If I was going to pick a team to back up an eight goal game with a nine goal game, it would obviously be The Desert Dogs! The last few weeks have been very strange as a whole in the NHL, but this takes the cake. Arizona scored eight on Ottawa before scoring a nine ball, corner pocket on Detroit Tuesday. They were led by the one, the only, Nick Schmaltz, who had two goals and two assists in this game. That’s 11 points and a +11 in two games! He’s the best thing since Gretzky! While I like to joke, Schmaltz was on fire a week ago and then decided to get 11 points in two games. He clearly needs to be held for the time being. Let’s see what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
Spencer Knight – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 6-1 win over the Sabres. Am I a big fan of Knight’s abilities for dynasties? Yes. Do I like him ROS? Meh. I can’t see Florida giving him volume so he’s a streamer when he plays.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and two assists. Numbers are off the chart.
Mason Marchment -Three assists with two PIM. I had no expectations for Marchment going into the season but he won me over. I was ready to call him a hold in all formats but he went back to the third line Tuesday. That puts him back on the fringe.
Brandon Montour – Goal and an assist with two shots. Revenge game! Montour is decent enough across the board to be held in 12+ man leagues.
Charlie Coyle – Two assists. Decent in real life, no fantasy value in Boston.
Michael Bunting – Goal and an assist, as did Marner and Matthews. Bunting is up to a bottom end hold while the top line is as good as it gets in the league.
T.J. Brodie – Two assists. Don’t care at this point in his career.
Gustav Nyquist – Two assists with two shots. Middling streamer.
Max Domi – Two assists with a shot and a fight. He’s been such a let down the last few years. Middling streamer but I can’t get all the way back in.
Cale Makar – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. A defenseman hasn’t been a consensus first round pick in close to a decade. We might be there next year.
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with nine shots. Mac Daddy is fully in form again. He’s showing why I’d still have him as #2 overall for fantasy, as hard as it is to justify that while Matthews and Kucherov are going off.
Anders Lee – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Big disappointment this season which leaves the Lee as a solid streamer, but that’s it.
Noah Dobson – Two assists with five shots. I’ve said it before, but I’m going to be all in on Dobson next year.
Tyler Toffoli – Two goals. Even in a third line, he’s must own in Calgary.
Johnny Gaudreau – Goal and an assist with three shots. The bank is wide open for who? JOHNNY!
Jacob Markstrom – 27 saves on 28 shots in the 3-1 win over the Oilers. He doesn’t have a real Vezina shot barring injuries, but Markstrom has been the goalie Calgary expected when they gave him the big contract.
Tuesday’s Games
Nathan MacKinnon – Goal and two assists with four shots. Mikko and Cale had 1+1. Imagine that you bet the Avs -1.5 in this game, they went up 3-0, and then they blew it in regulation. That’s me. I’m that guy. Woof.
Jesper Bratt – Three assists with a shot. Very nice breakout from Bratt that I didn’t see coming. He’s probably just outside the top 100 for next year, but I may be underrating him.
Jack Hughes – Two assists with six shots. Sky is the limit for him. No, something past the sky.
Yegor Sharangovich – Goal and an assist with two shots. Middling streamer who now, and he seems like the classic guy who gets upgraded in the offseason.
Carter Hart – 47 saves on 48 shots in the 2-1 win over the Golden Knights. Get Carrrrtahhhh Haaarttttt a team in front of him and he’ll be damn good. For now, he’s a bottom end #2.
Carter Verhaeghe – Goal and an assist with two shots. As long as he’s on the top line, Verhaeghe is an elite streamer at the very least. For now, I lean bottom end hold, but it’s close.
Sidney Crosby – Goal and an assist, as did Bryan Rust. The Pens top line continues to crush. Pens-Rangers is shaping up as a first round matchup and while it won’t be the best matchup (2-3 in the Atlantic), it’ll be right there.
Nick Ritchie – Two goals and an assist with three shots and eight shots. You have to be careful, says Dick Ritchie. Bonus points to those who know the reference. He’s been good in Arizona so far but I’m only at a middling streamer for now and slightly higher for those with hits.
Jakob Chychrun – Two goals and an assist with eight shots. Monster game and I can see him getting back on track when he’s inevitably traded by the deadline. If you have the room to spec add/ hold, do it.
Clayton Keller – Goal and two assists with three shots. If you had any hesitation to hold Keller, the last week should have eliminated those concerns.
Barrett Hayton – Three assists with a shot. We need some consistency to really consider Hayton.
Auston Matthews – Hat trick on four shots. All your goals are belong to Matthews!
Colin Blackwell – Goal and an assist with four shots. Bottom end streamer who could get a small boost if he’s traded to the right spot. No guarantees though.
Anton Forsberg – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 4-1 win over the Blues. Forsberg has to be at least one step above desperation now. He’s had a shockingly good year.
Josh Norris – Goal and two assists with two shots. Norris has been solid since returning from injury. He’s firmly on the fringe depending on team needs.
Tim Stuetzle – Goal and two assists with two shots. I’m all in on the Stuetzle breakout next season. For now, I’ll say I’m still higher than most and go elite streamer.
Juuse Saros – 22 saves on 23 shots in the 2-1 win over the Stars. The Juice Man is back in form.
Ryan Johansen – Goal and an assist with two shots. Quite the resurgence from RyJo, but I still only have him as a middling streamer because of the poor shot rate.
Mark Scheifele – Goal and three assists with four shots. The Jets have been struggling mightily so of course they go on Tampa. Blake Wheeler had two assists while Paul Stastny scored twice. Top player, bottom end hold, elite streamer still holds.
Kyle Connor – Goal and an assist with five shots. I will continue to pump Connor’s tires until he gets the credit he deserves.
Josh Morrissey – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM. Morrissey is an easy hold again since he wrestled the PP1 spot back from Pionk.
Marcus Foligno – Goal and two assists with two shots. He’s had a huge offensive season, but Foligno might be the biggest regression candidate in the entire league.
Kevin Fiala – Two goals. Fiala continues to go off after a wretched start. The story of Mr. Fiala for a few years running.
Sam Steel – Two assists with two shots. I’ve kind of given up on Steel being more than a bottom end streamer.
Patrick Kane – Goal and five assists with four shots. Dylan Strome had a hat trick plus an assist, while Alex DeBrincat had a goal and three assists. Strome is hot enough that he should be held, even if he’s not in the class of the other two.
Elias Lindholm – Two goals on five shots. What an insane heater from Lindholm to get him to a 42+42 pace, give or take. He’s the unsung hero of this line which is right up there with the league’s best.
Rasmus Andersson – Two assists with two PIM. Andersson has established himself as a solid #3, an easy hold in all formats.
Nick Jensen – Three assists with two PIM. Decent player in real life, but no fantasy value.
Alex Ovechkin – Two goals on three shots. The Great Eight is now #3 in goals all-time passing Jagr. I’ll take this time to ask you to donate to Ukraine, whether through Jagr’s efforts or otherwise.
Three Point Challenge: Will update tomorrow but we will do Thursday’s games per usual if you want to get your pick in early.
Update: I’ll go with Jack Hughes tonight for three points.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back Friday recapping the action of the last two nights. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
