Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you can enjoy a Guinness or a green beer or your beverage of choice sometime today, and that your fantasy week has been as lucky as a four-leaf clover.

The NHL has suspended Jordan Binnington for two games as a result of his antics from Wednesday's game against Minnesota. In case you missed it, the incident is below. Seems like the type of behavior that we've come to expect from Binnington, but this time the league decided that it had enough. I wonder how long Binnington would have been suspended if he'd actually fought Marc-Andre Fleury.

The linesman refused to let Jordan Binnington and MA Fleury fight 😒 pic.twitter.com/JgotxV6aG8

— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) March 16, 2023

Binnington is expected to miss today's (Friday's) game against Washington and Sunday's game against Winnipeg, so he won't be available for the rest of the week if you were counting on him for your fantasy playoffs – but hopefully you're not in a position where you need to count on him anyway. Binnington leads the league with 13 really bad starts (games with a save percentage below .850). No wonder he's often in a bad mood!

Joel Hofer was recalled from the AHL, so don't be surprised if he receives at least a one-game audition to test his readiness for the Blues backup role next season. Current backup Thomas Greiss is only on a one-year contract.

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I realize inflation is crazy and the price of everything has skyrocketed as a result, but a 7-3 score in the first period? What is this, the All-Star Game? Yep, 10 goals were scored in the first 15 minutes of the Canadiens/Panthers game. Once all was said and done, the combination of Jake Allen and Sam Montembeault had allowed nine goals. Don't go near a Habs goalie in this important part of the season unless you're truly desperate.

As far as who did the damage for the Panthers in their 9-5 win, Matthew Tkachuk scored a goal and added three assists, while Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad each scored a pair of goals. Only three players have more points than Tkachuk (91), who appears headed to his second consecutive 100-point season. Tkachuk also has three consecutive games with at least three points, as well as 19 shots over those three games.

Only three Panthers didn't get in on the fun and record at least one point: Marc Staal, Anthony Duclair, and Anton Lundell. Staal doesn't matter in any leagues that count scoring, but those rostering Duclair and Lundell will feel like they missed a golden opportunity. Lundell hasn't recorded a point in his last six games, while Duclair has just one point in his last five games.   

Sergei Bobrovsky accomplished the somewhat rare feat of recording both a win and a really bad start in the same game. Five goals allowed on 26 shots will do that. I thought he had earned at least one more W/RBS in a game earlier this season, but this happened to be his first.

After the injured Cole Caufield and Sean Monahan, as well as the ice-cold Nick Suzuki (2 PTS in last 6 GP), and the player with the best point-per-game average on the Habs is Mike Matheson (23 PTS in 35 GP). Matheson scored a goal and an assist on Thursday, giving him four points in his last three games. He's benefitting from his highest icetime and power-play time totals of his career. Sometimes it's just all about opportunity.

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Remember when Filip Chytil was the hottest waiver-wire pickup of the week? Now he's getting dropped everywhere. Chytil is now without a point in seven consecutive games and without a goal in 17 consecutive games. Kid line mates Kaapo Kakko (0 PTS in last 5 GP) and Alexis Lafreniere (0 PTS in last 4 GP) are also on the Frozen Tools cold list. The future should be bright or at least better for all three, but feel free to cut them loose in single-season leagues. This isn't the time of year to be waiting on players to turn it around.

Sidney Crosby assisted twice on Thursday, giving him 83 points on the season. That assures him of the 18th point-per-game season of his career. Only Wayne Gretzky has more (19). As an added bonus, Crosby has not missed a game this season, which is something we are not used to. He's also hot with 10 points in his last six games.

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Jeremy Swayman stopped all 34 shots he faced in the Bruins' 3-0 win over the Jets, which is his third shutout of the season. Even though Swayman has been splitting starts with Linus Ullmark, only five goalies have more shutouts than Swayman this season.

Because the Jets were shut out, Nino Niederreiter's seven-game point streak as a member of the Jets has ended.

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With the Stars' lone goal on Thursday, Wyatt Johnston now has goals in three consecutive games and five goals in his last seven games. Also, his 19 goals ties him for the rookie lead with Matty Beniers. Johnston doesn't celebrate his 20^th birthday until May 14.

If you have needed assists in your head-to-head fantasy playoffs (and who hasn't?) Miro Heiskanen has delivered. With an assist on Friday, Heiskanen has registered six helpers over his last three games. He's also riding a nine-game point streak with 15 points over that span. Since March 1, no defenseman has more points than Heiskanen. He's getting hot at the right time, vaulting into the top 10 in scoring among defensemen in the process. It's also fair to say that the departure of John Klingberg has helped Heiskanen's value, as he has more than doubled his career high in power-play points with 25 PPP this season.

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The points keep on coming for Tommy Novak. With an assist on the Predators' only goal on Thursday, Novak now has six points over his last four games, 18 points over his last 14 games, and 29 points in 35 games this season. The trades and injuries in Nashville seem to have benefitted Novak, who played nearly 20 minutes on Thursday and is regularly receiving first-unit power-play time. I'm just not sure this is sustainable, as Novak is shooting 20% when he shot just 4% last season. Still, this is a case of riding the hot hand, so he's worth an add in many formats (8% Yahoo/32% Fantrax).

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Updating the Canucks/Islanders trade in early February, Anthony Beauvillier has 16 points in 18 games since joining the Canucks (including two assists on Thursday). Meanwhile, Bo Horvat has nine points in 18 games since joining the Islanders. Yep, the team matters. This trade has played out exactly how we thought it would in the Fantasy Take. Horvat scored 31 goals in 49 games with the Canucks, but he has scored just five goals in 18 games with the Islanders. Trades usually take years to play out, but the early returns have the Canucks benefitting more from a trade that was literally forced on them due to their overspending.

Barrett Hayton picked up another assist on Thursday, giving him 11 points in his last six games. As I'm writing this, he's showing as the most popular profile on Frozen Tools, and he's been a hugely popular waiver wire pickup this week. Hayton is on pace for a career-high 43 points, which is more than sustainable given the fact that his shooting percentage (8.6%) is lower than that of the previous two seasons. He's taking over two shots per game this season when he had trouble reaching a shot per game previously. The Coyotes have absolutely no reason to shelter Hayton any longer, so by all means add him if he's available.

Yes, there's fantasy value in the desert. Travis Boyd scored a pair of goals in the Coyotes' win over Vancouver on Thursday. That gives him five goals over his last six games. He's been used as a first-line center for the Yotes in the past, for what it's worth. Hayton fits more of the profile of the first-line center than Boyd going forward (although Hayton is a second-line center at best on most other teams). That being said, Boyd could be considered a viable streaming option if the Yotes schedule fits yours and Hayton is unavailable in your league.

Weird things happen in the fantasy playoffs. For example, I would have been better off starting Ivan Prosvetov over Bobrovsky or Akira Schmid in my fantasy playoff matchup on Thursday, even though it would have made absolutely no sense to do so (I started Bob because of the matchup). Prosvetov has started two NHL games this season, winning both of them and allowing a combined three goals. He's forcing a three-headed goalie monster in the Coyotes crease with Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram. His AHL numbers (3.06 GAA, .900 SV%) don't scream must-add, but the Coyotes have now won five consecutive games at the Mullett, which gives Prosvetov at least a puncher's chance if you wish to stream him.

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I'll bet you didn't think the Flames' leading scorer at this point of the season would be Tyler Toffoli. Yet here we are after nearly 70 games and Toffoli is Calgary's leader in both goals (28) and points (60), the point total being a new career high. In a huge 7-2 win over Vegas, Toffoli scored two goals and added two assists with a plus-3, giving him six points over his last four games. In a season where other Flames' top-tier options are having a down season, Toffoli has a career-best point pace (0.87 PTS/GP). Toffoli has experience with Darryl Sutter when both were in LA, so that could give him a leg up on the others.

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A couple of stellar saves. Which one was better?

WHAT A SAVE. 😱

Akira Schmid absolutely robs Nick Paul on the doorstep to keep the game tied 1-1. pic.twitter.com/PWvVqiG6vI

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 17, 2023

Save of the year candidate?! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/HDinYT1gEZ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 17, 2023

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