Imagine that you're the team that ends a struggling team's 14-game losing streak. In addition, said team with the losing streak was playing the second game of back-to-backs on the road. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2023-24 Ottawa Senators.

The Yotes snap a 14-game losing streak in Ottawa and Sens fans are not pleased 😬 pic.twitter.com/bVcPrDxXbs

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 2, 2024

So yeah, the Senators could look different very soon. Vladimir Tarasenko seems like the perfect rental for someone. Same for Dominik Kubalik for a team on a tight budget. Could the Sens really shake things up and trade Jakob Chychrun? The trade deadline is in one week, so we'll find out soon.

At least Drake Batherson had a nice game when it comes to filling stat categories. A goal, seven shots, and three hits. Batherson is holding a hot stick with goals in four consecutive games.

Brady Tkachuk left this game in the third period after a collision. The Senators did not provide an update after the game, so he should be considered questionable for today's (Saturday's) game.

Matias Maccelli led the Coyotes with a goal and two assists. He is riding a five-game point streak with seven points over that span. He's received at least 20 minutes of icetime in each of the last three games, as well as 68% of the Yotes' available power-play minutes in two of the last three games. Even though Arizona is now well out of the playoff race, Maccelli could help fantasy teams with his assist totals, as he leads the team with 32 assists. He is rostered in just 7 percent of Yahoo leagues.

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In the Capitals' 5-2 win over Philadelphia, Dylan Strome scored a goal and added two assists. That gives him 11 points over his last seven games. Strome is just one goal shy of his career high of 23 goals, which he set last season. He is helping his cause by shooting a little more, as he is averaging over two shots per game for the first time in his career.

Hendrix Lapierre registered two assists, giving him six points over his last four games. He's on an even-strength line with Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson, which means he might be worth a look in deeper leagues. He's under 20 percent rostered in Fantrax and less than 1 percent rostered in Yahoo.

Sean Couturier's fantasy value has been dwindling. The Flyers captain has been held to under 15 minutes in back-to-back games, and he's been downgraded to a line with banger Nicolas Deslauriers and unknown Olle Lycksell. John Tortorella runs a true meritocracy and seems to juggle his lines often, so this is hardly a permanent place for Couturier. Still, Couturier has just two points over his last seven games, as well as just five points over his last 16 games. Feel free to drop if needed.

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After shutting out the Penguins on Thursday, has Philipp Grubauer reclaimed the starting role in Seattle? Grubauer has four wins and four quality starts in his last five games, also appearing in each of the Kraken's last four games. Meanwhile, Joey Daccord has allowed four goals in each of his last two appearances, getting pulled for Grubauer in his last game. I wouldn't say that Grubauer is on completely solid footing here, but he has the advantage of the much larger contract ($5.9 million AAV versus $1.2 million AAV for Daccord). The Kraken are seven points below the playoff bar in the Western Conference, so expect them to ride the hot hand – whoever that may be – as they keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

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Ilya Mikheyev scored 10 goals over his first 28 games. Since then, he has been held without a goal in his last 30 games. Since I watch plenty of Canucks games, I can tell you that Mikheyev has speed to burn and can get to pucks, but he has absolutely no finish around the net. The Canucks are trying to break a slump (losses in six of past seven games), so they don't have time to be patient with him. After spending much of the first half on Elias Pettersson's line, Mikheyev has been downgraded to filling in on the third line with Conor Garland and Teddy Blueger while Dakota Joshua is sidelined. If he still doesn't start scoring, then he may end up even further down the lineup or in the press box.

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San Jose might be a wasteland when it comes to fantasy talent. But since mid-November, Mikael Granlund has been a near point-per-game player. Granlund now has 34 points (7 G, 27 A) in his past 37 games, including three power-play assists on Thursday. He logged 25:28 in that game and has averaged over 20 minutes per game this season. Granlund is only 12 percent rostered in Yahoo and 33 percent rostered in Fantrax.

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Lukas Dostal had to face everything but the kitchen sink on Friday night. Dostal had to make 50 saves, including on a penalty shot attempt from Jack Hughes with just two seconds remaining to earn a 4-3 win over New Jersey.

DOST-WALL IS THE MAN! 🤯

50 SAVES ‼️@AnaheimDucks | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/lZN0kYqCg9

— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) March 2, 2024

Dostal had not earned a win or a quality start in his previous six games, so don't blame yourself if you missed out on this one. This is the second time this season that Dostal has made 50+ saves in a game. That seems par for the course if you're a Ducks goalie, though. It's not going to get easier with their young defense.

11 goaltenders in the last 60 years have multiple 50+ save performances in the same season.

Lukas Dostal and John Gibson have combined for 5 such performances in the last 13 months.

— The Canes Stats Brand™ (@CanesStats) March 2, 2024

The Ducks had just traded Ilya Lyubushkin, and Cam Fowler was out of the lineup with a facial injury. That meant that not only was Olen Zellweger recalled from the AHL, but he was on the top power play. He didn't register a point, but he might be worth adding to your watch list. Pavel Mintyukov and Jackson LaCombe both logged over 20 minutes and should continue to receive plenty of icetime with the vacancies on defense. Mintyukov received over 26 minutes on Thursday against the Sharks.

Frank Vatrano scored a pair of goals in the Ducks' win. That gives him eight goals over his past 11 games. Vatrano is also one goal shy of reaching 30 goals for the first time in his career. He is also two points away from reaching 50 points for the first time. Vatrano has a very affordable $3.65 million cap hit, so the Ducks are probably taking a few calls about him. However, he has another season left on his contract. Vatrano is averaging over 18 minutes of total icetime and over two minutes of power-play time per game, which I'm not so sure he would receive with a deeper contending team.

One Duck who seems even more likely to be dealt is Adam Henrique. On the final year of his contract, Henrique has 23 points over his last 22 games, including a goal on Friday. Henrique also has a cap hit of $5.825 million, so teams will be more likely to ask whether the Ducks can retain a bit of salary. Henrique would help a team with his scoring and ability to win faceoffs (52.9 FOW%), but like Vatrano, he could be pushed down the lineup of a team with more depth than the Ducks.   

Mason McTavish left Friday's game with a lower-body injury.

The Devils' goaltending has been anything but great. But the Devils don't defend well either. As a result, they have a team goals-against average that is barely better than the league's worst teams. If Jacob Markstrom is in fact traded to Jersey, I don't like his fantasy prospects for the rest of the season. Have you noticed yet that I'm not that high fantasy-wise on players getting traded at the deadline? The latest Frozen Tools Forensics research from Chris Kane seems to support that.

Maybe Markstrom would improve on Vitek Vanecek, Akira Schmid, and Nico Daws, though. All three of those goalies have a 3.00+ GAA and sub-.900 SV%. Daws allowed four goals on 14 shots before getting the hook after two periods on Friday. He has a bright future, but he has been tagged with three really bad starts over his last five games.

In case you missed it, the possibility of a Markstrom trade seems to be more of a possibility, according to Eric Francis of Sportsnet. With the Flames already moving out Elias Lindholm and Chris Tanev, and with Noah Hanifin a strong possibility to also be traded, Markstrom might not be long for the Flames either. After all, the Flames might be able to get by with Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf in net.

In a minor trade, the Devils acquired Kurtis MacDermid from the Avalanche for a 2024 seventh-round pick and forward Zakhar Bardakov. MacDermid's skill set involves accumulating penalty minutes and hits, but he's hardly a reliable fantasy option because he's a part-time player. Moreover, he hasn't recorded a single point in 23 games. Maybe he sees more playing time with New Jersey, but for now he appears to be a seventh defenseman there and won't shore up their defensive woes a ton.

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