Tavares, Tarasenko out Saturday; Kessel’s return to TO, plus thoughts on many more players…

I just got back from taking my kids trick or treating before I finished writing the Ramblings. My son dressed up as a Canucks’ very young prospect, and I dressed up as the Canucks’ coach who doesn’t provide enough icetime for his youngsters.

Now that we’ve had some time to digest some candy, let’s find out which players provided treats for their fantasy owners on Halloween and which players simply tricked us into thinking they could provide treats.

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The first notable absence of Saturday happened during the first of Saturday’s games. John Tavares missed the matinee against New Jersey due to illness. The Islanders play again on Sunday against Buffalo, and there is no word as to whether Tavares will be active for that game.

In the meantime, here are the Isles’ line combinations for Saturday. Thanks to Steve for showing me how to get today’s combinations. Hint: Don’t just select “Line Combos – Last Game” from the Dobber home page.

16.57%  EV           LEE,ANDERS – NELSON,BROCK – STROME,RYAN

15.47%  EV           BAILEY,JOSH – NIELSEN,FRANS – OKPOSO,KYLE

15.47%  EV           BERNIER,STEVE – GRABOVSKI,MIKHAIL – KULEMIN,NIKOLAY

11.6%    EV           CIZIKAS,CASEY – CLUTTERBUCK,CAL – MARTIN,MATT

6.08%    PP           LEE,ANDERS – NIELSEN,FRANS – OKPOSO,KYLE

The major benefactor of Tavares’ absence seemed to be Brock Nelson, who played 17:39 in this game but was held without a point in the 3-2 shootout loss. That icetime number doesn’t seem huge, but it is actually two and a half minutes more than his season average, even without significant power-play time. But assuming Tavares isn’t sick very long, Nelson will probably be back on the third line, hindering his fantasy value again.

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Patrick Sharp owners are being rewarded for their patience, as the Stars’ sniper has scored his first four goals over his last three games, including a goal on Saturday. Although Sharp was moved to the Jason Spezza line for Thursday’s game against Vancouver, he was back on the all-important Tyler Seguin/Jamie Benn line for Saturday’s tilt with San Jose. That didn’t seem to matter for Sharp on Thursday, as he scored two goals in that game anyway. True goal scorers will find a way.

Also from the Stars, filed under “Helps Almost Nobody”: Antoine Roussel and Vernon Fiddler each scored a goal and added two assists with a +3 in Saturday’s win over San Jose. Actually, Roussel could help teams in deeper leagues that count penalty minutes. The forward from France has hit triple-digits in that category over his previous two seasons and is projected to do so again this season.

One other quick note about the Stars: That’s three wins in a row for Antti Niemi. The Stars’ new goalie has started seven games, while Kari Lehtonen has started just four. It’s still early, but we may have found our starter in Dallas.

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Another season, another fast start from Tyler Toffoli. Regardless of whether you believe he can keep it up, Toffoli scored two more goals on Saturday against Nashville. These were goals eight and nine for Toffoli, who scored six goals and 14 points last October. In case you’re considering trading for Toffoli, remember that shooting percentages well north of 30 percent are never sustainable.

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In his first game back in Toronto since the trade, Phil Kessel was kept off the scoresheet, along with Sidney Crosby (again) and Evgeni Malkin. So it was the secondary scoring that stepped up for the Penguins in their 4-0 win. On the second-unit power play, Chris Kunitz scored with assists from David Perron and Beau Bennett. In his first game as a Penguin, Eric Fehr scored a shorthanded goal and added an assist. And of course, Marc-Andre Fleury recorded the 21-save shutout.

Here’s an interesting read from Andrew Berkshire at Sportsnet on why Crosby has struggled this season. In short, Crosby is having trouble creating passes to the slot and off the rush, while his teammates are not getting to the scoring areas. Of course it’s far too early to give up on Crosby, but at least there’s legitimate cause for concern here. After Saturday, Crosby has points in just two of 11 games this season.

Back to Kessel for a moment. You may have seen this tweet from Kris Letang already:

Awesome tribute to a great player @PKessel81 in TO …. Crickets crickets

— Kristopher Letang (@Letang_58) November 1, 2015

I’m with Letang on this one. When Ryan Kesler returned to Rogers Arena for the first time since being traded to the Ducks, the Canucks recognized his contributions by showing a short video tribute. This was after one of the most acrimonious breakups in recent NHL history, which was initiated by Kesler demanding a trade. Yet the Canucks still put their feelings aside and honored Kesler. I know things weren’t always rosy for Kessel in Toronto, but it would have been the right thing to do for a player who scored a ton of goals for your team.

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Henrik Zetterberg reached a couple of milestones on Saturday. His first assist was the 500^th of his career, while his second assist was the 800^th point of his career. Perhaps more surprising than the milestones is that Zetterberg is in the top 10 in scoring once again, with his 11 assists tied for the league lead. I think at least a few people projected him to be a bust, give his age and recent injury history.

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By scoring the eventual  game-winning goal against his former club, Brett Connolly is now the proud owner of a six-game point streak. In spite of even earning some power-play time, Connolly’s season icetime still averages at only 15 minutes per game. But he was playing alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand in this game, and he is a former high first-round pick, so Connolly might be someone to look at in deeper leagues.

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With both Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr out of the Panthers’ lineup on Saturday, Gerard Gallant was forced to do some line juggling. This is what came out of the blender:

26.47%  EV           BJUGSTAD,NICK – HUBERDEAU,JONATHAN – SMITH,REILLY

14.71%  EV           JOKINEN,JUSSI – PIRRI,BRANDON – TROCHECK,VINCENT

10.08%  EV           BOLLAND,DAVE – GRIMALDI,ROCCO – HOWDEN,QUINTON

10.08%  EV           BRICKLEY,CONNOR – MACKENZIE,DEREK – THORNTON,SHAWN

4.2%      PP           BJUGSTAD,NICK – BOLLAND,DAVE – HUBERDEAU,JONATHAN – PIRRI,BRANDON

Jussi Jokinen, who scored the Panthers’ only goal in this game, has reached 20 minutes of icetime in each of his last three games. But it seems like whenever I add him to my fantasy team, he never provides enough sustained production to stay on my roster long-term.

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It was another stinker for Sergei Bobrovsky on Saturday, as he was pulled after the first period after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Bob has been reasonably better since John Tortorella took over, allowing no more than three goals in any of his starts. But if you’re a Bobrovsky owner, you’re probably going to be waiting a long while before his ratios come down to a level that is reasonable to where you would have drafted him. But at least the players in front of him will be blocking shots like crazy for him.

Speaking of which, this may seem like a small sample size. But before Tortorella was hired, Bobrovsky had faced an average of 29 shots per game in his full starts. After Torts was hired, that number has been reduced to 27. It’s a small amount, but the Tortorella influence could make life easier for Bobrovsky if it doesn’t completely destroy him for the season.

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With Vladimir Tarasenko out of the lineup on Saturday, here are the latest line combinations:

10.88%  EV           LEHTERA,JORI – STEEN,ALEXANDER – UPSHALL,SCOTTIE

10.88%  EV           BACKES,DAVID – BROUWER,TROY – OTT,STEVE

10.88%  EV           FABBRI,ROBBY – GOMEZ,SCOTT – JASKIN,DMITRIJ

8.79%    EV           BRODZIAK,KYLE – RATTIE,TY – REAVES,RYAN

6.69%    EV           LEHTERA,JORI – RATTIE,TY – STEEN,ALEXANDER

5.86%    EV           BACKES,DAVID – BROUWER,TROY – UPSHALL,SCOTTIE

5.86%    EV           LEHTERA,JORI – STEEN,ALEXANDER

4.18%    SH           BRODZIAK,KYLE – OTT,STEVE

It was clear that Ken Hitchcock did some line juggling in this game. With so many injuries at forward, it’s becoming way too difficult to keep track of who is lining up where.

Thankfully for the Blues, Jake Allen had another strong start, earning his third consecutive win in his third consecutive start over Brian Elliott. Allen has allowed just three goals in that span and may finally be pulling ahead of Elliott in the goaltending battle. Wait, haven’t we said that before?

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It’s a good thing the Oilers called up Leon Draisaitl this week. He scored again on Saturday and ended up with a three-point night. So that’s three goals and five points in the two games since his callup. He really seems to be clicking on his line with Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. In addition, Draisaitl has been receiving first-unit power-play time. As long as he is there, Draisaitl is a must-add in fantasy leagues. Just watch for Jordan Eberle’s return at some point, as Draisaitl could fall down the pecking order once that happens.

Unfortunately for Draisaitl and the Oilers, Michael Frolik and the Flames spoiled the party in Edmonton. Frolik’s hat trick goal with less than nine seconds left in regulation to give the Flames the 5-4 win. The goals were Frolik’s first three of the season, and he took a season-high seven shots in this game. Sometimes good things just happen when you shoot the puck. Just watch how he scored that game-winner.

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your Sunday.