Howard claimed that he is starting on Thursday vs. the Rangers, but head coach Mike Babcock says they will wait and see how the morning skate goes before he makes that call. Howard was scheduled to start on Sunday, but ended up yielding the start to Petr Mrazek because of a sore hip flexor.

Got a cup filled to the brim and piping hot..... For as far back as I can remember, the Tampa Bay Lightning always had the Philadelphia Flyers number. The Bolts won yesterday afternoon 6-3. Claude Giroux has made it into the top 20 in NHL scoring. He'll definitely finish in top 10.  And he had such a sloooooooow start. Voracek is continuing his steady pace of hotness. Andrej Meszaros has arisen from the dead! Anaheim is continuing to amaze me. First overall in the NHL. Tomas Plekanec had 11 SOG last night. Patrick Kane has only 1 assist in past 6 games. Hmmmmmmmmm.  But he had 23 points in 14 December games so I wouldn't be worried. A lot of 2-1 games and low-scoring games on Saturday. Marek Zidlicky is having a nice rebound season for the Devils. In fact, the last time Zids hit the 40-point mark was the year of the last Winter Olympics in 2009-2010 with 43 for the Minnesota Wild.  I wonder if he is turning into an every-4-year fantasy player. Tim Thomas has been playing lights out since his return from injury. Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators are playing like they mean it now.   They are 6-2-2 in last 10 and Anderson has earned the win in all 6 of those. May be too late to grab any of these 3 goaltenders who were struggling until just a few games ago; Anderson, Lundqvist, and Howard. T-Rask with a brilliant 1-0 shutout of the San Jose. Jimmy Howard with a 3-1 victory over the LA Kings. Is the Eastern Conference turning the tide form the early season domination from the Western Conference? Eastern Conf was 6-0 against Western Conf yesterday. I think Ryan Ellis will explode one day. He has so much offensive talent.  Maybe he needs to go elsewhere like Cody Franson did a few years back. Columbus is 7-3-0 and in the hunt for a playoff spot people. Heed the warning Eastern Conf. Something big is going to happen in Winnipeg soon methinks. Will J-S Giguere get back in the net for Colorado soon after his 4 straight losses? Paul Stastny was having such a good season. Let's hope his injury isn't too serious. Minnesota almost had their third hat trick of the week with Charlie Coyle getting 2 within seconds of one another. He would have joined Justin Fontaine and Ryan Suter with a hattie. This Anaheim team is like a true duck. They paddle hard underneath but you don't see the effort.  Flawless. Mathieu Perreault has 6 points in past 3 games. Could this be the start of a breakout?  He has the talent. Colonel Klinkhammer was held off the board yesterday. The ...

Ten games in the NHL yesterday. Tampa Bay and the Flyers kicked things off as the Lightning beat Philadelphia 6-3.  Valtteri Filppula had a goal and an assist for Tampa. He now has 18 goals and 36 points on the season.  His name is hard to spell, and he is a waiver wire type player.  Flyer goaltender Steve Mason had a night to forget as he allowed 5 goals on only 17 shots. Sometimes you have games like that.  He is still having a good year with 18 wins.  Jakub Voracek had 2 goals for the Flyers, and while he has only 32 points on the season, he has been hot lately with 5 points in his last 4 games...Montreal beat Chicago 2-1 in OT as veteran defenseman Andre Markov scored both goals for the Canadians. Markov has been overshadowed by fellow defenseman P K Subban, but he can still bring it with 24 points on the season... New Jersey beat Florida in OT as well as defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored the game winner. Like Markov, Zidlicky is an old veteran who can still rack up points.  He has 24 on the year.  Devils forward Michael Ryder scored the other goal. He has scored a goal in 4 straight games, and he has 7 points in his last 7 games.   He once scored 62 points for Dallas.  Grab him while he's hot....Ottawa beat Nashville 2-1 in a shootout, as Senators goalie Craig Anderson was outstanding with 32 saves.  After a brutal start to the season, Anderson has been steadily improving, and he now has 15 wins on the year.  Ottawa's Kyle Turris scored a goal, and with 34 points on the season he is worth a look as a 6th forward option. At 24 years old he can still get better...Columbus pounded Winnipeg 6-3.  Bryan Little had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets. Little is a lot like Turris, just on the edge of being fantasy worthy...  Colorado beat the Wild 4-2 as young forward Ryan O'Reilly had 2 goals for the Avalanche. We like O'Reilly, but with only 30 points on the season we can't recommend him yet.  He is only 22 years old.  He has 70 point potential in a year or two.  Paul Stastny left the game with an injury...Anaheim continued its winning ways with a 5-3 win over Phoenix. Ryan Getzlaf left the game with a LBI. Mathieu Perreault had 3 assists for the Ducks, and while he has only 25 points on the season, he has been hot lately with 6 points in his last 3 games. Radim Vrbata had 3 assists for Phoenix. Vrbata is another one of those marginal 6th forwards...In a tight close checking game Pittsburgh beat Calgary 2-1 as Penguin forward Chris Kunitz scored a ...

Howard was pulled after he allowed four goals on 23 shots in the first two periods of Thursday's 4-1 loss in San Jose. It has not been a pretty season for Howard, but he has an extremely banged up lineup playing in front of him, so it is not entirely his fault. On Saturday he meets the Kings for the first time this season, he was 2-1-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .950 SV% against last season.

Howard is coming off of a 44-save performance in a 5-1 win over the Stars on Saturday. Remarkably that was Howard's first win since November 29, however he had only started four games in between. On Thursday he will face a Sharks team that he shut-out, but still lost 1-0 in a shootout against on October 21.

Howard played very well in the Winter Classic, stopping 24 of 26 shots in regulation and OT, but his shootout struggles continued as he took his fifth shootout loss of the season. He'll jump back into the net tonight against a Dallas team who beat him 4-3 in OT on November 7.

The 2014 outdoor Winter Classic was all that it was meant to be. It had the cold, the snow, 104,000+ in attendance and the game was decided in a shootout, won by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  What more could you have asked for unless you were a Detroit Red Wings fan?  The buildup of snow made passing a bit more difficult, but the game was exciting nonetheless.  Jimmy Howard responded with a good game after a less than spectacular return from injury the other night. Look for Howard to rebound in the second half....In the only other game scheduled, Tampa Bay visited the Vancouver Canucks and solved ‘Nucks starter Eddie Lack with 3 second period goals, winning 4-2. Lack is a fine backup goalie but doesn't look quite ready to play extended periods of time if No. 1 Roberto Luongo were to go down to injury. Lack still possesses above average metrics with a 2.02 GAA and a .924 SP....Ben Bishop continues his fine season in net for the Lightning with the win raising his record to 21-5-3, a 1.89 GAA and a .935 SP. Kudos to those who drafted Bishop and stayed the course. More Fantasy Notes: Defenseman Tim Gleason is heading to Toronto to stabilize the back end for the Leafs while Carolina gets an experienced offensive defenseman in John-Michael Liles to fill the spot vacated by the injury to Joni Pitkanen in the pre-season. Liles may be able to help your fantasy squad if he gets off to a good showing on the Hurricanes' power play. Keep an eye on this situation.

The 2014 outdoor Winter Classic was all that it was meant to be. It had the cold, the snow, 104,000+ in attendance and the game was decided in a shootout, won by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  What more could you have asked for unless you were a Detroit Red Wings fan?  The buildup of snow made passing a bit more difficult, but the game was exciting nonetheless.  Jimmy Howard responded with a good game after a less than spectacular return from injury the other night. Look for Howard to rebound in the second half....In the only other game scheduled, Tampa Bay visited the Vancouver Canucks and solved ‘Nucks starter Eddie Lack with 3 second period goals, winning 4-2. Lack is a fine backup goalie but doesn't look quite ready to play extended periods of time if No. 1 Roberto Luongo were to go down to injury. Lack still possesses above average metrics with a 2.02 GAA and a .924 SP....Ben Bishop continues his fine season in net for the Lightning with the win raising his record to 21-5-3, a 1.89 GAA and a .935 SP. Kudos to those who drafted Bishop and stayed the course. More Fantasy Notes: Defenseman Tim Gleason is heading to Toronto to stabilize the back end for the Leafs while Carolina gets an experienced offensive defenseman in John-Michael Liles to fill the spot vacated by the injury to Joni Pitkanen in the pre-season. Liles may be able to help your fantasy squad if he gets off to a good showing on the Hurricanes' power play. Keep an eye on this situation.

ALL GOALIES CONFIRMED UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED AT TIME OF PRINT The Winter Classic is here and pits the Detroit Red Wings against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium. Jimmy Howard gets the Call for the Wings and Jonathan Bernier for the Leafs. Howard struggled in his first game back from injury but hopes to rebound in this huge match.  Over 100,000 people will be in attendance and millions more viewing what is fastly becoming a must-see event.  This should be a doozy of a game....The other matchup is later on tonight as the Ben Bishop (LIKELY) and the Tampa Bay Lightning head to Vancouver to take on Eddie Lack (LIKELY) and the Canucks. Another great matchup to enjoy.  Happy New Year to all! FANTASY MUST-STARTS Eddie Lack, Vancouver vs. Tampa Bay Jimmy Howard, Detroit vs. Toronto SLEEPER ALERT None. GOALIE DAILY PICKS Steve: (52-31) Eddie Lack Ray: (46-36) Jimmy Howard Mike: (38-29) Jimmy Howard

Howard struggled in Monday's return from a knee injury that forced him to miss eight games. He allowed three goals on 28 shots in a 6-4 loss to the Predators. He looked shaky at times, but obviously head coach Mike Babcock feels comfortable with Howard as he confirmed him for Wednesday's Winter Classic at The Big House.