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We found a new level of ridiculousness on Thursday night.  The Canadiens were in Florida and they managed to tie the record for the most goals in a first period in modern NHL history, and they did it in barely over 13 minutes!  Both Montreal goalies allowed 3+ goals in the first 13 minutes, and Sergei Bobrovsky allowed goals on the first three shots he faced.  My god.  The Panthers ended up winning 9-5 to keep pace in the Eastern playoff race.  The only player who made more than two points was Matthew Tkachuk, who had a goal and three assists to keep up his torrid pace.  Thanks Aleksander Barkov for not getting three points when I pick him in the three point challenge!  Anyways, Florida is battling hard for a Wild Card spot, so expect their studs to get all of the minutes they can handle.  For playing all games against Eastern teams the rest of the way, Florida's schedule is fairly soft, so expect it to come down to the wire.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
We had a game of the year performance on Monday night by Connor Hellebuyck.  Hellebuyck saved 50 of 51 shots in the 4-1 win over the Rangers, ending their winning streak.  One of my best rankings this season over ADP was banking on Hellebuyck to bounce back after last season's disaster.  I even said in my bold prediction that he'd win the Vezina, which Ullmark will probably ruin, but his season has certainly been Vezina worthy.  But enough of patting myself on the back.  Hellebuyck is sitting with a 2.39/.926, putting him in a battle with Oettinger for the #2 overall goalie to this point (the gap to #4 is massive).  He's as good of a bet as any to finish the best goalie for the rest of the season considering the top end volume.  Bottom line, Hellebuyck is entering his prime now and since he gets to play in a Bowness system, he should stay in tier one for the indefinite future.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Another star player has made his way to the Eastern Conference well ahead of the trade deadline.  We already had Horvat and Tarasenko move, and now we have a former Conn Smythe winner.  Ryan O'Reilly was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with Noel Acciari, for a bevy of draft picks.  The Wild also acquired a pick for retaining salary, and there were prospects involved, but none of them are particularly relevant.  For fantasy, we care about RoR and Acciari.  Let's start with Acciari because it's easier.  Acciari moved right onto Toronto's fourth line.  He scored a goal against the Blackhawks on Sunday, and is piling up hits.  He'll be a deep league value for his hits and decent goal rate.  O'Reilly is an interesting debate.  He's easily having the worst offensive season in the last decade.  On the other hand, RoR has been playing much better lately, and he went right onto the second line with Tavares and Marner.  He dished an assist in his debut on Saturday playing just over 16 minutes in the 5-1 blowout against Montreal.  He also won 12 of 14 draws, which is notable that he bumped Tavares from the faceoff circle most of the time.  I'm not rushing to pick up RoR, mostly because we know that he's not cracking Toronto's first power play unit.  That said, there's upside in Toronto that he couldn't touch in St. Louis again.  If you want to stream him on Tuesday against the Sabres and see where it goes, I can get behind that.  
While the NFL steals the spotlight during Championship Week, the Rangers started the weekend blowing out two top teams in Seattle and Carolina.  They scored six goals in both games to bring their winning streak up to five.  While it was a group effort on Friday, Artemi Panarin stole the show on Saturday.  The Breadman scored four goals and an assist with five shots and two PIM against Carolina, after dishing an assist against the Kraken.  Gallant shuffled the lines after Tarasenko's arrival, with Vincent Trocheck and Jimmy Vesey playing with Panarin again, setting up two of his goals.  It was Panarin's third three-point game in his last eight, as he starts to heat up.  While he hasn't approached his point production of his first three seasons in New York, Panarin is still on pace for 90+ points.  That shows what kind of floor he has and why he's worthy of an early draft pick every year.  Despite lower shots and PIM/hits, even his below average year (by his standards) is a top 50 player.  Who knows, Panarin could finish the season on a massive heater and finally get to 100 points.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Senators have been a disappointment this season despite their big forward acquisitions in the summer.  Turns out that you can't get away with completely ignoring the blue line and being forced to give bad players big minutes.  Anyways, we don't care about that for fantasy, we care about their scoring, and their top players have largely delivered.  Claude Giroux had a great weekend, totaling three goals and two assists with ten shots over two games.  Giroux is having his best goal scoring season since his monstrous 34 goal, 102 point season in 2017-18.  Unsurprisingly, that season and this season are Giroux's two highest shooting percentages, but it seems a bit more sustainable in this environment in Ottawa.  Even with an inconsistent PP1 role, Giroux has still played his way into being a bottom end hold in all formats.  The one problem is that after Ottawa's game on Tuesday, they don't play again until February 11th.  My biggest point here with bottom end holds over these bye weeks is that you need to know your league format and whether the waiver wire is strong enough that you can drop someone like Giroux to get more games.  In head to head leagues, volume is king, so you can make a case after Tuesday that you can let him go for players with a bunch of games after the All-Star break. In roto, I would hold onto Giroux without hesitation.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
It feels like it's been forever since I've written daily notes.  I guess being stuck inside due to a blizzard will do that.  It was great to be able to watch the NHL on Tuesday night with a massive slate of games.  He didn't have the biggest game of the day, but Erik Gustafsson can be a huge difference maker that impacts the vast majority of fantasy leagues.  Gustafsson scored a goal and added a power play assist in the 4-0 win over the Rangers.  This is notable because John Carlson is out "long term" after taking a puck to the face last Friday against Winnipeg.  It seems like an eternity ago, but Gustafsson did have 60 points with Chicago four years ago with 18 coming on the PP.  It's his top unit to run now, and the minutes have been decent even before Carlson's injury.  The blocks are okay and the hits are below average, so in those formats he's still on the fringe, but without them, I think he's a no brainer hold.  He's available in over 90% of leagues right now, so open another tab, put a claim in for Gustafsson, and then come back and see what else happened on Tuesday night!
Mats Zuccarello has gone through three separate streaks this season.  He started the season on fire, he had a cold streak, and now he's on a heater again.  Zuccarello started off the weekend with a hat trick and an assist against the Blackhawks, before adding a goal and an assist against the Senators.  That brings Zucc's point streak up to ten games.  He's well over a point per game, and pushing towards three shots per game.  The 35 year old has shown no signs of slowing down, being rejuvenated playing with Kaprizov.  Zuccarello is starting to erase his plus-minus hole as well.  Even including the plus-minus, Zuccarello has been a top 50 player, and should continue to be so.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
What better way to become the third player ever to 800 goals than to score a hat trick?  Alex Ovechkin did just that on Tuesday, scoring three times and adding an assist against the Chicago Blackhawks.  He's only one goal behind Gordie Howe for second all-time, and then the real chase towards Gretzky starts.  Ovechkin already has 20 goals this season in 31 games, a mere 53 goal pace for the 37 year old.  He's over four shots per game, and while the plus-minus is disappointing, it's starting to turn around a bit.  My love for Ovechkin is well known in these parts, so I don't need to belabor the point, but I can't wait for the greatest goal scorer ever to push towards 895.  Here's to hoping he keeps battling father time and gives hockey fans a great chase.  Let's see what else happened over the last two nights:
Colorado has been decimated by injuries at a level we've never seen before.  The return of Valeri Nichushkin makes him their second healthy top six forward.  Luckily for them, Mikko Rantanen put the team on his back on Sunday.  After scoring Colorado's only goal against the Rangers on Friday, Rantanen scored all three goals for Colorado on Sunday, tying the game with 7.1 seconds left before winning the game in overtime.  Quietly, Rantanen is up to 19 goals on the season, playing at a higher point pace than his monster 2021-22.  The shot rate is down a bit so his goal rate is a bit unsustainable, but hopefully the shots tick back up without MacKinnon.  Regardless, Rantanen has cemented himself as a top 10 fantasy hockey player.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
With a strange schedule this week due to Thanksgiving in the United States, I'm going to be back on Tuesday recapping tonight's action.  I know it's been a bit for daily notes, but managing through this snowstorm in Buffalo has taken up a lot of time.  As a result, I'm going to change things up and talk about one player on each team that is changing my opinion about them for fantasy, for better or worse.  Let me know in the comments section if you like this type of post (or if you don't, speak the truth) so I know going forward.  Let's get to it! Things couldn't be going worse for John Klingberg with the Ducks. The team signed him in order to help out in the early part of the season and probably trade him at the deadline for assets.  Instead, he hasn't helped at all, and is even off the first power play unit now.  The shot rate is dreadful, as is the plus-minus.  You can still hold for upside later in the year, but he's no longer must-own in 12'ers and even 10'ers.
Mikhail Sergachev had the game of the weekend, scoring two goals and two assists on three shots in the 6-3 win over the Capitals.  However, I was starting this post with Sergachev after watching the first ten minutes of the game.  Sergachev moved to the first power play unit and immediately delivered, with one goal and one primary assist coming there.  That is a massive boon to his value.  Whether it lasts, who is to say?  I would bet against it staying that way for the whole season, which is why I wouldn't panic if I owned Victor Hedman.  However, in the short term, this is enough to make Sergachev a #2 defenseman in a 12 man league, with upside to be a #1.  Getting to feed Stamkos and Kucherov for shots over and over again is a godsend to fantasy value.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the weekend:
The Canucks have been showing signs of life lately, especially offensively.  Right now, there's no better cure for early season woes than going against the Ducks.  On Thursday, Vancouver scored eight goals, and their big offseason acquisition led the way.  Andrei Kuzmenko had a hat trick and an assist, giving him eight points in his last four games.  He's found great chemistry with Pettersson (more on him later) and Kuzmenko has kept his spot on the first power play unit.  He's on the fringe, but for now, I would definitely hold while he's this hot.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: