Sunday marked the first time this season that Chicago scored multiple power-play goals in a game. With Seth Jones injured and Kevin Korchinski dealing with the loss of his father, the Blackhawks played this game without their best offensive defensemen. As a result, the team opted for a five-forward setup on the power play, featuring Connor Bedard, Nick Foligno, Philipp Kurashev, Tyler Johnson, and Taylor Raddysh on the top unit. Now, considering this group cashed in twice on Sunday, I expect Chicago to maintain this five-forward approach – at least in the short term. Once Korchinski/Jones returns, I think they return to the four-forward setup.

In the meantime, however, Foligno could see a surge in fantasy value. Depending on how things go, that surge might turn into something long-lasting. Foligno has been stuck on the Blackhawks' second PP unit for most of the campaign but saw a season-high five minutes and 23 seconds with the man advantage on Sunday. He made the most of this extra opportunity, scoring two goals – one on the man advantage and one at even strength. If he can continue providing an effective net-front presence – as he did on Sunday – then he might stick with this top group once Jones/Korchinski returns, while Raddysh or Johnson drop to the second unit.

Nick Foligno cleans up Connor Bedard's rebound and scores his second of the game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/nFup5hJzGX

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 17, 2023

Philipp Kurashev registered an assist on Sunday, giving him 17 points in 24 games this season – a 58-point pace. Although his overall numbers are solid, they're buoyed by a strong start. He posted 12 points in his first 12 outings but only has five in his last 12.  

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Canes General Manager Don Waddell just told me that Frederik Andersen has been medically cleared to resume skating. Maybe a month away from a return.

— Adam Gold (@AGoldFan) December 17, 2023

It's been roughly six weeks since the Hurricanes announced than Frederik Andersen was sidelined indefinitely due to a blood clotting issue. On Sunday, during an interview with Carolina radio host Adam Gold, Hurricanes' GM Don Waddell revealed that Andersen has been medically cleared to start skating again. It seems they're hoping he'll return to action in a month or so. If you're higher up in your league standings and can afford to stash Andersen on your roster for the next little while, it might be a good idea to pick him up right now. Although Andersen's numbers on the year aren't great, and there are obvious injury concerns, he's in a great situation behind a strong Hurricanes' defense.

Funnily enough, Carolina's current starter Pyotr Kochetkov is more likely to be a free agent in your fantasy league than Andersen right now. Although he lost in the shootout on Sunday, Kochetkov stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced. In his last three games, he's 2-0-1, with a 0.97 GAA and .962 save percentage. With Antti Raanta getting sent down to the AHL this weekend, it should be Kochetkov's net in Carolina for the foreseeable future.

Dylan Strome registered an assist on Washington's only regulation goal on Sunday, giving him eight points in eight outings this month. Strome has seen over 20 minutes of action in each of his last three appearances. It seems first-year head coach Spencer Carbery is leaning on Strome a bit more as a result of his strong play recently.  

The longest goal drought of Alex Ovechkin's career grew to 13 games on Sunday as he couldn't find the scoresheet against Carolina. I said it last week, but I'm still optimistic that Ovi can bounce back. The advanced stats suggest he's doing the right things, he just hasn't been rewarded proportionately. Because he's 38 years old, age-related regression is a valid concern. With each scoreless game, that concern grows. I'm willing to bet that even the most patient managers are starting to panic because of Ovi's slow start. If you can acquire him at a discounted rate, I think you'd be wise to do so. Over a large sample, a good process tends to yield good results. I don't expect his individual and 5-on-5 shooting percentages to stay this low over a span of 82 games. Maybe age-related regression limits the magnitude of his bounceback, but I don't think it prevents that bounceback entirely. As long as he keeps doing what he's doing, the puck will start to go in more often.

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I picked up Adam Henrique on Sunday in one of my fantasy leagues, trying to steal faceoff wins from my opponent. After Henrique scored a hat trick – with a rare short-handed point that won me that category as well – I had to do a thorough examination of my backside to see if there were any horseshoes up there (there weren't). Poetically, this first hat trick of Henrique's career came against New Jersey, where he spent his first eight years in the NHL.

John Gibson earned the win on Sunday but left after two periods because he was dehydrated. Gibson stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced before Lukas Dostol came in for the third and saved all 10 directed his way. It was a strong performance from Gibson, who'd been struggling after a hot start to the year. In his first 10 games, he posted a 2.18 GAA and .929 save percentage. In his last 11 appearances he holds a 3.45 GAA and .885 save percentage.

I'm told "Vanecek wasn't feeling right physically, not illness," so the #NJDevils are holding him out.

Daws will back up. https://t.co/GqnzQroEB6

— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovo62) December 17, 2023

It seems an injury prevented Vitek Vanecek from starting against Anaheim on Sunday. With Vanecek unavailable, Akira Schmid was forced to start for the second time this weekend, less than 24 hours after beating Columbus on Saturday. The circumstances weren't ideal, and neither was his performance. He allowed four goals on 26 shots as the lowly Ducks beat New Jersey 5-1. Schmid and Vanecek have struggled immensely this year. Although Vanecek's overall numbers are worse, his last two provide a glimmer of hope. He stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced in Calgary, and 23 of the 24 he faced in Boston. Let's hope this injury doesn't derail that momentum.

Timo Meier couldn't find the scoresheet on Sunday and has now gone eight-straight games without a point. Meier missed seven games in late-November due to a lower-body injury. He returned to the lineup on December 1^st and hasn't registered a point since then. He had 11 points in 11 games leading up to the injury, averaging 18 minutes of action during that stretch. His ice time is down to 16:21 during this eight-game drought and his role on the power play has diminished. Given the stark contrast in his production pre- and post-injury, I'm inclined to believe that the effects of that injury are a factor in his recent struggles. It may be that the injury is still bothering him, or perhaps he needs time to get up to speed after being sidelined for a couple weeks. Whatever the case, I'm willing to exercise a little more patience. Give Timo a little more time.

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"He's got a nagging injury. We don't want to make it worse… We're trying to be safe with that."

Jared Bednar said Cale Makar will travel with the team and continues to be day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

— Meghan Angley (@megangley) December 18, 2023

Cale Makar missed Sunday's tilt with the Sharks due to a nagging lower-body injury. With Makar unavailable, Devon Toews stepped onto Colorado's top power-play unit and registered an assist with the man advantage. Makar has missed four of Colorado's last eight games. Toews has enjoyed an expanded power-play role in each of those four games, but this was the first time he found the scoresheet.

Nathan MacKinnon sits second in league scoring after posting four points against San Jose on Sunday. Through 31 games, his total of 47 points is only beaten by Nikita Kucherov's 52. Mackinnon's currently riding a 15-game point streak, the longest active streak in the league right now.

Although San Jose fell 6-2 on Sunday, two Sharks remain on the rise. Tomas Hertl scored two power-play goals and Mikael Granlund assisted on both. Granlund has 17 points in his last 11 outings. Only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon have more points during that stretch. On the other hand, Hertl's offense is spread out over a longer period as he has 21 points in his last 20 appearances. Hertl and Granlund both benefit from seeing an incredible volume of ice time, skating over 21 minutes a night, with a ~75% share of San Jose's total power-play time.

Hertl gets the Sharks on the board with a power-play goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/SDglCBSOZJ

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) December 18, 2023

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With a 6-2 victory over Ottawa on Sunday, Vegas handed the Senators their fourth-straight loss. Ottawa currently sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, although they've played fewer games than the teams ahead of them. However, that's starting to matter less and less because the rest of the conference is winning, and they aren't. Let's talk numbers to put things into perspective. Right now, the Sens have played 26 games. The Canadiens on the other hand, have played 30. If Ottawa wins all four of the games they have in hand, they'd only tie Montreal in points. Montreal, a team that sits 12^th out of 16 in the conference. A team that's had a mediocre start to the season. A team that didn't come into the campaign with serious playoff aspirations. The Senators are a four-game winning streak away from tying that team. It'll be interesting to see if current coach D.J. Smith is allowed to play out his contract – which is set to expire at the end of this season – or if ownership seeks out another coach to right this ship before it's too late.

We often see coaches getting fired after a stretch of poor goaltending. We saw it this year with Jay Woodcroft losing his job in Edmonton and Dean Evason falling out of favour in Minnesota. The struggles of Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg could lead D.J. Smith to the same fate. Korpisalo struggled on Sunday, surrendering six goals on 31 shots. In his last six appearances, he's only posted a save percentage above .869 once.

Ivan Barbashev registered a goal and an assist on Sunday. He got off to a slow start this year, posting just six points in his first 23 appearances. He's been on fire lately, with 10 points in his last nine outings. Although a lack of power-play time limits his offensive ceiling, skating on Vegas' top line beside Jack Eichel and Mark Stone makes him relevant in a lot of fantasy leagues.

Sunday was Adin Hill's first start in weeks as he'd been sidelined with a lower body injury since November 30^th. Unfortunately, he didn't look comfortable when the Senators scored their first goal and ended up leaving after just a few minutes of play. If this was a reaggravation of the same injury he just returned from, I expect Vegas to be more cautious with the recovery process this time around.  

Adin Hill has left the game. Logan Thompson is now between the pipes pic.twitter.com/j3qPVR7Xww

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 18, 2023

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If you need help from the waiver wire this week, players from Winnipeg and Detroit should be easiest to incorporate into your lineup, as both teams have three games on 'light nights'.

Gabriel Vilardi (Fantrax: 59% Rostered; Yahoo: 21% Rostered) or Nikolaj Ehlers (Fantrax: 79% Rostered; Yahoo: 50% Rostered) are the obvious choices from Winnipeg. Both players are skating on the top line and first power-play unit. In addition, they both have six points in their last two games.

If you need help in a deeper league, Detroit's Michael Rasmussen (Fantrax: 20% Rostered; Yahoo: 7% Rostered) has eight points in his last eight outings, skating beside J.T. Compher and Patrick Kane.

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Thanks for reading! If you ever have any fantasy hockey questions, follow me on Twitter @BrennanDeSouza and shoot me a message!