Parise will miss his 11th consecutive game tonight, but skating is a step in the right direction. There is still no firm timetable for Parise's return from the fractured foot, but Team USA is hoping that he will be ready for the Olympics.

Being an avid participant in fantasy hockey for over 20 years, I should know better when it comes to picking up "hot" forwards on balanced, scoring teams like the one in St. Louis. Ken Hitchcock continues rolling out four lines, and the one clicking the best on that given night will get the most quality ice-time. The "hot" line could last a few games, even weeks, but once another set of forwards are starting to surge, they now become the centerpiece of the offense. It's been a trademark of Hitchcock's teams, so why should things change now? The "flavor" of the moment seems to be the Vladimir Sobotka line flanked by Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Berglund. Both Tarasenko and Sobotka collected a goal and an assist in the 5-0 win over Calgary, raising their respective multi-point streaks to three games. The dilemma for most fantasy owners remains the same: When is it a good time to pick up a streaking St. Louis forward? I picked up RW Chris Stewart in the midst of his December streak, where he scored 8 goals and 3 assists in 7 games. The hope was that he could replicate his awesome 25-game stretch late last season when he was among the elite scorers in the NHL. Well, he went cold in the hurry, so I went against my instincts and scooped up Jaden Schwartz for him. A budding star with promising potential, he was sizzling around Christmas time. Now he has gone scoreless in his last 2 contests, with his minutes dropped to 14:33 and given minimal power-play time. Of course, Tarasenko is looking real good just about now, as the talented Russian is oozing with offensive upside. There is a slight chance that by the time I finish this article, he will be on my team. But, there is a reason why all these talented St. Louis forwards are readily available on the waiver wire. Due to the way they are used in Hitchcock's system, there is no fantasy staying power and the chances that any of them can contribute for you on a consistent basis for an entire season are slim to none. It seemed that prior to his injury that Alex Steen was bucking that trend with an exceptional first half, but we will never know if he could have kept it up. Anyway, that's my "two cents" on the St. Louis situation. Fantasy Game Notes: Anton Khudobin wins his fourth straight start for Carolina since returning from injury, stopping 25 of 26 shots in the 5-1 win over Toronto. With Cam Ward on the shelf, the 27-year old Russian is "hot stuff" right now and should be owned in all fantasy leagues. Given ...

Not good news for Parise owners. Look for a timetable before you try to sell on Parise, however.

Parise has missed the last two games with what is thought to be a foot injury. Parise's placement on IR is retroactive to December 22 so he would be eligible to play in Tuesday's contest, but it sounds like he will be out longer than that. Parise showed that he can return earlier than expected before, so don't count on him missing games until he is officially ruled out.

Parise will miss his second straight game tonight. He is believed to have aggravated a foot injury he was dealing with in November after blocking an Alex Steen shot on Sunday. Nino Niederreiter will shift to the Wild top line with Parise on the shelf.

Day-to-day could potentially be a few weeks without its first-line left wing. Parise has clearly been hampered on the ice and in pain off of it, and my guess is he probably did further damage to the foot. Last time, it was recommended he miss two to three weeks. He missed one game. "If he's not a game player, I want to keep him off the ice completely and give him a good chance to heal," Yeo said.

ALL GOALIES CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT TIME OF PRINT Back from the holidays and rarin' to go!   Despite getting a shutout in last game out, Craig Anderson will sit until tomorrow's night matchup against Boston in a home-and-home back-to-back nights schedule.  Robin Lehner gets the nod against Tuukka Rask and needs to put up a good performance in order to keep his foot in the crease for future starts.  Tonight's game in Beantown so expect the B's to come out blazing....Curtis McElhinney and the Columbus Blue Jackets head into New Jersey to take on Martin Brodeur and the Devils. The Jackets are 2-0 against New Jersey, beating both Jersey goaltenders and could stretch their winning streak to 3, matching their season long.  Brodeur has shown signs of slowing down and perhaps the Devs are looking forward to tomorrow's night match against the NY Islanders, so a  good chance for Columbus tonight.... It looks like Cam Talbot will go for the third straight game and why not. The Rangers are winning with Talbot in the net, while Lundqvist hasn't been up to his stellar self.  Perhaps the King is injured and needs Humpty Dumpty's men to put him back together again.  The Blueshirts will be up against Washington Capitals Rookie sensation Philipp Grubauer who has only gone 4-1-1 with a 2.20 GAA and .934 SP. The trend this season has been the unknown or unrecognized rookie goalies coming in and taking advantage of their starts.  Caps kick the Cam down the road....The Pittsburgh Penguins were shutout before the Christmas Holiday and I'm sure they have been chomping at the bit to avenge that loss.  Justin Peters will bear the front of that attack. His numbers don't warrant his third start in a row but with Cam Ward not showing any signs of being fully recovered, the Canes don't have a lot of choices. Marc-Andre Fleury is having a spectacular season and that should continue tonight in Carolina.....The original thought is to go with the Toronto Maple Leafs in this matchup against the Buffalo Sabres considering the early season woes of the Sabres, but Ryan Miller has won three in a row and the team has been playing much better of late. Not an easy task for Jonathan Bernier who has lost 6 in a row after a stellar early season. I'm sticking with Miller....Ondrej Pavelec and the Winnipeg Jets need to step it up or they may start hearing it from the fans. Perhaps this will be a good matchup against the low-scoring Minnesota Wild who will have Niklas Backstrom in net ...

This will be Parise's second game missed this season, the last with a foot injury that hasn't healed yet. I don't know if this is related. We'll have more from coach Mike Yeo after the game hopefully. Parise has one assist and is minus-7 on the 1-6-1 road slide. Justin Fontaine will draw into the lineup.

Good morning! Coffee is piping hot! Ilya Bryzgalov came back with a bang, 1 3-0 shutout, and followed that up with a stinker and pulled from the game. This is what you're gonna get. I've noticed lately a lot of back-to-back nights where the same goalie started both games. Interesting. You just knew that the Rangers were going to be stoked playing against former Head Coach John Tortorella yesterday. Chris Kreider certainly was evidenced by that hat trick. Rangers backup goalie Cam Talbot is pretty darn good. He has a 6-1-0 record. Slowly but surely Columbus Blue Jacket Ryan Johansen is becoming a star. But how can a player lead his team in SOG with just 2 in a game?  Really! Montreal is quietly inching up their way in the standings. Price is playing magnificent in net and the offense is starting to heat up. The Maple Leafs now with 4 losses in a row. Their goaltending is starting to slip a little. The Max Factor is heating up big time in Montreal. 2 goals, 1 assists and 10 SOG last night. A true testament that this is a team game, take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins. I know they have Crosby and Malkin, but ever since they got Letang and Neal back from injuries, they have been a terror to play against. Neal has scored at last one goal in 5 of his last 7 games. It's a good thing Steve Bernier scored in overtime in that 1-0 Buffalo-New Jersey game or we still might be waiting the outcome. Remember early in the season when the Flyers were bad? Not anymore! Chicago is so damn good. Glad to see Colonel Klinkhammer getting a goal after going 5 games without a point. And, he was the only Coyote with a + next to his name. With Landeskog, Duchene and MacKinnon, these Avs are going to be sick in a few years. Zach Parise is a true hockey player with his return after missing only one game with a foot injury. Calgary beat the Los Angeles Kings. I repeat. The Calgary Flames beat the Los Angeles Kings. Great late game last night with San Jose prevailing at home in a shootout with the Anaheim Ducks. I think Evander Kane is about to go off. Have a great week!

Parise was expected to miss 2-3 weeks with a foot contusion, but almost played on Wednesday and could play tonight. The WIld will jump on the ice for warmups at 5:30 pm EST where we will find out for sure if Parise will play.