Happy Easter everyone!

For the first time in history, 16 NHL games were played on a single day. That meant with all 32 teams playing, you had zero empty slots (aside from injuries or healthy scratches) on Saturday, forcing you to start your best lineup and make some tough start/sit decisions. Hopefully it all worked out and you didn't leave a three-point game on your bench.

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Let's start with that McDavid guy. Yeah, Connor McDavid has become just the sixth player in NHL history to reach 150 points (hi, Bernie Nicholls!) Remember when Jamie Benn and John Tavares tied for the scoring lead with 87 points back in 2014-15? Yeah, those days are long gone. Inflation has hit both the economy and NHL scoring, but it's only enjoyable in the latter situation.

63rd goal and 150th point for Connor McDavid. 👏 pic.twitter.com/dnmdeJA6dD

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 8, 2023

McDavid finished Saturday with a pair of goals, an assist, a plus-4, and six shots on goal. I've counted just seven games where he did not record at least one point this season. If you have/had McDavid on your team this season, hopefully you were able to do something meaningful with that. We'll have to wait until Thursday to find out the final tally, but he's currently at 151 points.

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11pts in his last 7gp for Casey Mittelstadt and 25 in his last 28#Sabres #LetsGoBuffalo

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) April 8, 2023

With the exception of the two goals on Saturday, all of Casey Mittelstadt's 11 points in his last seven games have been assists. That should be the only complaint about Mittelstadt, who with 53 points and counting has now doubled his previous career high. The now 24-year-old forward has needed a bit of time (200+ games) to evolve into a top-6 forward. The Sabres now have six players with at least 50 points, when only three players reached that number last season.

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As expected, Luke Hughes has signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Devils. There may be interest in Hughes in single-season drafts next season as a potential Calder Trophy candidate, but the safer bet should be that he will need some time to develop. He won't turn 20 until September, and he won't be rushed onto the first-unit power play with Dougie Hamilton coming off a monster bounce-back season. Hughes's brother Jack Hughes may not be the best comparable, but Jack didn't really break out until his third NHL season. That being said, I like Hughes's upside and drafted him over Brandt Clarke in one league in their draft year. I'm still good with that pick in spite of some heavy debate on Twitter (they have exactly the same ranking on Dobber Prospects, for what it's worth).

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Call it the NHL's version of the NBA's play-in tournament, which in the NHL is just a battle for the last playoff spot. The Flames/Jets game earlier this week didn't disappoint after all its buildup. The Predators/Jets game followed on Saturday, with Winnipeg extending its lead for the final wild card spot in a low-scoring 2-0 affair. Since Calgary could only manage a single point in a shootout loss to Vancouver, the Jets now appear to be in good shape for that final Western Conference playoff spot.

This game was billed as a potential low-scoring affair because of the two starting goalies. In fact, Juuse Saros and Connor Hellebuyck have the two highest games played and minutes played totals in the league. Hellebuyck, who was making his 11^th consecutive start, came out on top with a 28-save shutout win. When the Jets have needed him the most, Hellebuyck has recorded quality starts in each of his last four games, receiving credit for wins in three of them.  

Mark Scheifele is a first-time 40-goal scorer, scoring the first goal of the game in the second period. The trouble is, Scheifele's assist total (25 so far) is way down from previous seasons, meaning that his run of six consecutive point-per-game seasons will likely come to an end.  

Will you look at that… Nikolaj Ehlers was on the first power-play unit, and has been for a few games now. Nino Niederreiter, who was by coincidence or fate acquired from the Predators, has been moved down to the second unit. Ehlers has six points over his last four games, including an even-strength assist on Saturday.

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Ilya Samsonov was banged up, but he managed to make it through "most" of the game. So when the score is 7-1 in a mean-nothing game, you might as well put in the University of Toronto goalie on an amateur tryout contract. The question I have is why they didn't do this earlier. If Samsonov is injured, the Leafs will be in real trouble.

What a moment for Jett Alexander. 👏

The @Varsity_Blues goaltender gets into the game with just over a minute left. pic.twitter.com/UtP6wEvgYq

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2023

With two goals and an assist, Mitch Marner is two points shy of 100 with three games left. The 98 points is a career high, so he would be reaching 100 points for the first time in his career in spite of producing at a 100-point 82-game pace for three consecutive seasons.

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Kirill Kaprizov returned to the Wild lineup after missing a month with a lower-body injury. He was held without a point in 20 minutes of icetime against St. Louis.

Gustav Nyquist made his Wild debut on Saturday, recording two assists despite logging under 12 minutes of icetime on a line with Marcus Foligno and Sam Steel.

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From following one of my teams, I know that Victor Hedman posted a Draisaitl Hat Trick with a goal, two assists, and a minus-2. One reason was that two of the three points were on the power play, and another reason is that the Lightning lost 7-4 to the Senators.

Lukas Reichel was the only other player with a Draisaitl Hat Trick on Saturday, as he met the minimum requirements for a DHT with one goal, one assist, and a minus-1 in Chicago's 7-3 loss to Seattle.

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Was this a shot at Canucks fans from Bo Horvat? This has to be the most controversial thing he's ever said.

"It's been unbelievable, a lot better than Vancouver I'll tell you that for free."

Bo Horvat on playing at UBS Arena. 👀 pic.twitter.com/hT5OAu4NjP

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 9, 2023

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The @NHLBruins just keep adding to their historic season. 👀#NHLStats: https://t.co/P824XQBq5a pic.twitter.com/ozVBkgjfio

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 9, 2023

The Bruins will try to make history today (Sunday) with their 63^rd win of the season, which would be an all-time NHL record. For fantasy teams, this game also matters because it is one of two games that might represent one of the final opportunities to obtain points. For that final push, I'll try to help you with several potential waiver-wire options.

In the B's win on Saturday, Pavel Zacha scored both goals. I've had Zacha on my watch list for a while in one league because of his spot on the David Pastrnak line. His fantasy value has definitely improved from his days with the Devils, as he has reached both 20 goals and 55 points for the first time in his career. In fact, he had never reached 40 points prior to this season. He's definitely an option if you need help with points or plus-minus (+25). Even more so if the Bruins rest Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci remains out with a lower-body injury.

Playing on the Zacha/Pastrnak line, Tyler Bertuzzi assisted on both of Zacha's goals. Because of injuries, Bertuzzi's stock has fallen this season. Since joining the Bruins, Bertuzzi has 11 points in 18 games. If Zacha is out, then Bertuzzi is not a bad fallback option, and I would have ranked Bertuzzi ahead of Zacha before the season. As well, Bertuzzi has five points in his last five games.

If you need hits, Garnet Hathaway has six hits in each of his last two games. He's also in the top 10 in that category with 266 hits this season. Don't expect much scoring, as he hasn't registered a point in his last seven games, though.

I listed a few potential Flyers pickups last weekend, and they still stand. In case you don't feel like clicking, Owen Tippett and Morgan Frost were who I listed. The Flyers have a lot more players on the cold list than the hot list since they've scored just one goal over the past two games and were shut out on Saturday. That's why the preference should be on the Boston players. No one has the advantage of back-to-backs because every team played on Saturday.

If you need a goalie, Pavel Francouz is confirmed as per Goalie Post, and he should be a strong bet for a win given the matchup. The Ducks are near the bottom of the league averaging 2.49 GF/GP, which makes this an ideal spot for Francouz. Just beware that he hasn't played since February 7, so he may need to shake the rust off. Plus in sports, anything can happen.

I listed some other Colorado waiver-wire options yesterday: Samuel Girard, J.T. Compher, and Evan Rodrigues. Heck, maybe even Denis Malgin, who scored a pair of goals on Saturday while on a line with Compher and Valeri Nichushkin.

If you need shots on goal, target Avalanche players. Conversely, Ducks goalies have been anything but ideal in fantasy, and below is part of the reason. Only add an Anaheim goalie if you are truly desperate, which you might be if you're trying to win a league. In other words, hope for the best, but expect the worst.

The Ducks have done it.
The Coyotes now have 31 shots on goal.
Anaheim is the new team record holder for most shots on goal allowed in a single season. https://t.co/aNddmzaf1z

— Craig Morgan (@CraigSMorgan) April 8, 2023

Anaheim has no one on the Frozen Tools hot list, but someone like Frank Vatrano might make sense if your league doesn't count plus/minus. Ryan Strome broke a five-game point drought with a goal and two assists against the Coyotes on Saturday, so he's another possibility. Same with Adam Henrique, who scored twice on Saturday and has three points in two games since returning from a knee injury. I had streamed Mason McTavish earlier this season, but I will probably take a pass again because he hasn't registered a point in six games or a goal in 12 games.

If Cam Fowler is still available in your league, he will help with both offense and blocked shots (he had 4 BkS on Saturday). Maybe also icetime, as he set an NHL regular-season record by logging 38:54 on Saturday. I thought that was a typo when I first saw that, but the Anaheim/Arizona game went to overtime and the Ducks had only five defensemen available because Scott Harrington was a late scratch.

Simon Benoit is a great combined hits and blocked shots option for the Ducks, if you are okay without any offense and potentially bad plus/minus. I was crazy enough to stream him last week when I needed hits and blocked shots more than I needed offense.

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If case you missed the Canucks/Flames overtime in one of the late games, it was lots of fun.

What an absolutely electric back-and-forth sequence in overtime#Flames | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/6vLAJ8NzTA

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) April 9, 2023

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If your league comes down to the two games tomorrow, I wish you the best of luck! In the meantime, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.