February 4, 2014
Dobber Sports
2014-02-04
Forum will be down until late tonight.
Frozen Pool access to the premium area (and DobberHockey login) is now up
*
It was a low scoring night in the NHL for the most part on Monday and the Avalanche got us started with a 2-1 win over the Devils.Â
Â
Adam Henrique is now on a five-game pointless streak while going minus-5. He’s also managed just a measly five shots over that stretch.
Â
Ryane Clowe has cooled off since a shocking offensive outburst earlier in January but he didn’t manage even a shot on goal on Monday. He did get 3:33 of power play time against the Avs though, so until that drops he’s a decent guy to hold onto.
Â
Cory Schneider had a nice effort making 23 stops. He’s given up more than two goals just once in his past 13 games and he's needed to with the run support the Devils are providing. It’s taken longer into the year than I originally thought, but that net is officially his now.Â
Â
*
Â
Ryan O’Reilly picked up a goal to give him five points in four games. I really think his holdout combined with the lockout hurt him last year but with 40 points this season he looks to be finding his groove again.Â
Â
Nathan MacKinnon with eight points in his last six games now. His rookie campaign certainly hasn’t disappointed.Â
Â
Tyson Barrie now has points in five straight. He’s getting number one power play minutes and is a defenseman that could be available in your league. Barrie’s usually good for two shots a night and he’s a solid plus-13 on the campaign. He’s also been a plus-7 on this point streak.
Â
Paul Stastny and Alex Tanguay missed their second straight contest with injuries. Their absence should open the door for some other Avs’ forwards to scoop up extra minutes. Jamie McGinn for example played over four minutes with the man advantage against New Jersey.
Â
*
Â
The Canucks can't buy a win these days and dropped a 2-1 decision to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday.
Â
At least Eddie Lack played well making 28-of-29 stops. Roberto Luongo got the night off as the Canucks play the Bruins on Tuesday.
Â
Henrik Sedin returned to the lineup and hopefully that sparks brother Daniel in the near future. He didn't pick up a single point while Henrik was sidelined.
Â
Jordan Schroeder might be a good ad right now. He's been pointless in three since scoring two goals in his first game back from a lengthy absence, but he's still getting heavy power play time.
Â
*
Â
Jonas Gustavsson and Jimmy Howard combined for the shutout in this one because the Swede was forced to leave the game with dizziness.
Â
Justin Abdelkader has been the benefactor recently of playing with Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist. Abdelkader has three goals in two games and it's no doubt due to skating alongside Nyquist, who's been red hot since mid-January. Abdelkader is always good for hits and PIM, but as long as he stays with those two he's going to get some decent offensive production.
Â
*
Â
James Neal scored his first goal in eight games and it was the overtime winner as the Pens beat the Sens 2-1. Neal still put up six points over that stretch and like all scorers, they can go on cold streaks from time to time.
Â
Kris Letang remains sidelined with an illness and he's now been out for three straight because of the ailment. Something to keep an eye on.
Â
Sidney Crosby has failed to record a point in two straight. Trade him now.
Â
I still say Marc-Andre Fleury should have been the third goalie for Canada at Sochi.
Â
Â
*
Â
Craig Anderson was tremendous making 46 stops, He's not ready to concede the net to Robin Lehner anytime soon.
Â
The Clarke MacArthur-Kyle Turris-Bobby Ryan line are going through a rough patch. They've been held off the score sheet in three of the Sens last four games. They also combined for zero shots against the Penguins. MacArthur seems to be losing a bit of power play time to Jason Spezza as well, but overall he has far exceeded expectations this year with 42 points. If the Leafs could go back in time would they re-sign him and leave David Clarkson alone?
Â
Stephane Da Costa scored the goal for Ottawa to give him three in his last three. Beware of a waiver pickup though as he still struggles to get 10 minutes a night and rarely ever sees the power play.
Â
*
Â
The Sabres did battle with the Oilers on Monday with last place implications on the line. Edmonton won 3-2 but Buffalo gains an edge in draft position. The Oilers probably don't want another No. 1 pick anyway.
Â
Ilya Bryzgalov made the start and collected 42 saves. Ben Scrivens' 59-save shutout notwithstanding, expect Bryzgalov to get his share of starts down the stretch.
Â
Sam Gagner has been rumored to be on the move before the deadline, but he's not making his best sales pitch at the moment. He's gone pointless in three games.
*
Â
Jhonas Enroth took the loss and his numbers have slid this season, likely due to the fact that the Sabres have been abysmal. However, he might be a good add if you can stash him away for a while. If Ryan Miller does get moved like some think, then Enroth could be the recipient of the bulk of the starts for the last month of the season.
Â
Tyler Myers left this one with a lower-body injury and did not return.
Â
*
Â
The Blue Jackets handed the Ducks a rare home loss on Monday.
Â
Ryan Johansen scored again and he's got an outside shot at a 65-point season. Figures this is the one year where I didn't draft him since he's been in the league.
Â
Nick Foligno is quietly having a great fantasy campaign. He had a two goal night against the Ducks and is likely going to finish with 20 tallies, 100 PIM and 100 shots. Foligno added five shots and five hits on Monday. That's great value.
Â
*
Â
Cam Fowler has just one point in six games and he endured a pointless streak of the same length shortly before this one began as well. I'm not shocked to see it happen as he's been getting a massive amount of minutes this season and it's likely wearing him down. Things probably won't look up in the points department going forward considering Fowler won't have the advantage of the Olympic break as he's playing for the Americans in Sochi. Add in the back to backs down the stretch and it's going to be hard for him to have much gas left in the tank come April.
Â
*
Â
The Kings now have just a single win in their last 10 after a loss to Chicago on Monday and have been shutout three times over that stretch. Los Angeles has gone through these stretches of offensive dormancy in the past, which is puzzling considering all the talent they boast.
Â
Anze Kopitar did have three points though for his first multi-point game since late December. Let's see if that gets him on a run.
Â
Mike Richards on the other hand is still fighting it with no points in seven. His offensive numbers just haven't been anywhere close to where they were in Philly and maybe it's time to accept the fact that a 50-point season is all you can ask from Richards at this point.
Â
Tyler Toffoli had a goal and an assist for his first points since December 19. His minutes have been up lately and he played over four with the man advantage on Monday, but it doesn't look like he can recapture the magic he had in November.
Â
*
It was good to see Patrick Kane grab two goals and an assist. He had been suffering through a mild slump but looked to have a lot of jump on Monday. This may have had something to do with it.
Â
Nick Leddy had two points himself and he's much improved in the plus/minus department from where he was earlier in his career. In his first two seasons he was a combined minus-15, but last year he finished plus-15 and in 2013-14 he sits at plus-13.
Â
Kris Versteeg has points in four straight. He still sees respectable power play time and would be a great depth add to your squad.
Â
*
Â
The Sharks lost to the Flyers 5-2 and Antti Niemi gave up three goals in a four-minute stretch before being yanked. His save percentage numbers are down from what we've come to expect in recent years. Niemi has played big minutes over the past few seasons and I wonder if that doesn't lead to a few more Alex Stalock starts the rest of the way.
Â
Matt Nieto scored two goals for the Sharks and saw over two minutes of power play time. San Jose is just too deep at forward for him to provide any real value though.
Â
*
Â
Matt Read is up to 15 goals now but will be in tough to break his career high of 24. He's still seeing most of his even-strength action with Sean Couturier and Steve Downie.
Â
Luke Schenn is ranked seventh in the NHL in hits and his plus-3 rating on Monday gets him back to even on the season. If he can be a plus player combined with the hits, there's some value to be had.
Â
Scott Hartnell had two assists to give him six points in four games.
Â
Speaking of scoring runs, Claude Giroux had three points Monday and that's now nine in five games. He's almost at a point per game on the season all of a sudden and those that held onto him or bought low have been rewarded. Hard to believe he was left off Team Canada.
Â
*
Â
Thomas Vanek has reportedly turned down a significant contract offer from the New York Islanders, leaving a strong possibility that he will be dealt away before the Trade Deadline. If he does get moved it will certainly impact fantasy owners for their league playoffs. Even if Vanek does end up on a post-season contender, it would be hard for him to find a better situation from a fantasy perspective than the Isles. Playing with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo has been very beneficial thus far and ending up with a better pair of linemates for production will be unlikely. The deadline is about a month away and it will no doubt change the value of some players once it's all said and done.
Â
*
Â
Good read here from Louie Korac on Ken Hitchcock's coaching journey.
Â
Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike