Dominant victory by the Devils last night taking two points in a key Metro matchup and pulling even with the Jackets who they ousted. The Devils won 5-2 and outshot the Jackets 34-19.

 

Cory Schneider didn't have to do much in this one, a welcome surprise considering the lack of offensive support he's grown accustomed to this year. Now that we've reached the stretch run you can bet we see plenty more Schneider. He was barely a #1 all year despite outperforming Martin Brodeur in everything but the win column but he'll be one now that it's desperation time.

 

Patrik Elias got three points, which is a great sign. Hopefully the Olympics (what little he played) helped get his feet wet and ready for the final few weeks. If you are looking for a good waiver pickup he'd make one.

 

Jaromir Jagr got in a goal because apparently he's a cyborg.

 

Adam Henrique got two goals benefitting from skating with Elias.

 

Even Ryane Clowe got in on the action skating on the third line with Andrei Loktionov and Michael Ryder. Guess it was just one of those games.

 

The Devils had to jumble up their lines a bit after Damien Brunner went down in the first period. No word yet on the severity of the injury but he left and did not return.

 

The Devils consider themselves playoff contenders and will push to buy at the deadline. We all know why they've deluded themselves into this notion because they will forfeit their first rounder no matter where it ends up. Plus, they technically are within shouting distance of a playoff spot. I don't see them as serious challengers but if someone was going to make a desperate move I could see them being that team.

 

I think New Jersey is a really possible destination for Ales Hemsky with the Czech contingent on that team already plus the Devils feel they need a winger to put with Jagr and Travis Zajac. Apparently Danius Zubrus isn't cutting it. Who knew?

 

*

 

Not much Sergei Bobrovsky could do in this one. He'll need to rediscover his Vezina form if the Jackets are going to contend. I like the team and all but they built to sizable of an early hole.

 

Marian Gaborik made his return to the lineup. The Jackets had a real tough time figuring out their lines with him back in action. As you can see from their lines last night they just had no clue who to play who:

 

Frequency	Strength	Line Combination
9.57%	EV	8 HORTON,NATHAN – 38 JENNER,BOONE – 19 JOHANSEN,RYAN
6.52%	EV	42 ANISIMOV,ARTEM – 71 FOLIGNO,NICK – 18 UMBERGER,R.J.
6.52%	EV	13 ATKINSON,CAM – 11 CALVERT,MATTHEW – 17 DUBINSKY,BRANDON
6.09%	EV	8 HORTON,NATHAN – 19 JOHANSEN,RYAN – 18 UMBERGER,R.J.
6.09%	EV	42 ANISIMOV,ARTEM – 71 FOLIGNO,NICK – 10 GABORIK,MARIAN
4.78%	PP	10 GABORIK,MARIAN – 8 HORTON,NATHAN – 19 JOHANSEN,RYAN
4.78%	EV	55 LETESTU,MARK – 24 MACKENZIE,DEREK – 18 UMBERGER,R.J.
3.91%	EV	10 GABORIK,MARIAN – 55 LETESTU,MARK – 24 MACKENZIE,DEREK
3.04%	EV	11 CALVERT,MATTHEW – 17 DUBINSKY,BRANDON – 10 GABORIK,MARIAN

 

Very interesting to see the big guns Gaborik, Nathan Horton and Ryan Johansen all together on the power play. None of these guys have really had a chance to work together. Might be a little late in the season to be trying to build that chemistry.

 

Frankly, I think Gaborik is on the way out. He's a UFA and he doesn't really fit what the Jackets have going on. They are built on size and toughness and the skill guys that they do have (Cam Atkinson) are affordable but skilled.

 

I could see Gaborik on a team like Nashville, which wouldn't be all that dissimilar from has Minnesota days. But maybe I'm overthinking this. Maybe Gaborik can play on a really talented team it just hasn't worked out yet.

 

One scenario that would be exciting is Gaborik in Pittsburgh if they can make it work financially.

 

Gaborik did score, by the way, but that doesn't change my thought process.

 

*

 

John Tavares, who?

 

Apparently the Islanders don't need that guy or at least they didn't need him to knock off the Leafs in overtime last night.

 

Michael Grabner apparently found himself while at the Olympics. Must've been all that partying. He scored two goals in this one, both shorthanded in the span of one minute. I'd love to give him credit for using his dynamic speed but both goals were just inexcusable gaffs by the Leafs and nothing more.

 

Rookie forward Anders Lee also scored two goals as he made his season debut. He's got a point in all three NHL games now. Definitely an aberration but I like this guy and have been a fan for some time now. He's big, he's fast and plays a tough game. I don't think he ends up being more than a third-liner but he has some top-six potential. Either way, he's one to keep an eye on for multi-cat pools.

 

*

 

At least the big guns for the Leafs were scoring last night. 

 

I recently had the option to trade for one of James van Riemsdyk or Ryan Johansen in the UHL cap league you've read about on many occasions. I gave up Drouin in an effort to chase the 'ship. I probably overpaid but not by much. Both JVR and Johansen would have offered me affordable multi-cat production.

 

I ran the numbers for the league on Fantasy Hockey Geek because I am a responsible manager and it actually spat out that Johansen was a much better option. Why did I side with van Riemsdyk then?

 

For one, the reason Johansen came out so far ahead was almost entirely because he wins faceoffs and JVR doesn't. I don't need faceoff wins. That's no reason on its own to stick my nose up at Johansen though.

 

No, I took JVR because I trust him a little more. That top line the Leafs have is clicking. Johansen has great chemistry going in Columbus with Nick Foligno and RJ Umberger but as we've seen the Jackets broke that line up with Horton returning and now Gaborik.

 

I also liked JVR's contract more. True, Johansen is cheaper this season – by more than half actually – but he's an upcoming RFA and appears headed toward the $6 million range. Maybe he gets a bridge contract that keeps dollars down for a couple of years but JVR at $4.25 million for four more years is a bargain and one I can trust.

 

Their production was virtually the same outside of the faceoffs but I trust JVR a little more, especially with my goal to win the 'ship this season.

 

Was I right or wrong?

 

*

 

So the Blackhawks went ahead with their Peter Regin experiment on a line with Patrick Kane. Regin scored the lone Blackhawks goal so I suppose you could argue the experiment was somewhat successful but it didn't even come with Kane on the ice.

 

The reality is that the Blackhawks aren't too concerned with the rest of the regular season. They know they'll be in the mix come playoff time. Sure they want that top seed but they know it's probably not worth burning themselves out for. So instead they'll spend time experimenting with combinations they might have to use come playoff time. Who knows where they'll find the next Bryan Bickell.

 

*

 

Cam Talbot got the call for the Rangers giving Henrik Lundqvist a break. Expect to see a lot of Lundqvist the rest of the way though.

 

Rick Nash scored to end his pre-Olympic slump. I'm sure every Nash owner out there is hoping for some fireworks down the stretch, assuming his miserable play hasn't already seen you eliminated from contention.

 

JT Miller was up to replace Mats Zuccarello. He notched an assist helping the Derrick Brassard-Ben Pouliot duo to remain relevant.

 

*

 

So about that Steve Mason resurgence…

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't trust this guy. It's not that he got paid. That his season just happened to start going off the rails when the Flyers inked him to an extension is likely coincidence. What I don't like is the LONG track record of Mason being a poor goalie. He deserves full credit for keeping the Flyers afloat early on but now he's regressing and it's going to drown the Flyers.

 

Also, the Sharks are really good.

 

Joe Pavelski, what a beauty. He notched a hat-trick in last night's game. I'd be mad that I'm facing him this week but I just enjoy Pavelski's game too much to care. Good for you little Joe!

 

It's amazing how the lineup just fell right back into place with Logan Couture returning. The Sharks have a lot of "best players" but Couture is their bestest best. Better than Joe Thornton, better than Patrick Marleau, better than Pavelski, etc. I really thought he was making the leap this season. A mid-season slump crushed that and then he got hurt. Too bad. Still, he's going to be a terror down the stretch.

 

We shouldn't forget that Raffi Torres made his return to lineup last night as well. He scored two goals too. Not bad for a third/fourth-liner.

 

Oh, in case you were wondering Kimmo Timonen missed the contest due to exhaustion from the Olympics and travel.

 

*

 

Good to see Marc-Andre Fleury is rounding into playoff form.

 

At least the Penguins offense came to play. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal did Sid, Geno and Nealy things. Jussi Jokinen hopped along for the ride. So did Matt Niskanen.

 

Hey, Olli Maatta dropped a couple of points too. I still don't know that he has as much upside as everyone would like but I'm starting to get that Oliver Ekman-Larsson vibe where, yes his complete game is fantastic but no it won't hold him back.

 

I recently scooped him up in my one-year league on a lark. Needed a replacement for the kind of questionable Erik Johnson, who'd been suspended. It was between Maatta and Jack Johnson who'd been on a roll going into the Olympic break. Johnson notched an assist last night but Maatta topped him with a goal. Like my choice so far.

 

*

 

Where, oh where did Dany Briere come from? 

 

He dropped two goals and an assist last night and has four points in two games since the Olympic break. I sincerely doubt that this is a trend forming – Briere is over the hill – but every now and then he shows these flashes. Don't get sucked in.

 

Do, however, get sucked in to David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty, who each had two points tonight. These guys are like Outkast making sweet sweet music when they are together and vanishing when they are apart.

 

*

 

So the Red Wings mean business, huh?

 

They chased Robin Lehner with six goals on 15 shots. The Senators really didn't want to yank Lehner as they were left with minor league call up Andrew Hammond as their backup with Craig Anderson on leave due to the birth of his child.

 

Hammond came in and shut the door the rest of the way, not that that means much with the Wings up 6-1.

 

I mused yesterday that Gustav Nyquist would slow down with Henrik Zetterberg injured. Nyquist has other ideas. He's up skating on the top line with Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen dishing out assists like it's his job, which it kind of is. I still don't like his lack of power play time but at a certain point you've got to just concede defeat. One more week of brilliance, Gustav, and I'm on board.

 

Franzen, by the way, had himself a natural hat-trick and then got himself ejected late in the game. Three goals and 12 PIM, nice rotisserie production.

 

Datsyuk has yet to make his presence felt on the scoreboard skating between those two but it's only a matter of time, assuming they sustain this pace. I'm sceptical. Datsyuk is pretty banged up. He's a gamer and he knows that without Zetterberg this is all on him. We'll see him in the lineup. I just don't know how productive he'll be. This is a two-game sample. I'm not sold yet.

 

What could really make the Red Wings hum is if that second line with Riley Sheahan, Tomas Tatar and Tomas Jurco can keep it going. I have as much confidence in that as I do in the safety of a tub of butter beside my dog's food dish.

 

*

Well if it isn't our old friend, Mr. Brooks Laich. So nice of you to join us this season. It's been too long. No seriously, it's been too long, what the hell?

 

Who cares where he's been, all I know is that he was back up on the top line with Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin and they scored one goal and two assists. Each. Nine points altogether. Unbelievable.

 

Laich doubled his 2014 output in one night.

I've no idea if he sticks on that line. Actually, I'm 99% certain he doesn't stick on that line. He was filling in for Marcus Johansson who sat this one out with Olympic fatigue. (His Swedish teammate Backstrom didn't need any rest, because, you know, steroids… teeheehee!)

 

This was a one-night occurrence but it was nice to know he still has it in him.

 

Troy Brouwer got himself two goals last night in a performance that is slightly more sustainable. He only skates on the second line but he is the net presence dude on their power play. Simply by being a large object between Ovechkin and the net he has a good chance at scoring, let alone the fact that he is an animate object actively trying to score.

 

John Carlson got two assists last night and was the lone defenseman on the Caps power play despite the return of Mike Green to the lineup. Could Carlson please go on a run so we can finally put Green down for good?

Green, by the way, saw no power play time. We'll see how long that lasts. He is still recovering from injury.

 

*

 

The Panthers are just actively trolling us all now, right?

 

How else do you explain the likes of Jimmy Hayes, Sean Bergenheim and Brad Boyes seeing well over five minutes in power play time while Jonathan Huberdeau sees less than one?

 

And sure Bergenheim and Boyes had two points apiece but those didn't come on the power play, rendering their man-advantage minutes literally and figuratively pointless.

 

*

 

Martin St. Louis had himself a great first period last night. He scored both goals for Tampa Bay leading them to a 2-0 lead after one period. Then St. Louis overheard Steve Yzerman ask recent call-up Vladislav Namestnikov if he wanted to go out for nachos after the game. St. Louis then demanded a trade and the Lightning came off the rails losing the shot battle 21-7 the rest of the way and the game 3-2. Or at least that's what I heard.

 

I'm kidding, of course. I think the whole notion of St. Louis demanding a trade is a bit ridiculous. Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. He's a consummate pro and I'm sure it wouldn't take much of a conversation to help him realize that Tampa Bay is the best possible place for him to be if he wants to win another Cup.

 

Don't worry about this guy and don't worry about this team. I don't see much changing for them. I do envision a bit of struggle when Steven Stamkos returns, simply because a superstar making his way back tends to create waves that push people into different roles. That change can have a negative impact as everyone adjusts.

 

*

 

Every win the Predators can suck out of Carter Hutton increases the likelihood of Pekka Rinne making his return this season. I never would have guessed that he would return. I figured with his injury and the Predators' miserable play without him that this team was sunk. There would be no reason for him to rush back. Somehow they are within spitting distance of a playoff spot though.

 

I think they've got as much chance of making the playoffs as I do of hooking up with Kate Upton but you just try killing that dream. So they'll go for it and Rinne will be back. Good for those of you who hung on AND remained relevant. Round of applause, really. That's quite the feat.

 

Shea Weber picked up where he left off in Sochi notching two assists.

 

*

 

As it turns out, it may not matter who starts for the Hurricanes, they just may not be that good of a team. I still prefer Anton Khudobin to Cam Ward this season but last night was a grand opportunity to jump in front after a nice layoff. Opportunity missed.

 

Can't really blame Khudobin though. He got Jamie Benn-ed hard. Three points for Benn last night. Two short-handed. Who does he think he is, Michael Grabner? No, he's Jamie effing Benn!

 

 

The Stars don't get nearly enough attention, which means Benn doesn't get nearly enough attention. Hopefully you got to see him on display over the Olympics because he was awesome. I may or may not have started a one-sided love affair with him over these past two weeks. I hope it wasn't just a fling.

 

Cody Eakin capped off the night with an empty-netter but what truly intrigued me was seeing him skating over six minutes on the power play. Sadly, this was just the result of the Stars having so many opportunities. Both the top and second units saw plenty of action. Eakin is on the second unit. He has some sneaky upside but may not achieve it until he becomes a top unit power play guy.

 

*

 

Alright, who the hell woke up Dany Heatley's corpse from the Olympic break? Couldn't we have just left him in the sarcophagus now that the NHL is back? No? We needed more zombie NHL? Okay…

 

Good on Mikael Granlund carrying over some of that Olympic momentum to the NHL. He'd really come on prior to the Olympics and then got busy in that Finnish uniform. A strong close to this season would go a long way in my books. 

 

I was hoping that he would come over and immediately step into that power play quarterback role the way that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did as a rookie for the Oilers. I forgot that it takes time to adapt to the North American ice, and the speed of the game, and the culture shock. Not surprising that Granlund struggled.

 

He's starting to get it though, which is reason to get excited. The next test is seeing if he can continue to produce when Mikko Koivu returns to the lineup. I'm guessing no because Koivu's return will see Granlund shuffled back in the lineup.

 

Nice shutout by Darcy Kuemper. Sure it was the Oilers but they've got some firepower up front, right? I swear they do. I like this Kuemper but I can definitely see the Wild making a move for Ryan Miller. You know the Sabres are looking to deal and right now they look like the most logical destination. 

 

*

 

Joni Ortio made his NHL debut for the Flames. He lost but he played for the Flames so that was kind of expected. He stopped 22 of 24 shots though, so not bad. I'd like to see more before I cast judgement. After all, he took on the Kings who are about as dangerous as a vampire who lost his dentures.

 

But hey, Dustin Brown got a couple of points. This could be the start of a run for him. Note: this will not be the start of a run for him.

 

*

 

Sean McIndoe figures out what is the matter with the NHL trade deadline.

 

*

 

NHL.com suggests some buy low options to consider before your trade deadline. I disagree with probably half of them but you know, an interesting read nonetheless.

 

*

 

Kris Letang spoke about his recovery yesterday. Sounds like everything is going well. I read somewhere that he's opting not to have surgery to repair the hole in his heart. That gives me pause. My understanding is that it's a fairly simple procedure these days. By not repairing the problem it increases the odds of future complications. I've little doubt Letang will play again – and probably as soon as next season's opener – but I'd be more comfortable with him as a fantasy asset were he to get surgery. That is obviously not my call and I don't know the specifics so these are just one man's completely uninformed and uneducated musings.

 

*

 

Apparently Sean Avery is set to join Dancing with the Stars. I cannot wait until he does something so ludicrous yet technically legal that they have to create a new rule banning the action even though everyone it had previously occurred to simply didn't do it out of common sense.

 

*

 

Charles P. Pierce discusses growing up as a Habs fan in Massachusetts.

 

*

 

Watch Alexander Edler completely whiff on his hip check attempt from a couple nights back.

 

*

 

For those of you hoping St. Louis makes a Miller-sized splash for a goaltender at the deadline I wouldn't get your hopes up. Blues GM Doug Armstrong gave Jaroslav Halak his vote of confidence even going so far as to compare him to Ed Belfour.

 

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.