First off, I’d just like to apologize to everyone for not having daily notes on Monday morning. I wasn’t feeling too well Sunday night; one minute I’m watching the beginning of the Seahawks game and the next thing I know it’s 10 AM! Thankfully there was only one game on Monday night so it wasn’t the end of the world. Anyways, Sebastian Aho scored his first two NHL goals on Saturday and added an assist in Carolina’s 5-1 win over the Capitals. That brings Aho’s totals to 2+7 in 14 games which is great for the 19 year old. Unfortunately, that’s accompanied by exactly 2 shots per game and only 2 PIM on the season. Add in the fact that the minutes are low (12:13 in this one) and I don’t think you can hold onto Aho in standard 12’ers. That said, he’s going to remain a great streamer for assists and is a Razzball favorite for dynasties. Let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend plus the one Monday night game.
Friday’s Games:
Devils 2, Sabres 1 (OT) – Both teams played their backup goalies in the first game of their back to back. Anders Nilsson made 41 saves while Keith Kinkaid stopped 25 of 26 shots for the win. Neither will play much but they’ve shown enough to be guys that we don’t automatically pick on them every time they start. Yohann Auvitu scored his first career goal and remains a decent deep league option. Travis Zajac and Taylor Hall each had assists; Zajac is a clear hold at the moment in 12’ers. Ryan O’Reilly dished an assist and added three shots but left the game due to injury. He’s out for Tuesday’s game but should be back very soon so hold him.
Maple Leafs 6, Flyers 3 – Yikes. Steve Mason allowed 6 goals on 23 shots and with Michal Neuvirth out 4-6 weeks, Mason will get the majority of the starts for that period. He’s a clear “desperate for starts” guy. Wayne Simmonds scored two goals on five shots to maintain his torrid pace while Travis Konecny scored the other goal. He remains a bottom end hold for me in redraft 12’ers. For Toronto, it was the Morgan Rielly show. Reilly had a goal and three assists playing over 25 minutes. The assists are outstanding and while the rest of the stats are mediocre or worse, it’s more than enough for him to be owned everywhere. Nazem Kadri stayed hot with 1+1 as did Mitch Marner. I said it before the season and I’m sticking with it; Marner will be the highest scoring rookie on the Leafs. Nikita Zaitsev tallied an assist but he’s really bottom end right now. With only 13 shots in 15 games, you must desperately need assists to hold him. I’d prefer to look elsewhere.
Senators 2, Kings 1 – Heartbreaker for the Kings dominating the game but getting nothing from it after Mark Stone scored with 7 seconds left. Dwight King had the lone goal for the Kings to remain a bottom end streamer. Erik Karlsson dished two assists as did Jean-Gabriel Pageau who is a nice deep league option. Craig Anderson was a beast saving 32 of 33 shots. I still am having a hard time believing in him but after a big game on Sunday (spoiler!), perhaps it’s time to.
Capitals 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT) – Braden Holtby made 32 saves in the victory as his numbers nearly mirror last season’s Vezina Trophy season. Jay Beagle scored two goals on four shots and for some reason, he’ll apparently play on the first line Tuesday night. Reid and I rant about this on today’s podcast that should be out by the time you read this. John Carlson had an assist and two shots as he starts to put together an assist streak. Better times are coming, believe me. Marian Hossa scored a goal and an assist with three shots. Counting Sunday’s game, he remarkably has 9 goals and 6 assists through 15 games. He’s almost halfway to last season’s point total and only 4 goals away! I guess he’s not shot after all.
Avalanche 3, Jets 2 (OT) – Well, this game ended in bizarre fashion with Nikolaj Ehlers shooting the puck into his own net. The goal was given to Rene Bourque giving him two total in the game. He’s a decent option for deeper leagues right now. Mikko Rantanen scored the other goal and more importantly, he played over 19 minutes. Solid streamer for the short term. Matt Duchene suffered a concussion and will be out for tonight’s game. Hopefully it won’t be much longer but it’s difficult to say. Despite the blunder in OT, Ehlers had another terrific game for his owners with two assists. Blake Wheeler had 1+1 with 3 shots as he begins to heat up while Mark Scheifele found the back of the net again.
Stars 3, Oilers 2 – Kari Lehtonen was a beast making 40 saves in the victory. You still can’t trust either Stars goalie. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn dished two assists each while Patrick Eaves totaled a goal, assist, two shots and two PIM. Eaves is another guy we talked about on the podcast; he should be owned in all 12’ers yet he’s widely available. Same goes with Antoine Roussel who scored a goal on two shots. Patrick Maroon scored another goal from Connor McDavid and Jordan Eberle. Grab Maroon and hold him while he’s on the first line.
Saturday’s Games:
Canadiens 5, Red Wings 0 – Another game, another excellent start by Carey Price. He had a 25 save shutout and clearly remains the #1 goalie at the moment. Paul Byron scored another goalie to remain a top end streamer while he’s playing top 6 minutes. Alex Galchenyuk dished two assists and added two shots and penalty minutes. He’s over a point per game on the season and is currently a top 25 player. I don’t think he keeps up this pace but I bet Gally finishes top 50. Max Pacioretty scored a goal and an assist and is another guy we talk about on the podcast. Andrew Shaw had a goal and two assists with four shots and two PIM filling up the box score. This game doubled his point total though leaving him as a streamer at best. For Detroit, not much to see. Jimmy Howard was horrendous and with their horrible possession numbers, the team is in serious danger.
Sharks 3, Lightning 1 – I honestly don’t take anything away from this game. Martin Jones was solid making 25 saves to get his save percentage back up to .913. That should improve a bit more still. Otherwise, Brent Burns had an assist but didn’t have a shot on goal. It had been over a year since that happened; he’ll probably have 11 tonight now to make up for it.
Panthers 3, Islanders 2 (OT) – The Islanders may be really bad. I don’t see any chance of them turning this around either. Jaroslav Halak made 40 saves but it wasn’t enough to win after the Panthers scored with 14 seconds left to tie the game. Nick Leddy and Brock Nelson scored the goals; Leddy is a clear hold while Nelson is right on the edge. I would lean towards holding Nelson though. Vincent Trocheck had an assist and four shots playing over 24 minutes. The Panthers are really rolling their top 6 right now. Aleksander Barkov dished an assist playing 22 minutes, Jonathan Marchessault scored a goal on four shots adding two PIM in 20 minutes while Jussi Jokinen returned putting up three shots in 21:27. Keith Yandle had another assist with three shots and two PIM as he becomes too hot to yandle handle. I’ll see myself out… And I’m back! Michael Matheson totaled two assists, two shots and two PIM but I’m not owning him outside of deep leagues. The minutes are dropping in recent games.
Devils 4, Sabres 2 – Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique and Damon Severson all had two assists and are all holds at the moment, albeit on different levels. Henrique is close to the fringe but I’m giving him a little more time. Same goes with Kyle Palmieri who scored a goal on four shots with two PIM. Not much else to see here, the Sabres really need to get healthy.
Flyers 3, Wild 2 – This was a rare game where the Wild were dominated being outshot 36-20 leading to their downfall. Nino Niederreiter scored a goal on four shots playing 17 minutes solidifying himself as a short term hold. Charlie Coyle had an assist and a shot playing almost 22 minutes; there’s no debating Coyle’s status at the moment. Brayden Schenn scored a power play goal on four shots. He’s cooled off a bit but as long as he’s on the first power play unit, the points will keep coming. Steve Mason had an easy night making 19 saves in the win.
Penguins 4, Maple Leafs 1 – Pittsburgh put up a whopping 49 shots in this one beating the Leafs by sheer volume. Matt Murray made 35 saves in the win giving him 4 wins in 4 starts allowing 5 goals total. He’s been outstanding and deserves the majority of starts right now. Kris Letang dished two assists while Bryan Rust scored a goal and an assist with six shots. He is a decent streamer as he plays on the second line with Evgeni Malkin (goal on four shots with four PIM). Sidney Crosby dominated as expected with 1+1 and 6 SOG. Ten goals and three assists in nine games seems fairly decent.
Hurricanes 5, Capitals 1 – Besides Aho, Teuvo Teravainen scored a goal and three assists with four shots while Jordan Staal centered the young Fins also putting up 1+3. We led off talking about these guys on the podcast so if you want more details, please listen to that. I think all of them are streamers at the moment and would rank them Teravinen, Staal, Aho unless you specifically want assists, then slide up Aho. Victor Rask scored a goal on six shots while Lee Stempniak had an assist playing over 21 minutes. He’s back to an elite streamer now that’s be back with Rask. No rhyme intended! Evgeny Kuznetsov scored the Caps goal on his only shot. I’m officially panicking on Kuznetsov. Twenty shots in fourteen games isn’t going to get it done. Cam Ward made 20 saves in the win but I still want nothing to do with him.
Blue Jackets 8, Blues 4 – Holy Santa Clause shit, another huge game for Columbus scoring their 7th goal with 6:30 left in the second period! Vladimir Tarasenko had the most unnoticed 4 point game ever with a goal and three assists on five shots. David Perron also had three assists giving him 8 points on the season, 7 of which came in 2 games. Robby Fabbri scored twice on four shots as he starts to show signs of a breakout. Jake Allen was a mess allowing 4 goals on 12 shots before being pulled. I’d still try to buy low. For Columbus, there is obviously a ton to report with 8 goals. Cam Atkinson dished four assists as he nears a point per game. Nick Foligno is scorching hot right now with another goal and two assists. Sam Gagner scored twice playing his way onto the streaming radar. Scott Hartnell and Boone Jenner each had two assists as they remain on the fringe. Brandon Saad also had two assists getting him to 12 points in 13 games. Zach Werenski and Alexander Wennberg each scored a goal to continue their excellent starts.
Bruins 2, Coyotes 1 – Tuukka Rask is currently the #2 overall goalie after another 31 save outing and a shutout on Sunday (more spoilers!). I’ll expand on him more there. David Pastrnak scored again giving him 10 on the season already. Torey Krug had another assist to continue heating up while Ryan Spooner is back on the streaming radar with a goal on three shots. Radim Vrbata had the Coyotes goal on six shots to remain a hold in my mind while Oliver Ekman-Larsson dished an assist with three shots. I’m surprised his minutes aren’t higher than they are (23:45 in this one).
Predators 5, Ducks 0 – This is the Preds team I expected. It was another dud for John Gibson, who like Allen, I’d like to buy low on. Good Pekka Rinne showed up this week and it culminated with a 27 save shutout. The roller coaster ride is in full effect. James Neal has closed any buy low window with another two goals on five shots. Filip Forsberg finally found the back of the net with a goal on five shots plus an assist. Hopefully this week springboards the team moving forward.
Rangers 4, Flames 1 – Henrik Lundqvist was his usual self making 35 saves on 36 shots. Nobody had more than one point in this game for the Rangers exemplifying their team strength: depth. This game really didn’t change the value of anybody. The most encouraging thing to me was Pavel Buchnevich scored another goal so expect him to remain one of my favorite streamers.
Sunday’s Games:
Jets 3, Kings 2 (SO) – Connor Hellebuyck was strong making 27 saves in the victory. It’s nice to see that the Jets have finally given him the reigns and letting him run with it. The story for me in this game is two different young guys on the Jets, Marko Dano and Nic Petan. Long time readers know how much I love Dano’s talent. He scored a goal on two shots playing almost 18 minutes. He closed the game with Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele so if that holds, I will be all over Dano. Petan had an assist with three shots centering Nikolaj Ehlers and Blake Wheeler on the second line. There’s clear streamer value here as well.
Canucks 5, Stars 4 (OT) – There was late drama in this one with the Canucks tying the game with 1:40 left. For Dallas, Kari Lehtonen followed up his excellent start with 5 goals allowed on 30 shots. No surprise at all. Tyler Seguin dished three assists as he’s now tied for the league lead in points. Patrick Eaves scored two goals on three shots to strengthen what I said above. Scroll up if you forgot but don’t forget to come back! Okay, glad you’re here again. Antoine Roussel had 1+1; go grab him now. The secondary guys were strong for the Canucks with Alex Burrows, Markus Granlund, Bo Horvat and Brandon Sutter each having two points. They’re all okay streamers for me and would rank them Horvat, Sutter, Burrows, Granlund.
Wild 2, Senators 1 (OT) – This was a goaltending battle between Darcy Kuemper and Craig Anderson. Kuemper played extremely well in his spot start making 35 saves in the victory. I think you can safely stream him every time he starts. Ryan Suter and Matt Dumba scored the goals and while they’re on differing ends of the spectrum, they are both holds in 12’ers. Kyle Turris scored the Ottawa goal and amazingly played over 25 minutes. The assists are lacking but 7 goals in 15 games is obviously excellent.
Bruins 2, Avalanche 0 – Rask had a 20 save shutout in this one. That puts him at 10 wins in 11 games with a 1.54 GAA and .945 sv%. Seems decent. I wouldn’t sell high on this one, Rask is excellent and the Bruins look much better defensively on the whole. David Krejci scored a goal and an assist with four shots to officially become hotter than a pistol. He needs to be held everywhere. Semyon Varlamov made 44 saves in the game but it wasn’t enough to win. 46-20 shots shows the state that Colorado is in right now.
Blackhawks 3, Canadiens 2 – Andrei Markov had a goal and an assist giving him a 5 game point streak. He’s doing what we expected; a lot of assists and not much else. Jonathan Toews dished two assists while Marian Hossa scored another goal. Honestly, there’s not much to see in this one.
Rangers 3, Oilers 1 – Antti Raanta played the second game of the back to back and saved 38 of 39 Oilers shots. It must be nice to have a backup of Raanta’s quality. He’s an automatic stream every time he plays. Michael Grabner scored two goals on four shots giving him 10 on the season. As I mentioned on the podcast, that’s more than each of the last two seasons! I can’t explain it at all but ride it while you can. Another game on the top line, another point for Patrick Maroon. Pop quiz! What do you do with Maroon? Pick him up and hold him you said? Damn, you guys are smart.
Monday’s Game:
Lightning 4, Islanders 0 – The Islanders are in big, big trouble. You know that’s the case when Nikita Kucherov (1+1, 3 SOG, 2 PIM) says after the game that “I wish we could play them more” since they don’t play again this season. Ouch. Vladislav Namestnikov scored a goal on two shots with two PIM to remain a top streamer while Steven Stamkos is showing why he deserved to be a first round pick with two more assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves in the shutout and is worth owning even though he’s only going to start 25-30 games.
Tuesday’s Streamers – It doesn’t seem necessary to stream on a night with 13 games but regardless, I’m here for you! Here are my top three choices:
Patrick Eaves (17.4%) – I’m being a broken record on purpose. He needs to be owned and I shouldn’t have the chance to include him here. However, he’s still under 20% which is blasphemy.
Marko Dano (0.8%) – The chance that he’s on the first line is more than enough for me. I can’t help myself, I love Dano! Getting to play against his old Chicago team that traded him away doesn’t hurt either.
Brandon Pirri (11.0%) – Any Ranger is worth streaming in this game against the Canucks so if there are higher % owned Rangers available in your league, grab them. I’m putting Pirri here because the Butcher missed Sunday with back spasms and he’s uncertain for this game. Given Pirri’s role on the first power play, he’s a great option regardless.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back tomorrow recapping Tuesday night’s action. Be sure to give the podcast a listen and make your picks for The Three Point Challenge in the comments of that post. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Take care!
