I’m back! I hope all of the Americans reading enjoyed their Thanksgiving and that everyone had a good weekend. I have a whole week’s worth of games to recap so instead of listing every player individually, I am going to go game by game and highlight the key points in each game. This way, I won’t mess up adding up players stats across a bunch of games or miss a player having a big impact in one game. In the latter case, Ryan Getzlaf had arguably the game of the week on Tuesday, dishing five assists in the 5-3 win over Calgary. After his appendectomy, he has 14 points in 12 games (13 assists) so he’s getting back to his elite status. The goals should come with 46 shots and only 1 goal on the season. Here’s a look at every game at every game from last week:
Monday:
Blues 2, Sabres 1. Jake Allen played great stopping 24 of 25 shots in the win while Linus Ullmark stopped 24 of 26 in the loss. The studs in this game were mostly held off the score sheet. That said, Kevin Shattenkirk picked up another assist which put his point streak at the time at 6 (it’s currently at 8). He looks like the defenseman from last year who is borderline top 5. His return also hurts Colton Parayko massively.
Rangers 3, Predators 0. Predators dominated the game but Henrik Lundqvist did King Henrik things stopping all 31 shots. Most of the Rangers studs had one point in the game while Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist with two shots. If he’s available, pick him up because his role is increasing in the near term (more on that later).
Flyers 3, Hurricanes 2, OT. Claude Giroux stepped his game up on Monday and almost won the game for his team single-handedly. He had a shorthanded goal, two assists, two shots and two PIM in the win. Rookie Shayne Gostisbehere scored his first OT winner of the week and is a must add everywhere while Mark Streit is out.
Capitals 1, Oilers 0. After 11 goals in their first meeting in Edmonton, this game was dominated by goalies. Braden Holtby had a 33 save shutout and Anders Nilsson stopped 29 of 30 shots. Nilsson is starting to get more and more starts for Edmonton. That said, his numbers are mediocre so I’d only grab him if you’re desperate for a goalie.
Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3, SO. Brad Marchand kept up his hot streak scoring two goals on five shots with two PIM. Tuukka Rask gave up another three goals although it was on 42 shots and he got the win so it wasn’t the worst outing. Advanced stats black hole Tyler Bozak scored on his only shot and added an assist. Also, Leo Komarov scored once on his six shots. He’s a top end streamer at this point.
Kings 3, Panthers 1. Jonathan Quick stopped 33 of 34 shots while his opposing netminder Roberto Luongo left the game injured, albeit with a minor injury. The Panthers goal was scored by Aleksander Barkov from his usual linemates while everyone in the Kings top 6 had one point.
Avalanche 4, Jets 1. The Avalanche managed to score four goals with only one coming from its top line (Matt Duchene scored it). The secondary scoring for the Avs finally showed up with Carl Soderberg scoring a goal on four shots plus an assist, Blake Comeau had the same line with two PIM and Francois Beauchemin had two assists.
Tuesday:
Senators 7, Stars 4. Nightmare start for Antti Niemi (11 saves on 16 shots) and a poor one for Craig Anderson as well (33 saves on 37 shots). You got what you’d expect from Dallas offensively in this game; Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist with five shots, Patrick Sharp scored a goal on three shots with an assist, Tyler Seguin scored a goal on five shots and John Klingberg had an assist. For Ottawa, Mike Hoffman scored on both of his shots, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists on two shots and Jean-Gabriel Pageau had two goals and an assist. Pageau would be a must-add if one of the top two centers for Ottawa went down injured but for now, he’s only a streamer on shallower nights.
Ducks 5, Flames 3. I mentioned Getzlaf’s five assists in the intro. Corey Perry had two goals and an assist with six shots while Rickard Rakell had two goals on four shots. Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen both added two assists. The second line led the way for the Flames with Michael Frolik scoring two goals on four shots and Sam Bennett adding a goal and an assist with four shots. Kris Russell added two assists although his fantasy value is minimal barring an injury to a different Flames defenseman.
Wednesday:
Predators 3, Sabres 2. Ullmark was a disaster for the Sabres giving up 3 goals on 8 shots before getting pulled. Chad Johnson didn’t give up a goal in relief and then played great in both games over the weekend (more on that later) so Johnson is the Sabres goalie to have right now if you need a goalie. The scoring was spread out for Nashville with nobody on the top line or top pair getting on the scoreboard. The second line had two goals with Mike Fisher scoring one and Craig Smith the other. That line with Colin Wilson (assist and three shots) was much better last year; I don’t expect them tor each last year’s level but I do expect a bounceback from their slow starts.
Blue Jackets 2, Devils 1. Sergei Bobrovsky bounced back with 27 saves on 28 shots. The lone goal scored against Bob was by Adam Henrique from Michael Cammalleri continuing that line’s blistering pace. The biggest takeaway from the CBJ perspective was that David Savard played 28:34 while Jack Johnson played 27:48, both adding an assist. Both are must own in 12’ers playing that many minutes. Of the two, I’d prefer Savard.
Canadiens 5, Rangers 1. In the battle of the top goalies, Lundqvist was pulled while Carey Price left the game injured and is out at least a week. Go grab Mike Condon if he’s available. For Montreal, a bunch of players had big games. On the first line, Tomas Plekanec had three assists with a shot and two PIM, Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist with three shots while Devante Smith-Pelly filled in and scored two goals on both of his shots. He’s an excellent streamer while he’s on the first line. Alex Galchenyuk also added a goal and an assist with one shot and 2 PIM. Rick Nash scored again for the Rangers continuing his hot streak.
Penguins 4, Blues 3, OT. For Pittsburgh, the studs stepped up with Sidney Crosby scoring two goals on nine shots, Evgeni Malkin adding a goal and an assist with two shots and Kris Letang had two assists and four shots. For the Blues, Alex Steen had two assists with two shots, Paul Stastny had a goal and assist with five shots and two PIM in his second game back and Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist with four shots. If Stastny is available because your league doesn’t have IR spots, grab him.
Capitals 5, Jets 3. The big guns for both sides had nice games for their teams. For the Jets, Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist with six shots and two PIM. He’s a nice buy low target since he’s started slow despite his linemates producing at a high clip. Bryan Little had two assists while Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien each added an assist. For the Caps, Alex Ovechkin had a goal on eight shots with two PIM, Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist with three shots, John Carlson had two assists with two shots and Evgeny Kuznetsov had a goal and two assists with a shot.
Hurricanes 4, Oilers 1. Cam Ward looked like the old Cam Ward stopping 30 of 31 shots. Jordan Staal also looked like old Jordan Staal with a goal and assist with two shots, albeit with no PP time so I don’t like him going forward. Justin Faulk remains the best Hurricane by a mile adding two assists with three shots and two PIM. Anders Nilsson followed up his performance against the Caps with a below average outing here giving up 3 on 26 shots.
Canucks 3, Wild 2. Ryan Miller had a strong performance stopping 31 of 33 shots. Radim Vrbata scored two goals on four shots on the second line. Daniel Sedin had two assists with a shot while Jannik Hansen had a goal on four shots while playing on the first line. Mikko Koivu and Thomas Vanek kept their hot streaks going adding two assists and a goal respectively.
Islanders 3, Flyers 1. The Islanders absolutely dominated outshooting Philly 36-18. Giroux kept up his hot streak with a power play goal from Gostisbehere and Jakub Voracek. Frans Nielsen kept his hot streak up with a goal on five shots while John Tavares and Kyle Okposo each added a point.
Bruins 3, Red Wings 2, OT. Quality spot start from Jonas Gustavsson stopping 32 of 34 shots. Colin Miller scored a goal with an assist with three shots. He’s played his way into being a must own in 12’ers. Frank Vatrano added a goal and an assist in his return from injury. Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar each added a goal for the Red Wings. They’re both going to heat up so I’d float some trade offers out there.
Lightning 2, Kings 1, SO. Ben Bishop and Jonathan Quick both stood on their head giving up 1 goal each. The Lightning’s lone goal was by Tyler Johnson in his return from injury while the Kings got a goal from Milan Lucic.
Coyotes 4, Ducks 2. Vatanen had a goal and an assist for the Ducks giving him a second two point night in as many games. Getzlaf and Perry each had an assist as well. Antoine Vermette scored his first two goals of the season while Max Domi had two assists.
Senators 5, Avalanche 3. Shane Prince let the Ottawa charge scoring two goals and an assist with five shots in under 9 minutes of ice time. Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist with three shots while Kyle Turris did the same with one more shot. This was a standard Avs performance offensively with both Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog each scoring a goal with an assist.
Blackhawks 5, Sharks 2. Patrick Kane had two more assists with four shots and two PIM, I don’t think people are realizing how incredible his start to the season has been. 37 points in 24 games is insane. Second in goals and first in assists. Artemi Panarin added two assists with two shots while Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith each added a goal. For the Sharks, Patrick Marleau had a goal and an assist with three shots while Brent Burns had another monster game with a goal and assist with eight shots and four PIM. Only Alex Ovechkin has taken more shots than Burns this year.
Friday:
Bruins 4, Rangers 3. The Bruins big time centers led the way with Patrice Bergeron having a goal plus an assist with six shots while David Krejci scored a goal on his only shot. For New York, the biggest thing coming out of this game is that Derek Stepan is out indefinitely with broken ribs. As mentioned before, Kevin Hayes will slide into the 2C role which is a nice boost to his value. Otherwise, Rick Nash scored again and J.T. Miller had a nice outing with 1+1 and three shots. He’s right on the edge of 12’ers now since his PP time should be stable with Stepan out.
Flyers 3, Predators 2, OT. Shayne Gostisbehere scored another OT winner for the Flyers. Like the rest of the Flyers top players, the +/- may be rough but everything else will be great for Gostisbehere. Add two more assists to Claude Giroux‘s tally after this game. Michal Neuvirth also played a solid game with 33 saves on 35 shots. For Nashville, not many of fantasy relevance here outside of Filip Forsberg getting back on track with a goal and an assist on five shots.
Jets 3, Wild 1. Connor Hellebuyck won his NHL debut stopping 14 of 15 shots. In dynasty leagues, he’s probably a must-own since he’s one of the best prospects in the league. Dustin Byfuglien had another monster game with a goal and an assist with six shots. For the Wild, Zach Parise returned from injury playing 18 minutes with one shot. Hopefully the injury doesn’t halt the season he was having.
Blackhawks 3, Ducks 2. Three assists from Brent Seabrook led the way for the Hawks. I’m still looking to sell high on Seabrook if I had him. Duncan Keith had 1+1 on three shots while Kane added an assist to keep his point streak alive. The Ducks points were from fringe fantasy guys. It’s worth noting that John Gibson played in a few games this week and in this game, stopped 29 of 32 shots. Grab him if he’s available. While he’s up in Anaheim, he’ll be playing and he’s the best goaltending prospect for a reason.
Capitals 4, Lightning 2. Very poor outing by Tampa going down 4-0 and salvaging two late goals. Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. For the Caps, all of their studs had at least a point with John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov each having two assists. Braden Holtby played well again stopping 32 of 34 shots in the win.
Sabres 4, Hurricanes 1. Cam Ward looked like a corpse out there stopping 11 of 14 shots before getting pulled. The Sabres had a balanced attack in the win. Most notably, two of my favorites had a point with Jack Eichel scoring a goal on five shots while Rasmus Ristolainen had an assist with a shot while being +3. Chad Johnson stopped 27 of 28 shots in the win.
Canadiens 3, Devils 2, SO. Identical 25 save on 27 shots lines from Mike Condon and Cory Schneider. Alex Galchenyuk scored another goal while the first line all had points again for the Devils, led by Lee Stempniak‘s goal and an assist with seven shots and two PIM.
Blue Jackets 2, Penguins 1, OT. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 25 shots in the win while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 41 of 43 shots in the loss. Evgeni Malkin had a goal on three shots with nine PIM while Sidney Crosby notched an assist with two shots. Ryan Johansen led the way for the Blue Jackets with a goal on six shots while Cam Atkinson scored the overtime winner on his fifth shot of the game.
Red Wings 4, Oilers 3, OT. Iiro Pakarinen scored two goals on his only shots of the game and was bumped into the top six as a reward. It’s worth monitoring going forward but I’m not rushing to grab him. The big boys for Detroit all showed up in a prime matchup with the Oilers. Gustav Nyqvist, Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar and Dylan Larkin all had two points in the victory.
Panthers 3, Islanders 2, SO. Ryan Strome was recalled and scored his second goal of the season on two shots. I’m picking him up now and taking the shot on his upside. Not much else happened in this game of fantasy relevance. Roberto Luongo did play after the injury earlier in the week and stopped 23 of 25 shots.
Stars 3, Canucks 2, SO. As you’d expect, this game was a battle of the first lines. Daniel Sedin had a goal and an assist with three shots and two PIM while Henrik Sedin, Radim Vrbata and Jannik Hansen each added a point. For the Stars, two power play goals were scored by the first unit, Jamie Benn from Patrick Sharp and Tyler Seguin, then Jason Spezza from Sharp and John Klingberg.
Coyotes 2, Flames 1, OT. Mike Smith was solid stopping 25 of 26 shots in the win. Oliver Ekman–Larsson scored on his only shot of the game in OT, adding four PIM. Martin Hanzal also chipped in a goal on two shots. Mark Giordano tallied the lone Flames goal on the power play.
Saturday:
Flyers 3, Rangers 0. This game was all about Steve Mason and Wayne Simmonds. Mason had a 24 save shutout while Simmonds had two goals and an assist with five shots. He’s been disappointing so far offensively and his plus-minus is abysmal so hopefully this game springboards him.
Capitals 4, Maple Leafs 2. Another repeat game for the Capitals where Braden Holtby gave up two goals (this time on 34 shots) and the big guns for Washington each had a point. Jason Chimera had his second consecutive two point night so he’s a solid streamer in their next game. For Toronto, Dion Phaneuf led the way with two assists, seven shots and two PIM. His overall statline on the season looks very good.
Devils 3, Canadiens 2, OT. Adam Henrique added another two assists for the Devils on three shots. Alex Galchenyuk scored both Montreal goals making that four straight with a goal. After a slow start, he’s up to 7+11 in 25 games.
Islanders 3, Lightning 2. Steven Stamkos had two assists with five shots in the loss. Anton Stralman added a goal and an assist with six shots. For the Islanders, Ryan Strome had an assist keeping up his good play since his recall while John Tavares scored the late winner with three total shots in the game.
Oilers 3, Penguins 2, SO. Leon Draisaitl snapped his mini-drought, scoring a goal on his only shot. This game was all about Evgeni Malkin though. Malkin was buzzing the entire game, scoring both Penguins goals and taking eleven shots. The Penguins superstars are starting to come around.
Blues 3, Blue Jackets 1. Jake Allen led the way with 23 saves on 24 shots while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 in the losing effort. Ryan Johansen scored the lone CBJ goal keeping his streak of good form intact while Vladimir Tarasenko got back on track with a goal and an assist with five shots. Alex Steen also had a goal and an assist.
Sabres 4, Predators 1. Another strong performance by Chad Johnson stopping 28 of 29 shots. The first line for the Sabres led the way with Evander Kane posting two assists and three shots, Sam Reinhart scoring two goals on five shots and Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and an assist with two shots. Reinhart looked amazing on the first line and if he’s available, I’d pick him up in all leagues, especially dynasties. Mike Fisher scored his second goal in as many games against the Sabres in the loss.
Stars 4, Wild 3, OT. The Stars showed off their explosiveness scoring 3 goals in the third and the winner in OT to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Unsurprisingly, the attack was led by Jamie Benn‘s shorthanded goal with an assist on four shots, Tyler Seguin‘s goal and an assist with eight shots and John Klingberg‘s goal and an assist with three shots. Cody Eakin also had two assists. For the Wild, Jason Pominville finally scored his first of the season while Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist with three shots.
Avalanche 5, Jets 3. For the Jets, Andrew Ladd scored to keep his resurgence going while Blake Wheeler also scored for the Jets first line. Carl Soderberg and Blake Comeau scored again for the Avalanche but this time they were pushed to victory by their superstars. The first line combined for seven points with Matt Duchene scoring a goal and two assists with three shots, Gabriel Landeskog tallying a goal and two assists with five shots and Nathan MacKinnon adding an assist with a shot.
Coyotes 4, Senators 3. Horrible goaltending from Craig Anderson (15 saves on 19 shots) cost his team the game on Saturday. Offensively, the studs for Ottawa led the way with Erik Karlsson dishing two assists with five shots, Mark Stone scoring a goal with an assist with four shots and Mike Hoffman kept up his hot streak with two more goals and seven more shots. He’s looking like one of my better calls of the season. For the Desert Dogs, it’s all about Mikkel Boedker and his second career hat trick on eight shots, almost half of his team’s total. He’s a very streaky player so hopefully this springboards him into a hot streak.
Sharks 5, Flames 2. Martin Jones kept up his solid play with 25 saves on 27 shots in the win. The Flames are a dumpster fire and are the most disappointing team in the league to me. For the Sharks, Joe Pavelski had two assists with two shots while the second line did some damage. Tomas Hertl and Tommy Wingels each had a goal and an assist.
Kings 3, Blackhawks 2, OT. Two more points for Patrick Kane should come as no surprise at this point. Marian Gaborik is back on the first line and showing signs of life, scoring two goals (both from Anze Kopitar) on three shots. If he was dropped after his dreadful start, pick him up. Jeff Carter had another solid game with a goal on seven shots.
Sunday:
Panthers 2, Red Wings 1, OT. The goalies played great in this game with Roberto Luongo stopping 28 of 29 shots while Petr Mrazek stopped 30 of 32 shots. Most notably in the game was Dylan Larkin notching his tenth goal of the season on three shots. At this point, he has to be the front runner for the Calder Trophy.
That’s a wrap on his massive recap. I want to get this posted as soon as possible so I will post streamers for Monday in the comments in the afternoon. As always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below. Take care everyone!
