If you've been waiting on a Canuck or two on your fantasy team, you'll be happy to learn that they are expected to return to play next Friday, April 16, pending test results. As a result of their missed games, the Canucks' regular season has been extended to Sunday May 16. From Wednesday May 12 to Sunday (with the exception of Friday – no games), one North Division game will be played per day, although not all games will involve the Canucks. Those games may run at the same time as first-round playoff matchups in the other three divisions.

The rescheduling might make things a bit imbalanced with fantasy leagues, so you'll have to wait and see whether your provider will include these games. We knew that there would likely be postponed games tagged on to the end of the season, but it at least sounds like the league is committed to playing out the full schedule and not cancelling any games.

For more on the schedule, see this week's Looking Ahead.

*

We had several trades to announce today, of which you can read the fantasy impact pieces:

Brandon Montour to Florida

Devan Dubnyk to Colorado

David Savard to Tampa Bay (stick tap to Alex for tackling this one, as I had a very busy Saturday)

*

Steven Stamkos is one of those players that I'm leery of drafting because of his recent injury history.  Sure enough, Stamkos was out on Saturday with an undisclosed injury, and it doesn't seem likely that he'll play on Tuesday either.

The Stamkos absence didn't matter for the Lightning, as they rode a 36-save shutout from Andrei Vasilevskiy to a 3-0 win. Yanni Gourde scored a goal and added an assist for the Bolts. After his four-assist performance on Thursday, Gourde now has six points over his last two games. This after failing to record a point in his previous six games. You'd think Gourde would be racking up these points on a scoring line with one of the big guns, but Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are out of the lineup. So the linemates are bangers Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow.

Unfortunately, Gourde received a head shot from Michael McCarron late in this game. Gourde participated in the post-game interviews, so it sounded like he was fine. McCarron could be facing a suspension.

Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron was ejected from the end of today's game vs #GoBolts (match penalty) for a hit to the head of Yanni Gourde. 3-0 game, 25 seconds left. #Preds pic.twitter.com/e5OzUVHv0O

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) April 11, 2021

Ryan Ellis returned to Nashville lineup in this game, playing 19:43. He had been out for over a month with an upper-body injury. This is good news for a Nashville team that has suddenly jumped in the mix for a playoff spot in the Central, in spite of numerous other injuries to players like Matt Duchene and more recently Filip Forsberg and Eeli Tolvanen.

*

It's now 11 wins in a row and counting for Jack Campbell, although the goals-against average and save percentage weren't ideal. Campbell allowed five goals on 32 shots, but fortunately the Leafs were able to score six goals. A win's a win, though, and it keeps the streak alive.

Three of those goals came from Auston Matthews, who also added an assist. Matthews is now the runaway leader for the Rocket Richard with 31 goals, which would make our Experts Panel's preseason predictions look bang-on. No one else has more than 23 goals. Matthews has at least one goal and multiple points in each of his last four games.

Mitch Marner assisted on all three of Matthews' goals, while Matthews assisted on Marner's goal, so Marner also had a four-point game. You could say the season that these two are having is one for the history books.

That's a long time! pic.twitter.com/O2eXQmiawa

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 11, 2021

When I read that Connor Brown had scored goals in six consecutive games the other day, I thought it was a misprint. You mean points? No, it was in fact goals. Brown added to that on Saturday, scoring a goal in his seventh consecutive game, a new Senators franchise record. So it's fair to say that he's had luck go his way during that stretch (29.2 SH%), but to his credit he's also shooting more (nearly 3.5 SOG/GP, with a season average of 2.2 SOG/GP). You probably don't think Connor Brown when you think Senators scorers, but he finished second on the Sens with 43 points last season and is tied for second again on the team this season with 24 points.

Tim Stutzle's goal in the second period was his first goal in 14 games. The 19-year-old has a bright future ahead, but fantasy owners will need to be patient with these types of cold stretches. Stutzle has been helping his cause recently, taking nine shots over those last two games.

*

With a 19-save shutout win, Connor Hellebuyck now has five consecutive 20-win seasons. In spite of the shortened season, it's even possible that he gets to 30 wins for the fourth consecutive season. More recently, he has three consecutive wins. He continues to be one of the most reliable goalie volume options in fantasy leagues.

*

After being healthy scratched for the previous two games amid rumors that a trade was imminent, Mike Hoffman was perhaps surprisingly reinserted into the Blues lineup on Saturday. The healthy scratches seemed to motivate Hoffman, who scored two goals including the game-tying goal with less than a minute to play. Hoffman entered this game with just one point (a goal) in his previous eight games. There are probably a few fantasy owners out there (including myself) who had already moved him to the bench.

Was this a showcase game for Hoffman, or do the Blues think they are better off keeping him? We will find out very soon. Maybe the Blues can try to find a way to use him a little more, as he played just 14:53 in this game, played on a line with Tyler Bozak and Zach Sanford, and was on the second-unit power play. I know I've mentioned this before, but fantasy owners were hoping for a lot more when consistent power-play performer Hoffman signed with the Blues.

Vince Dunn recorded assists on all three Blues goals, giving him assists in three consecutive games.

*

One of my best waiver-wire pickups of the season has been Jason Robertson, who is making a strong case for the Calder Trophy. Robertson scored twice on Saturday, giving him goals in back-to-back games and seven goals over his last ten games. Robertson has also upped his shot total, taking 32 shots over those ten games. It also helps that his icetime is up two minutes per game and he's playing on what appears to be the Stars' top line with Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz. Robertson currently sits second in rookie scoring with 27 points, behind only Kirill Kaprizov.

*

Sometimes a shakeup from the usual is all that is needed. So it was a big deal when Darryl Sutter decided to split Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan earlier this week, instead moving Matthew Tkachuk onto Gaudreau's line. Here's another one of his Sutterisms justifying the move.

Darryl Sutter's answer on Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau generating offence together on a line 😂 pic.twitter.com/QaV0sTZvff

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 8, 2021

When I first heard this quote, I actually thought he was describing how long Gaudreau and Monahan have played on an even-strength line together!

Regardless, the plan worked, as the new-and-improved Flames lines listed below helped lead them to a 5-0 win over the Oilers.

ELIAS LINDHOLM – JOHNNY GAUDREAU – MATTHEW TKACHUK   

MILAN LUCIC – MIKAEL BACKLUND – JOAKIM NORDSTROM

BRETT RITCHIE – SAM BENNETT – DEREK RYAN

SEAN MONAHAN – DILLON DUBE – ANDREW MANGIAPANE

This line shakeup looks like it might hurt Monahan the most, but he broke a 12-game goalless drought with a second-period goal. Over those 12 games, he had recorded just three assists. His point-per-game average has fallen for the second consecutive season from 1.05 PTS/GP in 2018-19 to 0.69 PTS/GP last season to 0.62 PTS/GP this season.

On his new line, Johnny Gaudreau followed up with his own goal plus a power-play assist. He entered this game with no points in his past three games and no goals in his past seven games.

Tkachuk was held without a point, but he left this game in the second period with what looked like a shoulder injury. However, it was nothing more than a scare, as he returned for the third period.

Jacob Markstrom had a relatively easy time, stopping 17 shots in earning a shutout. This was his first quality start in five appearances, which dates back to March 24. Over his previous four games he had posted a 4.22 GAA and .860 SV%, so it seemed like most of the Flames team was out of sorts prior to Saturday.

The exception to the cold Flames prior to Saturday was Mikael Backlund, who now has seven points over his last six games. That includes his two assists on Saturday.

*

Playing on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, Craig Smith recorded two assists on Saturday. That gives him ten points (1 G, 9 A) over his last seven games. I recommended adding Smith this time last week because of the Bruins' five-game schedule this week. Well, he's got one more game this week, so there's still time to add him. I did in time for Saturday's game.

Injury note: Matt Grzelcyk left Saturday's game after the first period with an upper-body injury. Consider him day-to-day for the time being.

*

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