The Ducks' confounding goaltending situation, Palat returns, Hall getting healthy and more…

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Bruce Boudreau might be the biggest thorn in the side of fantasy players. His goalie strategy is a total enigma. I never know who is going to start games for the Ducks. Not the day of and certainly not in the future. Oh sure, I projected Freddie Andersen for a 60/40 split this season and it's mostly worked out that way. But when/where/how we've reached that split has been a total mystery.

Andersen finally made his return to the crease after three straight starts from John Gibson. He won but that may not mean anything.

Just check out what Boudreau had to say after he gave Gibson the start against the Kings earlier this week:

"Don't draw anything from it," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We've got our plan. We're following our plan. This is part of the plan."

Oh you have a plan do you? Care to enlighten us? We'd really like to know. The man is a damned cypher.

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Sami Vatanen made his return for the Ducks and so far he's winning the battle against James Wisniewski skating 3:03 on the top power play unit versus 2:53 for Wisniewski on the second unit. We might be seeing the Ducks heading towards more of a Bruins-type scenario where the two units split time evenly. That's especially plausible with Ryan Kesler anchoring the second unit.

Pierre LeBrun had a solid profile on how well Kesler is working out for the Ducks that's worth your time.

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Three-game scoring streak for Brian Gionta. 13 SOG for him in those three games too. It's tempting to grab him when he's skating 23+ minutes a night, which is crazy for a forward but I just can't suggest that you do so. There's plenty of talent on your waiver wire better than Gionta. There has to be.

Mikhail Grigorenko is back up with the Sabres. He went minus-two in just eight minutes of action. Maybe getting the crap kicked out of him by Ted Nolan is ultimately going to make him better. I tend to prefer my prospects getting lots of minutes though. That's why I'm such a big fan of Rasmus Ristolainen.

Ristolainen is skating huge minutes for the Sabres. That doesn't mean very much right now but if he's earned Nolan's trust and Nolan continues to be the head coach then he's in a favourable spot if the Sabres ever become a real team. I really believe you want to get in on the ground floor with Ristolainen, before he breaks out and is impossible to acquire. Remember, I traded Tyson Barrie for him. Granted, that was in a multi-category salary cap league but I wouldn't have done it if I didn't see huge upside.

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No Mike Cammalleri or Patrik Elias for the Devils yesterday. Cammalleri was a significant loss for fantasy owners but the good news is he was just out sick. Still, a tough blow considering we're in head-to-head playoffs.

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Elias was out with back spasms, which is always a tricky one. Who knows when he'll be ready to return. That's a day by day type of deal. He's been skating on the fourth line anyhow so it's no big loss.

Those two missing was no problem, at least not against the Sabres. Adam Henrique, Scott Gomez and Steve Bernier carried the load with two points apiece. For Henrique that's a four-game scoring streak.

Keith Kinkaid got a rare start for the Devils, which you would have known all about if you checked Goalie Post yesterday. Just a friendly reminder. I use Goalie Post every day to help inform my fantasy decisions

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I said it before and I'll say it again, the Lightning are freaking dangerous now that Matt Carle is back. They just got Ondrej Palat back too and Palat notched a pair of assists.

Two assists for Victor Hedman as well as he continues to thrive with added power play time. Whether or not that is related to Carle’s return is something that intrigues me because I definitely want to see Hedman soaking up big power play minutes.

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