Jake Sanderson is off to a fast start and appears poised for a breakout. Sanderson scored a power-play goal while taking four shots, giving him goals in back-to-back games and six points over his last four games. Sanderson has also taken over the top power play from Thomas Chabot. Sanderson is also being used on a shutdown pair with Artem Zub, which should help him add peripherals as well. Sanderson also led the Sens with 147 blocked shots last season. The 5^th overall pick in 2020, Sanderson is now rostered in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues, so the window to add him from waivers appears to have shut.

Joonas Korpisalo was tagged with a Really Bad Start on Saturday, allowing five goals on 23 shots. He has allowed five goals in two of his three games, so he stumbled out of the gate with his new team. Meanwhile, Anton Forsberg has been much better, winning both his starts with much better ratios (1.50 GAA, .933 SV%). Despite the struggles, Korpisalo will still receive at least half of the starts because of his new contract (5 years at $4 million per).

In the day game 5-2 win, Dylan Larkin led the Red Wings with a goal and two assists. Larkin is among the league scoring leaders with nine points in five games, as he and newcomer Alex DeBrincat (who was making his return to Ottawa since being traded in the offseason) have really clicked. I'd projected success for both if they played on the same line (Fantasy Take).

Give Shayne Gostisbehere a boost in value from joining the Wings. Ghost Bear recorded two power-play points (a goal and an assist), and he has at least one point in all five games so far. He has also paired up on the point with Moritz Seider as the Wings use a 3F-2D arrangement on their top power play.

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Rasmus Andersson was suspended four games for an unnecessary hit on Patrik Laine near the end of Friday's game. According to Eric Francis, the Flames are planning to appeal this suspension, although I don't think it'll get reduced by more than a game or two. There was discussion on the HNIC panel that the appeal could be to reduce the suspension because the fourth game is scheduled to be the outdoor game against Edmonton next Sunday.

Laine was out of the lineup on Saturday because of the hit and appears to be out indefinitely.

Rasmus Andersson with a dirty hit on Patrik Laine at the buzzer#Flames | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/bfVjrQYeUC

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) October 21, 2023

By the way, the longest suspension last season was three games, which Andersson's suspension will surpassed if it stands as is. Assuming the entire suspension is not rescinded, Noah Hanifin could be temporarily promoted to the top power play. He's rostered in the majority of Yahoo leagues, but he could be worth searching for anyway.

The Predators have claimed Liam Foudy off waivers from the Blue Jackets. Foudy's speed might help the Preds in their bottom six, so this isn't a transaction that should mean much for fantasy leagues.

Adam Fantilli scored his first NHL goal on Saturday against the North Stars, I mean Wild. I couldn't bring up the Columbus lines for some reason, but he appeared to be on the second power-play. Fantilli also took four shots in this game, the highest total of his five-game NHL career.

🚨 FIRST NHL GOAL FOR ADAM FANTILLI! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/CYd6JJASV3

— NHL (@NHL) October 22, 2023

Speaking of shots, the Jackets fired 54 of them in this game. Boone Jenner and Jack Roslovic each took eight shots, while Johnny Gaudreau took seven shots.

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With Devon Levi battling a lower-body injury, Eric Comrie started his first game of the season, stopping 24 of 25 shots he faced in the Sabres' 3-1 win over the Islanders. Levi's season numbers (3.26 GAA, .890 SV%) aren't horrible by today's standards, but he has only one quality start in four games. Neither Comrie nor Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been the savior in net that the Sabres need, which is why they seem desperate to make 21-year-old Levi the starter right now. The Sabres play a four-game week next week, so Comrie should receive at least one start.

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In an important divisional battle with the Lightning, Ilya Samsonov was pulled after allowing three goals on four shots. Joseph Woll took over after and was outstanding, stopping all 29 shots in the Leafs' come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win in Tampa. Samsonov has already had two Really Bad Starts in four games, so it's possible that we start to see more of Woll than just the one start in five games that he has received. Sheldon Keefe has in fact confirmed that Woll will start the Leafs' next game on Tuesday in Washington, as had been previously planned. Woll is just 25% rostered in Yahoo, but that number could start to climb with more starts.

Matthew Knies was key in the Leafs' win, scoring both goals that erased a two-goal deficit. The goals were his first two of the season. Knies has been on the John Tavares – William Nylander line for much of the season, but he isn't receiving a sniff of power-play time on a veteran Leafs squad.

The Lightning shouldn't blame Jonas Johansson for their loss. He faced 52 Leafs shots during regulation and overtime. Tavares and Mitch Marner each took seven shots, while William Nylander was credited with six. The quality start was Johansson's first of the season in five tries, though. Needless to say, he'll return to a backup role once Andrei Vasilevskiy returns.

Nikita Kucherov already has three 2-goal games this season, the latest coming on Saturday against the Leafs. Kucherov also scored twice against the Canucks on Thursday, so he looks like his dominant self right now. He has also taken 13 shots over his past two games.

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With a pair of goals on Saturday, Sam Reinhart has six goals and is now tied for the NHL goal lead with a few other players. One of those players is Brock Boeser, who also scored on Saturday.

Ilya Mikheyev made his season debut on Saturday, and it was in a great spot alongside Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. He's produced at a 50-point pace for each of the last two seasons, but staying in the lineup has been an issue with a combined 99 games over those two seasons.

Most of Quinn Hughes' points come in the form of assists, but it still seems strange that he scored the first road power-play goal of his career on Saturday. The Canucks also allowed their first goal with Hughes on the ice on Saturday. Hughes has also been firing the puck recently with six shots on Saturday and 14 shots over his last three games. It's early, but he's entering the Norris Trophy conversation.  

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Is Jordan Binnington a fantasy stud again? He's allowed a total of four goals over three games, each of which he has faced 30+ shots. If you're thinking of dropping him, you simply can't right now. The Blues now go on a four-game road trip through western Canada and Colorado, which will be a real test. But for now, ride the hot hand.

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Connor Bedard scored his first goal in front of the home fans (his second of the season). I guess I was wrong about benching him on a busy Saturday, although results may vary from team to team.

CONNOR BEDARD WITH HIS FIRST GOAL AT THE UNITED CENTER 📢 pic.twitter.com/D5bW76aixQ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 22, 2023

Bedard's goal wasn't nearly enough, as the Blackhawks lost 5-3 to Vegas. The Golden Knights are now the first defending Stanley Cup champion to start the season 6-0-0. What Stanley Cup hangover?

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Jason Robertson was drafted in the top 10 of many fantasy drafts, but he hasn't played that way so far. Robertson has recorded assists in back-to-back games, but in four games he has yet to score a goal. Moreover, Robertson's shot per game average is down from nearly four shots per game last season to under two shots per game this season. There's still lots of time to turn this around, but Robertson will need to find a way to shoot the puck more before he can take another run at 50 goals. He's still on one of the league's top scoring lines with Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski, who have themselves combined for five goals.

Wyatt Johnston led the Stars in their 5-4 overtime win, scoring a goal and adding two assists. I was able to grab Johnston with pick 199 in one of my drafts, which could turn out to be a very good pick. Johnston has four points in four games and is just 17% rostered in Yahoo leagues. I'd definitely recommend taking a flier on him.

If your league counts shorthanded points, check the Flyers in your lineup. In particular Travis Konecny, who scored two of the Flyers' three shorthanded goals on Saturday. Because shorthanded goals are relatively rare, Konecny might have singlehandedly won you that category this week. Sean Walker scored the other shorthanded goal and has scored shorties in back-to-back games. John Tortorella would be smiling if his team didn't lose this game.

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Tommy Novak is picking up where he left off last season, scoring twice in a 5-1 win over San Jose. Novak has four goals (but no assists) in six games, and his shot total has increased to over two shots per game. He won't have a wide selection of top-drawer linemates in Nashville, but he's making the most of his situation there.

On their top power play, the Sharks are now using… Kyle Burroughs? Don't get me wrong, I like Burroughs as a hard-working blue-collar player. But he has little to no experience on an NHL power play. The Sharks didn't score any power-play goals on Saturday, and I'd imagine that this situation is very fluid. Given the Sharks' current situation, I think Burroughs is a top-4 defenseman on that team. He averaged over three hits per game with the Canucks last season, although he wasn't in the lineup every game. He could be worth keeping an eye on in bangers leagues.

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Matthew Phillips might finally be getting his chance. After racking up big numbers in both the WHL and AHL, Phillips was handed nothing more than a small cup of coffee from Darryl Sutter last season. After cracking the Capitals' roster, the diminutive (5-7, 140 lb.) Phillips was placed on a line with Alex Ovechkin and Dylan Strome for Saturday's game against Montreal. Phillips assisted on a goal from Dylan Strome, giving him three points in four games. He's more of a deep league option due to low overall icetime (11-14 minutes per game), but he's definitely a guy I'm pulling for. I saw him play live once when he was with the Victoria Royals of the WHL and came away very impressed.

In the Capitals' 3-2 overtime loss, Strome scored his first two goals of the season. Strome, Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom each took five shots in this game.

What about Ovechkin? Still no goals in four games. At least he broke his slump of no shots in his previous two games. Dating back to last season, he has not scored a goal in his last nine games. Obviously he'll need to get back on track quickly in order to take a real serious run at Gretzky's goal record, and that starts with shooting more often. The man is 38 now and we've been waiting for him to start showing his age, which will happen at some point. The Capitals don’t seem to be as good a team as they have been in recent seasons, and he simply may not be able to carry them by himself. Beyond that, I won’t make any snap judgments, since we’re talking about one of the game’s all-time greats here.

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Just as I'm about to publish this, something to keep an eye on regarding Connor McDavid.

McDavid bothered by something. Did not play last four minutes of regulation and does not start OT

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) October 22, 2023

McDavid did not play in overtime either, raising concern about some kind of injury.

this was connor mcdavid's final shift in the 3rd period. he reached for this left hip/side/back as he entered the offensive zone and did so again as he left the ice. pic.twitter.com/e5XEWojaM0

— zach (@zjlaing) October 22, 2023

I'll discuss more about the late games tomorrow along with Sunday's games. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter/X and Threads.