There were seven early games on Tuesday night, all of which hit the under. That didn’t stop a few superstars from having a big night. Among that select group was Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored a goal and two assists with seven shots in the 3-1 win over the Devils. He came into the game with an upper body injury making him unclear for the game last night but that didn’t stop him from keeping up his excellent play. Tarasenko has been a five category monster in the early going, scoring 8 goals and 11 assists through 16 games with a whopping +14 rating and over four shots per game. He’s done actually what you hoped for using a late first round pick on him, or a second round pick if you were lucky enough that Tarasenko fell to you. Let’s take a look at what else happened on Tuesday night:
Robin Lehner – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over the Capitals. Solid performance from Lehner bouncing back from Saturday’s disaster. Perhaps all the Sabres needed was to get Matt Tennyson‘s horrible play out of the lineup. I know I said the other day that I’m very worried about Lehner because of the Sabres blue line, and that hasn’t completely changed, but let’s see what happens when the Sabres finally get healthy back there.
Evander Kane – Two goals on four shots. Kane is going to get paid big time on his next contract. Great start from Kane across the board.
Benoit Pouliot – Goal on this saucy play below. Solid streamer at this point.
Game winner, thanks to Benoit Pouliot. #CheersToHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/eu3wVu4U7F
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) November 8, 2017
Roberto Luongo – 45 saves on 47 shots in the 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes. Much better from Luongo in his second start back. I think this remains almost an even timeshare so I’m not exactly excited about Luongo going forward.
Justin Williams – Goal and an assist with six shots. He’s been solid with 11 points in the first 13 games and a solid shot rate. I don’t think it lasts but I’d still stream Williams.
Scott Darling – 30 saves on 31 shots earning the win. Hopefully Darling keeps building as that’s two strong starts in a row. Carolina has been dominating possession-wise so I feel strongly about Darling getting back to solid #2 level.
Brayden Schenn – Goal and an assist with two shots. Schenn has been fabulous for the Blues and is a top 10 fantasy player to this point. Incredible stuff.
Jake Allen – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 3-1 win over the Devils. Like the majority of the Blues, Allen is starting off extremely well.
Leon Draisaitl – Goal and an assist with three shots. Look at this overtime goal:
Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl team up for a beautiful OT winner pic.twitter.com/zFpg98pPlT
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) November 8, 2017
Well played sirs, good game.
Cam Talbot – 36 saves on 37 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Isles. Great start to this massive road trip for the Oilers by Talbot. Like the rest of the elite goalies that have struggled, I would still buy low here, although I’m most worried about Price and Talbot.
Mathew Barzal – Assist with two shots playing almost 19 minutes. Pick him up now while you still can.
Evgeni Malkin – Goal and two assists with five shots getting Reid on the board in The Three Point Challenge. This was his first big game but Malkin has been very consistent so far putting up one point with solid shots in almost every game.
Phil Kessel – Goal and two assists with three shots. Quick, who leads the Penguins in points? Boy, you’re good guessing Phil Kessel reading the blurb about the president of the round face club.
Matt Murray – 24 saves on 25 shots in the 3-1 win over the Coyotes. Wins have been strong and the rest should follow.
Pekka Rinne – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jackets. Don’t look now but Rinne is off to the best start of his career after last season’s heroic playoff performance.
Miikka Salomaki – Two assists with three shots. And there’s an extremely rare Salomaki update! It’s fun to type Salomaki, let alone say it.
Viktor Arvidsson – Goal and an assist with two shots. Not the best start to the year but Arvidsson has been piling up the shots and scored a goal in three straight. No worries, he’ll be fine.
Jordie Benn – Goal and an assist playing almost 26 minutes. It sounds crazy to say but Benn is probably their best defensive defenseman. There’s value here in deep leagues for hits and especially blocks.
Charlie Lindgren – 29 saves on 31 shots in the 3-2 win over Vegas. They’re not chanting Charlie for Conway, it’s for Lindgren! I’m fine with grabbing Lindgren now and riding him while he’s the de facto #1.
Daniel Sedin – Two assists with two shots and two PIM. He’s not of much use at this point with the minutes being very low.
Thomas Vanek – Goal and an assist. Solid streamer but not worth holding since his minutes aren’t great either.
Ben Hutton – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Minutes are huge but Hutton isn’t doing much with them in terms of fantasy production.
Anze Kopitar – Goal and an assist with two shots. No stopping Kopitar or his linemates at this rate.
Ryan Getzlaf – Out up to two months. Bizarre year for the Ducks as they’re getting destroyed by injuries. Stash Getzlaf assuming you have IR spots.
Rickard Rakell – Goal and an assist with four shots and two PIM. I don’t want to say Rakell gets a boost with Getzlaf down but the minutes are going to be through the roof.
Wednesday Streamers:
Only three games on the slate so just go with best player available. If Pavel Buchnevich is available, he’d be my first choice. Otherwise, look at some Wild and Leafs players in that game first and foremost unless a quality player is available on the Bolts or Sharks.
That’s all for now guys. With only three games on the slate tonight, I won’t have daily notes on Thursday. I’ll be back on Friday recapping the action for the next two nights. I’ll add in Thursday streamers into this post on Wednesday night. As always, feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments below. Thanks for reading, take care!
