Recapping last night's action including injuries to Dupuis, Havlat, Varlamov and more…

 

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Pretty unfortunate night of hockey on the injury front as multiple players went down in scary fashion.

 

Pascal Dupuis was struck in the back of the neck by a shot and had to be stretchered off. The look on his face after was one of terror but he did give the old thumbs up on his way off so he could be fine. Not really sure yet on his condition.

 

Meanwhile, Martin Havlat was bloodied by a hit from behind from Jason Chimera. No penalty on the play but Havlat was down and visibly shaken. He did not return. It's probably not a major injury here but I wouldn't rule out a concussion.

 

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The Dallas stars stole a win in Pittsburgh last night. Not that they didn't play well but after going down 2-0 after a couple of early power plays they were forced to claw their way back finally tying the game up with just under three minutes remaining in regulation.

 

They then won the game on a power-play goal from Tyler Seguin with just 2.9 seconds remaining. It was a clutch finish on a one-timer from a similar spot that Seguin had whiffed from earlier in the game. You can't give a guy like that multiple chances.

 

This game won't do much to settle the debate raging over who the better asset on the Stars blueline is. Trevor Daley skated 25:21 with 2:43 on the power play, notching one assist to give him three points on the season.

 

Meanwhile, Alex Goligoski skated 23:36 with 2:48 on the power play and two assists, one of which came on the game-winner. He also sits at three points on the season.

 

Would it shock you if both of these guys finished with around 40 points? Why does one of them HAVE to win? What if this is one of those fluid situations where they are up and down all year with everything evening out in the end?

 

For what it's worth I'm giving Goligoski a small edge given his presence on that late-game power play. That shows a certain degree of confidence from the coaching staff. He also has history of being the top dog in Dallas.

 

Antoine Roussel scored his second goal of the season bringing him to three points on the season. I'm not buying this early offense. He's a third line guy who sees no power play time. He could conceivably do the Dupuis/Marchand thing where he scores despite not being a power play guy but he'd still need to be skating in the top-six to do so. As of right now that is not happening. Enjoy the added offense but remember how Roussel butters his bread; hits and PIM. Don't count on anything but strong production in those two categories.

 

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As mentioned, Dupuis was stretchered off in this one. Blake Comeau took his place on the Evgeni Malkin/Brandon Sutter line. He didn't look terrible but I don't see this being a fit. I was hoping to see Steve Downie up on that line but as of now that doesn't look like it will happen.

 

I immediately thought that the Penguins might try bringing back Brian Gibbons who played decently enough for them last season and was placed on waivers by the Blue Jackets earlier this week but he has already cleared and is playing in the AHL. Also, Gibbons was given a chance by the Penguins' old front office. There’s no reason to believe that they'd have any more interest in Gibbons than any other franchise.

 

Side note, how big of an indictment of Gibbons is it that he has been sent to the minors in spite of all the injuries they are facing?

 

Chris Kunitz was an absolute beast last night scoring a goal and an assist, while firing six shots and landing seven hits.

 

After notching three assists on opening night Olli Maatta has yet to score again (granted it's been two games) and hasn't sniffed any power play time. Just reminding you that it's a long season and that no he isn't a great bet to score big even on this team.

 

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Heck of a game by the Islanders last night. They really controlled the bulk of the play against the Sharks, which is no small feat. On the game, the Islanders outshot the Sharks 45-23 but had to go to the shootout before they could secure the win.

 

That's because the Sharks are such a prolific scoring team. They don't even need to control the play to score. All they need is one glimmer of a chance and it can get to the back of the net. Sure enough, despite their dominance, the Islanders actually only held a lead for less than three minutes of this game. Every time you thought the Islanders might jump ahead, the Sharks scored a quickie.

 

It was a darn good thing that the Islanders controlled so much of the play because all that puck possession helped them avoid the penalty box. They took only one minor (or major) in this game and seeing as the Sharks capitalized just seven seconds into their lone power play this was definitely a good thing to avoid.

 

It should be noted that Alex Stalock had to play really well in this one to keep the Sharks in the game.

 

They also got another big performance from Brent Burns, who has scored in every game this season despite being moved back on defense. I still don't like the move but clearly they have the depth up front to make it work. Give him two goals and six points through four games. He won't sustain this pace but 50+ points wouldn't surprise me at all. In fact, I'm expecting at least 50.

 

Mirco Mueller drew back into the lineup and notched his first point as an NHLer. I don't see him being a factor in fantasy leagues this season.

 

Matt Irwin now has three points through two games this season for the Sharks. I'm not in on him in shallow leagues though. He's a second PP unit guy. There's only so much upside in that. He is intriguing though. I love how Irwin managed 147 SOG in just 62 games last season. Not too many defensemen get that much rubber on net.

 

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John Tavares continues to go bananas for the Islanders. He's had four straight multi-point efforts to open the season. I'm sure a lot of you are curious how legit this is. Can he keep it up?

 

The simple answer is no. No one has scored at this rate for a full season in like two decades. Tavares is good but he's not going to flip the league on its head.

 

The more complicated answer is that Tavares can absolutely continue to score at above a point-per-game, which is the best rate we've seen from him in a full season.

 

The real question is how far can he push this? Does he stop at 85? 90? Or can he get to 100?

 

I'd pump the brakes on 100. It's not that he can't get there but injuries (to himself or linemates) and slumps and poor scheduling and bad luck are going to become factors eventually. We'll see how things progress once the team faces some adversity.

 

But I do like this improved team. They have depth and talent. They aren't just leaning on the Tavares line. Now they have other lines that can carry the play and they have enough talent on the power play that Tavares can fall into points without really having to create anything. That's when guys start to get nutty with the scoring.

 

This is my long-winded way of saying mark Tavares down for 90 points because that's about where I figured him for before the season began. After all, we don't want to overreact to four games.