We had expected the New York Islanders to take the next step in their development and qualify for the playoffs. Without their star center John Tavares-lost to an injury suffered at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the team actually went 12-7-3 but it wasn't enough to overcome a poor start to the season. With the emergence of Kyle Okposo and the new additions in goaltending, there will be some improvement before the Isles move to Brooklyn for next season. The Vanek-Moulson trade proved to be a non-event so Vanek was later shipped off to Montreal, where he was criticized for his poor playoff performance.  There were quite a few new additions via free agency which will give the team stability in net and a more balanced offensive attack. GOALIES Out with the old in Evgeni Nabokov and in with the not-so-old with Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson signing via free agency to backstop the upstart Islanders. After grabbing everyone's attention back in the 2009-2010 playoffs with Montreal, Halak signed with the St. Louis Blues via free agency on the heels of his playoff excellence but could never take the Blues to the next step during his tenure.  Now with the improving Islanders, Halak will get another chance to prove his past playoff performance was not a one-off type of deal.  Also brought in was Johnson who had success as the backup to Boston's Tuukka Rask last season with a 17-4-3 record, a 2.10 GAA and .925 SP. Things will be different on the Island as the Isles are far from the same type of team as the Bruins.  The team felt that Kevin Poulin would benefit from a regular workload at Bridgeport rather than spot starts in the NHL. Expect Halak to get the majority of the starts, 55-60. DEFENSE The makeup of the Islanders' defense is pretty interesting. They have the experience with two 38-year olds in Lubomir Visnovsky and Radek Martinek, one for offense and to play the power play point and the other in a more defensive role. Then there are few support defensemen in Tom Hickey, Travis Hamonic, and Brian Strait who are in their mid-20's but don't offer much in terms of offense. Then there is the young stable of up-and-comers in Matt Donovan and Calvin de Haan, both saw limited action in the NHL last season. There are more on the way but we will take a look at those in the PROSPECTS section below. Lubomir may not be the force he once was, but he is more than capable of putting up decent numbers with JT and the rest of the young Islanders rounding into form. ...

Poulin, 24, was 11-16-1 with a 3.29 GAA and .891 SV% in 26 starts and 28 appearances with the Islanders last year. He will start this season in the AHL and will not see playing time on Long Island unless Jaroslav Halak or Chad Johnson fall victim to injury.

Poulin has not started since January 27, so the Islanders have returned him to Bridgeport to get some starts.

ALL GOALIES ARE CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT THE TIME OF PRINTING Only 3 games on tap tonight in the NHL. The Rangers at the New York Islanders is the feature game as it will be played outdoors at Yankee Stadium. Henrik Lundqvist has been (confirmed) for New York tonight. Lundqvist has really been heating up lately with wins in 3 of his last 4 games and 6 of his last 8.  The "King" has a solid save percentage of .931 in January.  Lundqvist got smacked around by the Islanders in late Dcecember, but these are different teams now.  Evegeni Nabokov is (likely) for the Islanders now that he is back from injury, and considering how ineffectual Kevin Poulin has been. Nabokov missed 3 weeks with an injury, but he relieved Poulin in New York's 6-3 loss to Boston this week. While Nabokov's numbers are mediocre at a 2.85 goals against and a .905 save percentage, he is a better option than Poulin. Like NYR in this one. Antti Niemi is (likely) for San Jose at Edmonton. Niemi is 7-0-1 in his last 8 games against the Oilers, and he has been having a great year with 27 wins. He has won his last 4 games, although each was by only one goal. Ben Scrivens has been (confirmed) for the Oilers. Scrivens has played 3 games for the Oilers since coming over in a trade from Los Angeles. He is 1-2 in those 3 games although he had a nice 5-1 against Nashville in his last game. But go with the Sharks. The last game features Chicago against Vancouver. Corey Crawford is (likely) for the Blackhawks, and his performance is starting to get downright scary for Chicago fans. He has lost 3 straight and his record is 2-8 in January, not exactly confidence inspiring considering how good the Blackhawks are. He does have a decent .918 save percentage in January though.  Roberto Luongo is (likely) for the Canucks, and he has been sort of mediocre himself losing 2 of his last 3. His 2.25 goals against on the year is pretty good though, so we like Vancouver. FANTASY MUST STARTS: Anttti Niemi, San Jose at Edmonton SLEEPERS: Evgeni Nabokov, NYI vs. NYR DAILY GOALIE PICKS: Steve: (67-41) Henrik Lundqvist Ray: (62-45) Henrik Lundqvist Mike: (52-38) Antti Niemi

Tyler who? In case you have been on the far side of the moon the past couple of weeks, you should have noticed that the Boston Bruins second line of Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand-Reilly Smith has been absolutely on fire. Last night in a 6-3 victory over the Islanders Marchand had a goal and 3 assists, Bergeron had one goal and an assist and Smith had one goal and an assist as well.  This line is clicking about as good as one could ever expect.  In the last 6 games they have combined for 30 points.  After a slow start, Marchand has 12 points in his last 6 games.  He still has only 33 points on the season, but he is on fire.  If you can get any one of these guys right now in your pool, please do so immediately, as these three guys are playing extremely well together.  New York forward Kyle Okposo continued his great season with a goal and 2 assists. With 57 points on the year, Okposo is having a huge breakout season.  The Islanders welcomed back d-man Lubomir Visnovsky who had been out since October 19th with a concussion. Grab him if he is still available.  They, also, welcomed back goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, so Kevin Poulin will likely go back to the bench. Staal speed: The Carolina Hurricanes came from behind to beat Columbus 3-2. Carolina forward Eric Staal had 2 goals to start the comeback and his brother Jordan scored the game winner on a beautiful curl and drag play that fooled Sergei Bobrovsky. Staal's line continues hot as Alex Semin and left wing Jiri Tlusty each had an assist. Staal has 44 points on the season, and if this line stays hot he could have a big finish this year. Anton Khudobin seems to have established himself as the number one goalie in Carolina. He has won 4 in a row, and 5 of his last 6 games, and his 2.18 goals against is hard to argue with. Fleury pitches a zero: Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had a great night with a shutout of the Sabres 3-0. Fleury had 24 saves, and he now has 29 wins on the season.  Top fantasy goalie!  Chris Kunitz had the game winner, and he is having a great year with 54 points. Tanner Glass had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, but with only 10 points on the season, he is just a third line plodder. The rumors are flying about 33 year old Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller getting traded before the deadline. Miller is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and if he goes to a decent team his fantasy value would increase  a lot. His .926 save percentage indicates that he is still playing ...

Tyler who? In case you have been on the far side of the moon the past couple of weeks, you should have noticed that the Boston Bruins second line of Patrice Bergeron-Brad Marchand-Reilly Smith has been absolutely on fire. Last night in a 6-3 victory over the Islanders Marchand had a goal and 3 assists, Bergeron had one goal and an assist and Smith had one goal and an assist as well.  This line is clicking about as good as one could ever expect.  In the last 6 games they have combined for 30 points.  After a slow start, Marchand has 12 points in his last 6 games.  He still has only 33 points on the season, but he is on fire.  If you can get any one of these guys right now in your pool, please do so immediately, as these three guys are playing extremely well together.  New York forward Kyle Okposo continued his great season with a goal and 2 assists. With 57 points on the year, Okposo is having a huge breakout season.  The Islanders welcomed back d-man Lubomir Visnovsky who had been out since October 19th with a concussion. Grab him if he is still available.  They, also, welcomed back goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, so Kevin Poulin will likely go back to the bench. Staal speed: The Carolina Hurricanes came from behind to beat Columbus 3-2. Carolina forward Eric Staal had 2 goals to start the comeback and his brother Jordan scored the game winner on a beautiful curl and drag play that fooled Sergei Bobrovsky. Staal's line continues hot as Alex Semin and left wing Jiri Tlusty each had an assist. Staal has 44 points on the season, and if this line stays hot he could have a big finish this year. Anton Khudobin seems to have established himself as the number one goalie in Carolina. He has won 4 in a row, and 5 of his last 6 games, and his 2.18 goals against is hard to argue with.  Fleury pitches a zero: Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury had a great night with a shutout of the Sabres 3-0. Fleury had 24 saves, and he now has 29 wins on the season.  Top fantasy goalie!  Chris Kunitz had the game winner, and he is having a great year with 54 points. Tanner Glass had a goal and an assist for the Penguins, but with only 10 points on the season, he is just a third line plodder. The rumors are flying about 33 year old Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller getting traded before the deadline. Miller is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and if he goes to a decent team his fantasy value would increase  a lot. His .926 save percentage indicates that he is still playing ...

Poulin allowed three goals on 35 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Blues on Saturday. With Nabokov getting activated off of IR, Poulin will see his starts decrease going forward, but still gets the call tonight. He has won seven of his last 10 starts with a 3.03 GAA and .898 SV%. He will face a Bruins team who have won three of four.

Poulin allowed five goals on 28 shots in a 6-4 loss to the Penguins on Thursday. It was a rough outing, but it was predictable against a Sidney Crosby led Penguins team who play very well vs. the Isles. It doesn't get any easier when he faces the Blues tonight.

Poulin stopped 30 of 33 shots in a Tuesday's win over the Rangers. The win was his 11th of the season and his sixth in his last eight starts. Poulin has filled in nicely for Evgeni Nabokov, but will be in tough against a highly-talented Penguins squad.

There are ten games on the schedule in the NHL tonight. Carolina and Buffalo start things off with a game in Buffalo.  Anton Khudobin is (likely) for the Huricanes, and he has played well this year with an 8-3 record and a 2.05 goals against. Jhonas Enroth has been (confirmed) for the Sabres, and he has had a tough season with only 1 win. We like Carolina....Philadelphia goes against the Blue Jackets in Columbus.  With Steve Mason playing last night, Ray Emery is (confirmed) for the Flyers . Emery has struggled as the backup with only a .901 save percentage.  Sergei Bobrovsky has been (confirmed) for Columbus, and no one is hotter than him with 6 straight wins.   Go with the hot guy....The Blues are at the Garden to play the Rangers.  Jaroslav Halak has been (confirmed) for St. Louis. He appears to have taken back the starting job.  Henrik Lundqvist has been (confirmed) for New York, and he has been hot as well with 5 wins in 6 games. Go with the King in what should be a tough match....The Senators are at Tamba Bay, and Craig Anderson has been (confirmed) for Ottawa. He had been hot with a 5 game winning streak, but  has lost 3 of his last 5.  Ben Bishop, who has been the goalie story of the year, is (confirmed) for the Lightning. He has cooled a bit going only 4-3 in his last 7, but we like him in this game....With Marc-Andre Fleury playing last night, Jeff Zatkoff is (confirmed) for the Penguins against the Islanders. He has only played in 10 games, but he has won 4 of 5. Kevin Poulin is (confirmed) to be in goal for New York. His overall numbers are bad, but he has won 6 of 8 in January.  Have to go with Pittsburgh though....Chicago is at Minnesota, and Antti Raanta is (likely) in goal for the Blackhawks. Raanta has played in only 2 games in January, but he won them both.  Minnesota will surely start Darcy Kuemper (likely) as Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom are both out. Kuemper is 3-2 in his last 5 games.  Go wth Chicago and Raanta....Toronto is at Dallas, ad it looks like Jonathan Bernier (confirmed)is slowly grabbing the starting job for the Maple Leafs. He has been gettng more ice time lately, and he has 4 straight wins. Kari Lehtonen is (confirmed) for the Stars as he has been struggling lately going 2-8 in his last 10 games. Go with Bernier on this one....The Kings are at Anaheim and will (likely) start Jonathan Quick in goal. Quick has been only 4-4 since returning from injury, but he does have a .938 save percentage  for those games.  ...