Early Saturday, the Sabres traded goalie Jonas Johansson to the Avalanche for a sixth-round pick. Honestly, when cartoon Elliotte Friedman tweeted out the trade with the last name only, I thought Marcus Johansson at first (yes, I do realize he's with the Wild now, I just hadn't finished my coffee yet). Then I realized the Sabres were trading a goalie, which I'm not sure why they are doing. Because Linus Ullmark is injured, it's Carter Hutton and emergency callup Dustin Tokarski between the pipes for the Sabres.

Johansson is going from BUF to COL for a sixth-rounder

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 20, 2021

The Avalanche definitely need a backup goalie, as we've heard nothing about a potential Pavel Francouz from injury and Hunter Miska (5 GP, 1-1-2, 4.16 GAA, .838 SV%) doesn't seem like he can handle backup duties. Johansson isn't much better at 0-5-1 with an .884 SV% and 3.79 GAA, but at least his value improves just by moving to a team that is literally at the opposite end of the scale from Buffalo. If Jared Bednar is more confident in his backup, then that should mean a little more rest for Philipp Grubauer.  

Meanwhile, the Avalanche's start to the season may not have been as dominant as was projected, but at the season midpoint they are rolling. Philipp Grubauer stopped all 31 shots he faced to pick up his sixth consecutive win, and fifth quality start over those six wins. He's also picked up two shutouts over that span to give him a league-leading five shutouts. Oh, and he added an assist for good measure. It might have a lot to do with the team, but Grubauer has established himself as a top-tier fantasy goalie.

The Avs' top line had their way with the Wild. Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal and added two assists, while Nathan MacKinnon picked up three assists. Both Landeskog and MacKinnon have posted six points in the two-game set against the Wild, while Mikko Rantanen has posted five points over that span, including a goal on Saturday.

*

Brandon Tanev was a late scratch for the Penguins' morning (at least to me) game against the Devils. So because of various injuries, the Penguins' line combinations looked like this:

SIDNEY CROSBY – BRYAN RUST – JAKE GUENTZEL

KASPERI KAPANEN – JARED MCCANN – EVAN RODRIGUES

MARK JANKOWSKI – ZACH ASTON-REESE – SAM LAFFERTY

COLTON SCEVIOUR – FREDERICK GAUDREAU – ANTHONY ANGELLO

That leaves Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust as the only Penguins who have played every game this season. Is it just me, or do the Penguins have a higher-than-average number of injuries for the past I don't know how many seasons? Even with those line combinations, the Penguins were able to pull out a 3-1 win over a Devils team that at times looked tentative. Expect the Penguins to lean heavily on this top unit in the near term.

Casey DeSmith continues to be one of the league's better backups. In stopping 24 of 25 shots in the win, he has now posted five consecutive quality starts with a 1.21 GAA and .956 SV% over those games. In fact, he has alternated starts with Tristan Jarry over the past five Penguin games. Expect this timeshare to continue while DeSmith is playing this well.

*

In a game that saw the shot total tilted 48-21, Chris Driedger made good on his first start in nearly two weeks, earning a streamer shutout against Nashville. Sergei Bobrovsky's recent play has improved, so it's no surprise that he's started the previous five Panthers games. This is the first of a back-to-back, so Bob should be in the net for the showdown against Tampa Bay today (Sunday).

If you dared to start Juuse Saros against a high-scoring Panthers roster, he certainly deserved better. Saros stopped 46 of 47 shots, keeping this game from getting completely out of hand. After a rough start to the season, Saros has posted quality starts in four of his past five games (with an IR stint before his last two starts). In a goaltending battle that has mainly been hot-hand related, Saros appears to be the guy. Unless Saros stumbles again, the Preds might continue to phase out the 38-year-old Rinne, who is on the final year of his contract.

Jonathan Huberdeau fired eight shots on Saros, but he couldn't even register a point. Aleksander Barkov took five shots, with one of them the only puck to get past Saros.

Just happy to be tweeting in the time of Aleksander Barkov 🔥 pic.twitter.com/5mixByObWi

— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 20, 2021

With an assist on Barkov's goal, Mackenzie Weegar now has a seven-game point streak. Over that span, Weegar has nine points (1 G, 8 A), a plus-8, and 14 shots, but virtually NO power-play time. In fact, he has zero power-play points this season. It's the double-edged sword that he's playing well enough to receive power-play time, but the lack of power-play points hurts his value in leagues that count that category.

NHL even-strength point leaders among D-men:

1. Nurse (19)
2. Weegar (18)
3. Carlson (17)

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) March 20, 2021

*

The Canucks probably thought they caught a break with the news that Tyler Toffoli would miss Saturday's game with a lower-body injury. Since the Canucks don't play the Habs again this season, Toffoli finishes the season with eight goals and 13 points in the eight games he has played against his former team. That's nearly half of the total goals (18) that Toffoli has scored, which places him third in the NHL at the time of writing.

The Habs finally won a game that went past regulation, now showing a record of 1-9 in that category. Just giving credit where credit is due.

With a goal and an assist on Saturday, Bo Horvat now has 10 points (5 G, 5 A) over his last nine games. The Canucks captain has also received at least 20 minutes of icetime in each of his last four games. He is being leaned on more heavily while Elias Pettersson is out, which is helping his numbers.

Even though he has not recorded a point in his two games as a Canuck, Jimmy Vesey played nearly 19 minutes on Saturday, which included time on the J.T. Miller line and the first-unit power play. As I mentioned yesterday, quite the promotion for Vesey after being claimed off waivers.

*

According to Saad Yousuf of The Athletic, Rick Bowness has stated that Alexander Radulov will be a "perpetual game time decision", similar to Roope Hintz. Radulov missed Saturday's game with a lower-body injury, which is the same one that he recently returned from. "Perpetual game time decision" means high-maintenance fantasy hockey player, as it's truly difficult to know how many games he will suit up for each week. This gives me flashbacks of the late years of Peter Forsberg's career.

To give you an idea of what it's like to own Hintz, he has points in five of his last six games, including an assist on Saturday. That gives him 17 points (8 G, 9 A) in 19 games. That's a productive player that you want on your roster. The problem is that he's missed six games since late February, but no more than two in a row. He has managed to play in his last two games, which might be a good sign. Yet according to Mike Heika of the Stars website, Hintz doesn't know whether he will play until he arrives at the rink. Just something to consider if you're thinking about adding or trading for Hintz. Or Radulov, for that matter.

In his first start in over a week, Anton Khudobin stopped all 21 shots he faced in shutting out the Red Wings. I discussed the Stars goaltending situation on Friday, so this is a good sign if you are a Khudobin owner wondering why it had been all Jake Oettinger recently.

*

The Islanders scored four goals in the first period en route to a 6-1 win over the Flyers. Included in those first-period goals were two assists from Thomas Hickey. This is notable because Hickey was playing his first NHL game since May 2019. He had been battling injuries as well as the death of his brother to cancer. Just a nice story that he was able to return.

For the Flyers, Sean Couturier was a late scratch with a lower-body injury.

*

In his first start since February 27, Jack Campbell earned a 31-save shutout, with Michael Hutchinson backing him up. According to Sheldon Keefe, Frederik Andersen wasn't able to back up because of a lower-body injury. Yesterday I described the recent troubles of Andersen, so I'm not surprised that he's listed as having an injury now. The Leafs don't play again until Thursday, but they have another two-game week. I'm wondering if Andersen is given at least the week off, now that Campbell is back and Hutchinson is playing reasonably well.

*

Business as usual for Andrei Vasilevskiy, with his 11^th win in a row. I was really surprised to see this on Frozen Tools, but this was his first quality start in six games. Then again, does he only need to be okay for the Lightning to win? Part of the reason for that lack of quality starts might be a lack of shots – he's faced 25 or fewer shots in three of those six games.

With three assists on Saturday, Victor Hedman has six points in his last three games. And with Tyson Barrie being held without a point on Saturday, Hedman pulls into the scoring lead among defensemen with 32 points in 30 games. A point per game from a defenseman – that's pretty good. That's why he's the top defenseman in the Roto Rankings. Likewise for Vasilevskiy and goalies.

*

Hands up if you had Derick Brassard in your lineup for a hat trick. The well-travelled forward had entered this game without a point in his previous five games, so you can't be blamed if he wasn't even on your radar. Brassard was on a line with Tyler Pitlick and Lawson Crouse, so this likely isn't anything more than a one-off.

*

The David Perron – Ryan O'Reilly – Jordan Kyrou line absolutely went off on Saturday, combining for 11 points. I had to face a Kyrou owner this week, not expecting him to score two goals and an assist with a plus-3 after his previous seven games with just one point. Then I saw that Perron and O'Reilly each scored a goal while adding three assists with a plus-4. O'Reilly and Perron had each been held without a point in their previous three games. As we found out with Mika Zibanejad earlier this week, sometimes patience is key.

*

While we're on the subject of Zibanejad, his two points on Saturday means that he has 10 points (4 G, 6 A) over his last five games. I hope you hung in there. Better late than never.

Of course, this amazing week happens only when I'm facing the Pavel Buchnevich owner. Zibanejad's linemate also recorded two points on Saturday, giving him eight points (4 G, 4 A) over his last four games. Going back further than that, Buchnevich has 15 points (6 G, 9 A) over his last 10 games, which has vaulted him to nearly a point per game (28 points in 29 games). I heard the "is he ever going to come around" rumblings on him frequently, so it's worth mentioning that he's in his fourth full season. As a near-200 lb. forward, he may have needed that 400-game threshold.  

*

Connor McDavid scored a goal and added an assist on Saturday, which makes him the first player to reach 60 points. Leon Draisaitl, the league's second-leading scorer, reached his 50^th point with his goal on Saturday. Only two other players (Patrick Kane, Mitch Marner) have even hit 40 points.

lol.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 19, 2021

I get the argument of where the Blackhawks would be if not for Kane. Yet if McDavid can't win because Draisaitl is his teammate, does that mean he has to get traded in order to win a Hart Trophy? When Gretzky was leading the league in scoring, the Hart Trophy wasn't given to someone else because he had Kurri, Messier, Coffey and so on around him. Don't overthink it, folks – give it to McDavid.

*

A couple players who will miss the rest of the regular season:

Oskar Sundqvist (torn ACL)

Jack Johnson (core muscle surgery)

*

Finally, a goalie goal from the USHL. Look at this goalie’s reaction. Soak it all in!

WE HAVE A GOALIE GOAL!! @Todd_scott42 @USHL @Buccigross #WhosNext #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/fTO2QTXEHH

— Tri-City Storm (@TriCityStorm) March 21, 2021

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