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Corey Crawford has been facing a ton of shots lately. In seven of the last eight games he’s been peppered with at least 33. After giving up five goals Sunday, I’d like to think that the coach will give him a break. Antti Raanta was pretty horrible his last outing, but he’s another one of those guys who needs regular work in order to thrive. He’s better as a starter than a backup. Which basically means that unless Crawford suffers a long-term injury, Raanta is not going to get where fantasy owners need him to go while he’s with Chicago.

After four points in 10 games, Brandon Saad now has six in his last four. Saad is on pace for 57 points (as you can see in his profile page), but will probably settle in at around 50 or 52. In the Midseason Guide I have him at 50.

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Cody Eakin was a beast for the Stars Sunday, with three points – including a PPG, an SHG and an assist on an ENG. He’s too good in all areas and too reliable on all lines to stick on a scoring line. Lindy Ruff keeps putting him out there on whatever line is struggling, and he gets them going. That’s great for Ruff, but not so good for fantasy owners. If he can’t get that role to change, and find some chemistry with a top gun on this team, then he’ll be doomed to a 45-point ceiling.

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Alex Goligoski isn’t shooting the puck. Maybe because Trevor Daley has emerged or John Klingberg has arrived, but Goli is barely getting one shot per game – and he has one goal this season to show for it. He’s normally not a big shot-taker anyway, but he has 57 shots this season and that number should be closer to 75 if it were to match his career levels. I wish I could say that he’ll shoot more, but I don’t believe that. I think he’s changed his game a little now that Daley and Klingberg are around.

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The Coyotes scratched Martin Erat after his back-to-back ‘minus-2’ performances. He looked like he might be turning the corner in late December, but January hasn’t been kind to him. Then again, the Coyotes are in full tanking mode (see my trade analysis on Dubnyk), so maybe they should play the hell out of him.

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Injury notes – Mikael Granlund is back practicing (broken wrist), but I get the impression that he’s still another couple of weeks away. And Darcy Kuemper is cleared to play, but my sense from that article is that he will go to the AHL for conditioning…and thus give Devan Dubnyk more time to get a foothold on the starting job. Sure, Mike Yeo is saying all the right things and pretending that it will be difficult to juggle three goaltenders. He can say that all he wants. But the reality is, Niklas Backstrom has no business on NHL ice anymore, so really it’s just two goaltenders.

Shane Doan has six points, eight PIM, 19 shots in his last four games.

The Jets, without Mathieu Perreault, juggled their lines thusly:

So Evander Kane took Perreault’s spot.

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And, via Puck Daddy, here is Peter Laviolette yelling at the ref for winking at the Chicago bench: