Ville Husso deserved a better fate on Saturday. The Blues goalie faced 51 shots through regulation and overtime before losing 4-3 in a matinee shootout in Florida. This is a situation where three goals allowed can still result in a quality start. Jordan Binnington has been in COVID protocol, and the Blues play four home games next week. Husso is rostered in 32 percent of Fantrax leagues and just 12 percent of Yahoo leagues, so he's definitely worth a waiver-wire pickup if you need goaltending help. For more about the week ahead, see this week's Looking Ahead.

Now, about that Panthers shot total:

In their last 3 games the Panthers have 51, 45 and 51 SOG, for an average of 49 shots per game. My word. #TimetoHunt

— Michael Amato (@amato_mike) December 4, 2021

That means there's some high individual shot totals over that three-game span this week:

Aaron Ekblad: 15 SOG

Sam Bennett: 14 SOG

Mackenzie Weegar: 13 SOG

Anton Lundell: 12 SOG

Sam Reinhart, Ryan Lomberg, Frank Vatrano: 11 SOG

Jonathan Huberdeau: 10 SOG

Do the math and all of these players have averaged at least three shots per game this week. Not surprisingly, Ekblad (79 SOG) led all defenseman in shots as of immediately after his game on Saturday. Surprisingly, Weegar (51 SOG) has yet to score a goal this season.  

Yet out of all of these players Maxim Mamin was the scoring star for the Panthers on Saturday. Mamin scored two goals on five shots to give him his first multipoint game of his career. He has been used throughout the lineup this season, but in this game, he was on a line with Lundell (who assisted on both goals) and Carter Verhaeghe.

Lundell, by the way, has multiple points with a plus-5 in back-to-back games. He also showed his worth in the faceoff circle in leading the Panthers with 10 FOW.

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No Mitch Marner, no problem for Auston Matthews, who has now scored goals in five consecutive games. He's scored eight goals over that span, and he has taken eight shots in each of his last two games. Although he still has some ground to make up, expect him to make a push for the Rocket Richard Trophy just like most of the Dobber writers predicted.

Jason Spezza finished this game with two goals and assist – one of the goals and the assist coming with the man advantage. Because of Marner's injury, Spezza benefitted from being used on the first-unit power play with Matthews and company. Depending on how long Marner is out after his collision with Jake Muzzin in practice, Spezza might be a worth a short-term pickup.

Morgan Rielly was a game-time decision himself. Not only did he suit up, but he also recorded three assists. That's quite an opportunity cost if you decided to bench him as a precaution.

If you didn't watch the Leafs game, it was a "wild" one. Minnesota had a 3-0 lead by the midway point of the second period. Then the Leafs tied it by the end of the period, including two power-play goals. The Wild ended up winning 4-3 in a shootout.

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The Avalanche and Senators had their own game with numerous twists and turns. Ottawa took a 5-2 lead at one point before Colorado climbed back and tied the game at 5 with their net empty. Brady Tkachuk won the game in overtime when he intercepted an Avalanche pass in the Ottawa zone and skated down the ice for a breakaway winner. Tkachuk finished the game with two goals and an assist, as did Tim Stutzle.

TAKE A BOW BRADY TKACHUK. 🤩

The @Senators Captain scores the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner to get past the Avalanche in extra time! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/YlMwYEH57M

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 5, 2021

No Darcy Kuemper means that the Avalanche are having a problem keeping the puck out of the net. Jonas Johansson was pulled after allowing the Senators' fourth goal early in the second period. You may remember him not getting pulled on Wednesday against Toronto, allowing eight goals over a full 60 minutes. He rebounded the next night with a 20-save 4-1 win over Montreal. But that's two really bad starts in three games this week. Probably not what you had bargained for when you added him hoping for an easy win or two.

Goaltending prospect Justus Annunen replaced Johansson on Saturday, appearing in his first NHL game. If you're wondering where Pavel Francouz is, he's on a conditioning stint in the AHL because he hasn't played in over a year. Once Francouz is ready, expect him to compete with Johansson for starts while Kuemper is sidelined. The takeaway from all of this is that Kuemper is still a Band-Aid Boy, and the replacement options may not be as reliable or as ready as you think.

The Avalanche are battling their share of injuries beyond their starting goalie. Nazem Kadri, Cale Makar, and Bowen Byram all missed Saturday's game.

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Eeli Tolvanen broke a 22-game goalless slump by scoring against the Habs on Saturday. I was hoping that he could build on last season, but he has faded out of fantasy relevance. Line deployment and lack of power-play time has had something to do with it to some degree, but I'm surprised that he has flat out hit a wall like this. One silver lining is that he has averaged nearly three shots per game this season (a career high), so the goals may start to go in at some point.

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Even on a busy Saturday, I'm going to share a few opinions about trade offers. If I receive one, I tend to think about the following:

1. Does this trade help my team in any way? In other words, has the other league manager taken the time to consider what I might need, or are they simply sending the offer to improve their own team? If it appears to be the latter, I will almost certainly pass.

2. Who receives the best player in the deal? Sometimes this is easy to determine; sometimes it's a little harder. That's why I reject almost all 2-for-1 deals sent to me where I would receive the 2 side. Not only do I lose the best player, but I also have to drop another player from my roster to make the deal. I might not be ready to do that either. Most of the time, these deals simply water down your roster's talent pool.

3. Will my team be better off? I tend not to think about trades in a win-lose scenario, since a good trade can help both teams. However, if I believe that my team has at least a 50% chance of being worse off after the deal, I will pass. I'll admit that I've sent out offers like this, but do you think the other manager is shopping the player around before they drop them next week? If this player doesn't add value to your team, then either counteroffer without that player or reject the deal outright.

4. Is my objective short or long term? If I'm trying to win this season, then trading away a blue-chip prospect may not be as bad as it sounds, as long as the player I'm receiving is a difference maker. But if I'm too far down the standings, or I'm simply not sold on my team having a decent chance to win, then prospect collecting might be the way to go. Just remember that not all of your prospects will pan out the way you hope. That's just how the odds work.

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McDavid and Draisaitl. Ovechkin. Those are as close to as sure things to score as you'll get. What about Jake Guentzel at this very moment? With a hat trick (all in the second period) and an assist against the Canucks, Guentzel has extended his point streak to 12 games, which is currently the longest in the league. Guentzel has also scored goals in three consecutive games.

Two of Guentzel's goals were on the power play, when the Canucks painted themselves in a corner with three penalties in the span of less than a minute. Imagine getting scored on while on a 5-on-3, only to face another 5-on-3 because the third penalty hasn't started yet? That's the moment that the Canucks were doomed in this game, especially with their league-worst (and approaching historically bad) penalty kill. Guentzel took full advantage.

Sidney Crosby finished the game with a goal and two assists and five shots. Kris Letang added three assists and also took five shots.

Whether something is ailing him or he's simply waiting for the axe to fall on somebody, Brock Boeser is ice cold right now. Known for his goal scoring, Boeser has not lit the lamp in 13 games and counting. Much of the talk in Vancouver has surrounded the struggles of Elias Pettersson, and rightly so. Boeser did record a second assist on Vasily Podkolzin's goal, but going back 12 games he has just two points. Your best bet is probably to move Boeser to your bench. The same probably goes for Pettersson.

I think I might start prewriting my fantasy take on a Canucks coaching change after I post this. Then again, they've delayed making a coaching or GM change this long. So I'm not really sure such a move is imminent. By the way, is the jersey on the ice the moment that your Canadian-based team hits rock bottom?

2015: Edmonton Oilers
2016: Toronto Maple Leafs
2021: Montreal Canadiens
2021: Vancouver Canucks pic.twitter.com/xof20k54o1

— Tommy (@tommykippes2) December 5, 2021

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Sometimes when players break out of their slumps, they do it in a big way. Vincent Trocheck did just that, not only with his scoring but also from a roto perspective. Trocheck scored a goal and added two assists while adding a plus-3 and three shots. But his night ended early when he took a five-minute boarding major and game misconduct late in the second period. That's 15 minutes in penalties, which is beneficial if your league counts that stat. Trocheck snapped an eight-game point drought with his three-point game.

Teuvo Teravainen scored a pair of goals, also taking five shots. Sebastian Aho assisted on both of Turbo's goals, finishing the game with three assists in total.

Malcolm Subban's first game as a Sabre was not one to remember. Subban allowed six goals before leaving the game midway through the third period with an injury.

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Oliver Wahlstrom broke out of his own slump on Saturday, and in an eerily similar manner to Trocheck. Without a point in his previous 10 games prior to Saturday, Wahlstrom scored a pair of power-play goals. Wahlstrom also picked up 17 minutes in penalties thanks to a fighting major, instigator penalty, and misconduct in a first-period fight with Adam Erne. Wahlstrom's 10 minutes of icetime in this game is misleading because of the penalty time. He was on the first-unit power play, which might not be a goldmine of goals playing for the Islanders (now lost 10 in a row), but at least it's something for a player who we have been hoping will receive a legitimate opportunity.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding