Kris Letang might be a certified Band-Aid Boy, but he's also a medical marvel. Just 12 days after suffering a stroke, Letang was back in the Penguins' lineup on Saturday. Although he did not record a point, he delivered seven hits and blocked three shots in 22 minutes of icetime. Jeff Petry remained on the first-unit power play on Saturday, but that might have been more about ensuring Letang didn't take on more than he could handle. During the five games that Letang was out of the lineup, Petry recorded three assists, two of which were on the power play. With Letang in the lineup, Petry has just nine points in 22 games.

Sidney Crosby scored two goals and added an assist, which gives him 22 points – including 11 goals – over his last 13 games. At the time I write this, only six players have more goals this season than Sid the Kid (17 goals). He's now 35 years old, so can we still call him that?

In case you missed it earlier in the day, Jeff Skinner was suspended three games for his cross-check on Jake Guentzel during Friday's game. Skinner was out of the lineup on Saturday and he will also miss games on Tuesday and Thursday next week, so you may want to consider benching him in weekly formats next week.

Casey Mittelstadt took Skinner's place on the top line with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch as well as on the first-unit power play. Mittelstadt might be worth a short-term pickup with that situational improvement, although he has been held without a point in six of his last seven games. Mittelstadt did record three assists on Friday against Pittsburgh, though. Peyton Krebs moved up to the second power-play unit and scored the Sabres' only goal, which was an even-strength marker.  

Just as I made Jack Quinn a waiver-wire pickup, his six-game point streak came to an end. Over that span, Quinn recorded seven points (3 G, 4 A).

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It was a day later than I had hoped, but Matthew Phillips made his season debut on Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada. Although he was expected to play in the top 6, Phillips was on what appeared to be the Flames' third line with Adam Ruzicka and Mikael Backlund. Phillips skated just 9:21 and was held without a point, although he received second-unit power-play time. He might be more of a deep-league add at this point, as I have a feeling that Darryl Sutter won't try to use him to his full capability, at least in the short term.

To make room for Phillips, Milan Lucic was made a healthy scratch. Lucic has been held without a point over his last nine games, and he has yet to score a goal in 27 games. I'm assuming almost all of you have moved on from Lucic already, even in bangers leagues.

William Nylander was in on every Leafs goal on Saturday, recording his first-ever five-point game. Like Crosby above, Nylander also has 17 goals. He's also firing the puck at will, averaging just over five shots per game over his last five games. Nylander is averaging 3.2 SOG/GP, which is the same pace as last season when he registered 256 SOG. He's also on pace for 93 points, although a current 18.1 SH% might slow that a little.

Mitch Marner scored the game-winning goal in overtime and added an assist, extending his point streak to 22 games. Over that span he has 30 of his 35 points this season. Crosby (25 games) and Patrick Kane (26 GP) are the only active players that have had longer point streaks in their career.

The big 4 aren't the only forwards hitting the scoresheet, though. With a goal, Michael Bunting extended his point streak to eight games. That being said, Bunting scored his first goal in nearly a month (November 15), which is a span of 12 games.

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The Cal Petersen replacement plan is proceeding well so far for the Kings. Pheonix Copley stopped 20 of 22 shots in earning his second win and second quality start in as many games. I discussed the struggles of Petersen last week, but Jonathan Quick (3.42 GAA, .887 SV%, -10.38 GSAA) hasn't been a whole lot better. The 30-year-old AHL veteran Copley probably isn't the long-term answer in net for the Kings, but he at least has the opportunity to earn a few more starts. Los Angeles will likely start Quick today (Sunday) in Columbus, but Copley (9% rostered in both Yahoo and Fantrax) is worth a stash for teams looking for a little Santa Claus magic next week from the native of North Pole, Alaska.   

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What was Thomas Chabot thinking here? This is awkward…

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Paul Stastny has averaged just 11 minutes per game with the Hurricanes this season. Sure, Carolina has a deep roster, but that still seems quite low. Yet as a result of Sebastian Aho's injury, Stastny was moved up to a line with Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas on Saturday. He delivered, scoring a goal in the Canes' 3-0 win over the Islanders. The goal was Stastny's first in 26 games all season, so he's got some ground to make up before he should receive much consideration in fantasy leagues. Aho is currently day-to-day with a lower-body injury, so the promotion could be short-lived depending on the severity of Aho's injury.

Pyotr Kochetkov had a relatively easy 16-save shutout of the Islanders, giving him his second shutout of the season. Kochetkov has appeared in nine of the Canes' last ten games, leapfrogging Antti Raanta as the starter while Frederik Andersen is sidelined. Andersen recently returned to practice, which is worth keeping an eye on if you are rostering Kochetkov. Not only could Kochetkov potentially lose starts when Andersen returns, but he could also be sent back to the AHL since he is on an emergency loan. Kochetkov has done everything possible to remain in the NHL, making this a difficult decision.  

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The Wild-Canucks game was prognosticated as a potential high-scoring game, but Filip Gustavsson had other ideas. Gustavsson recorded his first career shutout on Saturday night, stopping all 35 shots he faced from the Canucks. Gustavsson doesn't receive a lot of attention behind Marc-Andre Fleury, but he has six quality start compared to only one really bad start in 10 games with the Wild this season. It's worth mentioning that Fleury has allowed at least four goals in each of his last three games and at least three goals in each of his last six games. Gustavsson has potentially earned more starts, which is something to keep an eye on.

In spite of the Wild win, Kirill Kaprizov's point streak has ended at 14 games.

Sam Steel hasn't been much of a fantasy asset this season (8 PTS in 27 GP), but he recently received a promotion to the Kaprizov – Mats Zuccarello line. Steel broke a four-game stretch without a point by scoring a goal on Saturday. Steel also took four shots, so he could be on the verge of heating up should he stay on this line.

Ben mentioned in this week's Journey column that Calen Addison was a healthy scratch on Friday, likely due to defensive reasons. He was back in the lineup on Saturday, recording a power-play assist. Only 11 defensemen have averaged more power-play minutes than Addison this season (3:43 PPTOI). That being said, no defenseman in the top 30 in power-play icetime has averaged as few overall minutes as Addison (16:40 TOI), with only one other d-man in that top-30 group (Tyson Barrie) averaging fewer than 20 minutes overall per game. He's only in his rookie season, but so far Addison appears to be strictly a power-play specialist who is otherwise used as a third-pairing defenseman.

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