At age 24, Matthew Phillips has paid his dues in both the WHL and AHL. After two 90+ point seasons in the WHL, Phillips has built up his value in the AHL to the point where he is currently tied for the lead in scoring with 30 points in 20 games. The one reason Phillips has been held back is his size, which might be generously listed as 5-7 and 155 lbs. Yet with the game becoming friendlier to smaller players and more offense, Phillips has a chance to prove that he is more than a tweener – too skilled for the AHL, but unable to secure a full-time NHL job.

I'm not a prospects guy specifically, but I have followed Phillips more closely than most other prospects dating back to junior, when I came away impressed after seeing him live in a Victoria Royals game. This must have been somewhere between 2016 and 2018, not long after Phillips was drafted in the sixth round in 2016. My apologies in advance to Journey writer Ben Gehrels, in case he had something already planned for Phillips. If he does, read it anyway because Ben will provide a more technical and statistical analysis of his game than I would here. All the writers here have a few favorite prospects, and Phillips qualifies as one of mine. So much so that I made a pre-emptive add a few weeks ago in a deep prospects league. Perhaps you could as well (8% rostered in Fantrax leagues). 

In case you missed it, the Flames recalled Phillips earlier this week. He was expected to make his season debut on Friday against Columbus, but he appeared to be a healthy scratch instead (Phillips played one game during the 2020-21 season). So we'll have to wait until at least tonight for Phillips to make his debut. This tweet explains why, which turns out to be a blessing in disguise for Phillips and anyone who wishes to take a flier on him.

Just spoke to Matthew Phillips. He was informed Thurs he wouldn't be playing tonight.
He was a placeholder on the 4th line of morning skate for Zohorna who couldn't officially join the team until Rooney cleared waivers at 12 MT.
They want Phillips in top 6, Zohorna as bottom 6 C

— Eric Francis (@EricFrancis) December 10, 2022

The Flames as a team are down half a goal per game this season over last, which has a lot to do with the offseason changes following some career years. Coincidentally, they were facing old friend Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have faced some serious struggles this season in spite of Gaudreau far and away leading the team in scoring (28 points in 26 games). Gaudreau was held off the scoresheet against his former team on Friday, but the Blue Jackets had the last laugh with a 3-1 win over the visiting Flames.  

Jacob Markstrom allows a goal on the opening shot of the game for the 6th time this season (most in the NHL)

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 10, 2022

Jacob Markstrom has also not earned a win in nearly three weeks (since November 21). Darryl Sutter has been running with the hotter hand in Dan Vladar, who has four consecutive wins. I think Markstrom will get his game back in order eventually, but Vladar is proving to be more than just a guy to help Markstrom with back-to-backs.

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The Tage Thompson five-goal game had a trickle-down effect on other Sabres, most notably Jeff Skinner, who recorded four assists on Wednesday. With a goal on Friday, Skinner now has 11 points over his last six games. That being said, Skinner might face a suspension after he cross-checked Jake Guentzel in the face late in the third period. The Sabres have a rematch tonight (Saturday) against the Penguins, so you may need to look for another option. After his career appeared to be left for dead two seasons ago, Skinner is currently a point-per-game player (32 points in 27 games), a mark that he has never reached over a full season.

Casey Mittelstadt assisted on all three Buffalo goals in their 4-3 overtime loss to Pittsburgh. That broke a five-game stretch without a point for Mittelstadt.

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No goalie has more wins this week than Charlie Lindgren (3), who added to his total with a W against Seattle on Friday. Darcy Kuemper was injured during Saturday's game, which means that Lindgren has taken control of the crease in Washington this week. So far, he has delivered with a 1.34 GAA and .953 SV% with three quality starts. He's rostered in just 16% of Yahoo leagues and 22% of Fantrax leagues, so he is worth a speculative pickup for Sunday's game against Winnipeg. Lindgren had started about once every third or fourth game for the Capitals prior to Kuemper's injury, so this recent run could help him grab a greater proportion of starts than he had been receiving, even when Kuemper returns.  

With his 796^th career goal on Friday, Alex Ovechkin is just five goals shy of Gordie Howe for second on the all-time list. Ovechkin has three goals (all empty net) over his last two games.

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Jack Hughes set an interesting record on Friday, logging the longest-ever recorded shift (since 2007-08) at 6:02. Hughes scored a goal and added an assist in 26:13 of overall icetime. The Devils were trying to overcome a deficit in this game, so who better to lead that rally than Hughes, who has 12 points in his last seven games.

Linemates Anders Lee and Brock Nelson combined for three goals and 18 shots on Friday. Nelson scored two goals on eight shots, while Lee scored a goal on 10 shots. Surprisingly, Lee had not scored a goal in his previous 13 games. He is averaging nearly three shots per game overall, so you could say he was due.

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Josh Morrissey recorded two more assists on Friday, giving him five helpers in his past four games. No defenseman has more assists than Morrissey (25) this season (tied with Erik Karlsson and Quinn Hughes). As well, only two defensemen (Karlsson, Rasmus Dahlin) have a higher point-per-game average than Morrissey (1.15 PTS/GP). On a Winnipeg team that has performed better than expected, Morrissey looks ready to reach 40 points for the first time in his career and perhaps go well beyond that.

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If you participate in the Tim Horton's Hockey Challenge, a safe pick is Connor McDavid whenever he plays. McDavid scored again on Friday, giving him goals in seven consecutive games with nine goals over that span.

No slouch himself, Leon Draisaitl has goals in seven of his last eight games. Draisaitl was one of my picks on Friday, which essentially was a coin toss between him and McDavid.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has back-to-back three-point games and is over the point-per-game mark this season (1.18 PTS/GP). The Nuge already has 14 goals in just 28 games, already ahead of last season's 11 goals in 63 games. He is shooting an unsustainable 20.0% this season, but I wouldn't count on these Edmonton guys to cool off completely, especially with that power play (nearly 30% conversion rate). Only three players – two of them with the surname McDavid and Draisaitl – have more power-play points than Nugent-Hopkins (17 PPP) this season.

In that same game, Kirill Kaprizov saw his seven-game goal-scoring streak end. However, he assisted on a Mats Zuccarello goal, extending his point streak to 14 games.

comin' for em' #mnwild https://t.co/XGBkzEK4V2 pic.twitter.com/6LNIc6HMRu

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) December 10, 2022

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Valeri Nichushkin returned to the Avalanche lineup on Friday, even though he was held without a point in 22 minutes of icetime. Nichushkin had been out for over a month with an ankle injury.

Alex Newhook has logged at least 19 minutes in each of his past four games, including first-unit power-play minutes. Newhook has three points in his last three games, including an assist on Friday. Since Nathan MacKinnon will be sidelined for a month, Newhook's role has expanded, so he is worth a pickup in many formats (just 8% rostered in Yahoo).

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The 5000 or so fans at the college arena received their money's worth on Friday with this late third-period game-winner from Lawson Crouse. That goal was Crouse's second of the game to go with an assist, which broke a three-game point drought for him.

LAWSON CROUSE IS HIM. 😤

His second goal of the game wins it for the @ArizonaCoyotes with 13.5 seconds remaining!! pic.twitter.com/Bsw5lQqtpv

— NHL (@NHL) December 10, 2022

Top Frozen Tools searched player Matias Maccelli recorded two more assists on Friday, giving him eight points over his last seven games. Only Matty Beniers has more points among rookies than Maccelli, who leads all rookies in assists (17). Maccelli has just two goals all season while averaging less than a shot per game, and he has scored just three goals in 46 career games. Despite a somewhat limited NHL sample size, that should give you an idea of what kind of player he is.

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After he was thrown into action in relief on Wednesday, Eetu Makiniemi made his first NHL start on Friday. He impressed in stopping 23 of 24 shots he faced in the Sharks' win over Anaheim. Following the game, I found this tweet interesting regarding San Jose's goaltending situation.

We don't know for sure when James Reimer will be back. Could be as soon as Tuesday. #SJSharks won't carry three goalies, so, could the team's brass possibly put Kaapo Kahkonen on waivers (like LA did with Petersen) and keep Makiniemi around?

— Curtis Pashelka (@CurtisPashelka) December 10, 2022

Kaapo Kahkonen has allowed an average of nearly four goals per game and has more really bad starts (5) than quality starts (3). I'm not sure the above happens like with LA, but Makiniemi could be a decent speculative pickup in deep keeper leagues (just 7% rostered in Fantrax).

Something to keep an eye on: Logan Couture left Friday’s game after blocking a shot. The Sharks did not provide an update after the game. The Sharks don’t play again until Tuesday, which could limit the amount of immediate information about the injury.

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.