November 19, 2013
Dobber Sports
2013-11-19
Carolina fell to the Boston Bruins on Monday night, but Cam Ward returned to the net after missing 10 games with a lower-body injury. Ward gave up two goals early on, but seemed to settle in after that. Justin Peters had a nice run of strong performances while Ward was out, but his value is likely minimal now.
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Drayson Bowman had another decent effort for the Canes picking up an assist. Bowman played 18:21 against Boston which was by far the most ice-time he has received in a game this season. His next previous high barely topped 15 minutes. Bowman now has 11 shots on goal in his last four games.
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Tuomo Ruutu had the lone goal for Carolina and it was his first of the campaign.
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Reilly Smith could end up being a dark horse in the Tyler Seguin deal. The youngster had a goal and an assist against the Hurricanes after going three games without a point. Before that he posted five points in four games, so the skill is there. On that roster in Boston he has 20-25 goal capabilities.
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Carl Soderberg also grabbed a goal and an assist and he's another one who has stepped it up when it comes to shots on goal. Soderberg now has 14 of those in his last three contests.
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Brad Marchand just can't seem to get it going offensively. After scoring a goal last game against the Ottawa Senators, Marchand was held pointless last night and went minus-1. He got less than 14 minutes and has just three goals in 2013-14.
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Torey Krug has now gone two-straight games without a point, which he hadn't done since the second week of the season. Krug still put up five shots, so no reason to panic just yet.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-1 and of course they were led to victory by, Brian Gibbons??? Gibbons had a goal and an assist in his first NHL game. Scoring must be contagious in Pittsburgh.
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If it is contagious, Evgeni Malkin must be immune. Malkin has now failed to find the back of the net in 14 straight games, which is a career-worst. With that being said, Malkin was arguably the best player on the ice Monday and picked up two assists, which is encouraging.
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Brandon Sutter and Sidney Crosby also scored for the Penguins. Sutter now has three points in three games and seems to be gaining some momentum.
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Viktor Fasth had a bit of a rough night for the Ducks. He's now made two straight starts for Anaheim and it's a little curious that they would send Frederik Andersen back to the AHL after playing so well.
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Ryan Getzlaf scored again and now has five tallies in his last four games and 11 total on the year.
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The Flames won a wild one in a shootout over the Winnipeg Jets. Despite giving up four goals, Reto Berra was spectacular making 43 stops. He needed that bounce back start after getting roughed up by Edmonton on Saturday.
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Mike Cammalleri played over 23 minutes, a season high, and picked up a goal and an assist. He now has nine goals in 14 games.
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T.J. Brodie also played a season high of over 28 minutes and rewarded the Flames with two points. Brodie is likely benefitting from extra opportunities with Mark Giordano out of the lineup, but don't be in a race to grab him just yet. Those were his first points in eight games.
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Jiri Hudler picked up a goal and I've been waiting for him to slow down his production this season, but he really hasn't as of yet.
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Ladislav Smid's statline showed you how versatile he can be. Smid put up four PIM, two shots, three hits, and a block against the Jets.
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Bryan Little and Dustin Byfuglien each put up a goal and an assist for Winnipeg. Byfuglien has only scored five times this season, but they have all come in the last five games. Little is on pace for a 40-goal campaign if he keeps this up.
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Olli Jokinen scored for the Jets and posted a season-high six shots. He's now got seven points in seven games.
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Evander Kane fired a whopping 10 shots on the Flames net and added eight hits. There's nothing he can't do.
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Blake Wheeler slows things down.
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According to the Denver Post, the Avalanche will move Nathan MacKinnon to center while Matt Duchene is sidelined with a knee injury. He figures to play in-between Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan O'Reilly as the Avs try and stop a three-game losing streak.
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DobberProspects’ Brendan Ross has added a new ramblings. Have a look folks!
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Valeri Nichushkin would be a wise addition to your roster right now and is only owned in 7% of Yahoo! leagues. As Dobber mentioned yesterday, he has six points in his last seven games and has gone plus-9 during that stretch. The key thing about Nichushkin at the moment is that he is playing primarily with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, who have been absolutely on fire lately. He's skated with them for nearly 20% of his even strengths shifts, which now takes as over as his most frequent line combination for the season. If he gets dropped from that group it could be trouble, but don't hesitate to grab him as long as he continues to play on the Stars' top line.
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New York Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has officially been placed on injured reserve because of a groin injury. Kevin Poulin will take over between the pipes and is a good add if you need goaltending help. Poulin's been serviceable this year in Long Island and has a chance to keep the starting job even when Nabokov returns, if he can string together some solid starts.
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Sean McIndoe provides some insight into the weekend's NHL action.
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The Minnesota Wild made a small move by recalling goaltender Darcy Kuemper and returning Johan Gustafsson to the AHL. Reports are Kuemper could get a start on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back for the Wild.
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The New York Rangers have sent forward Brandon Mashinter back to the American Hockey League. That news in itself would be fairly insignificant, but it likely means Rick Nash is nearing a return. The move opens up a spot in the lineup for Nash to claim potentially as early as tonight against the Boston Bruins. Nash has played just three games this year because of a concussion and the Rangers could certainly use him back. Keep an eye on your lineup and be ready to activate him if necessary.
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The Edmonton Oilers placed goaltender Jason LaBarbera on waivers Monday. This move doesn't come as much of a surprise since the team signed Ilya Bryzgalov recently. LaBarbera unfortunately was the odd man out in Edmonton and it will be interesting to see if anyone claims him that is dealing with injuries in the crease.
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Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike