A 120-41-23 record as Bruins head coach wasn't enough for Jim Montgomery to save his job. Yet NHL coaching is very much a "what have you done for me lately" business, and the Bruins' season seemed to be spiraling in the wrong direction. Roster construction is certainly an issue, which is why Don Sweeney isn't overly popular in Boston right now. That being said, the new coach short-term bump is relatively common, so the season could easily turn around under new head coach Joe Sacco. At least the Sacco era got off to a good start on Thursday with a 1-0 win over Utah.

Some troubling signs for the Bruins this season include the following:

• The league's worst power play (11.9%). To compare, the Bruins had more of a middle-of-the-pack power play in the two previous seasons, even as an upper-echelon team.
• The league's second-worst offense (2.33 GF/GP). David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand are the only Bruins currently projected to finish at above a 40-point pace.
• Free agent signing Elias Lindholm has just one 5-on-5 goal. Lindholm scored the only goal for the Bruins on Thursday on the power play. Lindholm is certainly one player to watch under the new head coach.
• A minus-20 goal differential, which is the worst in a highly competitive Atlantic Division.

Of course, coaches are rarely if ever fired if the team's goaltending numbers are top notch. It's no secret that Jeremy Swayman has struggled out of the gate with nearly as many really bad starts (5) as quality starts (6). That might be tied to Swayman's late start due to his contract situation, as it takes many players time to get up to speed if they do not have a proper training camp.

Joonas Korpisalo is the hotter goalie right now, so he might be in line for more work in the near term. After a shutout against Utah on Thursday, Korpisalo has three wins and four quality starts in his last four games. He might be worth a speculative short-term add if Sacco decides to ride the hotter hand. Keep in mind that Swayman had typically shared starts with Linus Ullmark prior to this season with a career high of 44 GP last season. Looking further ahead, it remains to be seen how Swayman handles a heavier workload.

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Just two games on the NHL schedule on a Friday night before a usually busy Saturday.

Kyle Connor provided a goal, an assist, and his first career fight on Friday, which all adds up to his first career Gordie Howe hat trick. Connor fought with Sidney Crosby of all people in a rare fight of star players.

Kyle Connor: 1st career fight
Sidney Crosby: 9th career fight (including playoffs) pic.twitter.com/saElMbmp8H

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 23, 2024

Connor is a previous Lady Byng winner, so a fight probably wasn't something you'd made a prop bet on him to do. Yet he's not the first Lady Byng winner with a Gordie Howe hat trick. I love stats like this.

"Gordie Howe Hat Trick" in a regular season/playoff game – Player with a prior Lady Byng Trophy win:
Kyle Connor (Tonight)
Ryan O'Reilly (2023)
Pavel Datsyuk (2010)
Wayne Gretzky (1982)
Marcel Dionne ('81)
Bob MacMillan ('81)
Stan Mikita ('70)
Bobby Hull ('69)
Bill Mosienko ('53) pic.twitter.com/CfFkPgMaju

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) November 23, 2024

Scoring is more of Connor's thing, and he continues to do that with a goal and an assist in back-to-back games and seven points over his last five games.

Sticking with Connors (type the name Connor into the Frozen Tools search box and you'll be amazed at how many there are), Connor Hellebuyck stopped 17 of 18 shots to pick up a relatively easy win. The Jets' fantastic start means that Hellebuyck leads the league with 14 wins, which is four more wins that Jake Oettinger and Pyotr Kochetkov, who are tied for second.

Tristan Jarry didn't have a quality start on Friday (three goals on 29 shots), but he didn't have a really bad start either. Glass half full or half empty? Jarry had a quality start in his previous game on Tuesday against Tampa Bay – his only quality start of the season. He is too risky to be rostered in fantasy leagues, but much of that has to do with the quality of the defense in front of him.  

Kris Letang returned to the Penguins lineup on Friday after missing the past three games with an illness. Letang has just six points in 19 games this season, and at age 37 his fantasy value is fading fast. At 73% rostered in Yahoo leagues, Letang is a potential drop. Although advanced stats suggest better puck luck is on the way, Letang's reduced power-play time makes a potential turnaround more difficult.

Erik Karlsson has just one point in his last six games. Although 11 points in 22 games is not terrible for a defenseman, Karlsson is having a rough season if you factor in his defensive game. Although minus ratings are nothing new for Karlsson, his minus-12 is one of the worst on the Penguins.

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In a late game, Jiri Kulich scored the overtime winner to give the Sabres a 3-2 win over Anaheim. Prior to this game, Kulich had recorded just one point (a goal) in his previous 10 games. At just 20 years of age, Kulich has a bright future based on some strong AHL production. At this stage, he's more of a keeper league option and can probably be ignored in single-season leagues.

JIRI KULICH WINS IT FOR BUFFALO IN OVERTIME!#sabrehood pic.twitter.com/h4HmY9WbjI

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) November 23, 2024

Tage Thompson was still out of the lineup on Friday with a lower-body injury. While Thompson has been out, Jason Zucker has been on the top power play. With an even-strength goal on Friday, Zucker now has points in three consecutive games. The Sabres travel north to San Jose, so Zucker is a possible streaming option tonight for what seems like a relatively easy matchup.

With two assists on Friday, Owen Power is now tied with Cale Makar for most even-strength points among defensemen (15 EVP). Yet one key difference between Makar and Power is that Makar also has 13 power-play points while Power has 0 PPP. It would take a Rasmus Dahlin injury for Power to reach his full fantasy potential, but Dahlin has remained relatively healthy the past few seasons. Power is rostered in fewer than half of Yahoo leagues, but that number could be higher.

With the Ducks in the middle of a rebuild and the emergence of Lukas Dostal, John Gibson has been the subject of recent trade rumors. Despite the overtime loss, Gibson managed to earn his third quality start in four games this season, allowing three goals on 33 shots. Gibson's value could improve with a move to a better team, although there aren't many teams where he would be the obvious starting goalie.

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Jordan Eberle is expected to miss at least the next three months after undergoing successful surgery on his pelvis (I would hope it is successful!) Eberle was involved in a collision about a week ago and has been out of the lineup since.

Since Eberle's injury, Andre Burakovsky has moved up to the top line with Jared McCann and Matty Beniers. Burakovsky is still without a goal in 20 games and has just two assists over his last 10 games, so the move hasn't improved his fantasy value at all.

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The Golden Knights have signed Brett Howden to a five-year extension worth $2.5 million per season. In just 20 games, Howden is only one goal shy of his career high of nine goals set two different times. He has often skated on a line with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev this season, although he doesn't hold a ton of fantasy value (just one assist with those eight goals). Regardless, he should remain a fixture in Vegas's forward rotation going forward.

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As far as weekend streamers go, let's keep it simple. Utah is the only team to play two games. The Hockey Club doesn't have any players on the Frozen Tools hot list, but you could look to the former Coyotes in net. With Connor Ingram recently placed on injured reserve, Karel Vejmelka is worth adding for one guaranteed weekend game. Even though Vejmelka has just one win in eight games this season, he boasts a strong 2.37 GAA and .923 SV%. He's also rostered in just 7% of Yahoo leagues and 22% of Fantrax leagues.

As Reddit user U/Jet_Stream82 pointed out… Karel Vejmelka has a significantly worse record than fellow Utah Hockey Club goalie Connor Ingram, despite having a significantly better save percentage and GAA 🤨

(H/T U/Jet_Stream82 , @nhl) pic.twitter.com/UquPLPTFVC

— BarDown (@BarDown) November 22, 2024

Confirmed starting goalies, according to GoaliePost:

Petr Mrazek

Aleksei Kolosov

Dan Vladar

Cam Talbot

Just 25% rostered in Yahoo leagues, Mrazek has been serviceable as a fantasy option this season. On top of that, Mrazek has quality starts in each of his last three games with a combined four goals allowed over those three games. The Blackhawks are struggling offensively with just six goals over their last three games, so Mrazek could use more goal support. The Flyers don't represent a super-tough matchup, so this could be a game that Mrazek posts a win with some good ratios.  

Anaheim is the only team that does not play a game this weekend. Any Ducks that you've streamed over the past week and possibly beyond seem droppable in standard-sized leagues. Frank Vatrano is the only Ducks skater that is rostered in over 50% of Yahoo leagues, so their players should be widely available when you plan to stream off-nights again.

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