Well if I had to guess who would have the second four goal game of the season, I’m not sure Brad Richardson would have been in the first 500 guesses. Richardson single-handedly carried the Coyotes to victory on Thursday with those four goals on six shots, adding two PIM with a +4 rating. Richardson has 16 goals in 48 games now, a career high in his 14th season. For those of you in deep leagues, I would grab Richardson for the faceoff boost too. In standard leagues, I’m probably passing still despite playing at a 27 goal pace. Everything about it screams unsustainable, but we have to give props to him burying four in one game. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
David Rittich – 19 saves on 20 shots in the 2-1 win over the Devils. Rittich has gone back to being the backup to Smith, but I would still stream him in most matchups.
Johnny Gaudreau – Two assists with a shot. That ties a career high in points for Gaudreau with 5 weeks left in the season. He looks like a solid second round pick next season.
Darnell Nurse – Three assists with three shots over two games. I would own Nurse in all formats right now while he’s on PP1.
Josh Currie – Two assists with a shot. To be honest, I had no idea who Currie was before tonight. He’s a 26 year old journeyman who is an easy pass. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Mitch Marner – Goal and two assists with two shots Wednesday, assist and a shot Thursday. Career highs across the board for Marner who has taken the massive jump forward most were expecting.
Patrick Marleau – Goal and an assist with four shots over two games. Marleau is a bottom end streamer at this point in his career.
John Tavares – Goal and an assist with twelve shots over two games. Tavares has found another gear in Toronto. The jump in shot rate has him very likely to get 40 goals for the first time in his career.
Andreas Johnsson – Two goals on four shots over two games. He’s on a line with Matthews and Kapanen which is enough for me to hold Johnsson for the time being.
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with six shots over two games. Decent streamer but I certainly wouldn’t be holding Nylander right now.
Nikita Kucherov – Three assists with three shots Wednesday, two shots and ten PIM Thursday. 104 points in 65 games. Crushing everything. Clear Hart winner.
Steven Stamkos – Two assists with a shot over two games. Stamkos is going to make it close to reaching his career high of 95 points.
Victor Hedman – Goal and an assist with five shots and six PIM over two games. It’s been a disappointing season in terms of points for Hedman but he’s still hitting all of the categories very well. A big finish shouldn’t surprise everyone.
Jimmy Vesey – Goal and an assist with three shots. He almost played 20 minutes in this game which is a shock. He has a goal and an assist in three consecutive games so I’d bump him up to a decent streamer, but that’s about it.
Alex Biega – Two assists with a shot Wednesday, assist with five shots Thursday. And there’s your annual Biega update!
Alex DeBrincat – Two goals on four shots. The breakout has already happened at 21 years old. Just a remarkable season solidifying DeBrincat as a top 50 player for years to come.
Jonathan Toews – Two assists with three shots. Seven game point streak for Toews who has bounced back massively.
Erik Gustafsson – Two assists with a shot. That’s four straight games with multi-assists for Gustafsson. He’s a guy I was saying to grab early in the season and he’s been great in points. The shot rate and PIM aren’t that good, but he’s still been a strong waiver wire add.
Corey Crawford – 29 saves on 32 shots in the 4-3 win over the Ducks. Nice to see Crawford back between the pipes. There’s a lot of risk for any Chicago goalie, but he should still be owned.
Cal Clutterbuck – Two assists with a shot. Easy pass until you need to stream hits in deep leagues.
Jordan Eberle – Two assists with four shots. Eberle has had a really bad season by his standard. He’s a bottom end streamer at best.
Brock Nelson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Nelson is a solid streamer. He’s not excelling in any category besides plus-minus but he’s doing enough in most categories.
Robin Lehner – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 6-1 win over the Maple Leafs. Lehner has been nothing short of spectacular all season. Nice to see him get his life straightened out and carrying it over to massive success on the ice.
Jakub Voracek – Goal and an assist with four shots. The penalty minutes have completely disappeared which hurts Jake’s value quite a bit. That said, he still needs to be owned, it’s just not as great as usual.
Travis Sanheim – Two goals playing over 24 minutes. We’re starting to see some signs from Sanheim, the 22 year old former first round pick. I would grab him in deep leagues, and I don’t mind taking a flier on this Flyer in standard leagues if you want some upside.
Artemi Panarin – Goal and an assist with six shots. It’s a shame that Panarin didn’t come to the NHL until he was 24. He’s going to smash his previous career high of 82 points.
Torey Krug – Two assists with three shots. Krug’s stat line is much different than in the past, but he’s still been extremely valuable. He’s more of an AAGNOF but Krug is still contributing a bit across the board.
Danton Heinen – Two assists with a shot. As long as he’s on the first line, Heinen is a super elite streamer.
Tuukka Rask – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 4-1 win over Tampa. He hasn’t had great volume but Rask has been outstanding all season.
Jonathan Huberdeau – Goal and three assists with six shots. Twelve points in the last six games for Huberdeau. I can’t believe that they were entertaining trading him.
Keith Yandle – Two assists with three shots. The plus-minus is rough but Yandle has been great otherwise.
Mike Hoffman – Two goals on four shots. That’s 30 goals for Hoffman who has an elite shot rate. Another Panther who has been excellent outside of the plus-minus.
Aleksander Barkov – Goal and an assist with two shots. Same story as the other guys except Barkov has only 2 PIM all season! Remarkable given how many minutes he plays.
Paul Stastny – Goal and an assist. Despite his linemates going pointless tonight, I still love the setup of this line and think Stastny should be owned everywhere.
Jon Merrill – Goal and an assist with two PIM. And there’s your annual Merrill update!
Reilly Smith – Two goals on three shots. Smith has been awful this season after last season’s massive breakout. That said, he now has at least one point in eight of his last ten games and we’re starting to see better shot totals. I’m bumping him up to elite streamer.
Jonathan Marchessault – Two assists with six shots and two PIM. I did not expect Marchessault to regress this much this season, but part of that is his linemates. I’m still holding him everywhere.
Shea Theodore – Two assists with seven shots. Theodore is right on the fringe; it comes down to team needs.
Richard Panik – Three assists with a shot. Vinnie Hinostroza also dished three assists on the Richardson goals. They are all bottom end streamers at best.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Two assists. Four game point streak for OEL who has really fallen off over the last few years in terms of fantasy value. I don’t own him anywhere but OEL should probably still be owned in 12’ers.
Ben Lovejoy – Two assists with a shot. Easy pass.
Blake Comeau – Two assists with two shots. And there’s your annual Comeau update!
Anze Kopitar – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Really disappointing season for Kopitar, much like his team.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday. Odds are that it will be my playoff manifesto breaking down the schedule for the last four weeks of the season, but there’s a chance that I have some sort of daily notes on Monday and that comes out early next week. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
