Rambling Brassard; Gibson vs. Andersen; Allen undisputed; Tarasenko; Marchessault, Domingue; and more …

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With three points last night, Derick Brassard has 25 points in 28 games. I can still remember all the concerned emails and tweets about his performance after two or three weeks of hockey back in October. I’d say crisis averted. Mats Zuccarello has also snapped his slump with some big points of late (eight in last seven). But his SH% is far too high (see his profile for what I mean – DobberHockey.com/players/mats-zuccarello). His assists, on pace for 32, are about right but his goals (on pace for 34) are much too high. You’re probably looking at something like 26-36-62 for him by end of season.

Oscar Lindberg is pointless in his last eight games and has just five points in his last 19 games.

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Last four starts, the line on John Gibson and Frederik Andersen:

Gibson: 0-2-1, 3.01, 0.875 on 80 shots faced

Andersen: 1-2-0, 3.76, 0.841 on 63 shots faced

Not exactly seizing the job and running with it…

If I’m picking a horse to win this race, but money is still on Andersen. Always has been. But it’s the entire team and their ability (or lack thereof) to win.

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Chris Stewart was a healthy scratch for the second time this season on Tuesday. He could very well be out of the NHL in 2016-17.

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Vladimir Tarasenko upped his points streak to seven games with a goal last night. He has 11 points in that span and has surged up to fifth in NHL scoring. He’s my last big preseason hope for a big return in Bodog in terms of Art Ross odds. The three studs currently at the top have quite the lead though, so I’m sure Tarasenko would need some help.

It would seem that the Blues have finally forgone the “play the hot hand” strategy that brought them zero Cups in five years. Jake Allen got a start Tuesday after giving up four goals and losing on Monday. He responded with a shutout, pretty much sealing the fate of Brian Elliott. Now that Allen has shown that he can a) handle back-to-back games and b) bounce back strong after a tough loss, he ascends to undisputed No.1. The only thing that can stop him now is an injury. The net is his if he can stay healthy, and thus he becomes fantasy gold. If you weren’t convinced of that already.

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Still under the radar – Tampa prospect forward Jonathan Marchessault, a high-scoring AHL and QMJHL player, has points in each of his last five games. This kind of production could go on until Ondrej Palat returns. Here were TB’s line combos last night:

#1           19.1%    CALLAHAN,RYAN – FILPPULA,VALTTERI – KILLORN,ALEX

#2           18.4%    KUCHEROV,NIKITA – NAMESTNIKOV,VLADISLAV – STAMKOS,STEVEN

#3           15.8%    CONDRA,ERIK – MARCHESSAULT,JONATHAN – PAQUETTE,CEDRIC

#4           6.6%      ANGELIDIS,MICHAEL – BLUNDEN,MICHAEL – KILLORN,ALEX

Nothing great, in terms of linemates, but he’s seeing significant PP time. He saw 11:33 in PP time alone on Tuesday (Tampa had 10 PP opportunities to Vancouver’s one).

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Montreal can’t seem to win these days and sure, Carey Price is a big reason for that. But they’re not getting much in the way of scoring either. Is there anyone who gets into bigger slumps than David Desharnais? One point in 14 games?

Prospect Daniel Carr has two goals in his last three games and is earning more ice time. He pretty much has to since he’s one of the rare Habs forwards putting the puck in the net. After a successful college career, Carr has been breaking out with the IceCaps, tallying 17 points in 21 games. You can read more on Carr here.

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It’s tough to see Ales Hemsky getting power-play time at the expense of Valeri Nichushkin. Hemsky has two points in his last 18 games, but is right out there on the second PP unit while Nichushkin sits on the bench. Nichushkin had one point in four games and then was off the scoring line, shuffled down and off the PP for the last three games. That’s one thing about young players – they don’t get much of a leash. Meanwhile, the washed-up players with a reputation and a big pay check get tons of leeway.

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Johnny Gaudreau had a hat trick last night, including his 100^th career point.

Mark Giordano has nine points in his last nine games, 11 in his past 12. I think I traded him about 13 games ago. Yikes…

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At 7-13-0, the Jets have the worst record in the NHL over the last 20 games.

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Four points in his last four games for Joonas Donskoi. He’s been playing with Patrick Marleau:

#1           24.4%    PAVELSKI,JOE – THORNTON,JOE – ZUBRUS,DAINIUS

#2           21%        DONSKOI,JOONAS – MARLEAU,PATRICK – NIETO,MATTHEW

#3           17.6%    HERTL,TOMAS – TIERNEY,CHRIS – WINGELS,TOMMY

#4           15.1%    BROWN,MIKE – KARLSSON,MELKER – SMITH,BEN

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Another strong performance from Arizona’s Louis Domingue last night. He’s stopped 62 of his last 64 shots faced and is 2-1-0 on the season with a shutout. And that loss he’s credited with wasn’t really a fair one as he was thrown into the fire. So far so good with that guy, I think I’ll activate him for next week. I’ve seen enough.

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In their last three starts, here is the line on Cam Talbot and Anders Nilsson:

Talbot: 2-1-0, 2.33, 0.947 on 131 shots faced

Nilsson: 1-2-0, 4.36, 0.843 on 83 shots faced.

The Oilers have been collapsing defensively when Talbot’s been in the net, and he’s been equal to the task. Still early, but if Talbot is indeed “back” you may have missed your window to acquire him for a song. Myself, I was pretty convinced that Nilsson had stolen the job for good. Now…not so much. You’d think I’d have learned after all these years of watching St. Louis.

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For Rick Roos’ Cage Match these last couple of weeks, you guys are weighing on who should be added to my Band-Aid Boy List and who should be removed. I fully intend to take the results of that and make the changes next month. In fact, I’ll probably do more than just add the winners in. I’ll probably add a couple of the other high vote-getters too. Vote on the BAB Execs here.

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The World Junior Hockey Championship is set to kick off and Brendan Ross has you covered over at DobberProspects. He gets things going with a look at Team Canada.

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My Fantasy Hockey Newsletter – Why Should You Sign Up?

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The Goalie Rankings will be up on Christmas Day. I have a feeling I’ll be short on content that day, so these rankings should be perfect for the fantasy hockey fan who has a spouse who takes a long time getting ready for that family function and is looking for a good read to help kill the time…

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Why not pre-order a Midseason Guide for your loved one? The perfect gift will be available on January 8, that’s a Friday. And if your loved one doesn’t appreciate the gift – well darn it all, I guess you’ll have to read it yourself! Order here.

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Look at this – three goals in 21 seconds between Shane Doan and James van Riemsdyk…

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His first career fighting major was pretty anti-climatic. Nothing to see here. But it’s fitting that Max Domi earns it with father Tie in the house and it’s against his Dad’s former club…