COVID continues to rear its ugly head over both sports and the world in general. The NHL announced that games involving the Flames, Panthers, and Avalanche have all been postponed until after Christmas, while Saturday's Bruins/Canadiens tilt has also been postponed. Here's a list of the games being affected (not including Boston/Montreal).

The NHL has just announced quite a few postponements:#Flames
December 18 v CBJ
December 21 v ANA
December 23 v SEA#GoAvsGo
December 18 v TBL
December 20 @ DET
December 22 @ BUF
December 23 @ BOS#TimeToHunt
December 18 @ MIN
December 21 @ CHI
December 23 v NSH

— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) December 17, 2021

Postponing games can't be an easy decision. There are the business reasons, which are obvious (no gate revenue). Perhaps a pause is needed until after Christmas in order to stop the COVID spread, but will the COVID situation be any better after the holidays? It's possible that we could be looking at an even longer layoff, if the graphs showing the rapid spread of the omicron variant in other parts of the world play out in North America. Either way, just be prepared for an early holiday break from everything NHL. It sucks, but that's the situation that we are in.

Early in the day, John Tavares and Alex Kerfoot were added to the COVID protocol list. The Leafs thought they were getting good news when Jason Spezza's suspension was reduced from six to four games and he'd be able to return on Saturday, but then Spezza and Wayne Simmonds were also added to the list. That will definitely create problems for the Leafs for their game in Vancouver.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nicklas Backstrom were also added to the ever-growing COVID protocol list on Friday.  

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Friday had no shortage of news, as Paul Maurice suddenly announced his resignation as the Jets' coach. Earlier in the day I wrote the Fantasy Take. We didn't have to wait very long for the Dave Lowry era to begin, as the Jets faced Washington on Friday. Here are the even-strength and power-play line combinations that Lowry used for this game, from Frozen Tools:

EV – FORWARDS

PAUL STASTNY – MARK SCHEIFELE – NIKOLAJ EHLERS

ADAM LOWRY – DOMINIC TONINATO – ANDREW COPP

EVGENY SVECHNIKOV – PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS – KYLE CONNOR

JANSEN HARKINS – KRISTIAN VESALAINEN – DAVID GUSTAFSSON

EV – DEFENSE

BRENDEN DILLON – NEAL PIONK

NATE SCHMIDT – JOSH MORRISSEY

DYLAN DEMELO – LOGAN STANLEY

PP – FORWARDS              

MARK SCHEIFELE – ANDREW COPP – PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS – KYLE CONNOR

PAUL STASTNY – ADAM LOWRY – NIKOLAJ EHLERS

PP – DEFENSE

NEAL PIONK

NATE SCHMIDT – JOSH MORRISSEY

The even-strength lines appeared to be put into a blender when compared to the last three game lines, but the power-play lines didn't appear to change at all. That's bad news for those hoping that Nikolaj Ehlers would receive an instant power-play upgrade, as Ehlers remained on the second-unit power play. The good news is that Ehlers recorded assists on both Jets' goals and took seven shots in 19 minutes of icetime. He might get his promotion another day.

One icetime total that popped out was Andrew Copp, who led all Winnipeg players (not just forwards, but also defensemen) with a season-high 23:25. Despite the icetime, Copp was held without a point for the fifth consecutive game. Even though he is used on both the power play and penalty kill, Copp has a 61.9 OZ Start% this season, which is by far the highest of his career. He might be a player to watch in Lowry's system.

In spite of the 5-2 loss to Washington, a good sign for the Jets was the fact that they took 42 shots. Vitek Vanecek was up to the task for the Capitals, stopping 40 of those shots.

As for the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin did his thing again, scoring a goal while firing eight shots. Daniel Sprong scored a goal and added an assist while taking seven shots. For Sprong, it's the second consecutive game he has scored a goal. He had also taken 13 shots over those two games, so he has started to heat up.

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Evan Rodrigues was a throw-in in the trade that sent Conor Sheary back to Pittsburgh for Dominik Kahun at the 2020 deadline, but he has been much more than that for the Penguins. Facing the Buffalo team that traded him away, Rodrigues continued his breakout season with another goal and nine shots – six of which he took in the first period alone. Rodrigues has 23 points in 29 games (a 65-point pace), which includes seven points and a plus-6 in his last five games. Rodrigues also leads the injury-depleted Penguins with 98 shots.

Playing in just his second game for Buffalo, Malcolm Subban stopped 45 of 48 shots he faced to earn a quality start, but unfortunately not the win in a 3-2 overtime loss. Subban made 20 saves in the first period alone, including this one where he shows incredible flexibility. Watch the whole clip, including the overhead cam replay.

INCREDIBLE 😳

Malcolm Subban just punched his ticket for save of the year. pic.twitter.com/GnKr4UreSS

— NHL (@NHL) December 18, 2021

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Just because COVID is running wild doesn't mean that the regular run-of-the-mill injuries have disappeared. One example is Artemi Panarin, who missed Friday's game with a lower-body injury. That meant it was up to Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad to carry the scoring for the Rangers. Each scored a goal and added an assist in the Rangers' 3-2 loss to Vegas. Zibanejad fired seven shots, while Kreider took five shots. Kreider's goal was his first in six games, while Zibanejad has goals in back-to-back games. Kreider has five points in his last two games; Zibanejad, four points over that span.

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Between the offseason trade request and declining production, Vladimir Tarasenko wasn't high on my draft list entering the season. It turns out that my leaguemates weren't trying very hard to draft him either, so I was able to select him after pick 100 in two of my leagues when finding a right wing that could score became difficult.

After being concerned that I still picked him too high, Tarasenko has turned out to be one of my better picks, as he is producing at a near point-per-game pace (28 points in 30 games) so far this season. Tarasenko scored two goals on Friday, giving him five points in his last two games and nine points in his last six games. After multiple surgeries, his shoulder appears to be fine again, as he is back to shooting the puck with regularity (3.4 SOG/GP).

Buchnevich to Tarasenko, it's just so beautiful pic.twitter.com/YkfZYu1jMm

— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) December 18, 2021

Pavel Buchnevich assisted on both of Tarasenko's goals. He has also been hot recently, scoring 17 points in his last 12 games.

Ivan Barbashev was the third man on that line and scored a goal and an assist, giving him 13 points in his last 11 games. Barbashev has had an increase in value on that scoring line and also first-unit power-play time recently, so he's worth an add at the moment if he still happens to be available. That's especially the case in bangers leagues, as he averages nearly two hits per game. Just beware of possible regression, as some of Barbashev's advanced stats (23.4 SH%, 2.7 PTS/60, 41.7 Sec Asst%) are showing as higher than normal.

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Even with eight players in COVID protocol, the Nashville Predators extended their winning streak to seven games. Tanner Jeannot scored the overtime winner, giving him six points over his last five games. Jeannot was also credited with six hits, which adds to his team-leading total of 92 hits. With all the players in protocol, Jeannot has now played at least 22 minutes in each of his last two games. He's playing on what appears to be the Preds' top line with Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg. Jeannot is worth an add at the moment, particularly in leagues that count hits.

I mentioned Sissons yesterday as a player who is benefitting from the absences of Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen. Sissons also scored a goal on Friday, giving him six points over his last four games.

All the winning in Nashville means that Juuse Saros is on a five-game win streak. He also has quality starts in seven of his last eight games, making him a must-start.

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The Arizona Coyotes have the league's worst offense (less than two goals per game), and it's not really that close. So it may have caught you off guard that they scored six goals on Friday. Because preventing goals is also a challenge for the Coyotes, they needed overtime to knock off Anaheim.

Clayton Keller led the charge with two goals (including the overtime winner) and an assist and seven shots in over 23 minutes of icetime. Keller now has multiple points in back-to-back games and has fired 15 shots over his last two games. Over a longer stretch, Keller has 16 points over his last 13 games. The Coyotes' leading scorer might be an afterthought fantasy-wise (just 22 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues) because he plays in the desert, but he's at least trying to make things happen with the lack of high-end talent Coyotes management has provided him. Put him on a better team and you'll appreciate his skills.  

GAME CALLED.@ClaytonKeller37 picks up the @EASPORTSNHL OT winner. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/C3Xt1km0Y6

— NHL (@NHL) December 18, 2021

Max Comtois returned to the Ducks' lineup on Friday after missing a month, and he was given a great opportunity alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Troy Terry. Comtois failed to register a point, though.

Hampus Lindholm broke out of his slump in a big way, scoring twice while adding an assist and taking seven shots. Lindholm entered this game without any kind of point in his last six games.

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Stay safe out there! For more fantasy hockey discussion, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding