Ramblings: Kraken Crush Sharks; McTavish Shines in Loss; Marchenko’s Solid Season – November 23

Michael Clifford

2023-11-23

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends, family, and readers in America. We hope that everyone enjoying this holiday does so with lots of food, football, family, and friends. 

Secondly, this will be a brief Ramblings. I lost power where I am and it’s been 12 hours and counting. This is being written in a Tim Horton's at 5:15 AM and I was not able to watch one second of hockey last night. I appreciate everyone's understanding given the situation. 

Let's round up some of the top fantasy performances. 

Alex Lyon faced just 16 shots but he stopped them all for Detroit as they took a 4-0 win over New Jersey. It was just his second start of the season but he's certainly making a case for more. 

Robby Fabbri, Moritz Seider, Dylan Larkin, and Lucas Raymond all scored for Detroit. Alex DeBrincat was moved down to the team's second line with JT Compher for this one, and he remained away from Larkin for the entire contest. That is very bad news for his fantasy value. 

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An overtime goal from Adam Lowry lifted Winnipeg to a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay down in Florida. Josh Morrissey had a goal, an assist, two shots, four blocks, and a hit in an excellent multi-cat performance. Mark Scheifele had a goal and five shots as well. 

There isn't as much fanfare as last season, but Morrissey is up to 18 points in 18 games in what has been a very good fantasy season for him. 

Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos (PP) scored in the loss. Stamkos had four total shots and two PIMs in a nice fantasy night. 

Earlier in the day, we got word that Andrei Vasilevskiy should be back very soon for the Lightning as the original Thanksgiving timeline for his injury seems to be holding true.

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With Aleksander Barkov still missing from the Florida lineup, Boston went in and took a 3-1 win over the Panthers. Charlie Coyle, John Beecher, and Jake DeBrusk all scored for the road time in their victory.

Linus Ullmark was very solid once again with 27 saves on 28 shots to post his seventh win in nine starts.

Anton Lundell had a goal on four shots in defeat. It'll be interesting to see where he slots in if Barkov can return on Friday as the team hopes.  

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Alexis Lafreniere scored five minutes into Wednesday's game in Pittsburgh and that was the only goal of the night as the New York Rangers blanked the Penguins 1-0. The home side was without Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, so Alex Nylander slotted next to Evgeni Malkin with Drew O'Connor going to the top line. 

Jonathan Quick stopped all 32 shots he faced for the shutout while Tristan Jarry was just a bit worse, stopped 35 of 36 in the loss. 

Lafreniere finished the game with six shots and a couple of PIMs. It would be nice to see Laf put up more shot-on-goal performances like this because he can’t shoot 22% forever, but it’s clear he’s found a home on the second line with Artemi Panarin.

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Dylan Strome scored with eight seconds remaining in the overtime period of Washington's home tilt against Buffalo, sending home fans away with a 4-3 win. It was Strome's second point of the night, having assisted on Tom Wilson's game-tying goal that came 75 seconds before the end of the game. This went from a near-assured 3-2 loss to a 4-3 win in short order. 

John Carlson had a pair of assists, seven shots, three blocks, and a hit in a great across-the-board night. He is pacing for nearly 200 blocks on the season, which is a funny thing to think about given his offensive prowess.

JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens, and Zach Benson all scored in the loss. Peterka now hs 8 goals in 19 games this season, pacing for an excellent fantasy season. 

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Carolina chased Stuart Skinner from the Edmonton net after he allowed four goals on 12 shots through 15 minutes of game time. The Hurricanes would finish with a 6-3 win, handing Edmonton their 13th loss in 18 games on the campaign. 

Seth Jarvis and Teuvo Teravainen both had a goal and an assist in the win while Martin Necas, Jack Drury, and Jesper Fast all scored as well. 

Brent Burns scored his fifth goal of the year, managing three shots and a pair of blocks. Jalen Chatfield had two assists while Dmitry Orlov had one. Orlov also added five shots and three blocks in a tremendous fantasy effort. 

Zach Hyman had two goals in the loss, and is now up to 10 goals on the year, being one of the few non-disappointing Oilers fantasy performers. 

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Columbus disassembled Chicago by a 7-3 margin in what may have been the best night for the Blue Jackets's season, even if it was their first win in 10 games.

Boone Jenner scored twice, Kirill Marchenko had a goal and an assist, and Cole Sillinger also had a goal and an assist. Johnny Gaudraeu managed one assist despite being on the ice for four goals. Lol? 

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Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson also scored while Zach Werenski assisted on four of the seven Columbus tallies. He now has 14 assists in 18 games, though just one goal, and that sticks out like a sore thumb, fantasy-wise. 

Marchenko is now on pace for 23 goals and 50 points on the season. He’s done so with a big shooting percentage drop from last year and on a team destined for the Lottery while largely being kept off the team’s top PP unit. That he’s also pacing for over 230 shots speaks to how much upside this young winger has.

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Brock Nelson scored twice in New York's 3-2 win over Philadelphia. He is also now up to 10 goals on the year, having done so in 18 games. 

Cam York and Joel Farabee tallied in the loss. With his third goal, York already surpassed his total (2) from last year. 

Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 of 36 shots he faced in victory. 

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Ryan O'Reilly scored in Nashville's 4-2 win over Calgary on Wednesday night. O'Reilly had three shots and a block to go with that marker. He now has 9 goals in 18 games and is pacing for a pretty good fantasy season. The duo of he and Filip Forsberg continue to impress on a near-nightly basis. 

Yegor Sharangovich scored in the loss as he was moved to the team's top line, a spot he had skated a couple times recently. 

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The St. Louis depth ripped apart that of Arizona's with Alexey Toropchenko, Brayden Schenn, Kevin Hayes, Nick Leddy, and Colton Parayko all scoring in the team's 6-5 win. Somehow, Pavel Buchnevich managed no points, no shots, one attempt, one giveaway, and a minus-2 rating. That is impressive in a game where your team scores six goals. 

Michael Carcone and Nick Bjugstad each had a goal and an assist in the loss. These recent Coyotes losses show the importance of Juuso Välimäki to this roster. They better hope all the defencemen they’ve drafted recently pan out to be high-end guys because there is a long way to go to filling out that blue line.

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Thomas Harley returned to the Dallas lineup but the boost to the roster wasn't enough as they took a 2-1 loss at home to Vegas. Jack Eichel and Michael Amadio scored in the win for Vegas as Alex Pietrangelo had three shots and seven blocks. 

Adin Hill stopped 31 of 32 shots he faced for his 10th win of the year. What a first six weeks to the season for him. 

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Colorado managed a 5-2 win over Vancouver as the two teams faced off in Denver. Valeri Nichushkin, Cale Makar, Mikko Rantanen, and Jonathan Drouin each had a goal and an assist in the win. Drouin was moved up to the top PP unit in place of Ryan Johansen and replied with a PP assist on the team's second opportunity. That he got moved there says a lot more about Johansen's play so far this season than it does Drouin's. 

Makar now has 31 points in 19 games on the campaign. Yes, he's seriously on pace for over 130 points. He and Quinn Hughes are patently absurd, and watching this defense scoring race will be fun for the balance of the season. 

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Alex Newhook scored twice skating on the top line with Nick Suzuki as Montreal took a 4-3 win in Anaheim on Wednesday night. Newhook had four shots in 19 minutes of ice time, and he now has three goals and five points in his last three games. He has come alive since being moved up the lineup. 

Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle both scored from the blue line for the Habs. Matheson is now up to 13 goals and 49 points in 67 games with the Canadiens. His season has been excellent from a multi-cat perspective. 

Mason McTavish (2+1) and Frank Vatrano (1+1) both had multi-point efforts for the Ducks. McTavish is now up to 10 goals and 10 assists in 19 games, and his breakout season is fully underway. There should be a lot more chatter around him because he is truly turning into a special player. 

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In a very shocking turn of events, the San Jose Sharks got their brains beat in 7-1 by Seattle. Eeli Tolvanen (2+1), Oliver Bjorkstrand (1+3), Jared McCann (1+1), Yanni Gourde (1+1), and Jamie Oleksiak (0+2) all had multi-point games as the Kraken exploded offensively.

Tolvanen now has 21 goals and 21 assists in a very nice 69 career games with Seattle.

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