Of course, the morning (to me) after I applaud Jordan Binnington for his bounce-back season, he is tagged with a really bad start after allowing four goals in the first period against Detroit. Remember the old SI cover jinx? It lives in a way at Dobber Hockey. The goals might not be all his fault, but results are results. Before Saturday, Binnington had posted a 9-4-1 record with a 2.21 GAA and .930 SV% after the calendar turned to 2024.

One strategy I use is that when I'm ahead in goalie stats, I'll bench my goalie(s) if they're facing a tough matchup. I sat Binnington for this game knowing I was ahead in wins but did not want to spoil my GAA and SV%. Since the GAA and SV% are two of my league's three goaltending categories, I won't expose them in the interest of chasing wins.

Although the Red Wings might not jump out at you as a high-scoring team, they are a top-5 offense in terms of goals for. Alex DeBrincat powered the Wings with two goals, an assist, and four shots. The Cat has been a bit hot and cold in his first season in Detroit, but he is hot again with seven points over his last six games.

Playing on the top line with DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin, Patrick Kane chipped in a goal and added an assist. Kane is also hot with 10 points in his last seven games. He has also maintained a point-per-game pace (26 PTS in 26 GP) in his first season with the Wings. Emily Kaplan of ESPN is also reporting that Kane could receive an extension sometime this season or over the summer. At age 35, Kane appears to have a lot left to give to fantasy teams.

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The Rangers have now won 10 games in a row. Their win against Philly on Saturday didn't have anything to do with their stars like Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, or Adam Fox. All were held without a point against the John Tortorella-led tight-checking Flyers. The game-winning goal was scored by none other than Matt Rempe on a deflection. The 6-7 Rempe was only an assist shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick in just his fourth NHL game. Rempe made his NHL debut at the Stadium Series game against the Islanders last weekend.

This might be the best fight I’ve seen in a long time.

REMPE AMD DESLAURIERS DROP THE GLOVES 🍿 pic.twitter.com/8aJvbo57Zs

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 24, 2024

Rempe is already demonstrating value in heavy bangers leagues, as he has already racked up 27 penalty minutes and eight hits over those four games. Don't expect a lot in the way of scoring, as he has just 22 points in 96 career AHL games. He is only 21 years old, which means he has plenty of time to develop into more than he has shown.

Igor Shesterkin appears to have finally shaken off his struggles. Shesterkin has allowed just one goal in each of his past three games, while also facing at least 40 shots in each of those three games. Hope you didn't bench him this week, as he has posted a 1.00 GAA and .975 SV% for the week. Shesterkin should be fine going forward and a strong bet to earn wins, as the Rangers temporarily jumped into first overall in the league standings with their win.

Jonathan Quick is definitely a streaming option today (Sunday), as he should start the second of back-to-backs against Columbus.

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Is it safe to start Timo Meier again? I'm at the point where I'm benching him in one league because I felt my other options were better scorers. To my regret, Meier scored a goal and added an assist in the Devils' 4-3 win over Montreal. Meier had not had a multipoint game since December 23, and that came shortly after a nine-game point drought. Meier has been one of my worst single-season picks this season.

Jack Hughes was held without a point on Saturday, but he still managed four shots. Hughes has taken a minimum of four shots in each of his last nine games. Over that span, no one has taken more shots than Hughes (56 SOG), working out to an average of over six shots per game.

In the loss to New Jersey, Nick Suzuki scored a pair of goals. Suzuki has 22 goals this season, although 10 of them have come in the last 30 days.

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Tom Wilson broke a 13-game goal drought by scoring a goal on Saturday. Wilson is usually a must-roster in bangers leagues in particular, but the scoring had dried up for a good two months this season. Between December 20 and February 20, Wilson had posted just three points in 25 games. That was even with Alex Ovechkin on his line for a good chunk of the even-strength minutes. At least Wilson now has three points over his last two games. Like Meier mentioned earlier, Wilson had been on my bench when I had to make some hard choices on a busy Saturday. Fortunately, I was able to get enough goals from my other players.

Ovechkin played his 1400^th career NHL game on Saturday, but his point streak was snapped at 10 games. Over that span, Ovie recorded 14 points.

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Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each contributed three points in the Lightning's 4-2 win over the Islanders. Kucherov is the NHL scoring leader, currently just two points shy of 100 points and also on pace for 139 points. He continues to be hot with 23 points over his last 13 games.

Unfortunately, Steven Stamkos couldn't get in on the fun. Stamkos was held without a point on Saturday and has now gone four games without a point. He is also a minus-5 over that span. In case you haven't noticed, Stamkos is also a team-worst minus-24, which is highly uncharacteristic when compared to his career plus/minuses. Continue to roll with Stamkos in spite of the recent struggles, as he is in a contract year.

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On his 29^th birthday, Tyler Bertuzzi scored a hat trick, with two of the goals on the power play. More was probably expected of Bertuzzi in his first season with the Leafs, as he is currently on pace for just 38 points. Yet something that might make you take notice of him is the fact that he has logged over 50% of the Leafs' available power play minutes for five consecutive games. That might be a reason to keep an eye on Bertuzzi as a possible waiver-wire pickup, as he is just 12 percent rostered in Yahoo. Bertuzzi was perhaps due as well, as his shooting percentage increased from 6.6% to 9.1% just in that one game. He had also last recorded a multi-goal game over two years ago, in January 2022.

Mitch Marner scored a goal and added an assist on Saturday, giving him seven consecutive multipoint games. Over that span, Marner has 17 points. He also has 21 points over a 10-game point streak.

With an assist on Saturday, Cale Makar broke a seven-game point drought. The point drought was the longest of his career.

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With a goal on Saturday, Thomas Chabot has now scored goals in three consecutive games. Great for me, since I receive bonus points for goals from a defenseman in the league that I roster Chabot. Prior to that, Chabot had scored just two goals in 30 games.

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After a false alarm earlier in the week, Logan Stankoven made his NHL debut on Saturday. Stankoven logged 15 minutes of icetime, leading Stars forwards with three shots while playing on a line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston. The 20-year-old Stankoven was already over a point per game in his first AHL season, and he averaged two points per game in his final WHL season. (I can say that after watching the Kamloops Blazers in person tonight, his old junior team misses him.)

Stankoven is only 3 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, but he's already worth at least adding to your watch list. How long he stays with the Stars could depend on their injury situation with Tyler Seguin currently day-to-day (LBI) but Evgenii Dadonov on LTIR (also LBI). For more on Stankoven, see his Dobber Prospects profile.

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Noah Hanifin's price tag may have increased with his performance on Saturday. Hanifin scored two goals while adding an assist in the Flames' 6-3 win in Edmonton. Hanifin has already set a career high in goals with 11, which places him in the top 10 among defensemen in that category. We could very well be discussing Hanifin again less than two weeks from now, as he is rumored to be on the block. The Flames are headed toward at least a retool, while Hanifin is believed to prefer playing for a US-based team.

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A scare for Joel Eriksson Ek owners: He left Saturday's game in Seattle in the third period after being checked awkwardly into the boards. After the game, Wild coach John Hynes said that Eriksson Ek should be okay. Eriksson Ek has been red-hot for fantasy teams, posting 15 points over his last eight games. There's a six-point game in there from Monday, which included a hat trick from EE in a 10-goal outburst from the Wild. He's currently on pace for 76 points, which would be a career best. That's pretty good for a player who looked like more of a defensive specialist during his first few years in the league.

Mats Zuccarello led the Wild with four assists in their 5-2 win, while Kirill Kaprizov scored twice and added an assist. Zuccarello has 10 points over his last four games, while Kaprizov has 18 points over his last eight games. Like Eriksson Ek, both players were helped by the 10-goal game on Monday, with Kaprizov posting an identical 3-3-6 statline to Eriksson Ek. The Wild had a 5-on-3 advantage four different times during that Monday game, cashing in with four power-play goals.  

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Speaking of the Canucks, they scored two goals in the second half of the third period and the overtime winner to defeat the Bruins and snap a four-game losing streak. Despite the recent slide, the Canucks remain in first in the overall standings with 82 points.

Brock Boeser scored a pair of goals for the Canucks, giving him six points over his last four games. Boeser entered Saturday's game with just one goal over his last 10 games, so more goals from Boeser might be what the Canucks need.

J.T. Miller assisted on all three Canucks goals while also chipping in four shots and eight hits. Among Canucks, only the injured Dakota Joshua has more hits than Miller (155), which makes Miller all that more valuable in bangers leagues.

As a Canucks fan, I can’t tell you how awesome it is to see these guys back. I’m sure they annoy the hell out of fans from other teams, though.

Nature is healing. pic.twitter.com/lD1klL7Hrf

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2024

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A stat you probably didn't expect to see on Saturday: Matt Roy took 10 shots, which tied for the lead in shots for the day with Owen Tippett. Roy happens to lead Kings defensemen with 107 shots. Roy is in the top 20 in the league when it comes to adding shots and hits and blocks. He doesn't provide much offense, but the peripherals alone make him worth rostering in multicategory leagues (21% Yahoo/33% Fantrax).  

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Finally, I know this isn’t hockey specifically, but how about this for punishment for losing your fantasy league!

Can you guess Tim Mayza's fantasy football record this year? 😅 pic.twitter.com/XtfYWCF6Hy

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 24, 2024

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