There are probably a dozen different players who I could give this lede to. There were a bunch of people who hit the 3 point challenge, my love affair for the Jetse guys is paying off and there were also some shutouts. I decided to take a look at somebody who generates some talk in the comments, Max Domi. Domi finally broke and in a big way with a goal and two assists and two shots. It was shockingly his first goal of the season but he now has 9 assists in 12 games, including 8 in the last 8 games. The shots have slightly increased, not as much as I hoped, but with almost a penalty minute per game as well, he’s easily a top 100 player at this point. Domi’s minutes are a bit inconsistent but with how thin the Coyotes roster, I expect them to go up as the season progresses. Let’s take a look at what else happened around the league the last two nights.
Monday’s Games:
Bruins 4, Sabres 0 – Ugh, the first game that contributed to my misery on Monday night. Tuukka Rask continues to play like a top 5 goalie with a 32 save shutout. David Krejci scored a goal on five shots, his first of the season. It’s been a rough start for him putting him firmly on the fringe of 12’ers. On the other side of things, David Pastrnak had 1+1 with 3 shots as he stays on fire. More on him in Tuesday’s game recap. Same with Torey Krug who had an assist with four shots. Not much to report from Buffalo’s side; Robin Lehner actually played well saving 38 of 42 shots, the Sabres just spent too much time on the penalty kill, partially due to some horrific calls. I’m buying into Lehner’s success; just stay healthy!
Islanders 4, Canucks 2 – For Vancouver, Daniel Sedin scored a goal on three shots. He’s starting to build some momentum despite his team being a mess. Jaroslav Halak started again saving 30 of 32 shots. I officially have no idea what the hell the Isles are doing with their goaltending situation. Cal Clutterbuck scored a goal on two shots as he played on the first line. It makes no sense to me but it makes him must own in leagues that count hits and a decent streamer in standards. Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy each had an assist taking advantage of their role boost with Travis Hamonic out, as talked about on Tuesday’s Podcast. Andrew Ladd ended his goal scoring drought but I still don’t want anything to do with him at the moment.
Panthers 3, Lightning 1 – Big win for Florida against their rival. I’m not sure it’s fair to even call it a rivalry but if these two teams are rivals with anybody, it’s each other. Anyways, for Tampa, it’s one guy worth talking about. Ondrej Palat scored the lone goal on seven shots playing over 18 minutes. He’s somebody who has been cut in the majority of leagues (he’s available in a few RCL’s) and is right on the fringe for me. His opportunity is excellent in the Tampa top 6 that I want to buy in but it’s been up and down so far, mostly down. I’ll be sure to bring him up on Thursday’s podcast. For Florida, Roberto Luongo did his thing stopping 34 of 35 shots. My man Keith Yandle maintained his hot streak with two assists giving him five in the last five games. Jonathan Marchessault scored another goal while Aleksander Barkov snapped his cold streak with an assist and two shots.
Tuesday’s Games:
Devils 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO) – The goalies were excellent in this one with Cam Ward making 39 saves and Cory Schneider making 31. I still don’t want anything to do with Ward though. We talked about Justin Faulk‘s injury on the podcast and he’s now listed as “week to week.” I said that I wasn’t sure if any of the Carolina D would be worth owning. The extra minutes went to Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce, who each had an assist. If you’re desperate, you can take a flier on either. P.A. Parenteau scored a goal on four shots while Travis Zajac had an assist with four shots playing over 23 minutes. If you need assists at the bottom of your roster, grab Zajac.
Canucks 5, Rangers 3 – Naturally the biggest underdog of the season wins their game outright. Antti Raanta received the start and made 20 saves on 22 shots before leaving the game with a possible concussion with 6:55 left. Then Henrik Lundqvist came in cold and allowed 2 goals on 6 shots putting the Canucks in front. For the Rangers, Pavel Buchnevich gave me some top end streamer success and let Scott hit the 3 point challenge with a goal and two assists. I’m holding Buchenvich for their upcoming stretch against horrible defensive teams. Mika Zibanejad snapped his cold streak with a goal while Rick Nash also found the back of the net. For Vancouver, Sven Baertschi totaled 1+1 breaking his season long slump. Alex Burrows scored twice on five shots but I still don’t want anything to do with him. Bo Horvat dished two assists and added three shots and two PIM to remain a streamer while Henrik Sedin totaled 1+1 with a shot and two PIM. It’s pretty bottom end because of the lack of shots but I think you still have to hold the lesser of the Cyborgs.
Red Wings 3, Flyers 2 (SO) – The Flyers finally had a good start in net with Steve Mason totaling 33 saves but it wasn’t enough. Not much to report in this game. Jakub Voracek dished two assists adding six shots while Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn each had a point. Jimmy Howard was decent in net making 23 saves while Tomas Tatar scored a goal from Henrik Zetterberg. Both are pretty bottom end at the moment and I’d prefer to stream them rather than hold.
Penguins 4, Oilers 3 – In the battle of Connor McDavid versus Sidney Crosby, Crosby’s team came on top while McDavid stole the show. Number 97 had three assists with two shots giving Matt and Shitwolf wins in the three point challenge. I guess it’s easier than I thought! Jordan Eberle also had three points scoring twice on six shots and adding an assist. These guys are great, this game doesn’t change much for them. The biggest fantasy impact was Patrick Maroon moving into Milan Lucic‘s spot and delivering totaling a goal, assist, two PIM and four SOG playing almost 19 minutes. I personally hope this sticks because Lucic doesn’t belong on this line. Maroon is worth streaming in the short term withe potential to become a hold if this sticks. For Pittsburgh, the biggest impact is Conor Sheary scoring twice on three shots. The coach trusted him being out there with under 2 minutes left and he delivered. He wasn’t on the top line like he’s been but Sheary remains a quality streamer.
Sharks 3, Capitals 0 – Big road win for the Sharks who were struggling quite a bit in recent times. Martin Jones had a relatively easy time of things with a 24 save shutout. Brent Burns scored a goal but only had two shots on goal. What is wrong with him!? Joe Thornton scored an empty netter and added an assist. The shots are horrible right now being well under one per game. He really needs to fix that or Thornton is going to bury his owners, especially in roto leagues.
Kings 7, Maple Leafs 0 – Oh boy. This game was just as lopsided as the score indicates with the Kings outshooting the Leafs 43-19. Peter Budaj had an easy shutout while Frederik Andersen allowed 4 on 26 shots in 33 minutes before Jhonas Enroth allowed 3 on 17 shots. Yikes. This is exactly why I want nothing to do with Leafs goalies. For the Kings, I don’t any real changes for players going forward. Derek Forbort dished three assists and I can’t believe I didn’t pull the trigger on him in the Three Point Challenge. He only had 0 points the first 12 games. Tyler Toffoli had 1+1 while Jeff Carter scored twice, we know what they are. Dwight King had 1+1 and becomes an okay streamer if he sticks in the top 6 for any period of time.
Canadiens 3, Bruins 2 – In an absolute shock, Carey Price made 41 saves securing the win. Just kidding, nobody is surprised by him anymore. Alex Galchenyuk keeps cruising with a goal and an assist with three shots. Paul Byron gets his annual update with the same stat line as Gally while Alexander Radulov dished two assists. The shots are much lower than expected but he’s a clear hold at the moment. David Pastnrak scored another goal giving him 9 on the season. Yay for being the highest on him on FantasyPros by quite a bit! Torey Krug put six more shots on goal giving him 4+ in 5 straight. Forty-five shots and no goals after 4 goals on 244 shots last season; how unlucky can he be? I would try to buy super low on him or potentially grab him off the waiver wire if somebody got impatient.
Predators 3, Senators 1 – For Ottawa, Kyle Turris scored a goal on four shots while Dion Phaneuf had an assist, five shots and two PIM. We know what both of these guys are at this point. Good Pekka Rinne showed up tonight stopping 33 of 34 shots faced. P.K. Subban and James Neal each had 1+1. Neal is starting to heat up and the buy low window may be closing. Subban seems like he hasn’t done much but 8 points in 12 games with decent PIM and above average SOG isn’t bad for a presumed slump. Viktor Arvidsson had an assist with four shots to stay on the streaming radar while Filip Forsberg had another assist. I can’t believe he still has 0 goals but with 8 assists in 12 games, at least he’s providing some quality value somewhere.
Jets 8, Stars 2 – Holy Santa Clause shit! This obviously starts with Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele. Laine had his second career hat trick in this game totaling 3 goals, 1 assist, 4 SOG and 2 PIM being +3. That gives him 11 goals and 4 assists through 14 games. I feel much better about calling him the best rookie now! Scheifele gave Reid back to back wins in the Three Point Challenge as he posted two goals, two assists, three shots, two PIM and +3 putting him in the league lead in points. God knows I love the top end Jets coming into the season but they’ve even exceeded my lofty expectations. Scheifele is easily a top 20 player and Laine a top 50 going forward. Their linemate, Nikolaj Ehlers, stayed hot wiht two more assists. It’ll get overlooked by most but Connor Hellebuyck was solid making 28 saves. He really needs to start getting the majority of the starts. Andrew Copp had 1+1 (I don’t think there’s much here), Tyler Myers had two assists with seven PIM (bottom end for PIM boost) while Nic Petan also had two assists (needs a role boost, decent dynasty option). For Dallas, Patrick Eaves had 1+1 for some more multi-point streamer success! The -4 is a bummer though. Tyler Seguin scored the other goal while Antoine Roussel did his thing and then some recording an assist, five shots and nine penalty minutes.
Coyotes 4, Avalanche 2 – Besides Domi, Jordan Martinook moved up to the first line and scored twice. He’s a solid streamer in that role. Radim Vrbata dished two assists and remains a bottom end hold for the time being. Anthony DeAngelo made his NHL debut and scored a goal on two shots playing over 20 minutes. DeAngelo is a former first round pick worth monitoring in the short term. Nathan MacKinnon broke his cold streak with a goal on four shots while Matt Duchene continues to produce with another assist.
Wednesday’s Streamers – It’s only a three game slate meaning its a great time to stream. Here are my top three options:
Alexander Wennberg (29.4%) – Okay, I’m cheating by my standards but it’s a 3 game slate and I just want to make clear that he should be 100% owned right now. Stream him, keep him, be happy. At least a split second before you realize that Donald Trump is the President-Elect. I almost made it through this post without mentioning it but I just couldn’t do it.
Sam Reinhart (24.2%) – Minutes took a big jump back up last game and the shots are there. A guy in the top 6 and PP1 is plenty in a three game slate.
Jori Lehtera (13.5%) – I’m not a big fan of his game from a fantasy perspective but Lehtera is back centering the first line which is good enough to make him streamer worthy.
Nick Schmaltz (0.9%) – With Tyler Motte out 2-3 weeks, Schmaltz moves into the top 6 for the time being. We’ve seen a bunch of guys produce in this role over this season and going back further, I won’t doubt Schmaltz.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back with my next set of daily notes on Friday. The plan is to podcast with Reid today so look for that to go up Thursday morning. Additionally, Matt’s newest post should be good to go either this afternoon or Thursday as well. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Take care!
