We had a busier and earlier Tuesday night with eight games all starting before 8:30pm EST, so I was able to catch the end of all of them. That means I have some thoughts! Get comfy, grab your coffee, tea, or drink of choice, and let's get rolling.

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The big news of the day was Sidney Crosby landing on the NHL Covid list. With Crosby out for an unknown amount of time (though hopefully it's only contact tracing), this could be the opportunity Evgeni Malkin owners have been waiting for in order to get his season back on track. He picked up a single assist last night.

– Ryan Ellis to IR (out 4-6 weeks)
– Luke Kunin to IR (out 2-4 weeks)
– Ryan Johansen added to COVID protocol list#Preds | #CARvsNSH

— Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) March 2, 2021

Kaapo Kakko was also taken off of the list, which is great news for the 19-year-old because as a Type-1 Diabetic, he would be more likely to have severe symptoms. He was showing some flashes of really getting comfortable too. Hopefully he can pick up where he left off.

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The Predators also had some injury news, with Ryan Johansen added to the Covid list, while Ryan Ellis and Luke Kunin are going to be out with various ailments. Hopefully like we saw in San Jose when Tomas Hertl was added to the list, this is contained to just the one player. The Central Division can only afford to have so lose so many more games before some just aren't re-scheduled. 

The absences provide some opportunity for a few fringe players to break into the lineup – players that were set to play a role before David Poile went on a late-offseason shopping spree that is. Tanner Jeannot and Mathieu Olivier got the first look, but only 15 combined minutes, so expect a few different names to rotate through for the forwards. 

The main names to keep an eye on are on defence, with Dante Fabbro playing on the top pairing with Roman Josi, he could see an uptick in offensive deployment. On the third pairing, Alexandre Carrier gets an extended chance to show that he is NHL ready. The 24-year-old made his season debut, and has top-four offensive upside according to his DobberProspects profile. For a small guy, he racks up an unexpected number of PIMs too. 

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The Midseason Guide is scheduled to be released around the end of next week – March 12. You can pre-order now and it will be available for download when it’s released. Help support us and give yourself an edge heading into fantasy playoffs. Yours truly is diving deep into all of the peripheral stats, so if you have any specific questions about someone's shots, hits, PIMs, etc. chime in down in the comments! 

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Evgeny Kuznetsov returned to practice yesterday and may be back in game action soon. The lines weren't completely back to normal though, as T.J. Oshie was still on third line. The swap of him and Conor Sheary is one to keep an eye on, but it won't last. 

Capitals lines at Tuesday practice:

Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Sheary
Vrana-Backstrom-Wilson
Panik-Eller-Oshie
Hagelin-Dowd-Hathaway
Sprong

Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Schultz
Chara-Jensen
Siegenthaler-TvR

Samsonov
Vanecek

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) March 2, 2021

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The Devils' green jerseys didn't show up all that well on the television, but it was the offence that didn't show up on the ice. I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Lamoriello's inaugural team and his current team would play to a 2-1 final. Semyon Varlamov looks like an early runner-up for the Vezina Trophy (more on that later). Everyone is waiting on Ilya Sorokin to get his chance, but the real opportunity may not come until next year. 

Scott Mayfield saw the highest ice time of all Islander defencemen, he doesn't have much offensive upside even if he could get off the Island. His $1.45 million price tag is nice for cap leagues counting hits and blocks though. The Toews trade has really freed up some more even strength ice time for him. 

Miles Wood was a lone bright spot for the Devils, playing 21 minutes, hitting the net five times, and generally playing his in-your-face style. Three points in his last four games is a great sign that he may be taking another step forward. His peripherals have really dried up as a result of the offence shining through though.  

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Joey Daccord started last night's game in what was his third career appearance. There likely isn't a lot of fantasy relevance here as Murray is making the big bucks, and there aren't a lot of wins to share in the Ottawa crease to begin with. At best he might be the full-time backup for the Senators next season. 

Drake Batherson had his six game goal-scoring streak snapped, but he did record a primary assist on Artem Zub's second career NHL goal which was the only marker of the game for Ottawa. In the last year of his entry level deal he has taken a huge step forward. The signs were there last year, and all he needed were some better linemates than Artem Anisimov and Vadislav Namestnikov. Over two shots and 1.5 hits per game add some excellent peripheral production. He's not just a sell-high either, as his underlying stats balance out to about level production. He's only playing 15 minutes per game too. If he could get up into the 19-minute range with Brady Tkachuk and Josh Norris, the three of them see their value continue to rise. They did all see at least 17 minutes in last-night's tilt – hopefully that becomes a trend. 

Armia seeing time with the top unit is something to monitor, but it was the second unit (specifically Jeff Petry) that made good on their chances. Expect some more shuffling of those groups until something really starts to click. The Canadiens have enough options to be creative with a lot of different looks. 

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The Canadiens have relieved Stéphane Waite of his duties and have appointed Sean Burke as director of goaltending.https://t.co/hOXX0Jx5rK

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 3, 2021

The Canadiens are hoping the "goalie whisperer" Sean Burke can get Carey Price back on track. 

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One minute into last night's game between the Sabres and the Rangers we already had points from Jack Eichel and Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad especially looked more like the version of him from last year despite putting zero shots on net (he had a couple near misses). The window is going to slam shut sometime very soon. 

Colin Blackwell has been a big surprise for the Rangers, with eight points through 12 games. He played a career-high 18 minutes on February 28^thagainst Boston, and has been gotten top-six minutes with a few opportunities on the top powerplay. He's bringing an energy element that the Rangers have sorely needed, and as a result he should stick in the top-six even when the team gets healthy. 

Alexis Lafreniere scored his third of the season, and looked excellent on a line with Pavel Buchnevich and Zibanejad. If that sticks for any length of time Lafreniere would start piling up points regardless of his talent. When things then start to click for him he could jump right back into the Calder race. 

When everyone was thinking that Jeff Skinner should be getting more minutes, we didn't mean take them away from Taylor Hall. Both players saw less even strength ice than Curtis Lazar, Jacob Bryson, Tobias Rieder, and Skinner himself. Buffalo just can't have nice things because when they do they don't treat them well.

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In a game that had more on the line for the goalies than just two points for their teams, Tristan Jarry came away the real winner. 

There's a lot on the line between Tristan Jarry and Carter Hart. 👀

Whoever gets more head-to-head wins this season will get this Lamborghini for one week. 😯pic.twitter.com/mSg4W9Or6k

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 3, 2021

It's tough to fault Carter Hart as he was bombarded with high-quality chances. The fifth one especially wasn't Hart's fault though as he was on his way to the bench for the extra attacker. 

After a rough start to the season, Hart's fantasy owners are likely getting a little panicked. Brian Elliott may start getting a few more starts, but it's Hart's net in the end, and he's going to be a star in this league for a long time. 

Erik Gustafsson was a healthy scratch for the Flyers, and it appears his 60 points days are truly behind him. It's unfortunate for him that he signed with a team like the Flyers that are so deep at defence, especially on the left side. 

Only one forward (Connor Bunnaman) didn't see powerplay ice time for the Philadelphia Flyers. Their units seem to be a bit of musical chairs, but the most productive ones seem to consist of James van Reimsdyk and Claude Giroux. Both have been revitalized this season, just in time for some tough decisions to be made in the Seattle expansion draft. The Flyers are going to lose a good player just in time for Morgan Frost to return and find some space on the top unit. Keep an eye on him for next year.  

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Jesper Fast was up on the top line for the Hurricanes but couldn't take advantage of the opportunity. If he sticks with Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov for any length of time then he's a valuable short-term option. 

Juuse Saros started the game, but Pekka Rinne started the second period after Saros allowed two goals in the first and left with an undisclosed injury. Kasimir Kaskisuo should be the next man up for the Predators, but he's not someone to reach for even in the deepest of leagues. 

Mattias Ekholm continues his tear since returning from an injury with another two points – that's four points and 16 shots in four games for those of you counting at home. With Ryan Ellis on the shelf, Ekholm ran the Preds second powerplay unit. 

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Detroit just keeps scoring on the powerplay. After enduring an 0-40 stretch they're now getting some bounces and have scored with the man-advantage in two of the last three games. Christian Djoos has some short-term value as the main defenceman on the top unit, but it won't take much for his value to completely disappear again. 

Speaking of powerplay defencemen, Zach Werenski had two primary assists (one on the powerplay) and looked much more comfortable than I have seen him at any point this season. He's still cold and way-below his usual scoring paces, so check in on him in points-only leagues. His peripherals aren't exactly eye-popping which means the name value usually makes him too costly to acquire in leagues counting truculence stats. 

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After Thatcher Demko shut out the door on the Jets on Monday, the Canucks went back to Braden Holtby who didn't impress with four goals against. The pendulum seems to be swinging even further towards Demko as Hotlby has been bad for a year-and-a-half now. Unless your league is super deep or very goalie heavy, then you should be cutting bait with the 31-year-old former Cup winner. The youth wave is arriving here in Vancouver. 

Three points for Scheifele pushed him up to 31 points in 22 games. The top end of the Winnipeg lineup is really running hot now, and it's only a matter of time until Pierre-Luc Dubois gets in on it. Centring Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers is one of the cushiest spots in the league. 

In one of my deeper dynasty leagues, I grabbed Jonah Gadjovich off the waivers last weekend. In leagues where power forwards have some added value, he's not a prospect to overlook. He has six goals in seven AHL games thus far, and knows how to get to the net.

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The Tampa powerplay needed all of 10 seconds to score the first marker. Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn being a part of that top unit make them worthwhile streams in the short term. The Lightning have seven games in the next two weeks, all against bottom-half teams Chicago, Detroit, and Nashville. 

This is your public service announcement to check and see if Ben Bishop is available in your leagues to be stashed on IR. He can be a huge difference-maker in the second-half of the season, and with his scheduled re-evaluation coming up in the next week or two, your league mates may be alerted to his impending return in the next few days. 

In the other net, Andrei Vasilevskiy extended his shutout streak to three games, and just about has the Vezina Trophy locked up already. He’s worthy of a top eight pick in every league for the next eight years.

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This is from Monday night, but man Trevor Zegras is fun to watch. I feel like in 20 years we'll have some hologram clips of his career that will be as fun to watch as the Pavel Datsyuk compilations. 

Yes, you saw right.

Trevor Zegras (@tzegras11) attempted to score his first NHL goal with the Michigan… pic.twitter.com/eN05sWPHOi

— NHL (@NHL) March 2, 2021

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I'm covering for Dobber on Monday, so I'll see you then. 

In the meantime, stay safe!