Happy New Year, and all the best to you in the coming year! By the time you read this, it will already be 2022 somewhere – maybe even where you live. I know we were hoping that 2021 would turn out better than 2020, and it looked like it would for a while. We can at least try to think positive and hope we will be out of the woods sometime in 2022, but we are clearly not there yet. COVID continues to inconvenience our personal lives and make hockey season less enjoyable. So much for the World Juniors.

There's also the matter of our fantasy hockey rosters. I've chatted with a few people who say they are close to bailing on the season already because of all the game postponements and players entering COVID protocol on top of the usual injuries. Although I have to admit that I didn't want to look at my fantasy rosters during the extended holiday break, I'm not ready to throw in the towel. As Winston Churchill once said, if you're going through hell, keep going.  

In another non-surprise, the NHL has announced more postponements due to Canadian attendance restrictions. The team impacted the most next week is not actually a Canadian-based team – instead, it is the New York Islanders. Their western road trip to Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary has been wiped out, which means they will not travel to Seattle either. That's going to put the Islanders out of commission all of next week and early the following week. So after their game today (New Year's Day) at home against the Oilers, they won't play again until January 13.

The Islanders will join the Habs on the sidelines, as Montreal's three home games next week had already been postponed. The good news is that you still have 30 other teams to choose from – at least for now. And as always, Frozen Tools is here to lend a hand.

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Jack Hughes started the day off with a goal, and he finished the day off with another goal. His early first-period power-play goal, his assist on Yegor Sharangovich's game-tying goal with the Devils net empty, and his overtime winner gave him his second consecutive three-point game. In addition, he's combined for 13 shots over those two games. His season has been injury-shortened, but the two consecutive three-point efforts put him into near point-per-game territory (14 points in 15 games). Despite playing half the number of games as many of his teammates, Hughes is only one goal behind the Devils team lead (four players are tied with nine goals).

Despite the six-goal outburst by the Devils, Pavel Zacha was held off the scoresheet. He has just one point in his last six games and five points in his last 18 games. The initial concern might be that he's being pushed down the lineup with a higher variety of scoring options in Jersey this season. However, his icetime and power-play time are about the same as last season, and he has also had similar scoring linemates. Even Zacha's OZ% is up (52% compared to 42% last season). His shooting percentage was higher than normal last season (16.5%), so perhaps a regression should have been expected. All in all, he could be better, but maybe we need to temper our expectations.

After a strong start to the season, Dawson Mercer scored just his third goal in his last 16 games. His assist was also his first since November 28 (a span of 13 games). That coincides with Hughes' return to the lineup after missing over a month, which was the concern for Mercer at the time as to whether he'd keep his strong start going.  

Connor McDavid scored two goals on Friday, but he finished the game with a minus-1. That's not officially a Draisaitl Hat Trick, but it's awfully close.

Kailer Yamamoto also scored twice while adding an assist with a plus-1. After a stretch of seven games without a point, Yamamoto has recorded points in three consecutive games. He has the linemates (Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins), so now it's about getting more consistent scoring.

Mike Smith started his second consecutive game for the Oils after returning from injury. Smith can't necessarily be faulted for allowing at least four goals in each of the two games he has played in, as the Oilers were in a better state when he went down to injury early in the season. With road games against the Rangers and Leafs next week, Smith probably won't have an easy time, assuming that Mikko Koskinen doesn't cut into his starts on top of that. Both Edmonton goalies have a 3.00+ GAA and a negative GSAA (goals saved above average).

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Because Robin Lehner is still out with a lower-body injury, Laurent Brossoit made his third consecutive start for the Golden Knights. He was just 12 seconds away from a shutout when Ryan Getzlaf scored a power-play goal. Brossoit has earned wins in back-to-back starts, and he could get the nod again on Sunday against the Jets, his former team. Keep an eye on him if you need a goalie start at the end of your head-to-head fantasy week.

With all the injuries to Vegas forwards, Mattias Janmark has moved up to a scoring line with Evgenii Dadonov and Chandler Stephenson. Janmark scored a goal on Friday, giving him goals in back-to-back games. He also missed on a penalty shot attempt. Janmark is rostered in just 1 percent of Yahoo leagues, which means there's a great chance he's available in yours. He's also versatile in the Yahoo game, as he is eligible at all three forward positions.

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Just another Alex Ovechkin game: two goals, a plus-2, and seven shots. The Great 8 had gone two games without scoring a goal (imagine)! Over five of his last six games, Ovie has taken at least six shots on goal. He finishes the 2021 portion of the 2021-22 season as the far-and-away leader in shots on goal (156), which works out to nearly five shots per game. Second-place Kyle Connor is a full 30 shots behind Ovechkin. As long as he keeps shooting the puck, he has a chance at that Gretzky goal record.

The record we're talking about? His 275^th career power-play goal, which surpasses Dave Andreychuk as the all-time leader in that category. Congratulations are in order.

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After receiving his Stanley Cup ring earlier in the day, Barclay Goodrow scored two goals in his first game against his former team. Similar to the Mark Giordano revenge game the night before, players seem especially fired up to face their former teams. Goodrow is not a scorer and was not signed to be one with the Rangers, but he helps the Rangers with bottom-6 scoring, faceoffs, and grit. So it is worth mentioning that he was on the Artemi Panarin/Ryan Strome line for this game.

Corey Perry scored the game-tying goal for the Lightning with just under two minutes to play. That gives the 36-year-old forward points in four consecutive games. His linemates are Pat Maroon and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, so he's probably not someone you should have in your lineup on a regular basis. But as a short-term add when the Lightning have a favorable schedule, he might just pay off.  

Right before that goal, Gerard Gallant was irate about having to change his players on the ice. Whoops.

The Lightning got a goalie back from COVID protocol in time for this game. Brian Elliott received the start, stopping 20 of 23 shots in what turned out to be a 4-3 shootout loss. As I mentioned yesterday, the Lightning have been dreadful in net since Andrei Vasilevskiy was put into COVID protocol. They face the same Rangers again on Sunday. Check Goalie Post for updates on who that Lightning starter will be, although you shouldn't expect immaculate ratios if you are simply chasing a win.

Steven Stamkos scored a goal and added an assist with four shots. Only three players (McDavid, Draisaitl, Ovechkin) have more points than Stamkos' 39 points. All three of those players have at least 50 points, so as of the time I'm writing this, no player in the NHL has a point total in the 40s.  

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I'll be back tomorrow to talk Winter Classic as well as the other games on the schedule. In the meantime, for more fantasy hockey discussion, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding