The Great Eight Gets #800

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:

Monday’s Games

Jake Allen – 34 saves on 35 shots in the 2-1 SO win over the Flames.  The wins are decent, but the GAA is really ugly.  It depends on your format if he’s worth holding as a #3.

Jacob Markstrom – 37 saves on 38 shots as the tough luck loser.  The numbers are rough, but Markstrom has only allowed ten goals in his past five games combined.  That’s some real progress.  Here’s to hoping he keeps building on it.

Dawson Mercer – Goal and an assist with three shots playing over 20 minutes.  He’s on PP1 and Hughes’ line at even strength right now making Mercer an elite streamer.

Vincent Trocheck – Goal and an assist.  Trocheck has played his way onto the fringe so let your team needs decide if he’s worth holding.

Filip Chytil – Goal and an assist with five shots.  Chytil is a middling streamer.

K’Andre Miller – Two assists.  Decent player in real life, nothing here for fantasy.

Tristan Jarry – 26 saves on 27 shots in the 2-1 win over the Stars.  Jarry has been dominant, but his GAA is higher because the Pens are giving up a lot more shots this year.  Regardless, he’s in the bottom end #1 goalie range.

Cam Talbot – 32 save shutout in the 3-0 win over the Ducks.  This says way more about the Ducks than it does about Ottawa.  Talbot is an easy hold, but nothing special.

Alex DeBrincat – Two goals on five shots, both assisted by Claude Giroux.  DeBrincat is due for a lot of positive regression in the shooting department.  The goals are going to be coming.  Giroux gets a big boost while Tim Stutzle is out, mostly because of the power play.

Jordan Binnington – 25 save shutout in the 1-0 OT win over the Predators, making Juuse Saros (23/24) the tough luck loser.  Both of these goalies have been big disappointments, but I have much more faith in Saros turning it around than Binnington.

Marc-Andre Fleury – 20 saves on 21 shots in the 2-1 win over the Oilers.  MAF is still a hold, but it’s bottom end.

Matt Boldy – Goal and an assist with four shots.  Very solid season for Boldy in the wake of Fiala’s departure.  I lean towards elite streamer, but you can make a case for holding.

Tuesday’s Games

Craig Anderson – 40 save shutout in the 6-0 win over the Kings.  There were a lot of low quality shots, but Anderson kept the Sabres in it, especially in the first period, while the Kings played the trap.  Anderson is starting to get on the borderline of holding, and is definitely worth streaming in good matchups.

Tage Thompson – Two goals and an assist with five shots.  Insert superlative here.

Dylan Cozens – Three assists with three shots and two PIM.  The big offensive jump from Cozens has happened.  He’s an easy hold everywhere now.

Alex Tuch – Goal and an assist with four shots.  It doesn’t feel like Tuch is playing his best hockey and he’s still above a point per game.  That’s a damn good sign.

Victor Olofsson – Goal and an assist.  He’s had the quietest 13 goals in 29 games ever.  He’s a solid streamer, but that’s it.

Rasmus Asplund – Two assists with a shot.  And there’s your annual Asplund update!

Josh Bailey – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Bailey’s days of being fantasy relevant are over.

Brock Nelson – Two assists.  The coaching change is doing wonders for Nelson.  He’s been fantastic offensively.

Noah Dobson – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Dobson has been more or less within expectations.  He’s on the fence between a #2/3 because of the plus-minus.

Jake DeBrusk – Two goals and an assist with six shots.  DeBrusk has to be held everywhere still.  He’s doing great on the second line and has stuck on the first power play unit.

Pavel Zacha – Two assists with a shot.  Bottom end streamer.

Pyotr Kochetkov – 27 save shutout in the 1-0 win over Ville Husso (26/27) and the Red Wings.  Kochetkov might be getting help from Carolina’s system, but we don’t care!  He’s been fantastic and somehow is still available in over 75% of leagues.  Open a new tab, pick him up, and then come back to finish reading the rest of these notes!

Scott Wedgewood – 35 saves on 36 shots in the 4-1 win over the Devils.  This wasn’t the revenge game that I was expecting to write about tonight.  That’s three straight games allowing one goal for Wedgewood, who is worth streaming in almost all matchups.

Nikita Kucherov – Three assists with two shots.  Nothing is slowing down Kucherov this season.

Victor Hedman – Two assists with a shot.  He’s back on PP1, but he just doesn’t look the same this season.  Hedman is obviously worth holding still, but I’m not expecting a massive resurgence.  It can’t be ruled out though.

Anthony Cirelli – Two assists with four shots.  Cirelli has looked great since returning to the lineup.  He has six assists in five games and is pushing towards four shots per game.  I have Cirelli as an elite streamer, even if he’s centering the third line.

Ilya Samsonov – 28 save shutout in the 7-0 win over the Ducks.  Boy, the Ducks are a dumpster fire.  Leafs goalies continue to dominant as well.

Conor Timmins – Three assists.  I’ve always been a fan of Timmins’ talent, but he’s had horrible injury luck.  He’s on PP2 for those in deep leagues, but I don’t see fantasy value here with his shot rate.

Pontus Holmberg – Three assists.  Holmberg has 9 SOG in 15 games.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Rasmus Sandin – Two assists with three shots and two PIM.  He’s under 10% owned right now which is completely insane.  Sandin is must own everywhere with Rielly out.

Sergei Bobrovsky – 22 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets.  Knight’s return is coming very soon so it will be interesting to see the goalie time split.  Bob is either in the desperation tier or barely above it.

Sam Reinhart – Goal and two assists with four shots.  I would love to see Reinhart stick with Aleksander Barkov (1+1, 2 SOG) and Matthew Tkachuk (1+1, 3 SOG, 4 PIM) for a bit because I’m sure he would blow up.  Carter Verhaeghe was out last minute which prompted the change.  I’ve been stubborn and held Reinhart because I believe in the talent.

Gustav Forsling – Two assists with two shots.  Forsling has been a great value pick hitting all of the categories well.  He’s a solid #3.

Zach Hyman – Hat trick and an assist with six shots.  Leon Draisaitl had two goals and three assists with five shots, while Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists with six shots.  These guys are unbelievable.  Hyman has played his way into being a top 50 player at the very least, and probably a fair bit higher than that.  The other two are just unfair.  McDavid is averaging almost two points per game!

Tyson Barrie – Two assists with a shot.  It’s boring, but Barrie is a necessary hold at the bottom of rosters.

Roman Josi – Two assists with four shots.  Josi is even beating some vintage Burns seasons averaging about 4.5 shots on goal per game.  He’s obviously quite a bit behind last season’s insane pace, but he’s still been very good.

Chandler Stephenson – Four assists with two shots.  It feels like Stephenson has been struggling lately watching Vegas play, but he still has 27 points in 31 games.  It’s on the fringe because it’s very assist heavy, but I lean towards holding.

Daniil Miromanov – Goal and two assists with three shots.  Miromanov is a decent short term option with Shea Theodore week-to-wekk and Pietrangelo still away from the team.  Welcome to the Razzball Database!

Mark Stone – Two goals on four shots.  It’s bottom end, but Stone is still worth holding.

Mark Scheifele – Hat trick.  Nothing like scoring with one second left to complete a hat trick.  I never would have guessed Scheifele would have an 18+8 split, but here we are.  Eventually, these goals are going to turn into assists, but that’s perfectly fine.

Brendan Dillon – Two assists with two shots.  Fine defenseman in real life, does nothing in fantasy.

Anthony Mantha – Goal and an assist with three shots.  Four game point streak for Mantha, but his minutes are still low.  His ceiling is capped until that changes.

Conor Sheary – Two assists with three shots.  He’s a solid streamer as long as he’s on a line with Ovechkin.

J.T. Compher – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Compher is a bottom end streamer, even with the injuries.

Artturi Lehkonen – Goal and an assist with two shots.  Lehkonen played over 22 minutes in this game.  There’s no doubt that he’s a hold everywhere.

Nick Bonino – Goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM.  Bonino is getting a huge workload lately, playing almost 21 minutes in this one.  He has a goal in four straight after not scoring in his first 24 games.  I can’t remember anything like it.  Even moving to the second line, I can’t see him as more than a bottom end streamer.

Three Point Challenge: Somehow, nobody managed to hit on Tuesday.  We will go with Thursday’s games per usual.  You can’t take McDavid, Drasiaitl, Thompson, Robertson, Kucherov, M. Tkachuk, Pastrnak, Crosby, Marner, or E. Karlsson.  I’ll go with Jack Hughes against the Flyers.