Jack Quinn scored a pair of goals for the Sabres in their 4-2 win over Philadelphia on Friday. Quinn also took four shots and blocked two more. Quinn has a very respectable 15 points in 22 games, which would put him on a 56-point pace over a full season. Unfortunately, he's spent too much time on injured reserve this season. The scoring pace should make him an interesting sleeper in next season's drafts.

Zach Benson assisted on both of Quinn's goals. The youthful line of Quinn, Benson, and Dylan Cozens finished the game with a very respectable 61.1 CF%. The 18-year-old Benson has now registered two assists in each of his last two games. Benson also could have had an empty-net goal, but this happened instead.

Zach Benson is gonna have nightmares about this one 😩 pic.twitter.com/AagfJxaevo

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 6, 2024

Meanwhile, the Flyers haven't been able to take advantage of a relatively easy schedule down the stretch, losing their sixth game in a row on Friday. Their scorers have gone cold with just seven goals over their last four games against non-playoff or borderline playoff teams in the Canadiens, Blackhawks, Islanders, and now the Sabres.

Owen Tippett is one of the few truly reliable Flyers in fantasy leagues. He scored a goal and added an assist while taking four shots. Tippett now has career highs in both goals (28), points (51), and shots (274).  

After appearing in relief on Monday, recent arrival Ivan Fedotov made his first career NHL start on Friday. It wasn't really one to remember, as he allowed four goals on just 19 shots in a game where the Flyers outshot the Sabres 34-19. The Flyers are back in action on Saturday against the Blue Jackets, with Samuel Ersson the likely starter. For the latest starting information, check GoaliePost.

Garnet Hathaway finished the game with nine hits. He has reached 300 hits for the first time in his career. Only Jeremy Lauzon has more hits this season than Hathaway, while only Liam O'Brien has more penalty minutes. Hathaway is a banger in the true sense of the word, although he doesn't score often enough to be relevant in a lot of leagues.

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I have quite a few Rangers in my fantasy hockey portfolio, so it's kind of disappointing when the line that leads the team in scoring in a game consists of Barclay Goodrow, Jonny Brodzinski, and Jimmy Vesey. This trio each registered two points in their win against Detroit on Friday, with Goodrow scoring a pair of goals. You had to settle for a single point from Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad, but nothing from anyone else other than the little-rostered Will Cuylle.

David Perron registered two assists for the Wings in a losing cause, giving him four points over his last three games.

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Jake Guentzel's run of success with the Hurricanes continued on Friday. Guentzel scored twice and added an assist, giving him eight points over his last four games and 20 points in 13 games with Carolina. Guentzel seems like a great fit on the top line with Sebastian Aho, but it remains to be seen whether he will re-sign with the Hurricanes in the offseason. Guentzel might be the grand prize of this season's UFA class just as he was for the trade deadline, although an argument could also be made for Sam Reinhart or even Steven Stamkos.

Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals in the loss, bumping him up to 29 goals on the season and 851 in his career. Except for the COVID-shortened season of 2020-21, Ovie has reached the 30-goal mark every season in his career dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Ridiculous tip by Ovechkin 🤯 pic.twitter.com/yASn3JNMbj

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 6, 2024

This game had a very imbalanced shot total, with the Hurricanes taking 45 shots compared to the Capitals taking just 16. Darcy Kuemper earned his first quality start in nearly two months, stopping 41 of 44 shots that he faced. Even though he has a longer contract with a much higher salary, Kuemper has effectively lost the starting goalie job to Charlie Lindgren. Kuemper will need to battle Lindgren again next season, since Lindgren is under contract for one more season. Lindgren $1.1 million cap hit makes him ideal for salary cap leagues, while Kuemper's $5.25 million cap hit is not.

In what is best described as a turtle derby in the Eastern Conference, the Capitals have a five-game losing streak of their own following a stretch where they won six of seven games. With Tampa Bay officially clinching on Friday, does anybody want those last two available playoff spots in the East?

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This is the time of the season where you could make a valid argument about streaming just about any player, depending on your situation. Last week, I added Pius Suter out of desperation because I needed a goal or a power-play point from Sunday's only game. Suter registered a power-play assist that turned out to be the difference in a hard-fought matchup against a tough opponent.

On Friday, I talked myself into adding Cody Ceci for blocked shots because the Oilers play Friday and Saturday and I already have a full lineup on Sunday. Ceci blocked only one shot, but he surprised me by chipping in two assists with a plus-4. The add paid off again, just not the way I expected.

Evander Kane had not scored a goal in 21 games entering Friday's matchup with the Avalanche. Kane finally broke that slump, scoring a pair of goals with a plus-3 in the Oilers' 6-2 win over Colorado. Although the goals and points maybe aren't what they could be for Kane, he is still averaging nearly three shots per game while reaching 200 hits for the first time in his career. He continues to be rosterable in multicat leagues, particularly bangers leagues.

The Oilers decided to load up their top line on Friday, placing Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman together. McDavid scored two goals, while Draisaitl picked up two assists to reach 100 points for the fifth time in his career.

Also, the Oilers clinched a playoff spot with the win on Friday. They are an outlier on the U.S. Thanksgiving model that suggests that teams above the playoff bar at that time have a very high probability of making the playoffs. The Oilers were 10 points out of a playoff spot on the late November Thursday when Americans across all 50 states gather to eat turkey and watch football and make their Stanley Cup picks (okay, I made up the last one).

The Avalanche lost in more ways than one on Friday. Mikko Rantanen left the game after taking a hard hit from Mattias Ekholm. Rantanen is 6-4 and weighs 215 pounds, but he was bodychecked with enough force that he was noticeably woozy after the hit. After the game, coach Jared Bednar said that Rantanen would be "under evaluation for a while." In all likelihood, Rantanen will miss Sunday's game against Dallas and could even be held out for the rest of the regular season. That would be a significant blow for fantasy teams with title aspirations, as Rantanen has delivered on his first-round pick status in many leagues by reaching 40 goals and 100 points for the second consecutive season.

The good news for the Avs is that Valeri Nichushkin returned to the lineup on Friday, although he did not register a point in nearly 20 minutes of icetime.

Alexandar Georgiev struggled for the second consecutive game. After being pulled last weekend against Nashville (4 GA on 13 SA), he allowed six goals on 46 shots on Friday. That means Justus Annunen could start Sunday's game against Dallas and likely more before the end of the season. The Avs face a tough schedule to finish the season (Dallas, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Vegas, Edmonton), yet all but Vegas are home games. Annunen has posted solid ratios (2.24 GAA, .931 SV% in 12 GP), so he's worth a stream (19% Yahoo/31% Fantrax).

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In case you missed it, Shane Wright has been recalled by the Kraken. He put on a show on Friday, scoring two goals while adding an assist with five shots in Seattle's 3-1 win over Anaheim. Dave Hakstol tends to mix up his lines quite a bit, but Wright seems to have found a home on a line with Jordan Eberle and Jaden Schwartz. Wright and the Kraken don't play again until next week, but he has the opportunity to score more with some juicy home matchups against Arizona and San Jose before they finish the season on a four-game road trip. If you've been holding on to Wright in your keeper league, this might be a good time to activate him.

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You'll only experience certain events a few times in your lifetime, such as viewing a solar eclipse (don't forget the special protective eyewear if you plan to observe) or watching the Coyotes scoring six unanswered third-period goals after trailing 4-1 nearly halfway through the third period. After they achieved that feat against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Coyotes have to stay in Arizona, don't they! Now all that stands in the way is a land auction. Man, this Coyotes saga has sure taken some unexpected turns through the years.

pic.twitter.com/6fHw69RGhO

— hockey images that precede unfortunate events (@UnfortunateHKY) April 6, 2024

Michael Carcone scored a pair of goals for the Yotes. Now at 21 goals, Carcone is probably the most unlikely 20-goal scorer in the league this season. After all, he's a 27-year-old AHL veteran who had scored six goals over his entire NHL career prior to this season. A 20.0 SH% certainly helps when averaging a shot and a half per game. Among players with at least 20 goals, none have as few assists as Carcone (8). That's probably why he's not on your fantasy roster.

Josh Doan scored his third goals of the season in just his fifth game. That gives him six points in five games. He has cooled off a bit after bursting onto the scene with two points in each of his first two games.

Alex Kerfoot, Clayton Keller, and Nick Schmaltz each added two points. Keller in particular is en fuego right now with seven goals and 16 points over his last 10 games. In fact, every Coyotes forward that suited up registered at least one point in this game. But if you were hoping for at least one point from Sean Durzi in the Arizona seven-goal onslaught, you were out of luck.

Plenty of Coyotes occupy spaces on the Frozen Tools hot list at the moment. It might get a little tougher for them the rest of the way, however. The Yotes now head out on a five-game road trip before finishing the season at the Mullett against Edmonton.

As for VGK, William Karlsson extended his point streak to six games with a goal and an assist. He has nine points over that span. Wild Bill has found solid chemistry on a line with recently acquired Anthony Mantha, who has eight points in last seven games. Mantha scored a goal on Friday, giving him goals in back-to-back games.

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Mitch Marner is set to return to the Leafs' lineup today (Saturday) after missing the past 12 games.
Toronto's power play has gone 4-for-39 in Marner's absence, so Marner should be back in his usual spot on the top unit. As a result, Max Domi would be bumped down to the second unit.  

Marner was skating on an even-strength line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann at practice, with Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi staying with Auston Matthews. William Nylander was bumped down to the third line with Matthew Knies and Pontus Holmberg, so the Leafs' lines are literally in a blender at the moment. Nylander is in a mini-slump with just one assist in his past four games.

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