On Thursday, many eyes of the sporting world were on opening day in MLB. Hopefully you remembered to set your lineup if you play fantasy baseball! In spite of all the baseball, there was still more than enough hockey on Thursday to talk about.

*

Due to COVID, Vancouver Canucks games are now postponed for Saturday in Edmonton and both Sunday and Tuesday in Winnipeg. If the Canucks return to action on Thursday, they would have only a two-game week, so weekly leaguers should probably consider benching any Canucks next week. As well, this disruption and resulting condensed schedule should all but finish any playoff hopes that they had.

Adam Gaudette was joined on the COVID protocol list by Travis Hamonic on Thursday, so these players could be facing lengthier absences once the Canucks do return. You may remember that Hamonic opted out of the summer return to play when he was a member of the Flames. In his statement explaining why he opted out, Hamonic described the difficulty of watching his young daughter hospitalized with a respiratory illness. It's easy to sit and complain about not watching your favorite team for a week, but remember that these players face human challenges like the rest of us.

*

The goals came early and often for the Islanders, who exploded for four goals in the first period and eight against the Great 8 and the Capitals. It should come as no surprise that Mathew Barzal did the most damage with a hat trick, two assists, a plus-5, and eight shots. Two of the goals and one of the assists were in the first period alone.

Barzal's first goal in particular is really something. His third goal fits in with the MLB opening day theme. He's an exciting player who can score many different ways, giving you a good reason to watch Islanders games.

This might be the most beautiful @Enterprise hat trick you'll ever see.

Bravo, Mat Barzal (@Barzal_97)‼️ pic.twitter.com/ZwegtnE0KN

— NHL (@NHL) April 2, 2021

Barzal's linemate Jordan Eberle also had a game with two goals, an assist, and a plus-4. Eberle entered this game with just one point in his last four games, so hopefully you didn't bench him after the mini-slide.

The points didn't just come from the Barzal line. Josh Bailey scored a goal and added two assists of his own. That gives Bailey eight points (3 G, 5 A) over his last seven games, and he's only rostered in 10 percent of Yahoo leagues. I've added Bailey from the waiver wire to two of my teams in recent weeks and haven't regretted it, even if the point total (6 G, 17 A) is assist-heavy as it usually is for him. Bailey has never scored 20 goals in a season, but he has averaged at least 0.6 PTS/GP in each of the last five seasons. He's also only 99 games from playing his 1000^th game – all with the same team.

In a losing cause for the Capitals, John Carlson scored two goals. This might seem like a bit of a down year for Carlson, but he's now tied for third in scoring among defensemen with 31 points (9 G, 22 A) in 36 games.

*

With an overtime win over the Sabres on Thursday, a couple of Rangers were able to extend their point streaks.

Ryan Strome recorded an assist, extending his point streak to 11 games. This is the longest active point streak this season. Over that span, Strome has 16 points, 14 of which are assists. The point streak extends all the way back to March 13, which not coincidentally, was the date that Artemi Panarin returned to the lineup from his leave of absence. So how was Strome in the six games that Panarin missed? What if I told you that he scored eight points in those six games? Strome is building on a career season last season (0.84 PTS/GP) with an even better season this season (34 PTS in 36 GP, 0.94 PTS/GP), and he's not necessarily riding Panarin's coattails. Strome reached 0.5 PTS/GP in only one of his previous six seasons.

Adam Fox also recorded an assist, extending his point streak to nine games. Over that span, Fox has mirrored Strome's point total over his streak (2 G, 14 A). Fox is the player tied with Carlson for third in scoring among d-men (31 PTS in 35 GP). Much of that has to do with a major jump in Fox's icetime (nearly six minutes per game), over two minutes of which is power-play time. In half as many games, Fox has already scored more power-play points (16) than he did all of last season (13). The exile of Tony DeAngelo has given us a glimpse of what Fox is capable of – perhaps earlier than we expected.

Hey, the Sabres finally won on Wednesday! But it was back to reality on Thursday.  

Jeff Skinner on a breakaway without a stick is Buffalo's season in a nutshell pic.twitter.com/Gmhsaml9lC

— Gino Hard (@Ginohard_) April 2, 2021

Give journeyman goalie Dustin Tokarski his props. He made 44 saves in the overtime loss, and facing guys like Strome, Fox, Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad is no easy task.

*

Over his last four games, Carter Verhaeghe has five goals and three assists. Because Aleksander Barkov has been out of the lineup during this time, Verhaeghe is being treated like a first-line center. He's played at least 20 minutes in each of those four games (okay, he was one second off in one of those games, but you get the idea). I kind of thought his bubble would burst after his early-season success, but he's run with his opportunity in Florida. His 17 goals now ties him for ninth in the league in that category.

*

If Casey DeSmith is still unowned in your league, go grab him. With a 31-save performance in a 4-1 win, DeSmith now has seven quality starts in his last eight games. Now that Tristan Jarry is sidelined with an upper-body injury, DeSmith is the guy between the pipes for the Pens. He was already a good streaming option when it was his turn to start, and his season numbers (1.84 GAA, .933 SV%) are outstanding.  

*

Patrik Laine was held without a point again on Thursday, which means that he's been held without a goal and has recorded just two assists in his last 10 games. After receiving just 13-14 minutes of icetime in his last three games, John Tortorella increased Laine's icetime to nearly 20 minutes in this game. It looks like Torts liked what he saw from Laine, which is a good sign if you're patiently waiting for something to happen.

#CBJ coach John Tortorella called Patrik Laine's performance his best game since he's played for the Blue Jackets. Also had praise for linemates Max Domi and Eric Robinson.

"99 percent of this hockey club played their asses off tonight."- Tortorella

— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) April 2, 2021

Laine's linemate Max Domi recorded two assists while firing six shots. Those assists broke a six-game pointless slump for Domi, who has also struggled under Torts' system. If Torts is fired in the offseason, Laine and Domi could be in for bounce-back seasons next season.

*

Brendan Gallagher has a goal and an assist in each of his last two games, a three-game goal streak, and four goals and seven points in his last five games. Gallagher's linemate Phillip Danault has two points in four of his last five games and is a plus-10 over that span. Tomas Tatar, the third man on that line, has a five-game point streak. I couldn't tell you who the Habs' first line is judging by their lineup, but at the moment this seems to be the one.

On a personal note, I had a tough time picking between Gallagher and Eeli Tolvanen to start at my last right-wing slot. Seems like I made the right call with Gallagher, even though Tolvanen entered the game with a six-game point streak (it was snapped, as was the Predators' six-game win streak). I'm not benching David Pastrnak or Mark Stone, in case you're wondering.

*

Cam Talbot stopped 35 of 37 shots to earn a shootout win over Vegas on Thursday. That gives him eight quality starts in a row. Meanwhile, Kaapo Kahkonen has started just one of the past six games for the Wild, while he hasn't recorded a quality start in his last two games. Not long ago, he seemed unstoppable. That's how quickly the tides can turn when it comes to goalies.

I'm telling anyone who will ask that any goaltending advice that I give about who to add and who to drop is VERY short term. For example, I'd say hang onto Kahkonen if you can, but that depends on who is available and what your team needs are. I could say go ahead and drop someone, then a week later they could go on an amazing run. If you ask me the same question a week later, I could easily change my mind.

We love to pick on 39-year-old Mike Smith, yet he has 12 wins in 18 games and decent ratios (2.41 GAA, .919 SV%). Meanwhile, Carter Hart was drafted as a top-5 goalie and is currently on a reset with ratios that his owners can't bear to look at. We knew things wouldn't go as planned because of the shortened season and the virus, but we just didn't know who would be the most affected.   

Right now I'd say Andrei Vasilevskiy and Philipp Grubauer are in a league of their own as untouchable every-game starters because of their win totals and sub-2.00 GAAs that have a lot to do with the dominant teams they play for. If you're talking about any other goalies, do what you have to do. Play the matchups if you're in doubt. After this week, there's only five weeks left in the entire season.

*

Chandler Stephenson was suspended for three games for elbowing Kings defenseman Tobias Bjornfot on Wednesday. Stephenson was out of the lineup for Thursday's game against Minnesota, as was Ryan Reaves with an injury. This created some challenges for the Golden Knights, as they were only able to dress 10 forwards against the Wild. Here are their line combinations:

REILLY SMITH – WILLIAM KARLSSON – JONATHAN MARCHESSAULT

MAX PACIORETTY – MARK STONE – NICOLAS ROY

TOMAS NOSEK – WILLIAM CARRIER – ALEX TUCH

TOMAS NOSEK – WILLIAM CARRIER – KEEGAN KOLESAR  

Keegan Kolesar only played seven minutes, but several Vegas regulars had some big icetime totals with the game going the distance to the shootout.

Mark Stone: 25:04

William Karlsson: 24:01

Max Pacioretty: 23:09

Jonathan Marchessault: 23:08

Reilly Smith: 21:12

Not to be outdone, Alex Pietrangelo played nearly 30 minutes (29:45, to be exact) in his second game back in the lineup. Pietrangelo hasn't had a great first season with Vegas because of injuries and COVID protocol, but this icetime should give his owners confidence.

You may have also noticed Nicolas Roy playing on the Pacioretty – Stone line. Roy did not record a point, but he played a season-high 17:31 and took three shots. As Stephenson was a waiver-wire pickup when he was added to that line, Roy could be a short-term add in deeper leagues while Stephenson sits for two more games.

*

While on the subject of NHL discipline, Nathan MacKinnon was fined $5,000 for chucking Conor Garland's helmet back to him on Wednesday. I bring this one up in particular because this is one of those clips that folks on the internet are going to have a lot of fun with. This thread is worth your time, especially for those of you who are lot younger than I am. 😊

Nathan MacKinnon's helmet throw with different sounds: a thread pic.twitter.com/Xgyp9AWXbO

— Up-Close Avs 👁👄👁 (@theavsabs) April 1, 2021

*

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