Another week, another game cancellation. The St. Louis/Vegas game was postponed on Thursday due to a positive test among one Golden Knights player and a member of its coaching staff. In case you missed it, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon took over coaching duties for Tuesday's game as the team's coaching staff isolated.

Hopefully you found out in time to make the necessary adjustments to your roster. At least Thursday was busy enough in that you may have had an option or two on your bench that you could easily swap in. In my leagues, this allowed me to activate Rickard Rakell and Josh Norris, but no dice from either player.

You don't have to worry about losing any more Vegas games this week, as the Golden Knights are not scheduled to play until Monday against San Jose. Some or all of the four games they have scheduled next week may be in jeopardy, though, which is something to take into account as you plan ahead. As far as other teams affected goes, Vegas faces San Jose on Monday and Wednesday and Los Angeles on Friday and Sunday next week.  

Whatever happens to the Golden Knights, fantasy owners will likely have to be without Alex Pietrangelo for the next few games.

Alex Pietrangelo (VGK), Aaron Dell (NJ) and Andreas Athanasiou (LA) have been added to the NHL's COVID Protocol list.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 28, 2021

For more on the schedule, check out this week's Looking Ahead, which will appear later Friday.

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Carolina was finally back in business on Thursday, having been out of commission for over a week due to positive COVID tests. Three games in four days for the rest of this week might make Hurricanes players seem like strong volume plays. However, Saturday's and Sunday's games are both against a defensively-tight Dallas team. Plan accordingly.

It took over 60 minutes for any Hurricanes skaters to record any points. Martin Necas scored his first goal of the season at 1:12 of overtime to give the Hurricanes the win. Petr Mrazek made 32 saves in shutting out the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning.

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Speaking of overtime goals, Alexis Lafreniere scored his first NHL goal in dramatic fashion. He's the first player selected first overall in the draft to have his first NHL goal scored in overtime. The goal was also Lafreniere's first NHL point, so you've had to wait a while if you been patiently leaving him in your lineup. Lafreniere also took a season-high (and career-high) four shots in this game.

You just knew Lafreniere's 1st was gonna be an OT winner didn't you!!!! OH BABY!!!!! #NYR pic.twitter.com/1NabrI8RJy

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) January 29, 2021

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Conor Sheary is all about linemates and opportunity. If he has them, he's worth at least a short-term look. If not, then leave him on your waiver wire. Washington's current situation (no Alex Ovechkin or Evgeny Kuznetsov) meant that Sheary was bumped up the lineup, and he delivered with two second-period goals just over a minute apart.

In spite of just over nine minutes of icetime, Sheary was on a line with Richard Panik and TJ Oshie (as the center!) Nicklas Backstrom and Jakub Vrana formed the top line with Tom Wilson, who was a game-time decision. Finally the first-unit power-play time you've been waiting for with Vrana, although not with all the offensive weapons you've hoped for.

It wasn't a memorable game for the Islanders, but Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first NHL goal in his first game of the season. The former first-round pick skated just under 11 minutes on a line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kieffer Bellows.

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With a goal on Thursday, Carter Verhaeghe now has goals in three consecutive games (four goals over that span). As mentioned by our new Lining Up writer Erich Lichter, Verhaeghe is on the Panthers top line with Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair. This is very clearly a case of a proven OHL and AHL scorer finally getting his opportunity. Not surprisingly, his icetime is way up in Florida – an average of 10 minutes more per game from last season in Tampa Bay. The shooting percentage (33.3%) is sky high, so you know that a regression is inevitable. Even with that, Verhaeghe is now a player to pay attention to in fantasy leagues after the move across the state of Florida.

Fantasy Impact: Panthers Sign Verhaeghe, Gudas

Jack Roslovic made his CBJ debut, but he was held without a point in 14 minutes. He played on a line with Cam Atkinson and Boone Jenner, so he stands to hold an important role on John Tortorella's squad.

In case you're wondering when Patrik Laine will finally suit up for the Blue Jackets, as of Thursday he was stuck in Ottawa awaiting the paperwork for his work visa.

Alexandre Texier's shootout goal was very dazzl… I mean, it worked.

Wait, what?
Seriously.
Alexandre Texier (@atexier99). 😳😳 pic.twitter.com/pXcHHxpeHk

— NHL (@NHL) January 29, 2021

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Plugging another article from this past week, new Geek of the Week writer Logan Doyle advised you to watch for the emerging Joel Eriksson Ek. With another goal on Thursday, Eriksson Ek has five goals this season, including four goals and six points in his last five games. The pucks won't always be going in for Eriksson Ek at this rate, but he is benefitting from the opportunity stemming from the Wild lacking real top-6 options at the center position. Although only one of his seven points is on the power play, the power-play time itself is something he's never really had before. Sure, why not.

Kevin Fiala may receive supplementary discipline for this hit from behind on Matt Roy.

just a lapse in judgement, there is no reason to make this play pic.twitter.com/x8tGBmggfi

— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) January 29, 2021

Not surprisingly, Roy left the game with a possible concussion. It was not a night to be a Kings defenseman, as Sean Walker also left the game after taking a slap shot to the face (you can go look that one up). Those injuries meant that Drew Doughty was on the ice for over half the game (32 minutes), which is not unprecedented for Doughty. With a goal and an assist on Thursday, the Kings minute-munching defenseman is off to a fast start (three goals and three assists in eight games).

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Prospect goalie Jake Oettinger made 20 saves in his first NHL start, a 7-3 win over the Red Wings. Oettinger probably won't start often for the Stars, but he's worth using as a spot starter when he receives the nod. This is probably a good time to remind you to check Goalie Post and sign up for email notifications.

Denis Gurianov is off to a fast start. With a goal and two assists on Thursday, Gurianov now has points in all four of his games played and goals in three of those games. Gurianov may not be as highly ranked as he could be in your league because the Stars are catching up on games, so you'll get lots of mileage from him the rest of the way. With Jamie Benn placed on injured reserve on Thursday, goal-scorer Gurianov seems to be a lock for first-unit power-play minutes.  

Jonathan Bernier left Thursday's game after he was run into by Anthony Mantha, although it doesn't sound like he'll be out for very long. Here is the play where Bernier was injured, which was on Gurianov's goal.

The puck, Mantha, and Bernier all go into the Red Wings' net as Gurianov scores. pic.twitter.com/52CC7V0Ado

— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) January 29, 2021

Those Dallas glow-in-the-dark unis look like they're perfect for laser tag.  

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Nazem Kadri was a multicategory machine on Thursday. He scored two goals, added an assist, and fired 10 shots on goal. Kadri's two third-period goals were his first goals in six games.

Philipp Grubauer recorded a relatively easy 21-save shutout of the Sharks. Not surprisingly because he plays for a Stanley Cup contender, he's posted wins in five of his last six starts. Grubauer is tied for the league lead in wins (5) with Frederik Andersen (who also recorded a win on Thursday).

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Yes, Brock Boeser owns Matt Murray.

But to be fair, basically everyone owns Matt Murray these days

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) January 29, 2021

Brock Boeser once recorded a hat trick against Matt Murray when the latter was stopping pucks for the Penguins. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Boeser scored a pair and added an assist as the Canucks swept their three-game home series with the Senators.

How bad has it been for Murray? He's allowed at least three goals in each of his six starts. He's posted three consecutive Really Bad Starts ©. His goals-against average calculates out to 4.40, while his save percentage is an unsightly 0.859. I'd rather not blame the goalie if at all possible, but Thatcher Demko and Braden Holtby were miles ahead of Murray and Marcus Hogberg in this series. Stay away or get out (or bench at the very least), as you're doing considerable damage to your goaltending if you're starting Murray. He's 40 percent owned in Yahoo leagues and being left untouched in one of my leagues where the competition keeps getting better and better.

Thomas Chabot left Thursday's game for precautionary reasons. He was slow to get up after he collided with Braden Holtby. It might not be anything serious, but something to keep an eye on. The Senators don't play again until Sunday.

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Patrice Bergeron scored two goals on Thursday, which means he's scored two goals in two of his last three games. Currently in the top 5 in total shots (32 SOG), the new Bruins captain seems to be just fine without David Pastrnak. It's possible that Pasta makes his season debut on Saturday, which will only help Bergeron's value. Maybe you thought Bergeron would be a bust in the early going with the possibility that Brad Marchand would also miss time due to offseason surgery (and also because Bergeron is now 35 years old), but that clearly hasn't been the case.

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Finally, Jimmy Howard officially announced his retirement after 14 NHL seasons, all with the Red Wings. The 36-year-old goalie was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2009-10, a three-time All-Star, and represented the USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics. He also finishes his career third in all-time wins among Red Wings goalies behind Terry Sawchuk and Chris Osgood. Congratulations on a fine career.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding