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Happy Wednesday, Razzball faithful!

Matthew Knies (2 G, +1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG, 2 H) is one of the only bright spots shining on the sinking ship that is the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season. His second-period shorthanded goal was a thing of beauty. Knies intercepted a weak Bruins pass, pushed aside Mason Lohrei, who looked a lot less powerful than his 6’5” frame would suggest, like an empty paper plate, and threw a nifty head fake on Jeremy Swayman before roofing a nice lickety-split wrister over the netminder’s glove.

As much as this was a nice opportunity for the Bruins to pad their lead over Columbus, Montreal, and Detroit in the extremely tight playoff race, this tiny snapshot in time was an equally important reminder for Leaf fans that the team needs to do a lot of other “retooling or rebuilding” that DOES NOT involve trading their 23-year-old sniper.

The Leafs need to hope they can convince a guy like Bobby McMann to come back after July 1st, and should count their lucky stars that they have a kid like Knies locked up through the 2030-2031 season. 

Suggesting the team blow it all up and trade Auston Matthews/William Nylander is an unpopular idea in LeafLand, but one thing is for sure. Mitch Marner was not the problem.

For the record, the Bruins were perched on a nice, shiny poop star atop crap mountain last night, too. Sloppy defense, weak backchecking, and an inability to wear down their opponent were three major trends that continued for the Bruins in their march to a playoff spot. 

With 8 of their final 11 games against playoff teams, the Bruins are in deep, and if they somehow come out of it all in a playoff position, they’d better clean things up if they don’t want to get destroyed in Round One.

Here’s what else I saw in Tuesday night’s NHL action…

Anthony Stolarz – 18 saves on 20 shots in the 4-2 win at BOS. The 6’6” Stolarz did his best to hold down the fort for a Leaf squad that looks a lot less imposing than it has for a very long time. This was the screenshot of the skaters after I clipped Nylander, John Tavares, and Easton Cowan. Woof.

For the record, Stolarz played great and was the difference in this game. If your league rewards shot volume, he should see his fair share of rubber the rest of the way, even if he won’t be winning many games. Props to Stolarz for pulling out the win in a tough road arena to play in.

William Nylander – 1 G (25), 1 A (42), 6 SOG, 1 BLK. That’s 4 points in his last 3 games.

John Tavares – 3 A (35), 2 SOG, 1 facial reconstruction courtesy of Nikita Zadorov, 11-for-22 FOW.

Jeremy Swayman – Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Swayman was also nearly perfect through two periods on Tuesday night. The Knies goal was pretty filthy, but Sway stood tall on everything else. Marco Sturm said it best in his post-game presser, “Other than Sway, nobody else was on their ‘A game’.” Yep.

Elias Lindholm – 1 G (14), 2 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. The easy criticism here is that Lindholm isn’t the first-line centre the team hoped he’d be when they signed him to the 7-year, $54.25 million contract on July 1st, 2024. The 43 points in 59 games isn’t terrible, but he’s not going to get back to that point-a-game pace from his 82-point season in 2021-2022.

Linus Ullmark – 32 saves on 34 shots in the 3-2 win at DET. He’s 6-2 in his last 8 starts.

Carter Yakemchuk – 1 G, 1 A, +2, 2 SOG, 2 BLK. Uh…I’m sorry, who? Two points from the guy named after two slang terms for vomit. Good job, Mr. YakUpchuck. Not bad for a kid who was in Belleville yesterday morning. If you’re in a very deep league and you need a defenseman, he should at least get another start or two after a solid debut.

Brady Tkachuk – 1 G (20), 1 A (29), +1, 2 PIM, 1 SOG, 3 H. Speaking of Chuks…

John Gibson – 18 saves on 21 shots and the 3-2 loss to OTT. He has just three wins in his last 10 GS.

Dominik Shine – 1 G (3), +1, 1 SOG. And there’s your annual Dominik Shine update!

Dylan Larkin – 1 G (29), -1, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 H, 11-for-25 FOW. The points have been coming less frequently than usual, but he still has 9 points in his last 10 games.

Arvid Soderblom – 44 saves on 47 shots and the 4-3 win at NYI. You can’t fault a guy for facing 96 shots in his last two GP. This was his first win in 5 starts and his third win in 10 games. Strictly a backup to the Knight. Let’s call him the Squire.

Nick Lardis – 1 G (7), 2 A (5), +2, 1 SOG, 1 BLK. If he puts up many more games like this, the kid will finally stop getting confused with the pie-eating champion from Stand By Me.

Tyler Bertuzzi – 1 G (29), 1 A (23), +2, 2 PIM, 2 SOG, 2 H, in 19:05 TOI. 

Frank Nazar – 1 G (12), 1 A (24), +2, 1 SOG. No, I didn’t spell Connor Bedard’s name wrong. But somehow Frank Nazar had two points Tuesday night, and Bedard had none. Shrug.

David Rittich – 9 saves on 12 shots and 3 GA before being lifted for Ilya Sorokin. Oof.

Ilya Sorokin – 11 saves on 12 shots and the 4-3 loss. I will never understand how a goalie replaces a guy who gave up 3 goals, allows one himself, then gets saddled with the 4-3 loss. 

Anders Lee – 1 G (16), 3 SOG, 1 H. He’s on a three-game point streak, but it hasn’t been pretty if you look at the bigger picture (38 points in 72 games).

Scott Wedgewood – 30 saves on 32 shots and the 6-2 win in PIT. A nice little payback game for Wedgewood after the Penguins broke his 5-game win streak last week.

Martin Necas – 2 G (34), +1, 2 SOG, 1 H, 16:20 TOI. Necas is red hot, with 7 points in his last 3 games.

Nathan MacKinnon – 1 G (46), +1, 2 SOG. It was a pretty quiet night for Big MacK. Maybe he was just sad that his buddy, Sid, wasn’t playing. I’m sure clinching a playoff spot made the night worthwhile, though.

Arturs Silovs – 24 saves on 29 shots. Uh…at least he didn’t give up the 6th goal too? Ya, I got nothing.

Rickard Rakell – 1 G (15), -3, 4 SOG, 1 H. Hey, cut me some slack. It was either Rakell or Yegor Chinakhov (he scored the other one).

Joey Daccord – 21 saves on 24 shots and the 5-4 SOL. That’s just one win in his last 7 GS. Ouch.

Matty Beniers – 1 G (19), +2, 3 SOG, 2 BLK. He has 7 points in his last 10 games, but if you take out the 3-pointer at VAN on March 14th, it’s a lot less impressive-looking.

Jordan Eberle – 1 G (23), 1 A (28), +2, 3 SOG, 1 BLK. It feels like a quiet 51 points in 68 games for Eberle, but he’s never been a point-per-game kind of guy, so this shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does.

Sergei Bobrovsky – 22 saves on 26 shots and the 5-4 OTW! That’s 4 wins in his last 5 starts! You’re back on the case, Bobrovsky!

Noah Gregor – 1 G (2), 1 A (3), +2, 3 SOG. Recalled from Charlotte for his first NHL game since January 8th. Guess who wanted to convince the team that he shouldn’t get sent back down.

Carter Verhaeghe – 1 G (21), 1 SOG, 1 H, 17:47 TOI. 6 points in his last 5 games.

Jet Greaves – 24 saves on 26 shots and his 6th win in his last 8 starts. THIS is how you make a run at a playoff spot! (take notes, Bruins!)

Zach Werenski – 1 G (21), 1 A (56), +1, 3 SOG, 24:27 TOI. At this point, I don’t know how he doesn’t win the Norris. Maybe it goes to Evan Bouchard (more on him later), but 77 points in 63 games is beyond impressive.

Mason Marchment – 1 G (17), 1 A (19), +1, 4 SOG, 3 H, 1 BLK. The points are great, but it’s even better for those of us in H2H leagues with those extra categories. Guys like Marchment and Coyle fit right into the Blue Jackets system, and they’re looking like a team that no one wants to see in Round One.

Mathieu Olivier – 1 G (15), +1, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 7 H (!), 1 BLK. Speaking of filling up multiple categories! This guy is a boon in leagues that award bonus points for physical stats.

Dan Vladar – 16 saves on 19 shots in the 3-2 loss vs CLM. I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.

Sean Couturier – 1 G (8, +1, 3 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. 8 goals in how many games? 67?! Remember when this guy was supposed to be a perennial 80-point guy? Ouch.

Frederik Andersen – 14 saves on 18 shots and the 5-2 loss in MTL. Remember when people wrote this guy off because Brandon Bussi was driving through everyone? I remember. (Because I was one of the people saying it). Well, this was Andersen’s first loss in his last 6 starts.

Nikolaj Ehlers – 1 G (22), -1, 5 SOG. With nearly a half dozen shots, we can’t fault Ehlers for this loss.

Jordan Staal – 1 G (18), -1, 2 SOG, 4 H, 1 BLK. It’s funny. I was telling someone at an OHL game this past weekend about how big these kids looked in person, and I said Jordan Staal looked like a 9-year-old trapped in a 30-year-old’s body way back when he played for the Penguins. Then I looked up how old Staal is now, and immediately felt like the Matt Damon “Saving Private Ryan” gif.

Jakub Dobes – 41 saves on 43 shots and the 5-2 win. The kid put some work in. 23-8-2-2 with a 2.88 GAA.

Juraj Slafkovsky – 1 G (28), 1 A (35), +2, 2 PIM, 1 SOG, 3 BLK. That’s a 7-game point streak for the big Slovakian, and 16 points in his last 10 games.

Cole Caufield – 1 G (44), 1 A (32), +2, 2 SOG. And would you look at that. 16 points in his last 10 games, too.

Ivan Demidov – 1 G (15), 1 A (39), +1, 1 SOG, 1 BLK. See if you can guess how many points he has in his last 10 games. Ok, I was just kidding. He only has six.

Filip Gustavsson – 19 saves on 23 shots and the 6-3 loss at TB. Just his third loss in his last 10 starts.

Vladimir Tarasenko – 1 G (21), 1 A (21), -2, 1 SOG. One of the original ‘memberberries. If you’re in a playoff pool, this is the kind of later-round selection that might pop off in the postseason and push you over the top.

Brock Faber – 1 G (15), -1, 2 PIM, 2 SOG, 1 BLK. For all the accolades that Quinn Highes gets, it’s easy to ignore Faber’s solid season. If you drafted this kid, congrats on the steal because he likely didn’t cost you much in your draft.

Andrei Vasilevskiy – 20 saves on 23 shots and the 6-3 win over MIN. It was a good test for Tampa, and they passed with flying colors. 4-straight wins for Vasilevskiy.

Darren Raddysh – 1 G (20), 2 A (44), +1, 5 SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. If Faber was a steal in your draft, Raddysh was whatever the exponential explosion of a steal is. I’d be surprised if the number of people who drafted Raddysh was anywhere near the number of people who added him off the waiver wire.

Jake Guentzel – 1 G (32), 1 A (42), 3 SOG, 1 H. It’s looking like another point-per-game pace for Guentzel this year. He should finish with 80+ points for the third time in his career.

Adin Hill – 17 saves on 20 shots and the 4-1 loss at WPG. Vegas should be ok as far as the playoff picture is concerned, but this is crunch time for everyone, and losing to a Winnipeg team that is hanging on to its playoff hopes by a thread is not the way to give your fans hope.

Connor Hellebuyck – 26 saves on 27 shots and his 18th win of the season. Winnipeg will welcome any wins, but it might be a case of too little too late for the Jets. This was Hellebuyck’s second win in 7 games, and Winnipeg has played more games than all of the teams they’re chasing for the wild card.

Kyle Connor – 1 G (32), 1 A (49), +3, 2 SOG, 1 BLK. 82 points in 71 games, and his 230 shots total is good for 9th best in the league.

Cole Perfetti – 1 G (10), +1, 2 SOG, 3 H, 15:34 TOI.

Mark Scheifele – 1 G (32), 2 A (54), +3, 5 PIM, 3 SOG, 1 H, 9-for-15 FOW, 17:43 TOI. I will never understand how this guy was left off the Canadian Olympic team.

Logan Thompson – 24 saves on 26 shots and the 3-0 loss at STL. This just in: You can’t win a hockey game if your skaters don’t score a goal. (Follow me for more life hacks.)

Tom Wilson – There’s no point total to report here, but the 4 PIM, 3 SOG, 2 H, 1 BLK at least fill up some categories in the H2H leagues.

Joel Hofer – 21 saves on 21 shots and his 2nd shutout in his last 4 games! That’s 6 SO on the season, and a VERY solid 18-11-3-2 record with a 2.57 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

Jimmy Snuggerud – 1 G (16), +1, 2 PIM, 5 SOG, 1 H. Better late than never? He’s scored 25 of his 37 points since January 1st.

Jake Allen – 23 saves on 27 shots in the 6-4 win at DAL. It was an offensive explosion in Texas. Or, I guess, depending on your perspective, a defensive implosion. This was just the third win in 10 starts for the 35-year-old Allen.

Jack Hughes – 2 G (20), 2 SOG, 3 BLK, 19:20 TOI. Amazingly, he has 18 points in his last 10 games, but it’s even more impressive that he’s done it while seeing through the river of tears he’s shed over the Hall of Fame taking possession of the Olympic game-winning puck.

Jesper Bratt – 1 G (18), 1 A (39), +2, 2 SOG. He’s not hitting the 80-point plateau again this year, and he’ll be hard-pressed to crack 70 points – he’s got 57 pts in 70 GP.

Jake Oettinger – 4 saves on 8 shots and an early hook. And you thought the David Rittich line was rough. Oof times 1000.

Casey DeSmith – 15 saves on 16 shots and the loss in a 6-4 game. See? There it is again! Goalie comes in to relieve his net-mate, who got shellacked, gives up one goal, and gets saddled with an L. I don’t like it one bit!

Wyatt Johnston – 2 G (40), 1 A (38), +1, 3 SOG, 2 H, 1 BLK. 40 goals and 78 points in 71 games?! I DO LIKE IT! And I like it a lot more than a bit!

Jason Robertson – 1 G (39), 2 A (46), +1, 2 PIM, 10 (!) SOG, 1 H, 1 BLK. I know I complain about this guy and Sheifele being snubbed in February, and it’s tough to argue selections when a team wins it all, but even if he’s not the most defensively sound forward out there, he’s a top-tier offensive threat.

Alex Nedeljkovic – 13 saves on 19 shots and the 6-3 loss to NSH. That’s four straight losses for Nedeljkovic, and 18 GA in his last 4 GS.

Juuse Saros – 27 saves on 30 shots and the 6-3 win vs SJ. If I told you the Nashville/San Jose game would be 6-1 with 5 minutes left in the second period, you’d probably ask how many goals Macklin Celebrini scored already. Um…well, I’ve got bad news for you if you’re a Sharks fan. That’s 5 wins in Saros’s last 7 starts, and 3 or fewer GA in his last 9 games. 

Filip Forsberg – 1 G (33), 2 A (32), +2, 1 H, 3 BLK. Don’t look now, but Filip is heating up! 12 points in his last half dozen games.

Brady Skjei – 1 G (2), 1 A (21), +4, 2 SOG, 1 BLK. A nice bonus for those of us in +/- H2H leagues.

Jonathan Marchessault – 3 A (17), +3, 2 SOG. This doesn’t look like the same guy who scored 42 goals just two years ago.

Darcy Kuemper – 21 saves on 23 shots in the 3-2 OTL. The Kings are now four points back of the final wild card spot in the West.

Quinton Byfield – 2 G (17), +1, 3 SOG, 1 H. 

Drew Doughty – 1 A (15), +1, 3 SOG, 1 H, 3 BLK. Nice work, Grandpa Drew.

Dustin Wolf – 23 saves on 25 shots in the 3-2 OTW. 21 wins for Wolf is impressive, considering the kind of offense and defense that lines up in front of him.

Tristan Jarry – 16 saves on 18 shots for the 5-2 win at UTA. The final score made things look a lot less close than the actual game was, but in the end, the Mammoth couldn’t get a point.

Evan Bouchard – 3 A (63), +4, 3 SOG, 3 BLK. They mentioned this in the telecast, but Evan Bouchard became the 15th defenseman in NHL history to have TWO 80-point seasons with his first assist in this one. If there’s one guy who could beat Werenski for the Norris, this is him.

Connor McDavid – 2 G (40), +2, 4 SOG, 1 BLK, 20:42 TOI. It was a record-setting night in Utah. This was McDavid’s 400th career goal. The empty-netter at the end was his 40th goal of the year and the 1200th point of his career. Wow.

Karel Vejmelka – 11 saves on 15 shots and the loss!

Vitek Vanecek – 10 saves on 10 shots and the no-decision? Speaking of no-decisions, baseball season starts this week! See me on the other side for your Starting Pitching needs! 

Lukas Dostal – 23 saves on 26 shots (with 10 minutes left in the third).

Mikael Granlund – 2 G (16), +1, 3 SOG.

John Carlson – 3 A (40), +1, 1 SOG, 19:29 TOI. It was a bit of a shocker when the Capitals dealt Carlson to the Ducks, but he’s fit right in and is just what Anaheim needed to try to lock down the division.

Kevin Lankinen – 26 saves on 30 shots. If the score holds up, this will be Lankinen’s 9th loss in his last 10 starts. The good news for the Canucks is … there’s only 12 games left. 

That’s all for this week! I’ll be back for another full schedule next Tuesday. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Happy Wednesday, and I’ll see you next week!

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