October 21, 2007
Dobber Sports
2007-10-21
Ondrej Pavelec did not get the start yesterday, but he ended up seeing his first NHl action as the Lightning chased Hedberg out of the net with five goals in 24 shots. Pavelec gave up a goal on six shots and is an excellent goalie to pick up in all fantasy formats, as he will see more and more action the longer Lehtonen is out.
Erik Cole missed yesterday's contest with a foot injury sustained in a soccer game. He will miss the next several games. The loss of him and Walker will put extra responsibility on the other wingers like Stillman, Whitney, Williams and Ladd (who should be back soon).
Bryan Berard left last night's game early in the second with a strained groin muscle. Activate Marc-Andre Bergeron.
In my keeper league, where I am rebuilding, I traded Bill Guerin yesterday for Steve Sullivan – high risk/high reward.
Rusty Olesz missed yesterday's game with a hand injury.
David Booth left the Florida game on a stretcher. Ottawa rearguard Anton Volchenkov may see a suspension.
Antoine Vermette did not play last night because of his back spasms. This looks like it will keep him questionable for the next week or two.
Nick Foligno left yesterday's game with a neck strain. Consider him day to day.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 30 of 31 shots yesterday, finally breaking out of his slump.
Erik Christensen was a healthy scratch yesterday to make way for the return of Georges Laraque.
Jaroslav Spacek is targeting next Friday as a return from his shoulder injury.
Marcel Goc was a healthy scratch for the Sharks yesterday.
Not only did Jeremy Roenick play last night unexpectedly, but he scored. He's two away from 500.
Eric Brewer made his return to the St.Louis lineup.
Steve Wagner got his first career NHL goal for the Blues last night. He played 21:22 and over four minutes on the PP to lead all St.Louis defensemen. He has four points in six games and is another great under the radar pickup.
Calgary's David Moss left last night's game with a concussion. He is out indefinitely. The Flames may call up Dustin Boyd as a result.
Martin Straka left yesterday's game after taking a slapshot off the hand from Zdeno Chara. He has a broken finger. I've seen these keep a player out for a few weeks, and I've seen them (think Marty St.Louis) keep a player out for a single game.
Marcel Hossa skated yesterday and could play Tuesday against Pittsburgh. With Straka out, Hossa will see some PP time.
The Flyers' Mike Richards is on fire with seven points in his last four contests.
Petr Prucha is pointless in six games, despite 14 shots.
Paul Mara got back into the action on Saturday, playing over 19 minutes and actually seeing some PP time. That said, as a Ranger I don't see him ever reaching his potential unfortunately.
Under the Hitchcock system, Pascal Leclaire could pay some big dividends for fantasy owners. If he has truly left his injury woes behind, he makes a decent pickup – but don't overrate despite his three shutouts already this season. His one loss was five goals on just 26 shots. His first game he faced Anaheim immediately after they returned from England. He then shut out an anemic Phoenix offense. In the win against Buffalo, his team held them to 21 shots. He's not the greatest goaltender, but like Marty Turco he benefits from the tight defense. This means lots of shutouts, but fewer shots faced. If you own him in a roto league, activate him only against the weakest three or four teams and teams playing the second of back to back contests.
Todd Marchant was back in the lineup last night.
Mikael Samuelsson was back in the Detroit lineup last night.
Alexander Semin is expect to practice fully on Monday and return to the lineup possibly that night but for sure the next game.