The Leafs were coming off a dominant victory over the Rangers heading into a home game against Columbus. They managed to go down 5-0 in the second, and it was that way heading into the third period. Then, as we’ve seen in the past, Toronto made a massive rally, tying the game with 45 seconds left to earn a point. Then, like usual, they managed to lose anyways. The 6-5 OT win for Columbus is one of the craziest games you’ll ever seen. Auston Matthews led the comeback with two goals and an assist with nine shots. Patrik Laine scored an early goal before leaving the game injured, while Kent Johnson was the hero. The former fifth overall pick had two goals and an assist, including the game winner. It’s undeniably been a slow start to Johnson’s career. However, for most players, it takes time, and we’re starting to see the signs. Johnson now has six points in his last four games, and if Laine is down for a while, we could see Johnson becoming a fantasy factor. For now, I’m bumping him up to middling streamer, but he’s definitely worth monitoring. Let’s take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games
Sidney Crosby – Two goals and an assist. Crosby is on a 50 goal pace as he’s well over 3.5 shots per game. He might be a Mount Rushmore player when all is said and done.
Erik Karlsson – Two assists with seven shots. While he’s not touching last season’s 101 points, Karlsson has been very good across the board so far.
Noah Dobson – Two assists with a shot. The post-breakout season continues. Dobson is over a point per game playing to a clear #1 level.
Vitek Vanecek – 23 saves on 24 shots in the 2-1 OT win over the Bruins. It’s been a dreadful season for Vanecek so far, but the upside is undeniable given the quality of the team in front of him. He’s in that group of guys on the fringe on potentially good teams like Kochetkov and Skinner, although Skinner is clearly the best of the group right now.
Nikolaj Ehlers – Two goals and two assists with five shots, +5 in a 5-2 win. Safe to say the Kings were no match for the Winnipeg first line on Wednesday. With Kyle Connor out for 6-8 weeks, Ehlers should finally get the workload he deserves (it shouldn’t have taken Connor being hurt for that to happen). Clear must own everywhere.
Gabriel Vilardi – Goal and three assists with three shots. Quite the revenge game for Vilardi. I was extremely bullish in the preseason, and now there’s no doubt he should get a top role. I’m holding, although he’s probably in the fringe range.
Mark Scheifele – Two goals and an assist with four shots. It’s great to see Scheifele back at the level we’re accustomed too, especially as a playmaker.
Ivan Prosvetov – 29 saves on 30 shots in the 5-1 win over the Sabres. His overall numbers are quite good, but he rarely plays. I’d stream Prosvetov outside of the worst of matchups.
Valeri Nichushkin – Two goals on seven shots. The Sabres had no answer for the top line, as Mikko Rantanen had 1+2 while Nathan MacKinnon each had two assists. Big Val is pushing a point per game and three shots per game. Those are superstar numbers.
Thursday’s Games
Ivan Provorov – Two assists with a shot and two PIM. Provorov is on the fringe, but I lean towards streamer. The shots are quite poor, as is the plus-minus.
Zach Werenski – Two assists with two shots. It’s a very strange stat line for Werenski in comparison to what we’re used to. All your assists are belong to Werenski! Also, he has one goal on 72 shots, so it should change for the better.
Yegor Chinakhov – Goal and an assist with five shots. I talked about him the other day and my thoughts haven’t changed. It’s nice to see the minutes are up.
Justin Danforth – Goal and an assist with two shots. The points are decent for his role, but nothing here for 12’ers.
Mitch Marner – Goal and two assists with three shots. Seven game point streak for Marner, who seems due for a big tear. Not that his numbers are poor, but I expect his shot rate to take an uptick sooner than later.
William Nylander – Goal and an assist with ten shots and two PIM. John Tavares had two assists with four shots, as the four horsemen in Toronto led the big comeback. Nylander has been a monster, while Tavares has managed to stay around a point per game for another season.
Tom Wilson – Goal and an assist, as did Dylan Strome, with both playing over 20 minutes. Wilson is filling the same niche he always have, although the shot rate is at an all-time high. Strome has 12 goals, but somehow he has only four assists. It’s fine as a streamer, but hard to see anything more.
Aliaksei Protas – Two assists with two shots. The points are fine for deep leagues, but that’s it.
Morgan Frost – Two assists with four shots. Frost has had a rough season after a nice sophomore campaign. There are some signs of turning it around, but I’m not ready to stream him regularly yet.
Pyotr Kochetkov – 25 saves on 26 shots in the 2-1 win over the Red Wings. Two strong games in a row from Kochetkov. Fingers crossed this is the start of a turn around, as Carolina is playing well in front of him defensively.
Yegor Sharangovich – Goal and an assist with four shots. Sharagovich is getting massive minutes, and now he has a five game point streak. That makes him a solid streamer or better at the moment.
Jakob Chychrun – Two assists with three shots. After a rough stretch, Chychrun has five points in the last four games. With Chabot out, we should see Chychrun get back to his usual level of performance.
Robert Thomas – Two goals and an assist with three shots. Now that Thomas is pushing towards an average shot rate, he’s a clear top 100 player.
Justin Faulk – Two assists with two shots. Faulk somehow has zero goals on the season despite 66 shots on goal. He’d be a clear hold even with 3 goals, so I would still hold him at the moment.
Pavel Buchnevich – Goal and an assist with three shots. Buch is one of the most underrated players in the league. He’s a clear hold in all formats.
Steven Stamkos – Four goals on seven shots. Well then. Stammer deserved the lede with his first career four goal game, but I already started making fun of the Leafs. He’s actually struggled quite a bit at even strength this season, but Stammer is still over a point per game and three shots per. Love to see it.
Nikita Kucherov – Goal and two assists with three shots. Kucherov is running away with the points lead and showing no signs of slowing down. 50 points in 30 games is incredible.
Conor Sheary – Two assists. Not bad for Sheary’s first game off LTIR, but even when healthy, he did very little. Nothing to see here at the moment.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Goal and two assists with six shots. This gets RNH’s over a point per game again, having scored ten points in the last five games. Another hundred point campaign seems unlikely, but he should definitely score the second most points in his career.
Connor McDavid – Goal and an assist with seven shots. McJesus has 2+ points in five straight games, and eight of his last nine games. Seems good, is that good?
Evan Bouchard – Two assists with five shots. Ever since Barrie was traded, Bouchard has been unbelievable. He’s played close to a 95 point pace over 82 games.
Joey Daccord – 21 saves on 22 shots in the 7-1 win over the Blackhawks. Philipp Grubauer is week-to-week, so Daccord should get most of the starts in the short term. The next week is really rough schedule wise, but I’d play him in all matchups in the 1-2 weeks after that.
Oliver Bjorkstrand – Goal and two assists with two shots. Bjorkstrand’s second season in Seattle has been much better than the first. He’s an elite streamer approaching the fringe.
Will Borgen – Two assists with a shot. He’s stumbling into some points lately, but Borgen is still only a hits/blocks/PIM streamer for deep leagues.
Kailer Yamamoto – Two goals on four shots. Yamamoto is still under one shot on goal per game. No thanks.
Ryker Evans – Two assists with two shots. The former second round pick joined the Kraken last week, and he’s tallied three assists in five games. I’m not interested right now because there’s no PP time, but he’s worth monitoring in dynasties. Welcome to the Razzball Database!
Thatcher Demko – 36 save shutout in the 4-0 win over the Panthers. Demko is playing like a Vezina candidate again. Here’s to hoping he stays healthy and on top of his game.
Dakota Joshua – Two goals on three shots. He’s a nice streamer for hits in super deep leagues, but that’s it.
That’s all for now guys. A slight chance of plans next week due to my travel plans, I’ll be back on Tuesday instead of Monday. Jules will still have his post on Monday, so be sure to check that out! I’ll try to answer what you post there as well. As always, feel free to ask any questions, leave any comments, and give any suggestions below. Thanks for reading, take care!
