Connor McDavid joined the 1000-point club with a goal in the second period against Nashville on Thursday night. McDavid has reached 1000 point in just 659 games, which makes him the 4th-fastest player and 99^th player overall to reach that milestone. McDavid later assisted on the overtime winner to give him 1001 career points. A recent hot stretch (9 PTS in last 3 GP) has helped him get to this spot in spite of an underwhelming (by his standards) start to the season. McDavid has also taken eight shots in each of his last two games.

1,000 points for Connor McDavid.

What a player pic.twitter.com/gBYIssKmdA

— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) November 15, 2024

How many of these players can you name?

Connor McDavid is among legends.

97 became the 99th player to record 1,000 NHL points.#NHLStats: https://t.co/9n8AAgNzH9 pic.twitter.com/tObbt16IGW

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 15, 2024

On McDavid's 1000-point night, Darnell Nurse was the scoring star. Nurse scored twice, including the overtime winner, and also added an assist. Nurse's goals were his first two of the season. Nurse also had four hits, which is more expected for him.

Will McDavid remain the top-ranked player in this month's Roto Rankings? Find out later today.

–

Andrei Vasilevskiy also reached a milestone, registering his 300^th win as the Lightning knocked off the Jets by a score of 4-1. The Big Cat is also the fastest goalie to reach 300 wins, demonstrating the top-tier value he has provided to fantasy teams since breaking into the league in 2014-15. As the Lightning have fallen from being great to very good, Vasilevskiy's win totals have fallen slightly by season. In fantasy leagues that count wins, picking top teams is one key factor when drafting a goalie for your team.

The other storyline from this game is the fact that Winnipeg did not win. That's only their second loss in 17 games so far. Eric Comrie started this game for the Jets, which ended up being his first loss in four games. Connor Hellebuyck has a 12-1-0 record this season, and he is only 13 wins shy of reaching 300 wins himself.

–

Jesper Bratt recorded his second career hat trick in the Devils' 6-2 win over Florida in a battle of division leaders on Thursday. Bratt now has 11 points over his last six games and is on pace to finish with over a point per game again.

Nico Hischier continued his strong start, registering three assists. That gives him an even 20 points in 20 games.

Luke Hughes' two assists were his first points in 10 games. His only other point was in his first game back from a shoulder injury, so he has had quite a dry spell. Assuming the slow start is due to missing training camp and not being up to game speed, Hughes could be worth a buy very low. Yet at this point, Dougie Hamilton appears to be in no danger of losing his spot on the top power play.

I can recall Steve Laidlaw once describing Sam Gagner as the NHL's version of a designated hitter. Gagner would appear on a team's top power play, but then his even-strength icetime would be limited and sheltered. The 2024 version of this player might be Stefan Noesen, who scored a pair of goals on Thursday.

Three of Noesen's nine goals this season have been on the man advantage, so he is also providing some value at even strength. However, Noesen has averaged only 11:29 per game at even strength, which is what you'd expect from a bottom-6 forward. With a 25.0 SH% and 13.9 SH% at 5-on-5, Noesen is also a potential sell high. He should continue to be an effective power-play producer given his net-front presence, but I doubt he continues to produce at the 66-point pace that he is currently on. 

Sam Reinhart will slow down one day, but not today. With another goal, Reinhart now has eight goals over his last eight games and 13 goals this season. His 13 goals also leads the league.

Aleksander Barkov now has a point in every game since returning from a lower-body injury seven games ago. Barkov assisted on Reinhart's goal.

Uvis Balinskis has four shots in three of his past four games (none in the other game). That seems like a good sign for him keeping his spot on Florida's top power play. He was held without a point on Thursday, but he has four points (all assists) in his previous four games – three of those on the power play. He's rostered in only 2 percent of Yahoo leagues and 16 percent of Fantrax leagues, so he's worth taking a flier on if you need production from the blueline or power-play help.

–

If for some reason Balinskis is not available in your league, you could consider Timothy Liljegren. Yes, the same Liljegren that couldn't stick with the Leafs. Liljegren scored his first goal (and point) of the season in San Jose's 3-2 loss to the Rangers. The downside is that Liljegren has yet to register a power-play point, and he plays for the Sharks and not the Panthers. He has similar ownership numbers to Balinskis, although I slightly prefer the Panther at this point even if you had never heard of him prior to this season.

–

The Stars scored early and often on Thursday, pounding the Bruins by a score of 7-2. They’ve now scored seven goals in back-to-back games. If you were looking for the giant platter from any Stars player on Thursday, no one finished with more than two points. Yet two struggling Stars (Miro Heiskanen and Wyatt Johnston) were two of the only four Stars to finish without a point.

Matt Duchene was one of five Stars with two points, registering a goal and an assist. He has continued his hot start with 20 points in 15 games, including 17 points in his last 10 games. With nine goals, Duchene has a shooting percentage of (looks up number) 36%. Yeah, he's going to cool off, considering that he is taking below two shots per game. In addition, Duchene has a 63.6% secondary assist percentage. Duchene is a reliable point producer, but he has also had luck on his side. Sell high.

Tyler Seguin was another Star with two points, as he had picked up two assists. That gives him 10 points over his last eight games. Pretty good. However, the injury news from earlier this month isn't so good. Seguin is reportedly managing a lower-body injury, which coach Peter DeBoer says gets worse in back-to-back games. The good news is that the Stars don't play back-to-backs until December 1 and 2. However, Seguin has already missed four games with a lower-body injury, so potential load management could cut into his value.  

–

Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek both left Thursday's game with injuries, which meant that the Wild were down to 10 forwards. After the game, coach John Hynes did not provide an update on either player.  

The two injuries were no issue for Filip Gustavsson, who registered a 19-save shutout of the Habs. This was his first shutout of the season and third consecutive quality start. Gustavsson and Hellebuyck are tied for the league lead in quality starts with 10. Among goalies with at least five games played, Gustavsson has the highest quality start percentage (83.3%).

–

In the Flyers' 5-4 overtime win over Ottawa, Travis Sanheim scored a goal and added two assists while logging 28 minutes. Sanheim's defense partner in this game was Emil Andrae, who picked up an assist and now has assists in back-to-back games. Rookie d-man Andrae has logged 25 and 23 minutes over his last two games, and he has also picked up some power-play time. Philly's power play isn't a goldmine, but Jamie Drysdale's injury could benefit Andrae. John Tortorella seems to be trusting Andrae, although that can always change.  

Josh Norris now has goals in three consecutive games. Staying healthy has made Norris fantasy relevant again.

–

Noah Dobson finally scored his first goal of season, also breaking a point drought of seven games. The goal was an empty-netter, but hey, they all count. Despite his struggles, Dobson has averaged over three shots per game this season. Only four defensemen have more shots than Dobson (53 SOG) this season, so his luck should change. Send out a buy-low offer if you need scoring help on defense.

Another Islander who has been shooting the puck is Anders Lee, who is averaging over three shots per game for the first time in five seasons. A one-time multicategory stud who was assumed to be past his prime, Lee has been putting together a nice comeback campaign so far with seven goals and 13 points in 17 games. Lee also has 10 points over his last seven games, including multiple points in three of his last four games. Injuries to Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair have resulted in more icetime for Lee during his recent hot run (17-19 min/GP) compared to the first few games of the season (13-15 min/GP).

In his second NHL game, Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored his first NHL goal. The Brock Boeser injury likely fast-tracked the callup of Lekkerimaki, although scoring five goals in seven AHL games certainly helped his cause as well. The Canucks are giving their 2022 first-round pick top-6 minutes and power-play time, which is more favorable than what many rookies receive when they first crack an NHL roster. The Canucks play back-to-back home games on Saturday and Sunday, so Lekkerimaki is worth at least a weekend flier if you have the roster space.

Some good news for the Canucks despite their 5-2 loss: Dakota Joshua made his season debut after battling testicular cancer and battling a groin injury. Joshua did not record a point, but he took a minor penalty and was credited with four hits. He has back-to-back 200-hit seasons with the Canucks, so he is worth keeping an eye on for bangers leagues in particular.

–

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey