There were 12 games in the NHL last night and there was an insane amount of goals. Two games had 11 goals, three had 7 or more and another bunch had 5+. The goalie that had the only shutout of the night was Martin Jones, who arguably had the hardest matchup in the league, stopped all 33 shots he faced in Chicago. In his first season, Jones has been a workhorse (only 5 goalies have started more games) and has put up solid stats across the board, especially wins. He’s a big reason why the Sharks are in prime position to get back into the playoffs after one season out. I’m not a huge fan of Jones going forward but he’s still a very good #2 goalie going forward. Here’s what else happened in an action packed night around the league:
Jonathan Quick – 35 saves on 37 shots in the 9-2 win over the Bruins. The Kings are an absolute powerhouse and would be my pick to win the Cup right now. Quick is giving them the best goaltending they’ve ever had in the regular season and with how weak their division is, he should continue to pile up the wins.
Jeff Carter – Goal and an assist with six shots. Everyone knows how good Carter is so I just want to talk about how crazy this game was for the Kings. Only three skaters didn’t get a point for the Kings and despite them scoring 9 goals, nobody on the Kings had more than two points. I haven’t found an answer yet but I think that could be the first time a team scored 9 goals and didn’t have someone get 3 or more points. They took an absurd 57 shots on goal showing the powerhouse that they are.
Drew Doughty – Goal and an assist with three shots. His best offensive season continues and this is what people have been waiting for. It seems crazy but Doughty is still only 26 years old.
Marian Gaborik – Goal and an assist with four shots. At this point in his career, Gaborik’s value solely depends on what line he is on.
Milan Lucic – Goal and an assist with four shots in his return to Boston. The lack of shots hurt but everything else is great, especially the penalty minutes.
Jake Muzzin – Two assists with six shots. He’s been quietly a plus across the board in all categories.
Luke Schenn – Goal and an assist with a shot. And there’s your annual Luke Schenn update!
Tyler Toffoli – Two assists with five shots. No slowing this kid down. He’s easily a top 50 player going forward even though he’s a virtual blank in penalty minutes.
Brad Marchand – Goal on four shots with two PIM. And he was only -1 in a game they lost by 7!
Nick Bjugstad – Two assists with two shots. He filled in for Aleksander Barkov on the first line and if for some reason he’s available in your league, Bjugstad is a definite hold while Barkov is out.
Jaromir Jagr – Goal on four shots with two PIM. He’s just incredible.
Jussi Jokinen – Goal and two assists with three shots. I didn’t expect this to happen but Jokinen is a clear hold at this point.
Alex Petrovic – Goal and an assist with two shots and 29 PIM. He fought Evander Kane three times and easily lost all three of the fights. This will end as one of the best lines of the season yet he’s owned virtually nowhere (and deservedly so).
Reilly Smith – Two goals and an assist with two shots. He probably should be a hold as well at this point since he has a chance at 30 goals.
Vincent Trocheck – Two assists with a shot. Just like Smith although I’d prefer Trocheck over him because of the power play points and extra PIM.
Robin Lehner – 8 saves on 12 shots before getting pulled early in the second period. Yikes. He had been playing great until last night. I think he’s more of the goalie we saw before yesterday so I’m still holding him.
Evander Kane – Goal on three shots and 29 PIM. While the points aren’t elite, he’s been great this year because of the PIM and SOG. He’s still over four shots per game which is outstanding.
Ryan O’Reilly – Two assists. On pace for over 70 points and has been incredible on the power play. Despite the lack of penalty minutes, RoR has been terrific.
Sam Reinhart – Two goals on three shots. He now has 16 goals and is starting to find his way in the league. I think his ceiling is higher than first imagined, even though he was the second overall pick, and is somebody I will want next year. Reinhart will probably be a late round flier but could push 30 goals.
Jordan Eberle – Goal (assisted by Benoit Pouliot and Connor McDavid) with a shot and two PIM. They’re on fire right now and Pouliot is still widely available so grab him.
Reid Boucher – Goal and an assist with five shots. Both points were on the power play which is an interesting development. In deep leagues, there’s some upside here worth looking into.
Adam Henrique – Goal and an assist with a shot. He’s on pace for 27+27 with great plus-minus. Not bad for somebody who was a waiver wire pickup in the majority of leagues.
Fredrik Andersen – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 4-1 win over the Flyers. John Gibson has been struggling lately so if Andersen is available, I’d grab him. Bruce Boudreau has been known to run with the hot goalie so it wouldn’t shock me if Andersen works this situation into a split or even in his favor.
Ryan Getzlaf – Two assists with two shots. Hot schomato alert! He has been outstanding out of the All-Star break and I expect him to play at this elite level the rest of the year.
Corey Perry – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. Hot schomato alert! He has been outstanding out of the All-Star break and I expect him to play at this elite level the rest of the year. And that’s me copying and pasting me doing what Grey does!
Rickard Rakell – Two goals on three shots. It’s nice to see him produce, including on the power play, but he’s best left as a streamer right now in 12’ers.
Wayne Simmonds – Goal on four shots. It’s a given at this point; every game Simmonds scores a power play goal and Shayne Gostisbehere gets an assist.
Anders Lee – Goal on three shots. Another good stream added to the list; that’s what Lee is at this point, a top end streamer. It would take him moving to the first line for that to change.
Joonas Korpisalo – 44 saves on 46 shots in the 3-2 SO loss to the Islanders. He’s been great for the last few weeks and has started 7 straight so he should be owned everywhere. Ride it while it lasts.
Cam Atkinson – Goal and an assist with four shots. The power play points are lacking but everything else has been great. He’s a clear hold in 12’ers.
Brandon Dubinsky – Goal and an assist with three shots. The points are better than expected and the penalty minutes are nice. The only thing holding him back from being top 100 is the lack of shots.
Valtteri Filppula – Goal and an assist with a shot. He’s a streaming option in 12’ers but doesn’t do enough to be a hold.
Victor Hedman – Goal and an assist with four shots. Everything has been great with Hedman outside of goals, which should regress to the mean in time. He has 5 goals and 122 shots; goals are coming.
Ben Scrivens – 37 saves on 39 shots in the 4-2 win over the Lightning. He’s the clear guy right now and he’s in the zone. Grab Scrivens and ride him while he’s hot.
Brendan Gallagher – Goal and an assist with five shots. Gallagher has been spectacular this season with 30 points in 38 games, over 3 shots per game with solid PIM and STP. He’d be a top 30-40 player if he didn’t miss 15+ games. I can see Gallagher being a value next year because his total stats won’t indicate how good he is.
Tomas Plekanec – Two goals and an assist with three shots. His shot rate isn’t as good as last year but Turtleneck has been great again.
Connor Hellebuyck – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 2-1 shootout win over the Blues. Hellboy had struggled mightily lately so it was nice to see him play well in a tough matchup. He’s still a solid #2 right now with upside to be a #1 in the future.
Dustin Byfuglien – Assist with two shots. Big Buff signed a 5 year extension keeping him in Winnipeg. This is good for his long term value because the minutes are going to be massive for the next few years and they will let him play as wild as he does. It wouldn’t shock me to see him be the captain next season as it looks like Andrew Ladd will be gone.
Brian Elliott – 32 saves on 33 shots in the loss. This has been an outstanding stretch for him starting every game for the Blues since Jake Allen went down.
Colton Parayko – Goal on his only shot. Alex Pietrangelo is out at least three weeks so grab Parayko where he’s available. It won’t boost his value as much as when Kevin Shattenkirk is out but it will certainly make him a hold in 12’ers.
Andre Burakovsky – Assist. Hold him while he’s on fire.
Marcus Johansson – Goal and two assists with a shot and two PIM. He’s quietly has 33 points in 45 games and is a clear hold at this point.
Justin Williams – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. What a great year across the board from Williams. His addition is a big reason why the Caps are the favorite in the East.
Tom Wilson – Goal and an assist with two shots. If you’re desperate for PIM and hits, Wilson is a top add since he has some offensive ability. He’s still only 21 years old so if his role was to increase, he’d be a must own.
Pekka Rinne – 18 saves on 22 shots. Yikes. He’s absolute horrendous and while you can’t simply cut him, I’d try to get any decent goalie back for him if possible.
Mattias Ekholm – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s a definite hold at this point in 12’ers having the minutes increase.
Filip Forsberg – Two goals on four shots. Forsberg has been solid but it feels somewhat underwhelming looking at his totals. That said, he’s been great since Ryan Johansen (assist and three shots) arrived so he could be underrated right now and for next season.
Roman Josi – Goal on two shots. Incredible year for Josi. In my preseason ranks, I had defensemen 4-13 in one massive tier. Now, that tier has separated into two tiers and Josi is clearly in the better one.
Jamie Benn – Two assists with four shots. 28/33/+16/45/171/19 is such an absurd line for Benn to have through 54 games. Keeping up that pace over the last 28 games would be absolutely bonkers and one of the most well rounded lines we’ve seen in quite some time.
Patrick Eaves – Goal and an assist with a shot. He played on the first line and first power play unit right now so Eaves is a top end streamer while that’s the case. You could even hold him and I can’t really argue.
John Klingberg – Goal on four shots. He’s been coming on again lately and is a lock for over 60 points. The shot increase lately is huge for his value; if he can get the shots up, he can push towards the top 5 instead of being in the bottom of the top 10.
Tyler Seguin – Two assists with three shots. That cold streak is behind him and he has almost the same stat line as Benn; Seguin gives you extra shots and Benn gives you extra PIM.
Erik Haula – Goal and an assist with a shot. He shows flashes offensively but doesn’t have the role to be owned even in the deepest of leagues.
Zach Parise – Assist with six shots. He’s been slumping lately but it will turn around; the shots are still elite.
Ryan Suter – Assist with six shots playing over 33 minutes. He’s been an absolute monster offensively for the first time in a while.
Thomas Vanek – Two assists with a shot. He was recently scratched and responded with two points. He’s on a 25+25 pace so there’s still some value here but you have to pay attention to what role Vanek has if you’re going to hold him.
Joe Thornton – Goal and an assist with a shot. Jumbo Joe might score 20 goals this year which is insane considering how little he shoots the puck. He’s on pace for over 70 points and 70 PIM which is remarkable.
Jacob Markstrom – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 3-1 win over the Avalanche. It’s hard to hold him in 12’ers right now because Ryan Miller has been getting the majority of starts. In a week or two, that could completely flip, who knows with Willie Desjardins?
Sven Baertschi – Goal on two shots with four PIM. He’s finally showing why he was a high first round pick and is somebody I’m going to love taking late in drafts next year.
Bo Horvat – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Huge fan of Horvat’s game and is another guy I want badly next year. Hopefully his horrible plus-minus scares people away. He’s an excellent trade target in dynasties.
James Reimer – 18 saves on 22 shots in the 4-3 loss to Calgary. Regression, meet Mr. Reimer!
Dion Phaneuf – Traded to Ottawa. I don’t think this affects his value too much but it could give him a slight boost going if he goes onto the Senators’ first power play unit.
Sean Monahan – Scratched Tuesday night along with Johnny Gaudreau. This should be a one time deal but it came out late Tuesday night which probably hurt people who set their lineups early in the day.
Sam Bennett – Assist with a shot. Still driving his bandwagon for fantasy because of his offensive potential.
Markus Granlund – Goal and an assist with a shot. Another guy getting his annual update!
Dougie Hamilton – Goal and an assist with three shots. Finally settled into Calgary and is a clear hold right now in 12’ers.
Wednesday Streamers: There are only three games on the slate so Wednesday will be a prime streaming night. Here are my top three options:
Bo Horvat (8.1% owned) – As I said above, I love his game and a matchup against Arizona is ideal.
Brad Richards (2.3%) – He has three assists in the last two games and the Red Wings should easily dominate play against the Senators.
Jannik Hansen (10.9%) – He’s been struggling lately but he’s back on the first line putting him in a prime position to succeed. Arizona doesn’t have anybody to stop the Sedins so Hansen should have his chances.
That’s all for now guys. With only three games on the docket tonight, I’ll be back on Friday recapping tomorrow’s games along with tonight’s. We will have articles coming Thursday still with the next article in Matt’s series along with Marv vs. Pesos. As always, feel free to ask me any questions or leave any comments below. Take care everyone!
