Ramblings: 69 for Matthews; Sanderson’s First Three-Point Night; Eastern Playoff Race Heats Up; McDavid Misses Third-Straight (Apr 14)

Brennan Des

2024-04-14

Saturday's New York matinee saw the Rangers secure a 3-2 shootout win over the Islanders. With the victory, NYR maintains their narrow lead in the Presidents' Trophy race, with Dallas and Carolina being the only teams that can catch them.

Although they came away with the loss, the Islanders have now limited opponents to two goals or fewer in six-straight games – not including the shootout of course. Hot goaltending and defense might allow this team to make waves in the playoffs. Their second line was productive on Saturday, with Brock Nelson scoring two goals, both assisted by linemates Kyle Palmieri and Hudson Fasching. I think Nelson's goal-scoring prowess often goes underappreciated. Over the past three seasons, he has 105 goals. That ranks 22nd in the league, tied with Sidney Crosby and Elias Pettersson.

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Jake Oettinger turned in another quality start, stopping 26 of the 27 shots Seattle threw at him. Although his overall numbers this season aren't amazing, he's 9-1 in his last 10 starts, sporting a 1.61 GAA and .939 SV% in that span. He's arguably the league's hottest netminder right now, making Dallas a scary team to face in the playoffs.

Although Jason Robertson had a productive Saturday, he hasn't had an overly productive season. Perhaps that's unfair considering he has 80 points, but still, his current output represents a significant drop from last year's 109 points. After breaking the 40-goal barrier in back-to-back seasons, he's sitting at just 29 goals this year. Some of that drop can be explained by a reduced shot volume. After averaging 3.8 shots per game last season, he's sitting at just 2.8 this year.

Miro Heiskanen also had a strong Saturday, tallying three points. Still, his 63-point pace represents a drop-off from last year's pace of 76 points.

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Winnipeg trounced Colorado 7-0 in Saturday's first-round playoff preview. Sean Monahan led the way with two goals and an assist, giving him 59 points through 81 games. The 29-year-old center should have numerous contract offers this summer as he's set to become a free agent at the end of the season. Finally healthy after several injury-riddled campaigns, Monahan has proven he still has lots more to give. It certainly helps that he's held prominent power-play roles on both teams he's played for this season (Montreal/Winnipeg). 21 of his 59 points were tallied with the man advantage.

Although Tyler Toffoli scored against the Avalanche, his transition to Winnipeg hasn't been as smooth as Monahan's. Saturday's goal was Toffoli's third point in his last 11 appearances. His tenure with the Jets started well as he posted six points in his first five games, enjoying a prominent role on the team's top power play. Unfortunately, he's been stuck in a secondary PP role lately, seeing less than 14 minutes a night. Like Monahan, Toffoli will need a new contract this summer. New surroundings should lead to improved deployment, hopefully allowing Toffoli to be a valuable fantasy asset next year.  

Alexander Georgiev was pulled in the first period after allowing four goals on 15 shots. He's allowed four or more goals five times in his past seven appearances. That's not the kind of form you want your goaltender to be in right before the playoffs, but he'll get a chance to redeem himself right away. Immediately after Saturday's loss, coach Jared Bednar announced Georgiev as Sunday's starter against Vegas.

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Sam Reinhart scored his 55th goal of the season to give Florida a 3-2 overtime win against Buffalo on Saturday. Auston Matthews is the only player with more goals than Reinhart this year. Although 55 goals is an outstanding accomplishment and Reinhart is sure to be rewarded with a lucrative new contract this summer, I wouldn't expect this level of goal scoring next year. He entered this season with a career shooting percentage of 14%, but has converted on 24% of his shots this season. That'll be a tough rate to replicate next year.  

Although he walked away with the loss, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was strong on Saturday, turning aside 39 of the 42 shots he faced. The 25-year-old netminder has performed admirably in his first year as Buffalo's team's bona fide starter. His overall numbers are solid, but he's also been one of the league's top goalies since 2024 began, posting a 20-14-2 record, 2.31 GAA and .919 SV%. He could provide good value in next year's fantasy drafts.

After scoring against Florida, Jack Quinn now has nine goals through 26 appearances this season, which translates to 28 over 82. Not bad for a 22-year-old sophomore. Injuries prevented him from really making his mark this year, but he's someone to have on your fantasy radar going forward.

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The Flyers kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a 1-0 victory over the Devils on Saturday. Travis Konecny's game-winning goal also happened to be 400th career point, as well as his league-leading sixth short-handed goal of the season. It's astounding that he almost has as many short-handed points (6) as he does power-play points (9). Although Konecny has seen prominent power-play time this season, his output with the man advantage has suffered because the Flyers have a league-worst 12.3% success rate.

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The Washington Capitals also kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday, fighting for an impressive 4-2 win over Tampa Bay.

Sonny Milano led the way with two goals, giving him a career-high 15 through 47 appearances this year. That's a solid level of offense for a player who's averaging just 12 and a half minutes of action per game. Among skaters who've played at least 10 games this season, Milano ranks 16th in goals per 60 minutes (via NaturalStatTrick). It would be interesting to see what he could do with more ice time.

Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos each registered an assist against Washington, but Nikita Kucherov was held off the scoresheet for just the 13th time (in 79 games) this year. Although Tampa's top dogs were relatively quiet on Saturday, all three players rank top-10 in league scoring over the past month. The Lightning are striking at the perfect time. This is not a team you want to face in the postseason.

With an assist on Saturday, Anthony Cirelli now has 28 points in his last 35 outings, which translates to 65 points over 82 games. A strong two-way threat putting up this kind of offense gives Tampa the secondary scoring to be a major threat in the playoffs.

Speaking of that 'secondary' scoring, Brandon Hagel is now up to 64 even-strength points on the season. That's more than Leon Draisaitl and Mikko Rantanen. Only seven players in the league have more even-strength points than Hagel this year.  

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Brady Tkachuk was a multicategory magician on Saturday night, racking up two goals, an assist, 12 shots, three power-play points, eight hits and four faceoff wins. This wasn't just a one-game outburst either. Over the past month he leads the league in shots and in hits, sitting 12th in scoring with 21 points over 17 games. I'm not sure there's a better asset in multicategory leagues.

With three assists on Saturday, Jake Sanderson enjoyed the first three-point night of his young career. Some may have been hoping for more offense from him this season, but his 40-point pace is still an improvement over last year's 34-point pace. He's just 21 years old and has plenty of time to grow into a 60-point blueliner. To some extent, he's been hindered by an underperforming Senators' power-play this year. Ottawa sports an 18.3% success rate with the man advantage after clicking at 23.5% last year. That partially explains why Sanderson has fewer power-play points than last year despite seeing more opportunity with the man advantage. The Sens have enough offensive talent to ice a successful PP, so I'm not worried about Sanderson's offensive outlook going forward.

Cole Caufield lit the lamp twice on Saturday, giving him seven goals in his last seven games. Although he's been scoring more in recent games, he holds a career-low 8.8% shooting percentage on the season. He entered the campaign with a shooting percentage of 14%. He has the talent to score 40 in a season. If he can stay healthy, I'd bet on it happening within the next couple of years.

With future power-play quarterback Lane Hutson signing his entry-level deal on Friday, Mike Matheson wanted everyone to know that he's still Montreal's top blueliner. Posting two points on Saturday, Matheson has 14 in his last nine games. He leads the league's blueliners in scoring during this stretch. Huston is certainly an exciting prospect with a bright future in this league. However, I don't think he'll be granted a permanent top power-play role right away. I expect Matheson to continue seeing prominent power-play minutes next season, making him a valuable contributor in fantasy leagues for at least another year.  

Like Caufield and Matheson, Alex Newhook also posted two points on Saturday. The 23-year-old forward has 11 points in his last 11 outings. I'm excited to see what he can do beside a healthy Kirby Dach next season.

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Continuing the theme of Eastern Conference teams keeping their playoff hopes alive, the Red Wings stayed in the race with a thrilling 5-4 overtime win over the Leafs. Alex DeBrincat scored two goals, breaking out of a funk that saw him post a single goal in his previous 20 outings.

His overall numbers are lacklustre, but after tallying two points against Toronto, David Perron now has 30 points through 43 games in 2024. That translates to a respectable 57 points over 82 games.

With a goal against Detroit, Auston Matthews has now scored in eight-straight games. He's been thriving on a line with Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi for most of this hot streak. Matthews is sitting on a (nice) 69 goals, with two games left to become the first player in over 30 years to score 70.

Mitch Marner tallied three points in Saturday's 5-4 loss to Detroit. He's registered a point in all five-games he's played since returning from a three-week injury absence. Marner rarely gets the praise he deserves, but he's quietly posted a 100-point pace for the fourth-straight season.

After surrendering five goals on Saturday, Ilya Samsonov has allowed four or more goals in five of his last nine starts. During that stretch, he holds a 3.34 GAA and .892 save percentage. Goaltending seems to be Toronto's biggest question mark heading into the playoffs.

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Nashville fired six goals past young netminder Jet Greaves en route to a 6-4 victory over Columbus. Roman Josi led the way with four points and now has 85 on the season. That ranks third among league defenseman and 21st across all skaters.

After sitting out of Friday's game to stay fresh for the playoffs, Gustav Nyquist returned to the lineup on Saturday to tally two assists. He has to be one of this season's fantasy MVPs – going undrafted in most leagues after putting up an underwhelming 43-point pace last year, and now with 74 points through 80 games. He's held a prominent power-play role and been incredibly effective on Nashville's top line beside Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly.

Columbus scored four goals on Saturday. Six different Blue Jackets got a point. If you can name one of those players right now, there's a good chance you're a certified genius. In order of how many times I've heard their names over the course of my life, the six point-getters were: Damon Severson, Erik Gudbranson, Alexandre Texier, Justin Danforth, Trey Fix-Wolansky and James Malatesta.

After giving up four goals to the lowly Blue Jackets on Saturday, Juuse Saros has now conceded four or more goals in four of his last seven outings. A top talent like Saros has the ability to flip the switch in the playoffs, but it's slightly concerning that he's had a lacklustre season and still hasn't found great form.

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Pittsburgh entered Saturday's action in a playoff spot, but the team's postseason aspirations took a massive hit following their 6-4 loss to the Bruins.

Saturday's game against Boston marked an 11th-straight start for Alex Nedeljkovic. Although he had a 7-0-3 record in those previous 10 outings, it's hard to put a lot of weight into that record when it's accompanied by a rather pedestrian .906 SV%. Ned was pulled on Saturday after allowing three goals on 16 shots.

With two points against Pittsburgh, Pavel Zacha is up to a career-high 58 points. He has two games left to hit the 60-point mark for the first time in his eight-year career. He's in great form right now, boasting 22 points in his last 18 outings.

On Saturday, Charlie Coyle achieved the feat that Zacha is currently chasing. Two assists against Pittsburgh brought Coyle to 60 points on the year. In his 12th NHL season, he's finally hit 60 points for the first time. Coyle has only broken 50 points once before, and that was way back in 2016-2017 with Minnesota. With Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci out of the picture this year, Coyle was able to move up to the top-six, giving him exposure to more high-quality talent.  

Michael Bunting scored two goals against Boston, giving him a solid 16 points in 19 games since joining the Penguins.  He's skating over 17 minutes a night with Pittsburgh – a significant upgrade from the 15 minutes he averaged while with Carolina.

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Saturday's battle of the Western Canadian giants was a relatively quiet one from a fantasy perspective. Most of the big boys between Edmonton and Vancouver were held off the scoresheet as the Canucks moved one step closer to winning the Pacific after beating the Oilers 3-1.

Conor Garland registered an assist, giving him 16 points in his last 18 games. He's certainly elevated his play down the stretch.

With an assist on Saturday, Elias Lindholm now has three points in his last four games. This 'hot' streak comes after a stretch where he posted just one point in 12 games.

Connor McDavid missed the game due to a lower-body injury, which has now kept him out of three-straight contests. Fortunately, he skated on Friday and is confident that the injury won't be an issue for Game 1 of the playoffs. The Oilers have three regular season games remaining, so McDavid should still have the opportunity to tally one more assist and get to 100 on the year.  

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Trevor Zegras stayed hot with a goal on Saturday, giving him seven points in his last seven games. Injuries prevented him from getting into a groove this season, which explains why he's scoring at a 38-point pace after pacing for more than 65 in each of the last two years. I expect you'll rightfully see him on many sleeper lists ahead of next season.

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Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy combined for five points on Saturday, guiding Minnesota to a 6-2 win over San Jose.

After going pointless in NHL debut on Friday, Liam Ohgren tallied his first NHL goal and assist in the second game of his career. Drafted 19th overall in 2022, Ohgren is arguably Minnesota's best forward prospect outside of Danila Yurov. Although he has a bright future, it might take some time for him to earn a full-time NHL role.  

Mikael Granlund stayed hot with two assists against the team that drafted him, extending his point streak to 11 games. On pace for 71 points this season, Granlund has been one of the most underrated fantasy assets this year.

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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!

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