Ramblings: Shesterkin Injured, Slump Busting Jets Scheifele, Wheeler (Dec 4)
Ian Gooding
2021-12-04
Igor Shesterkin had to leave Friday's game with a possible leg injury. The star goalie was helped off the ice after he appeared to stretch for a puck. After the game, Gerard Gallant said that the injury wasn't as bad as it looked, which sounds like positive news. Shesterkin was playing an outstanding game that the Ranger faithful were appreciative of, stopping all 19 shots he faced. Alexandar Georgiev replaced Shesterkin and was able to preserve the team shutout, a 1-0 win over San Jose.
The Rangers are back at it on Saturday against Chicago, so you'd have to think that Georgiev will start that game (check Goalie Post for the latest updates). He deserves a short-term add in fantasy leagues, not just for that game but also in case Shesterkin misses any further action.
Ryan Strome was this game's lone goal scorer with his first power-play goal of the season. He now has 11 points in his last 10 games.
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In Frozen Tools Forensics this week, Chris Kane breaks down the struggles of the Jets in more detail. Usually he doesn't cover an individual team in his article, but this time around he discusses several Winnipeg players who were ice cold entering Friday's game. The underlying message, which I concurred with before and after the article was published, is to stay patient.
Seemingly right on cue, numerous Jets busted out of their slumps on Friday against New Jersey. The Jets stormed out to a 3-0 lead early in the first period before the Devils replied with two goals before the period ended, then two more very early in the second to take a sudden 4-3 lead. After that it was all Jets with five unanswered goals to finish with an 8-4 win.
Earlier in the day, a Twitter follower asked me about dropping Mark Scheifele. As much as I've been disappointed in Scheifele this season, I told her to remain patient. There's a reason that I advise people not to give up on your star players too quickly, and Friday was yet another example as to why. Scheifele scored a hat trick, added an assist, and took five shots. He managed to break a seven-game goal slump in a massive way while scoring more goals in one game than he had all season (2). Hopefully this game provides the spark that Scheifele needs to get back on track, and hopefully I don't receive any more lowball offers on him.
It didn't look like there was anything wrong with Scheifele's hands on this play.
Often when one player struggles, so do the linemates. So it should come as no surprise that Scheifele's usual linemate Blake Wheeler has also had his share of issues scoring. The Winnipeg captain is still without a goal this season and we're already into early December. However, he helped fantasy owners on Friday by chipping in three assists. Wheeler has always been more about the assists than the goals anyway, but the goal scoring has completely fallen off a cliff. Age-related decline may be a concern, as Wheeler was taking just over three shots per game as he was about to turn 30. Now that he's 35, he's only averaging just over two shots per game. Fantasy-wise, he's a diminishing asset.
Running through the Frozen Tools Forensics list, here are some notable Jets who were in slumps, along with how they fared on Friday.
Player | Before Friday | Friday |
Nikolaj Ehlers | 0 PTS in last 5 GP | 2 G |
Josh Morrissey | 0 PTS in last 7 GP | 1 G |
Kristian Vesalainen | 0 PTS in last 13 GP | 1 G |
Mark Scheifele | 1 PTS in last 5 GP | 3 G, 1 A |
Neal Pionk | 2 PTS in last 10 GP | 2 A |
Andrew Copp | 1 PTS in last 7 GP | 1 A |
Nate Schmidt | 1 PTS in last 7 GP | 0 PTS |
Evgeny Svechnikov | 1 PTS in last 9 GP | 0 PTS |
Paul Stastny | 1 PTS in last 4 GP | 1 A |
Kyle Connor | 2 PTS in last 5 GP | 1 A |
Blake Wheeler | 2 PTS in last 7 GP | 3 A |
Dylan DeMelo | 0 PTS in last 7 GP | 0 PTS |
Adam Lowry | 0 PTS in last 7 GP | 1 G |
Pierre-Luc Dubois | 2 PTS in last 5 GP | 2 A |
All in all, only three of the 14 Jets on this list did not record a point on Friday: Schmidt, Svechnikov, and DeMelo. Friday provided something for just about everyone who has at least one Jet on their roster.
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If I'm mentioning the eight goals that the Jets scored on the Devils, then I also need to bring up the seven that the Golden Knights tallied on the Coyotes. Only four Vegas skaters failed to record a point in this game (the same number of Jets skaters that were held without a point) with no one Vegas skater recording more than two points.
Max Pacioretty led the goal parade with a pair while taking six shots. Because of injuries Pacioretty has played in only six games this season, but he has points in five of those games. As well, Patches has fired 20 shots over his last three games.
Lost in the dismal desert, Clayton Keller has 10 points over his last eight games, including an assist on the Coyotes' only goal on Friday.
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Projections-wise, Ryan Getzlaf was expected to fade quietly into the sunset. Instead, his 20 points in 23 games was second on the Ducks entering Friday's game. So it's worth mentioning that Getzlaf is now week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Getzlaf has been a frequent linemate of Troy Terry, who you may remember for his 16-game point streak earlier this season. Without Getzlaf, Terry was a nonfactor against the Flames on Friday, as he was held without a point and took just one shot on goal.
Adam Henrique, who has been Terry's other frequent linemate from this season, left this game with a lower-body injury. With no Henrique, Terry still managed to log 20 minutes of icetime in a game that went 65 minutes.
Speaking of icetime, Rickard Rakell was leaned upon heavily, skating 21:50. He also scored a goal, giving him goals in back-to-back games and eight goals in 15 games. That's just one fewer goal than he scored all of last season. The Ducks look better this season and so does Rakell. Since he is available in about three-quarters of Yahoo leagues, Rakell could be a Duck to consider adding from your waiver wire for next week. Andrew Santillo explains why you should target Anaheim players in this week's Looking Ahead. I won't spoil the article. You'll just have to read it.
Sean Monahan has been on a lengthy goal drought (12 games entering Friday's game). Yet on Friday, he was moved onto a line with Blake Coleman and Trevor Lewis. It worked out well for Monahan, as he broke his goal slump and added an assist on Coleman's goal while taking four shots. Monahan also received more than 15 minutes of icetime for the first time in six games, a positive sign as he tries to get his scoring back on track. Coleman broke an eight-game pointless slide of his own with his goal while taking seven shots, while Lewis recorded two assists. This line might be sticking together for a bit.
He's not the starting goalie but he's been impressive. Following his win on Friday, Dan Vladar has a 5-0-1 record with a 1.78 GAA and a .939 SV%. Even more noteworthy, all six of these games have been on the road. Vladar is worth streaming whenever he's announced as the starter.
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