There was some concern that the Boston/Buffalo game would be postponed after both teams cancelled their morning skates due to COVID protocol, but they ended up playing anyway. Even with vaccinations increasing by the day and many arenas welcoming fans back in limited capacities, this near-miss serves as a reminder we are still very much in a pandemic. With that, you might still have some unexpected lineup maneuvering.

The coaching debut of interim coach Don Granato didn't provide the wanted results for the Sabres, who fell 4-1 to the Bruins. Buffalo is now winless in 13 games and counting. But hey, Kyle Okposo scored his first goal of the season, which happened to be shorthanded. He's "kind of" heating up, with four points in his last six games. This after just one point (an assist) over his first 18 games. Jeff Skinner isn't the only Sabre with a bad contract on the books.

Speaking of which, Skinner was held without a point in nearly 14 minutes of icetime in this game. Skinner, the player of most interest to be impacted by a Sabres coaching change, skated on a line with Curtis Lazar and Casey Mittelstadt in this game. Meet the new boss – same as the old boss? At least we can't have that discussion as to whether Skinner should be playing with Jack Eichel because there is no Jack Eichel at the moment.

Fantasy Take: Sabres Fire Ralph Krueger

David Krejci led the Bruins in scoring in their win with three assists. The veteran pivot has just one goal (but 15 assists) in 24 games. Although his goal scoring is way down, his point pace is similar to last year's.

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The Penguins have placed Evgeni Malkin on IR with a lower-body injury. Malkin owners are already used to him missing a certain number of games very season. He has only played more than 70 games over a full season once since 2013-14. Before he left Tuesday's game, Malkin had been on an eight-game point streak, which helped fantasy owners recoup some of his value after his slow start. As a result of Malkin's absence, Evan Rodrigues moved up to a scoring line with Kasperi Kapanen and Brandon Tanev.

Mackenzie Blackwood was scratched after warmups, so Scott Wedgewood was pulled into duty. He picked up the quality start and win, stopping 40 of 42 shots. This was his second consecutive quality start, as he stopped 32 of 34 shots against the Islanders in a shootout loss. Expect Wedgewood to start at least one of the Devils' back-to-backs against the Penguins on Saturday and Sunday. His recent play, combined with absences of numerous Pittsburgh forwards, makes him an option worth considering.

Despite the Devils' win, Janne Kuokkanen's five-game point streak ended. He had scored four goals and added two assists over that span.

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Since Anton Khudobin was pulled from his March 11 start after allowing four goals on eight shots, Rick Bowness has decided it's going to be all Jake Oettinger. The rookie goalie entered Thursday's game with a 2.28 GAA and .920 SV%, so Bowness decided to give Oettinger his fourth consecutive start on Thursday. Oettinger could not lead the Stars to victory, allowing three goals on 21 shots. So maybe it's back to Khudobin on Saturday, or at the very least for the second of back-to-backs on Sunday.

Robby Fabbri did all the scoring damage for the Wings, posting a hat trick for the very few fantasy owners that he has (just 2 percent owned in Yahoo leagues). Maybe he deserves a bit more attention, as he now has five goals in his last four games. Something else that Fabbri has going for him is that he's on Detroit's best attempt at a scoring line with Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha.

Speaking of Mantha, he's starting to get out of his slumber, perhaps after you dropped him. With an assist on one of Fabbri's goals, he has five points over his last four games. Maybe that will help his trade value, although his overall production this season (15 points in 30 games) still falls short of what was expected given his cap hit ($5.7 million).

Jonathan Bernier left this game in the second period with a possible leg injury, having stopped all 22 shots he faced. Thomas Greiss took his place and allowed two goals on 18 shots but was able to pick up the victory in relief.

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The Flyers didn't have much time to reflect on the 9-0 debacle at the hands of the Rangers on Wednesday. That was a disastrous game for Philippe Myers and Travis Sanheim in particular, both of whom were a minus-6. However, the Flyers were able to put that result behind them on Thursday with a 4-3 win over the Islanders. That result didn't come easy, as the Islanders scored three third-period goals to tie the game after the Flyers entered the third period with a 3-0 lead.

Oskar Lindblom's second goal of the game turned out to be the game-winner for the Flyers. Lindblom had been held without a point in his previous six games and without a goal since January 15 – a span of 21 games. The fact that he is back in the league after battling cancer is enough of a victory, though.

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Remember how everyone (including myself) picked Auston Matthews to win the Rocket Richard Trophy? Well, Connor McDavid scored another two goals on Thursday, which gives him 20 goals on the season – just one behind Matthews. Yes, I know the Leafs have three games in hand on the Oilers, but this is turning into more of a race than expected. And McDavid has shown that he can will his way to a goal or two.

Tyson Barrie assisted on both of McDavid's goals, which means he's the first defenseman to reach 30 points this season. If you're looking to make a trade offer for a high-scoring defenseman, keep in mind that the Oilers, Canucks, and Senators have played more games (33) than any other team. Quinn Hughes is currently tied for third in scoring among d-men (25 points), while Darnell Nurse (23 points) is in the top 10 and Thomas Chabot (20 points) is in the top 20. Still, this should not take away from the fine season Barrie is having in Edmonton. In fact, he's piled up six assists over his last two games. His defensive game leaves a lot to be desired, but fantasy owners don't care about that unless they're also Oilers fans.

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Cale Makar returned to the Avalanche lineup on Thursday after being out of the lineup since late February. Although he was held without a point, he did fire six shots on goal while resuming his usual spot on the first-unit power play.

In a game where the Avalanche hammered Cam Talbot with 55 shots, Mikko Rantanen scored two goals and added two assists with six shots of his own. Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon also each scored a goal with two assists with five shots for Landeskog and four shots for MacKinnon. Nazem Kadri and Logan O'Connor also took six shots each, although neither recorded a point.

To give you an idea of how much the Avalanche have tilted the ice on their opponents recently, Philipp Grubauer has faced 20 shots or fewer in four of his last five starts. Not surprisingly, Grubauer has recorded five consecutive wins, allowing just three goals in those five games (minus one period in one of the games, where he came on in relief). Over their last six games, the Avalanche have averaged 43 shots per game. Do the math and that means great shot totals from Avs regulars as well as miniscule goals-against average numbers for Grubauer.

Unfortunately, Matt Dumba had to leave this game with a possible leg injury. Hopefully it's not as bad as it looked.

Matt Dumba catches an edge and flies into the boards. Needed help off the ice. Scary #mnwild pic.twitter.com/Z3HQwADzmp

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) March 19, 2021

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Scoring 10 points in 14 AHL games was enough to earn Jamie Drysdale a promotion to the Ducks, where he made his debut on Thursday. The debut turned out to be an impressive one for the 18-year-old blueliner, who scored his first NHL goal while adding an assist with three shots. He also finished with the second-highest power-play icetime total among Ducks defensemen.

Deep leaguers can probably start adding Drysdale, who in time should be on the first-unit power play. However, this isn't an "add him in all leagues" recommendation yet, as only Buffalo has scored fewer goals per game than Anaheim, so his near-term production could reflect that of Trevor Zegras (11 GP, 4 PTS). This isn't because I don't like the kid; in fact, he was one player who has impressed me in the past two World Juniors. For more, see Drysdale's Dobber Prospects profile.

This entire shift from Jamie Drysdale is just ✨art✨#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/u9Grg55fQV

— CJ Woodling (@CJWoodling) March 19, 2021

Not to be outdone, Zegras scored his first NHL goal, which was assisted by Drysdale. Look at those hands.

Trevor Zegras first NHL goal from Troy Terry pic.twitter.com/IVlz9hcfyN

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 19, 2021

The future might have been on display in Anaheim, but it was Adam Henrique who scored the overtime winner for the Ducks. Henrique now has goals in back-to-back games, as well as four points in his last two games. Since he was put on waivers (and cleared waivers) last month, Henrique has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in 11 games. This after just four points in his first 16 games. Maybe waivers served as a wake-up call?

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Andrei Vasilevskiy just keeps on rolling. The Lightning goalie made 19 saves in a 3-2 win, which was his 10^th consecutive win. His last loss was on February 20, which was nearly a month ago. Vasilevskiy should be considered the top goalie in fantasy leagues at the moment.

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Seth Jones' two goals on Thursday were his first goals since February 2, a span of 20 games. He also filled the statsheet in roto leagues, picking up a plus-2 with six shots and five hits.

With three assists on Thursday, Oliver Bjorkstrand now has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) in eight games this month.

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One last tidbit from Wednesday: Jaret Anderson-Dolan has seven points in seven games this season. He's recorded three multipoint games in his past four games, so you're probably wondering how you didn't notice that. Well, he returned to the Kings' lineup on Wednesday after missing the past month with an injury. A point-per-game pace by a prospect is usually enough to me to suggest rushing to the waiver wire, but I'd exercise caution here. As much as I like Anderson-Dolan as a prospect (I watched him play live in junior), scoring three goals on six shots calls for regression. His line with Carl Grundstrom and Trevor Moore did play more even-strength minutes than any Kings line, which helps his cause for future minutes.

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