The best goal scorer of all-time started off the season on the right foot. Alex Ovechkin scored two goals and added two assists in the Washington 5-1 win over the Rangers. So much for being banged up. Ovechkin has shown little signs of his goal scoring prowess slowing down at age 36. He’s now in the top five in goals in NHL history and I can’t wait for him to push a charge towards catching Gretzky. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the first two nights of the season:
Kris Letang – Two assists with a shot. No Crosby or Malkin, no problem for the Pens on Tuesday. It’s simply a matter of health for Letang.
Steven Stamkos – Two assists with a shot. Despite the rough opener, Stammer’s line looked solid with Anthony Cirelli having a goal and an assist. Like Letang, it’s a matter of health for Stamkos. Cirelli is a middling streamer with upside.
Max Pacioretty – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. Patches didn’t miss a beat from last season with Mark Stone dishing three assists while adding two PIM. They’ll remain one of the best lines in the league with Chandler Stephenson (1+1, 2 SOG, 2 PIM) manning the middle as a solid streamer. I’m going to wait a couple games before I pass any judgment on the Kraken and its player usage.
Bowen Byram – Goal and an assist with two shots. He only played 17 minutes, but there’s a ton of upside here, at least in the short term while Toews is out. If you’re desperate for a defenseman, I don’t mind taking a shot on Byram.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with five shots. He centered the top line with Nathan MacKinnon out. MacDaddy could be back in the next game, but either way, I’m expecting a bounceback from Kadri.
Gabriel Landeskog – Goal and an assist with four shots and six PIM. The Kog really filled the stat sheet in the opener. He should be great across the board once again.
Jack Campbell – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over the Canadiens. Great start to Campbell’s season. I don’t know what to expect from him in comparison to last season, but I like his chances of being a bottom end #1.
Jake Allen – 28 saves on 30 shots. He’s must own and I’d probably start him in all matchups for the time being.
Vitek Vanecek – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 5-1 win over the Rangers. I don’t really know what to make of Vanecek. The Capitals were willing to lose him to Seattle, but then got him back. Samsonov is still the guy, at least I would think so, but Vanecek could have a full split at least. I wouldn’t mind grabbing him to see what happens.
Evgeny Kuznetsov – Three assists with a shot playing over 21 minutes. Very encouraging to see Kuznetsov get that type of workload. Could he finally get his career back on track? Here’s to hoping.
T.J. Oshie – Goal and an assist with two PIM. Oshie remains a bottom end hold until he gives us a reason to think otherwise.
Alexandar Georgiev – 22 saves on 27 shots in the loss. Gallant decided to start Georgiev to let Igor play the second game of the back-to-back. Nobody knew until a half hour before the game starts which makes it obvious that Gallant is going to be a pain in the ass in regards to naming his starter.
Nils Hoglander – Two assists with four shots. One of my favorite late round picks is off to a nice start. He did play only 16 minutes in an OT game that Brock Boeser missed which gives me a little pause.
Connor McDavid – Two assists with two shots. This is basically the expectation of McDavid at this point.
Darnell Nurse – Assist, six shots, eight hits, four blocks. In 32:24 of ice time! Craziness.
Mike Smith – 36 saves on 38 shots in the 3-2 SO win over the Canucks. Smith stood on his head in this game. Again, I have no idea what to expect from Smith this season, let alone on a game-to-game basis. Complete wildcard.
John Gibson – 33 saves on 34 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. Great start from Gibson, although I’m wary of him for this season still.
Mason McTavish – Goal and an assist in his NHL debut. The third overall pick had quite the start. He only played 14:40, but maybe that goes up if the Ducks are trailing in the game? There’s a lot of upside here, but I don’t expect more than a middling streamer as a rookie. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Jakob Silfverberg – Two assists with three shots. He had a brutal season last year so it’s going to take a solid run of play for me to consider streaming Silfverberg. He definitely has it in him, but I’m also skeptical.
Isac Lundestrom – Two assists with two shots. I’m a big fan of Lundestrom in real life, but he doesn’t have the role yet to make a consistent fantasy impact.
That’s all for now guys. I’m unsure if I’ll be back tomorrow or if I’ll be back on Monday recapping the action from the weekend. If you want any streaming advice for the weekend, be sure to read JKJ’s post here. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
