Alex Newhook is expected to miss the next 10-12 weeks with a high ankle sprain. In his first season with Montreal, Newhook has been on his highest point pace (46 PT 82-GP pace), as well as his highest average icetime (16:34) and power-play time (38.2 PP%). Newhook is also currently tied for the team lead in goals (7), so this is a big loss for the Habs.

The Habs' offense is currently in the bottom 5 of the league (2.75 GF/GP), along with its share of struggling players. Josh Anderson still doesn't have a goal this season. Sean Monahan hasn't recorded a point in nine games and doesn't have a goal in 14 games.

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Tyson Barrie was made a healthy scratch on Saturday. According to Elliotte Friedman, Barrie has also been given permission to talk to other teams. Barrie is also a UFA after the season, so he could be acquired as an early rental or by a team that would consider him signing him beyond that. He fits the category of better fantasy defenseman than real-life defenseman because of his offensive upside and perceived defensive limitations, similar to Shayne Gostisbehere, Tony DeAngelo, and Calen Addison.

When Barrie was traded from Edmonton to Nashville last season, I had assumed his value would plummet. Last season with the Oilers, Barrie had 43 points in 61 games, which is a 58-point pace. Yet since joining the Predators, Barrie has 23 points in 49 games, a 38-point pace. There are probably teams out there that are a better fit for Barrie, so this might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. In the near term, fantasy teams should bench Barrie or could even consider dropping him while this situation remains unsettled.

With Barrie out of the lineup on Saturday, Roman Josi logged 26:57 of icetime, also scoring a goal while taking seven shots.

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Since Adam Fox returned from injury two games ago, Erik Gustafsson has been held to 13:54 and 15:45 in icetime, along with reduced power-play time as expected. While Fox was injured, Gustafsson had averaged 19:28 in icetime. Fox recorded three assists on Saturday, while Gustafsson was held without a point. You can probably drop Gustafsson if you were using him as a Fox replacement, although if you have the bench space it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep him as a Fox handcuff in case Fox is injured again.

Vincent Trocheck scored a goal and added two assists for the Rangers, giving him five points over his last four games. He has also taken at least three shots per game over those four games.

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Joe Pavelski continues to defy the aging curve. The 39-year-old Pavelski extended his point streak to nine games with a goal and two assists on Saturday. During the point streak, Pavelski has accumulated 12 points (6 G, 6 A). Not bad for a seventh-round pick from 2003.

Joe Pavelski scored his 460th career goal. Among players drafted in the 7th round or later, only 2 have more goals in #NHLhistory:

Luc Robitaille – 668
Peter Bondra – 503#TexasHockey

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 2, 2023

Nikita Kucherov also extended his point streak to nine games with an assist on the Bolts' only goal. He has 17 points (4 G, 13 A) over that span, and at the time of writing leads the NHL in scoring with 40 points in just 24 games. He's currently on pace for 137 points.

The Stars scored eight times on the Lightning on Saturday, and Andrei Vasilevskiy was in net for six of those goals before getting the hook after two periods (Jon Cooper had reportedly tried to replace him with Jonas Johansson during the second period, but Vasilevskiy refused). After a win in his season debut, Vasilevskiy has been tagged with three consecutive losses, allowing at least three goals in each of them. With a 3.87 GAA and .859 SV%, he may need some time to get back on track, considering that he had a late start to the season.

The Lightning have lost four in a row by a combined score of 19-5. Ouch.

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Max Domi finally scored his first goal of the season and first goal as a Leaf in his 22^nd game. He has chipped in 11 assists during that time.

Auston Matthews broke a four-game goal drought with a pair of goals on Saturday. Props to Flip, who made the correct prediction on Matthews going over 1.5 anytime points in his Saturday's Game Picks. Matthews wasn't going to stay in a slump for long.

The Leafs have had 50% of their games go beyond regulation this season, which might explain why they've managed to stay above the playoff bar in spite of earning only five regulation wins in 22 games.

Brad Marchand broke his own five-game point drought and eight-game goal drought with the overtime winner against the Leafs. He also finished the game with a season-high eight shots. After a strong start, Marchand has fallen below the point-per-game level. That's where I thought he would finish at the end of the season with the reduced depth of the middle for the Bruins.

The departures of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci don't seem to be affecting David Pastrnak. With a goal and two assists, Pastrnak is among the top 5 in league scoring (at the time I'm writing this) and 15 points clear of Marchand for the Bruins team scoring lead.

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Entering Saturday's game, Anton Forsberg had one win and quality start compared to four really bad starts in his last five games. In other words, you probably weren't starting him. Naturally, Forsberg picked up a 39-save shutout against Seattle on Saturday. Forsberg hasn't done much to unseat offseason signing Joonas Korpisalo from the starting job, but perhaps this effort will help him turn his season around.

This is a crazy stat that shows how many years Seattle was without a big-league hockey team.

Senators shut out a team from Seattle for the first time since Game 2 of the 1920 Stanley Cup Final#GoSensGo

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 3, 2023

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Sidney Crosby was held without a point on Saturday, but he won 25 faceoffs against the Flyers. That's a single-game season high in that category. His 32 faceoffs total tied for the single-game season high with two other players. Their names are Sidney Crosby and Sidney Crosby. Sid the Kid leads the league in both faceoffs won (311) and total faceoffs (514). Just something to keep in mind if your league counts faceoffs.

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There's Michael Carcone again, scoring another goal. He has five goals in his last five games and he currently leads the Coyotes with 11 goals. I wrote about him yesterday. The only thing I'll add is that I remember first seeing his name in 2018, when he was the meager price that the Canucks paid for acquiring the services of Josh Leivo from the Leafs. A few organizations later and he's found his way onto the Coyotes, where he's thriving on a line with Alex Kerfoot.

Kerfoot, by the way, is also hot. With a goal and two assists, Kerfoot has six points over his last three games. I passed on adding Kerfoot earlier in the day, of course. Had I remembered that he is Carcone's linemate, maybe I would have. Of course.

After alternating starts with Karel Vejmelka earlier in the season, Connor Ingram has grabbed the Coyotes' starting goalie job and isn't intent on letting it go anytime soon. Ingram earned his fourth consecutive win and quality start on Saturday, a 31-save effort in a 4-1 win over St. Louis. What if I told you Ingram has a 10-3 record with a 2.40 GAA and .926 SV% this season? That might be better than the goalie on your roster.

Goalies that come out of nowhere like Ingram are the very reason that the whole Zero G concept exists. You just have to grab the right goalie at the right time. Sometimes it means completely ignoring the goalie's lack of pedigree and the team they play for – bucking the trends of conventional wisdom. Ingram did post some standout AHL numbers a few seasons ago, so this run isn't completely unprecedented. But it is unexpected.

I'm not projecting a Vezina Trophy win for Ingram or anything like that. We could just as well be taking about Vejmelka taking the net back a few weeks from now. But Ingram is rostered in about half of Yahoo leagues, so you might still have an opportunity to add him and ride the hot hand.

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Filip Hronek picked up two assists, giving him 25 points in 25 games this season. He and teammate Quinn Hughes are two of five defensemen in the league with a point-per-game average and at least 20 games played. The Canucks have decided to stack their top pair with what are by far their top two defensemen. I thought that Hughes would eat into Hronek's even-strength and power-play production when Hronek was acquired, but in fact the opposite has occurred. With Andrei Kuzmenko slumping and even a healthy scratch for two games, Rick Tocchet has elected to go with Hronek on the first-unit power play alongside Hughes. Hronek has never had a 40-point season, but he appears primed to cruise well past that in his first full season in Vancouver.

This couldn't have been written up any better for Nikita Zadorov, playing his first game for the Canucks against the team that traded him. Zadorov admitted after the game that he thought this should be Elias Pettersson's goal.

First as a Canuck for Zadorov! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/D9gLMlNGaE

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 3, 2023

The 6-6 Zadorov lined up with 6-8 Tyler Myers in what appears to be a twin towers defensive pairing for the Canucks.

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With a goal and an assist on Saturday, Leo Carlsson has eight points in his last eight games. Let me clarify: that's the last eight games that Carlsson has played in. He has dressed for the last two games after sitting out the previous two. The plan for Carlsson was for him not to play more than two times a week so he wouldn't get burned out. Yet the way he's had success so far, they may have to remove the training wheels and let him play every game.

Although many second-guessed the Ducks picking Carlsson second overall ahead of Adam Fantilli, Carlsson is an exceptional talent. Hang tight with him as long as you can, especially in leagues with a keeper component. He's playing on the top line and has averaged over 20 minutes over his past two games.

Leo Carlsson's hands go crazy#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/I6dou1uqdR

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 3, 2023

Mason McTavish left Saturday's game with an upper-body injury.  

Bowen Byram scored a pair of goals for the Avalanche in their shootout loss to the Ducks. Byram finally seems to have moved past his concussion issues, yet his production is down this season. Prior to Saturday's game, Byram had just two points in his last 10 games. However, it is worth mentioning that Cale Makar was unavailable for the last few minutes of regulation and overtime because of an undisclosed injury. If this is something that causes Makar to miss time, then Byram could potentially benefit.  

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Jack Eichel has posted back-to-back three-point games, including a goal and two assists on Saturday against Washington. This recent run has allowed Eichel to surpass the point-per-game mark (27 PTS in 25 GP).

What a pass from Jack Eichel to Mark Stone. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/H8ZIWwePn0

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 3, 2023

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Jack Campbell is expected to be recalled soon, according to Elliotte Friedman. Campbell has won three of his past four games for Bakersfield, including a shutout. I'm not sure I'd recommend adding him once he is recalled, but maybe the time away from the bright lights of the NHL allowed him to clear his head and regain some confidence.

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