Nothing like a hat trick to regain the NHL lead in goals. Especially in what was a timed game. Brock Boeser finished Tuesday with a natural hat trick, securing a 4-1 win over the Lightning. That brings him to a whopping 21 goals, well on his way to obliterating his previous career high. They aren’t the same type of player, but it reminds of Kreider’s 50 goal year. A solid player who has everything go right for a year. Now, it’s still early that Boeser is far from a lock for 50, but if he stays healthy, 40 is close to a lock. It’s far from sustainable going to the next few seasons, but the important thing is Boeser is back on his A game ignoring the good fortune. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Monday’s Games
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with four shots. There was something poetic about Tavares reaching 1k points on Long Island as he’s getting booed every time he touches the puck as the Leafs find a way to lose.
William Nylander – Two assists with two shots. He’s playing like a tier one superstar this season.
Noah Dobson – Three assists with a shot. Everything I wrote about Dobson last season, pretend it was this one. I was a year off projecting the breakout.
Kyle Palmieri – Goal and an assist. Middling streamer.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with four shots. Nelson is on pace for 36 goals, just like last season and right in line with the 37 from two seasons ago. That’s who he is now.
Shayne Gostisbehere – Two assists with three shots. He’s cooled off quite a bit, but Ghost is still a clear hold.
Miro Heiskanen – Two goals and an assist with three shots. It hasn’t been as good as we hoped, but don’t complain about it. Odds are that it will improve, and it’s plenty good as is.
Jason Robertson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Now Robertson you can complain about. However, while the shot rate has really fallen off, I still believe in the talent.
Nazem Kadri – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. A nice revenge game from The Dream 2.0. He has a point in seven of his last eight games and I still believe in him as a hold.
Mikko Rantanen – Goal and two assists with eight shots. I can’t help but find the story about Lehkonen’s dad hilarious. The top line is regularly playing 25+ minutes a night and all of them are beasts.
Ross Colton – Goal and an assist with two shots. Colton has been a nice fit for the Avs, but he’s still only a middling streamer.
Eric Robinson – Goal and two assists, as did Kyle Okposo. Robinson has fit in nicely so far, but don’t expect much from this line going forward.
Connor Clifton – Two assists with a shot. The Sabres had high hopes from Clifton, but turns out he’s a #6 just like he was in Boston.
Rasmus Dahlin – Goal and an assist with four shots. I supposed it’s partially his fault the Sabres PP is struggling, but I find more blame with everyone around Dahlin. Even when it seems like he’s struggling, he’s on pace for 68 points.
Tuesday’s Games:
Lawson Crouse – Goal and an assist with two shots. Crouse has managed to improve a goal total that seemed hard to improve while also weakening his assist rate which also seemed impossible. He’s a man of extremes.
Jeff Carter – Two goals on four shots with two PIM. One game doesn’t change him being washed.
Jake Guentzel – Two goals on seven shots. Guentzel has managed to sustain his goal rate while improving his assist rate. Despite poor hits and poor PIM, he’s a fantasy superstar.
Sebastian Aho – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Every time he goes on a cold streak, Aho snaps it with a big game. And with last night, he’s at a point per game like he’s been around the previous five seasons.
Pyotr Kochetkov – 31 saves on 32 shots, plus an amazing poke check / chirp session with Tkachuk in the 4-1 win over the Sens. Look, Kochetkov has been awful this season, but if he gets back on track, he can’t be in a better spot. Undeniable upside, and we’ve seen the huge downside.
Auston Matthews – Two goals and two assists with three shots. After a rough stretch by his standards, Matthews has seven goals in five December games.
Mitch Marner – Two goals and an assist with three shots. The assists and shots being down keeps him outside of a top 20 player like we’re accustomed to.
Blake Wheeler – Two goals on five shots. He’s on the first line, but Wheeler hasn’t done much. Not even interested as a bottom end streamer.
Michael Rasmussen – Goal and an assist. No thanks.
Joe Veleno – Two assists with three shots. Veleno is getting massive minutes right now with Larkin out. That leaves him as a solid streamer bordering on elite.
Kevin Hayes – Two goals on three shots. Hayes’ shooting percentage is high based on his past, so I don’t see him as more than a bottom end streamer.
Sean Couturier – Goal and an assist with three shots. Six game point streak for Couts, who has been wildly impressive coming off missing so much time. He’s on the fringe, but I lean hold.
Filip Forsberg – Goal and an assist with six shots. This season couldn’t be going any better for Forsberg. He’s been a top ten forward so far.
Joey Daccord – 24 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Kraken. Daccord would be having a solid season if he didn’t have six OTL. There’e deep league value, but it’s fringy for 12’ers.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Goal and an assist with four shots. And there’s your annual Bellemare update!
Will Borgen – Two assists. Also your annual update for Borgen!
Yegor Sharangovich – Two goals on four shots. He’s getting a lot more minutes lately, and that’s led to six points in the last six games, with 3+ shots in five of the six. That leaves him as a solid streamer while he’s a hot schmotato.
Mark Stone – Two goals and two assists with three shots. It’s mostly a matter of staying healthy for Stone. If he does, he’s likely to be a point per game player.
Jonathan Marchessault – Three assists with four shots. The goals and shot rate are so good that I lean towards bottom end hold, even though the three assists from this game are 50% of what he had in 29 games before tonight.
Thatcher Demko – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 4-1 win over the Lightning. It’s gotten a bit tougher lately, but Demko is still a clear #1. Last season’s struggles are well behind him.
Quinn Hughes – Three assists with a shot. I’m still in shock over this season from Hughes, and I’ve always been a fan. A new career high in goals already. Over an assist per game. Crushing even strength. Crushing the power play. Best shot rate of his career by far.
J.T. Miller – Two assists with two shots. Miller is second in the league in points, if you were unaware. Somehow his 99 points from two seasons ago is likely to be blown by.
Stuart Skinner – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 4-1 win over Chicago. With Edmonton winning eight in a row, Skinner is clearly must own again.
Evan Bouchard – Two assists with two shots. From a pure points perspective, Bouchard has been as good as any defenseman besides Makar since Barrie was moved at the trade deadline last season.
Sam Gagner – Goal and an assist with two shots. Kudos to Gagner for continuing to produce in a smaller role.
Mackenzie Blackwood – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 2-1 win over the Jets. If you look at his baseline numbers, Blackwood has been bad. If you look at the underlying numbers, he’s been really good on an awful team. That doesn’t help us for fantasy unless you punt him in GPP’s in DFS, but it’s nice to see Blackwood rescue his career.
We’ll do the Three Point Challenge for Thursday’s games. It’s 5 AM EST, I’m in PST but still, I want to get this posted ASAP so I will update this tomorrow.
That’s all for now guys. Feel free to ask any questions, give any comments, or leave any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
