Sidney Crosby versus Alex Ovechkin matchups never get old, especially since we can still debate which player has had the better career and even which player is better right now. Even with both Crosby and Ovechkin recording two assists each, the Penguins came out on top 4-2.

With the two assists, Crosby extended his point streak to seven games. He has 13 points over that span and is now up to 82 points in 62 career games against Washington. Yes, that's the highest of any active player against the Capitals. Ovechkin has 36 goals and 68 points in 67 career games against Pittsburgh, so both players bring their A-games when facing their rival.

Find out where Crosby and Ovechkin are ranked in the Top 100 Roto Rankings. I'll be updating them for December in several days, so have your say where they are ranked, along with other notable players.

Tom Wilson left Friday's game with an upper-body injury.

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Roman Josi filled the statsheet on Friday with a goal, an assist, nine shots, and three hits. That extended his point streak to four games, where he has scored seven points. He's currently tied for second in scoring among defensemen, and he's one of four defensemen with at least 20 games played scoring at a point-per-game pace (27 points in 27 games).

Sometimes goal scorers can be fickle. Eeli Tolvanen scored a goal in his first game of the season. Then he went without a goal in his next 22 games. Now he's scored goals in four consecutive games. With Matt Duchene out of the lineup, Tolvanen was promoted to the top power play and that's where he scored his goal. Maybe it's finally safe to put him back into your lineup? That's the type of player that can be frustrating to have on your roster, even if the extended dry spell was a case of horrible bad luck.  

Jesper Bratt is at the top of the Frozen Tools Popular Profiles because he continues to put up points. Bratt's 23 points this season have all come in his last 20 games. Although it might seem like Bratt will cool off, his advanced stats (aside from secondary assists) suggest that this could be normal production. The key is that he's shooting the puck more. When Bratt broke into the league in 2017-18, he shot at less than 1.5 SOG/GP. Now he's shooting at nearly three shots per game.

Bratt also seems to be able to make it work with anyone in the Devils' lineup as well. Earlier in the season, he was lined up with Andreas Johnsson and Dawson Mercer. Now, it's Pavel Zacha and Nico Hischier. It's taken some time, but I'm starting to warm up to the Devils offense. I've rostered both Bratt and Hischier on one of my teams, so it's nice when they both factor in on a goal. Bratt is still rostered in just under 50 percent of Yahoo leagues – a number that should be higher.

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Logan O'Connor has also been a frequently searched name on Frozen Tools because he's received the plum assignment of top-line duties with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. So imagine noticing Colorado's avalanche of seven goals, then realizing that O'Connor did not record a single point. O'Connor entered the game with five points in his last five games, so you were certainly justified in adding him. As long as he can stay on that line, he's worth a pickup.

There might be further line shuffling with the Avalanche, though. Landeskog left the game with a lower-body injury. His status for Sunday's game is up in the air.

Devon Toews may have made his season debut in early November, but he's been well worth the wait. With three assists on Friday, Toews now has multiple points in four consecutive games. Although he hasn't played a full season, Toews' 1.33 PTS/GP (20 PTS in 15 GP) is the highest of any defenseman right now. And anytime I can work a Pulp Fiction reference into the Ramblings, I'll take advantage of the opportunity.  

Colorado poaching Devon Toews continues to develop into one the top fleeces in recent memory.

So far this season:

•15 GP
• 4 goals
• 19 pts
• 60 CF%
• 23:35 TOI

All for the low low price of two very late 2nd round picks. pic.twitter.com/nteUBorSBG

— /Cam Robinson/ (@Hockey_Robinson) December 11, 2021

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The long-term effect of a coaching change can be hit or miss, but the short-term effect can make a major difference. Nowhere does that seem to be truer than in Vancouver, where the Canucks are now 3-0 under Bruce Boudreau. Even if Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser still aren't completely back on track (no points from either on Friday), there's a new energy with the Canucks that has a lot to do with Boudreau's easygoing nature.

Fantasy Take: Green Out, Boudreau In for Van City

I mentioned Pettersson didn't record a point on Friday. But he scored a highlight-reel "Forsberg" shootout goal. Might this be another sign that we see the Petey of old soon.

Sweet lil' move from Elias Pettersson (@_EPettersson) for the @Canucks shootout win! 🤤 pic.twitter.com/b81iGBbKxX

— NHL (@NHL) December 11, 2021

Even if he doesn't score consistently, Nils Hoglander hustles no matter who the coach is. Hoglander scored a pair of goals on Friday, snapping a 11-game goal drought. Hoglander's first goal also deserves a spot here.

Enjoy this backhander from Nils Hoglander. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/IF0LhtpctX

— NHL (@NHL) December 11, 2021

With the 4-3 shootout win over Winnipeg, Thatcher Demko now has three wins and three quality starts this week. In other words, I picked the wrong week to face him in one of my head-to-head leagues. Even though he's won five of his last six games (the Canucks are also on that streak), he's already received a boost in value from Boudreau. Demko also leads the league with 23 games played, and it appears he'll continue to be a high-volume starter under Boudreau.

Vasily Podkolzin's icetime under Travis Green (23 GP): 11:47. Podkolzin's icetime under Boudreau (3 GP): 15:21.

In a losing cause, Kyle Connor continued to do his thing. He now has four 3-point games this season, scoring a goal and two assists with six shots on Friday. Only Leon Draisaitl and Alex Ovechkin have more goals than Connor (18).

Blake Wheeler's encouraging game took a turn for the worse – one that looks like it will cost him some time. In his 22^nd game of the season, Wheeler finally scored his first goal, a power-play marker. Then he added two more assists while taking seven shots. Unfortunately, Wheeler left the game in the third period with a possible knee injury after he got tangled up defending in front of Winnipeg's net. After the game, Paul Maurice admitted that Wheeler will be out for a while. Not a good sign if the coach admits that right away.

I’m not suggesting that the Canucks or Flyers will go to the final, but this seems like an interesting stat nonetheless.

Last 3 cup finals featured a team that made a coaching change mid-season. Granted 2020 was for totally different reasons, it's still a very bizarre pattern. https://t.co/0TH9OH5y5D

— David Alter (@dalter) December 11, 2021

Speaking of the Flyers, they have now snapped their 10-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over Vegas. Their two power-play goals on Friday are as many as they had in their previous eight games combined. They had lost their first two games under Mike Yeo, so their coaching change hasn't had as much of an immediate effect as Vancouver's did.

Fantasy Impact: Alain Vigneault Fired by the Flyers

James van Riemsdyk entered Friday's game with no points and a minus-10 in his last 11 games. I was about to write that you should drop him in anything but deep leagues, but then he scored a goal on Friday. Regardless, JVR is known for his massive hot and cold streaks, but he's been mostly cold this season. Maybe this is the beginning of a hot streak, but I'd want to see a little more before recommending him again.

Sean Couturier also broke his slump with a goal. He entered this game without a point and a minus-5 in his last four games. The Short Shifts Podcast came through for you if you took "sooner or later" to be "tonight."

Even more grim for Couturier when you zoom out a bit.

1a in 10 games, 3 points in the last 16, 0 goals on 42 shots in the last 14 games. Gotta be due for a goal here sooner or later.

— Short Shifts Pod (@ShortShiftsKK) December 10, 2021

The coaching change plus lower-than-expected advanced stats could mean that Couturier is a potential buy-low.

Carter Hart's 41-save win was his first win since November 16. He's posted back-to-back quality starts, so like Demko he could also be experiencing the new coach bump.

After an 18-game stretch without even a point, Keith Yandle now has four points over his last four games, including two assists on Friday. He only logged 12 minutes of icetime on Friday, but he was still on the first-unit power play. I really wonder if he suits up until he breaks the consecutive-games record, then he continually gets healthy scratched similar to what has happened with Shayne Gostisbehere or Erik Gustafsson in the past.

One Flyer that has been hot is Claude Giroux, who has five points in his last five games, including an assist on Friday.

Although he was held without a point on Friday, Keegan Kolesar was promoted to the top line alongside Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone. Chandler Stephenson, who is still the Golden Knights' top scorer because of all the injuries they've had, missed this game for personal reasons. Something to watch for if Stephenson misses more games.

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