Man, “Punch-Out!!” is an outstanding video game. I’m actually going to play it right now on my computer. Oh, alright, I’ll write about Monday’s hockey games for everyone and play later. I’ll stick with the theme though. Tyson Barrie had a monster game on Monday night scoring two goals and two assists with five shots in the 4-1 win over the Kings. Last year, Barrie was one of 11 defenseman to have at least 50 points. Of those 11, 4 of those players have virtually no shot of getting back to 50 points; Barrie is one of the seven who can go back to back and is currently on pace to do so with 27 points in 36 games. Here are those seven names: Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns, P.K. Subban, John Carlson, Roman Josi, Kris Letang and Barrie. That’s elite company and he is in line to repeat last year’s stat line with a better shot rate. It’s time to give him the credit he deserves. Here’s a look at what else happened on a slow Monday night around the league:
Petr Mrazek – 22 save shutout against the Devils leading the Wings to a 1-0 win. He’s clearly playing better than Jimmy Howard right now so hopefully for his owners he starts to get more starts than he has been.
Dylan Larkin – Goal on his only shot. The shots are coming down yet he’s on a three game point streak. Expect the shots to come back up as he continues his push for the Calder.
Andrew Hammond – 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 OT win over the Blues. The Hamburglar looked like last year’s version of himself. He’s still the clear backup in Ottawa so I wouldn’t go grab him in 12’ers.
Mike Hoffman – Goal on two shots. There’s no slowing Hoffman down right now.
Bobby Ryan – Two goals and an assist with six shots. As far as my preseason rankings go, I don’t think I underestimated anyone more than Ryan. He’s on pace to set a career high in points which is amazing considering the dropoff he’s had since he went to Ottawa.
Mark Stone – Assist with a shot and two PIM. He’s been on a cold streak but it was encouraging that Stone played over 22 minutes in this game. He should get rolling soon.
Kevin Shattenkirk – Goal on seven shots. Shattenkirk has 25 points in 32 games so far which is outstanding. Fifteen of them are on the power play, also outstanding.
Alex Steen – Two assists with four shots. He’s on pace to easily have a career high in points. Just stay healthy!
Tyler Toffoli – Goal on four shots. He’s been killing it on the first line with Anze Kopitar (assist with six shots). Jeff Carter should be back soon so it will be interesting how the Kings lines are set when he returns. Whichever center doesn’t have Toffoli on his line will take a hit in their value.
Blake Comeau – Two assists with two shots. He’s a bottom end streamer on short slates like tonight. The shots are poor but he does add some PIM.
Matt Duchene – Goal and an assist with four shots. He should easily set a career high in goals and is currently 9th in the NHL with 18 goals. Quite the bounceback from last year’s disappointment.
Jarome Iginla – Goal on five shots, scoring his 600th career goal. It’s been a down year by his lofty standards but scoring over 20 goals at age 38 is nothing to sneeze at. He’s still a first ballot HoF’er.
Gabriel Landeskog – Assist with a shot and four PIM. The shot rate has decreased every season he’s been in the league which is concerning and explains why he’s on pace to have his lowest season goal total. That said, it’s hard to find a 55 point player who gets 80 PIM so there’s plenty of value here.
Cam Talbot – 29 save shutout in the 1-0 OT win over the Hurricanes. The overall numbers are ugly but he’s given up 8 goals in his last 5 starts. He’s worth taking a shot on in 12’ers right now, even if it’s only as a streamer.
Jordan Eberle – Assist with three shots. He has six points in the last five games showing some signs of life. He’s getting massive minutes so it’s a bit disconcerting that he only has ten shots in those five games.
Andrej Sekera – Overtime winner on his fourth shot of the game. Very underrated in real life but not enough consistency to be owned in 12’ers.
Louis Domingue – 35 saves on 37 shots in the 3-2 win over the Canucks. I still expect him to fall off a cliff really soon. Remember, Mike Smith did the same thing to start the year, playing very well only to fall apart. If you own Domingue, I would try to trade him for virtually anything.
Shane Doan – Two goals on five shots. He now has seven goals in the last five games giving him 15 on the season. Not bad for anyone let alone a 39 year old. If he’s still available in your league, pick him up.
Tobias Rieder – Two assists with a shot. Rieder now has more points than he did in 72 games last season. The shots are very good and should be close to 50 points at the end of the season.
Bo Horvat – Goal on two shots with two PIM. Hooray for good streamer calls.
Daniel Sedin – Goal on two shots. Henrik naturally assisted it and had four shots in the game. Can’t contain the Cyborgs.
Tuesday Streamers – There are eight games on the slate tonight with a lot of action in the Eastern Conference. Here are my top streamers:
Jason Zucker (26.7% owned) – He’s currently on the top line and gets to go against a Columbus team down to their AHL goalie who is horrendous.
Charlie Coyle (8.8%) – Same logic as Zucker for Coyle who has seven points in his last seven games. Look for it to continue.
Brandon Pirri (5.4%) – He has points in two straight games and takes on a Sabres team that has lost 4 straight while the Panthers have won nine straight.
That’s all for now guys. Today’s article was shorter because of the lack of games but don’t worry, more great hockey content is coming out on Razzball today! Matt’s next article in his series should be up at some point in the afternoon today so be sure to check it out. As always, feel free to ask any questions or post any comments below. Take care everyone!
