In the game of the night, a stealth Hart Trophy candidate led his team to glory. Johnny Gaudreau scored a hat trick on four shots in the 4-1 win in Winnipeg. Just like that, he’s 5th in the NHL in scoring with by far the best shot rate of his career. Couple that with a career high shooting percentage and Johnny Hockey is well on his way to a career high in goals. I’ve generally been lower on Gaudreau than most, but this year he has proven me wrong. That line is among the best in hockey and Gaudreau is at the forefront. I don’t expect him to slow down much in the second half making Gaudreau is a good bet to finish as a top 20 player in fantasy. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Thursday night:
Andy Greene – Two assists with two PIM. Irrelevant outside of the deepest of leagues for blocked shots.
Blake Coleman – Two goals on four shots. Coleman has quietly become a decent streamer and solid streamer. Coleman is pushing 3 shots per game and getting nice minutes at the moment.
Nico Hischier – Goal and an assist with two shots. It hasn’t been a big breakout for Hischier but he’s been good enough to remain a bottom end hold in redrafts.
Boone Jenner – Two assists with four shots. After a decent start, Jenner has slowed down. I wouldn’t stream him outside of a small slate.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and an assist with two shots. I still remain a Bjorkstrand fan but he’s not worth streaming right now. I could see a breakout next season assuming Panarin leaves making him an interesting grab in dynasties come the end of the season if your team is out of contention.
Chris Kreider – Two goals on four shots. Great season for Kreider who is already up to 17 goals with a great shot rate.
Kevin Hayes – Two assists with a shot. Fabulous season for Hayes at the right team. He’s a clear hold right now and it’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening with Hayes as we approach the trade deadline.
Phil Kessel – Two goals and an assist with four shots. No surprise that Detroit had no answer for the big guns of Pittsburgh, as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had two assists.
Derick Brassard – Two goals. This season has been a disaster from Brassard, who is now far away from being streamer worthy.
John Carlson – Goal and an assist with two shots. It’s been smooth sailing all season long for Carlson.
Braden Holtby – 28 saves on 29 shots in the 3-1 win over the Hurricanes. Solid season for Holtby, which comes as no surprise.
Claude Giroux – Goal and an assist with two shots. Giroux has found a way to be better than last season. Certainly hard to have expected that.
James van Riemsdyk – Two assists with two shots. He’s finally starting to get into a groove with 9 points in his last 10 games. The change in lines should help JVR plenty. Easy hold.
Steven Stamkos – Two goals and two assists with three shots. Stammer has 13 goals in his last 10 games. Pretty, pretty good.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and three assists with six shots. 19 points in 10 games for Kucherov who is on pace to blow by last season’s 100 point total. So damn good.
Tyler Johnson – Goal and an assist with five shots and two PIM. Nice bounceback from Johnson who is worthy of holding at the moment.
Brayden Point – Goal and an assist. It’s ridiculous how good the top guys on Tampa are.
Alex Steen – Two assists with two shots. Easy pass at this point of his career.
David Perron – Two assists. Perron is right on the fence depending on team needs. Strong PIM and good goals right now, but his shooting percentage has regression coming.
Robert Thomas – Goal and an assist with five shots. There’s not a lot here right now, but I absolutely love Thomas in dynasties. Thomas has all of the tools to become a first liner and a fantasy stud.
Jake Allen – 30 saves on 31 shots in the 4-1 win over the Sabres. Still don’t like Allen, who sits more towards desperation than anything else.
Anton Khudobin – 49 save shutout in the 2-0 win over the Predators. Monster game for Khudobin, who had to face the return of P.K. Subban and Viktor Arvidsson. Khudobin has been good enough this season to be worth streaming in most matchups.
Sean Monahan – Three assists with a shot. Elias Lindholm had two assists with a shot. That line is virtually unstoppable. They’ve found another gear that I wasn’t sure that they had.
David Rittich – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 4-1 win over the Jets. Rittich could easily be a bottom end #1 for the rest of the season if the Flames give him the necessary starts.
Collin Delia – 46 saves on 48 shots in the 5-2 win over the Wild. Delia was an UDFA that signed with Chicago last summer. Do I expect much from him? Not at all, his numbers in the ECHL and AHL were bad last season. He could get starts because Ward sucks, but expect him to fall off sooner than later. Pure desperation play. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Patrick Kane – Hat trick on four shots. Monster season for Kane despite the team around him being a mess.
Jonathan Toews – Two assists. Best season from Toews in quite some time.
Brandon Saad – Two goals on four shots. Saad is an okay streamer as he’s had a few multi-point games in the last few weeks. There’s no consistency at all.
Erik Gustafsson – Two assists with two shots. Right on the fringe right now but I lean towards leaving him on the wire.
Dylan Strome – Two assists with two shots. Strome has been solid with the Blackhawks. He’s a top end streamer for now with upside for more.
Eric Staal – Goal and an assist with six shots and four PIM. Nobody expected a repeat of last season but Staal has had a very good year to date. Maintaining this current pace is a good expectation going forward.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with two shots. Connor McDavid had two assists. These guys both played over 27 minutes in this game. Completely absurd.
Mikko Koskinen – 2 saves on 6 shots in 19:58 before being pulled. Sweet baby Jesus, that’s the new worst start of the year. I still like Koskinen going forward but don’t love him.
Nikolay Goldobin – Two assists with a shot. Good streamer call by yours truly. As long as he’s with the big guns, he’s worth using.
Elias Pettersson – Goal and an assist. If he can get his shot rate up to reduce the regression coming, it’s going to be outstanding. It will certainly be in the long term, but for the rest of the season, I wouldn’t mind selling high if you can.
Antoine Roussel – Goal and an assist with two shots. He played over 19 minutes in this game. If he’s getting anywhere near this many minutes, Roussel will be an okay streamer if you need PIM or hits.
Paul Stastny – Goal and an assist with four shots. Stastny is taking over three shots a game which is a massive jump from recent years. He’s an elite streamer now but that could change quickly.
Marc-Andre Fleury – 31 saves on 32 shots in the 2-1 win over the Avalanche. He’s fallen off a bit this season which comes as a surprise to nobody. Fleury should be a top end #2 given his volume.
Jonathan Quick – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Coyotes. This game was as big of a dud as expected. I take nothing away from it.
Barclay Goodrow – Three assists with two PIM. And there’s your annual Goodrow update!
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, or give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
