December 9, 2014

Buy low on Staal, Brodeur wins another, get on Bjugstad and Ekblad right meow and more…

 

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Those of you who scooped up Steve Downie, after Patric Hornqvist went down, were finally rewarded with a couple of points, including the goal that sent the game to overtime. Downie stands to be useful asset as long as Hornqvist is out.

 

The Pittsburgh sniper is still being evaluated after a head injury last week. We all know it's really a concussion, even if they don't want to put that label on it. With that in mind, it's really hard to say what kind of time Hornqvist might miss. Downie could be out of the top-six by the time the Penguins play again or he could be hot into 2015.

 

The Penguins injuries are getting ridiculous though. They were lucky to escape with a point last night considering the talent level on the active roster.

 

One guy I was hoping would step up is Christian Ehrhoff. He's got a golden opportunity with Kris Letang out and he has the track record of producing. Letang has missed five games now but Ehrhoff has just two points.

 

Both of those points were goals and considering how banged up this roster is perhaps a 0.4-point per game pace isn't that bad. Ehrhoff has also been shooting the crap out of the puck with 18 SOG in the past five games, an average of 3.6 SOG per contest. He averaged just under two SOG per game over the previous 22 with a healthy Letang. So the scoring may still come even if it hasn't in massive amounts.

 

To be clear, Ehrhoff becomes droppable once Letang returns though.

 

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Last night was Henrik Lundqvist's first action since getting shredded by the Lightning exactly a week earlier. Seven days is an unheard of break for Lundqvist but it seems to have done him well in stopping 32 of 35 in a big win over the Penguins. Experienced managers know better than to doubt Lundqvist but for those of you frustrated with his play, hold on tight. It will only get better.

 

Dan Boyle has been back for a couple of games now but that short absence was all it took to launch Ryan McDonagh back into the first chair among Ranger defensemen. McDonagh skated a team high 5:44 on the power play last night, while Boyle clocked in at 3:43.

 

You might have some temptation to go after another Ranger defenseman, Kevin Klein, after he scored the game-winner last night, hitting double-digits for the season. Resist that temptation. Klein has been wielding a hot stick with six goals so far, which is already a career high and he's shot 21% to do it. I wouldn't be shocked if Klein didn't score another goal all season. For those of you in archaic leagues that still score game-winners this was Klein's third of the season, meaning he has been one valuable guy so far. Too bad you can't retroactively cherry pick his hot start.

 

Rick Nash, ladies and gentlemen: