October 25, 2014
steve laidlaw
2014-10-25
Recapping last night's action including some big nights for Duchene, Iginla, Eberle, Drouin and more…
*
The Dallas Stars pulled off something most teams don't do against the Devils, the Stars outshot them. Of course, they also pulled off something everybody does against the Devils, beating them in a shootout.
I thought that the Stars played a really nice game. Ales Hemsky was flying. He landed eight SOG but came up empty once again. He's got just one assist so far this season. Performances like this make you feels like it is only a matter of time before Hemsky has a big game. Of course, it's probably also only a matter of time before he's on the IR. Seems like he's borrowing some of his borrowed time.
And really, the opportunity isn't necessarily there for him right now. The Stars have gotten away from the four-forward power play unit, which has left Hemsky skating with the likes of Vernon Fiddler and Curtis McKenzie both at even strength and on the power play. Can't say I'm optimistic about Hemsky until there are some line changes.
The Stars have been happy to put all their eggs into one awesome basket. Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza make for one lethal line. The beauty is that this allows Seguin to move back to the wing and spares Benn from having to do so much work on faceoffs. These guys remind me of the Senators' top line in their heyday with Spezza centering a pre-mummified Dany Heatley and a peak Daniel Alfredsson. Fun to watch for sure. The clicked for a power play score in this one. Expect to see more of that.
*
The Stars probably should have run away with this game but Cory Schneider played a really strong game turning aside 35 of 37 shots, including a late breakaway by Erik Cole, where left John Merrill in his dust. I knew Cole used to have wheels but I didn't no he still had them. Merrill is no slouch but he looked like Vinny Lecavalier skating in quicksand rather than the young, mobile defender he is.
The Devils lose this one in regulation if not for a great effort by Patrik Elias late in this one, with one of the most desperate, creative and lucky assists you'll ever see as he swipes the puck with his hand off the goaltender, through the crease and onto Damian Brunner's stick. Tie game.
Brunner has been very active since joining the Devils' lineup. In three games Brunner has three points including that goal above, his first of the season. He landed six SOG.
I'm not much of a believer in Brunner's game but he does add some speed and shooting that this aging group can certainly use. I'd leave him on the wire in anything but the deepest of leagues.
*
Vintage Ondrej Pavelec is back! He allowed four goals on 18 shots to get yanked after two periods. That drags his save percentage under the .900 mark at .899%. Don't ever change, Ondrej. We need goalies like you to help remind us that not everyone gets to have a good goalie whether in fantasy or otherwise.
For the first time in a while, the Jets really layed the rubber to the opposing netminder. They landed 42 shots on Ben Bishop and got goals from Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little.
Wheeler landed eight SOG. Michael Frolik, the world's crappiest Ferrari, landed seven SOG but came up empty. I'm sorry to say I own Frolik in one pool. I also own Pavelec in that pool. I hate this team.
The Tobias Enstrom rejuvenation continues. With two assists last night he has six through seven games. No goals yet, though. I'd get more excited but Enstrom started last season with five points through his first seven games and then had just 25 in his next 75. On this team, the offense can dry up at any moment.
*
As mentioned, Bishop faced a ton of rubber against the Jets but was up to the challenge making 40 saves. He's answering all the critics who suggested he might not be able to repeat his excellent play from last season. Bishop is a legit top-10 goalie.
Ondrej Palat has been dropped from the top line but last night it didn't matter. He notched a goal and an assist anyway. I'm not as high on Palat if he's a second liner even if he has been reunited with Tyler Johnson on the second line (and second power play unit) and they were joined by Nikita Kucherov who jumped up from the third line.
The winner here is Kucherov who notched three assists and sure looks like a nice short-term pick up while the Lightning deal with injuries to Ryan Callahan and Alex Killorn.
Even bigger winners: Jonathan Drouin and Valtteri Filppula, who get to skate with Steven Stamkos at evens and on the power play. They each notched assists on Stamkos' goal to open the scoring.
Semyon Varlamov made a triumphant return to the crease winning his first game of the season. I still don't like his prospects for fantasy though. I think that his awesome numbers last season were a bit of smoke and mirrors. The Avalanche look worse this year than last and if they aren't a playoff team he won't be nearly as good. If Varlamov gives you league-average or slightly worse stats while only winning say 30 games he would only be like the 20th best goalie in fantasy. This after he had a top-five performance. We'll see, it's still early but I also felt this way before the season began.
How clutch is Daniel Briere? He's got two goals this season and both of them have been game-winners. His goal last night came in just 6:35 of ice time but to have the wherewithal to be on the ice at the right time to bang in that rebound to put the Avalanche up 4-2 knowing that the Canucks would score again later in the period, that's just impressive.
*
Nothing like a visit from the Carolina Hurricanes to get the monkey off your back. Jordan Eberle scored his first two goals of the season in this one, the first on a sweet sauce pass from Taylor Hall.
The second goal wasn't nearly as glamourous. Sure, it was a nice finish by Eberle but the assist surely goes to Benoit Pouliot who broke his stick slashing the opposing defenseman to generate a turnover at the side of the net.
That's one of those goals that goes down as officially unassisted but was unofficially assisted by the officials.
Justin Schultz notched an assist to give him a three-game scoring streak. Funny how when the team is playing well he is scoring. Or is it that when Schultz is playing well the team is scoring? Something about chickens and eggs probably applies here. For what it's worth I'm not buying Schultz stock. The Oilers still aren't good enough for me to buy.
It took until his eighth game but Leon Draisaitl banged home his first NHL goal. He's looked pretty solid these past couple of games. Enough that I think he sticks with the big club. I don't think that he should stick but this team has zero other options at center. Can you imagine if they sent him down AND had someone get hurt? Actually, I think it's a nightmare scenario if someone gets hurt whether Draisaitl is there or not. That's how little an impact I think he's going to make this season.
*
There is only one NHL team remaining winless so far, the Carolina Hurricanes. They are 0-5-2 so far. Here's a really interesting bet that I'm not sure you can make at any sports book but might be fun if you can find a friend willing to bet it – who wins first, the Hurricanes or the NFL's only winless team, the Oakland Raiders?
It's not really a fair bet if it isn't settled in the next week because eventually the Hurricanes will one by sheer volume of games but between now and Sunday November 2nd, the Hurricanes play three games. The Raiders have two games over that same span. It's not inconceivable that they could beat the Hurricanes to their first win.
I'm mostly just saying all that to make fun of the Hurricanes though, which is probably cruel but don't worry, one of Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid is going to look great wearing the Fleurs de Lys once this team is relocated to Quebec. Okay, I'm done… just like the Hurricanes' hopes this season…
Start gearing up to buy low on Alexander Semin. When Eric Staal returns, which should be in the next week or so, he'll finally have a centerman worth running with again. He's currently skating with Jiri Tlusty and Riley Nash or Viktor Rask. That ain't gonna cut it. He has but two assists so far but we know how good Semin can be with Staal, even if the rest of the Hurricanes roster is weak.
*
The late game was somewhat disappointing. The Blue Jackets were coming off an awesome battle in San Jose the night before and came out flat in this one. They looked like they'd tossed the kitchen sink at the Sharks. They had little left for the Ducks.
The usual suspects were at it again for Anaheim. Corey Perry now has nine goals on the season. Unreal. I'd love to suggest selling high but who are you going to get? If his name isn't Crosby or Stamkos, I'm not sure I'm interested.
Both Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have 12 points each after last night.
It was nice to see some of their associates rewarded for their opportunity to skate alongside the two superstars. Sami Vatanen contributed a couple of power play points as he continues to be this year's Torey Krug.
Cam Fowler and William Karlsson notched a power play assist each. Both are out there on the top unit so it's only a matter of time before they start racking up the point totals simply by proximity.
One final one. Devante Smith-Pelly has finally got top line billing and he had a beauty little tip goal: