're quite likely to find themselves a game away from elimination.
The Flames and Canucks haven't produced big-time offensive fireworks yet, but that series probably has the best combination around of sub-elite goaltending and elite scoring. After Calgary won a relatively quiet Game 3 by a 2-1 score, look for the Sedin-brothers-led Canucks to come out hard in their road encore, while the Flames' young stars push the attack as we know they can. If you're searching for offense Tuesday, Western Canada's the place I'd bet on finding it.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Red Wings (Petr Mrazek), 7:00 PM
Capitals (Braden Holtby) at Islanders (Jaroslav Halak), 7:30 PM
Predators (Pekka Rinne) at Blackhawks (Scott Darling), 9:30 PM
Canucks (Eddie Lack) at Flames (Jonas Hiller), 10:00 PM
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Tuesday
Tampa Bay Lightning
Jason Garrison, D (upper body) – Unlikely to play Tuesday
Detroit Red Wings
Jonas Gustavsson, G (concussion) – No updates lately; was supposed to get cleared a while ago
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) – Done for the playoffs
Erik Cole, RW (back) – Done for the season
Washington Capitals
Eric Fehr, RW (upper body) – Out at least the next two games
Marcus Johansson, LW (upper body) – Questionable for Tuesday
New York Islanders
Mikhail Grabovski, C (concussion) – Close to returning; Tuesday uncertain
Travis Hamonic, D (knee) – Didn't participate in optional practice Monday; unlikely for Tuesday
Nashville Predators
Mike Fisher, C (lower body) – Missed the last two; Tuesday status uncerterin
Eric Nystrom, LW (lower body) – Skating on his own
Shea Weber, D (lower body) – Not with the team in Chicago
Chicago Blackhawks
Daniel Carcillo, LW (upper body) – Not skating yet
Vancouver Canucks
Zack Kassian, RW (back) – Skating on his own
Calgary Flames
Raphael Diaz, D (lower body) – Still not skating with team
Mark Giordano, D (biceps) – Could return in playoffs if Flames make a run
Lance Bouma, C (upper body) – Not likely to return Tuesday
Paul Byron, C (lower body) – Still not practicing with top four lines
Hot
Jonathan Toews, C, CHI – The Hawks' captain has been flying high since the playoffs started, perhaps energized by the return of his buddy Patrick Kane. Toews rattled off three points in Game 1, then was silenced in Game 2, but bounced right back in Game 3, scoring a goal with an assist to give him five points in the postseason – good for a tie with Nashville's Craig Smith and Anaheim's Corey Perry atop the leaderboard.
Nikita Nesterov, D, TB – The Russian rookie has exploded onto the playoff scene out of nowhere after a relatively quiet regular-season debut with Tampa (seven points in 27 games). New to NHL playoff action or no, he's got a Game 1 goal and a pair of Game 2power-play assists to his credit. Nesterov's actually got a five-game point streak dating back to the end of the regular season, but considering his lackluster track record in the KHL and AHL, it doesn't seem like he can sustain anything resembling this pace.
Cold
Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT – The Penguins aren't playing Tuesday, but Malkin still merits a mention here after going scoreless for the third consecutive playoff game – and eighth straight overall – Monday night against the Rangers. Geno has only four shots to show for the first three games of this series (including exactly zero in 20:53 of ice time Monday) and he hasn't scored a goal since way back on March 6. After he missed time last month with a lower-body injury, then sustained an undisclosed issue at the beginning of April, it's looking for all the world like Malkin is playing through injuries (perhaps a back ailment) that have sapped him of his star power.
Ondrej Palat, LW, TB – Palat's really the only forward for the Lightning who hasn't shown up to play thus far in the postseason, having managed just a single shot on goal with no points in two games. That actually continues a more general trend for the winger – he's finished off the scoresheet five times in his last six games, with a brutally meager three shots in that span, and hasn't scored a goal since March 22. The big minutes (including on the power play) are still there, though, so you gotta expect him to show up sooner rather than later.
Recommended Value Play
Anton Stralman, D, TB – Stralman hasn't gotten in on the fun yet in these playoffs, with no points in the first two games, but he fired eight shots on goal while going plus-1 with four PIM in that span, so he's been active on the ice. He's proven his postseason merits in last year's playoffs and is coming off a career season with the Lightning, so there's plenty to like here, and you can acquire him on the cheap for purposes of daily gaming.
