I forgot to add Igor Shesterkin to my starting lineup today. I discovered that he wasn't there about five minutes after the game started, which happened to be an early game (10 am where I live). That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Shesterkin was hit with a really bad start of five goals on 21 shots before getting pulled in the second period of a 5-1 home loss to the Kings. Lucky me.

With a 3.62 GSAA (goals-saved above average), Shesterkin is still an above-average goalie if the average GSAA is zero. Yet the Rangers' recent team struggles are showing up in his overall numbers. Dating back to November 21, Shesterkin has just two wins in nine games, even though six of those games have been quality starts. That means it still makes sense to start Shesterkin, even if the team around him can't figure things out.

To that, something is really off in New York right now. The Rangers seem to have bigger problems than what a trade of an overpaid defenseman would solve. I really wonder if the next move involves the coach, even though the issues run deeper than Peter Laviolette and into roster construction.

In the Kings' win, Quinton Byfield, Warren Foegele, Adrian Kempe, Alex Turcotte, and Anze Kopitar each had two points. How about a shoutout to the criminally underrated Kopitar. For the last few years, he's been overlooked in fantasy drafts while consistently producing at a 65-to 75-point pace. This season at age 37, he's rolling at a 93-point pace, including 13 points over his last 10 games.

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Frank Nazar played his first game this season after a recent callup. Although he did not register a point, he was skating on Chicago's top power play. New coach Anders Sorensen coached Nazar in the AHL this season, where he leads all rookies with 24 points in 21 games. With the Blackhawks where they are in the standings (dead last), what does Sorensen have to lose by placing Nazar on the top power play and on a scoring line with Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi? This is also a team that has trouble scoring, and the 20-year-old Nazar could breathe some life into this squad.

In the Devils' 4-1 win over Chicago, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt, and Brett Pesce each had two points. Bratt has been on fire recently with 13 points over his last eight games. With 41 points, he's in the top 10 in league scoring as of Saturday afternoon.

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Mats Zuccarello returned to the Minnesota lineup on Saturday afternoon, picking up an assist in the Wild's 4-1 win over Philadelphia. Zuccarello was also on a line with Kirill Kaprizov and on the top power play, which is a good sign for his fantasy value going forward. Zuccarello should be activated in all formats.

Speaking of Kaprizov, he scored another two goals on Saturday, giving him 20 goals on the season. Nathan MacKinnon has passed Kaprizov in the scoring race, but KK appears to be on his way to his best season yet. He has three consecutive 40-goal seasons, and it looks like he will make a run for 50 this season.

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My Shesterkin replacement (mentioned above) was Adin Hill, who was only marginally better by my league's scoring system. Hill was torched for six goals on 34 shots as the Oilers scored early and often on Saturday afternoon. This was Hill's first really bad start in over a month.

Leon Draisaitl led the Oilers with a goal and two assists in their win over their Pacific Division rivals. Draisaitl has piled up 13 points over his last five games, which have all resulted in multiple points. Draisaitl leads the NHL with 22 goals.

After scoring just three goals in his first 20 games, Zach Hyman has lit the lamp with five goals over his last five games. Your opportunity to buy low has probably ended.

I mentioned Victor Olofsson yesterday, and he scored another goal. That gives him four points in his last four games and five goals in 10 games. He's also on the Golden Knights' top power play and just 3 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues.

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For all the offensive upside that Lane Hutson has shown through college and his NHL career, it seems strange that he finally scored his first NHL goal in his 32^nd career game. After this goal, only Adam Fox has more assists than Hutson (18) with the same number of goals. As long as the assists are coming in, it shouldn't matter if the goals aren't.

In the Jets' 4-2 win over Montreal, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, and Josh Morrissey each had two points. Connor now has nine points over his last six games, while Morrissey has five points in his last four games.

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In the Capitals' 4-2 win over Buffalo, Tom Wilson scored a pair of power-play goals, giving him 13 goals on the season. For good measure, Wilson also added six hits for a great game in bangers leagues. Wilson has five points over his last four games.

With a goal and an assist, Jakob Chychrun has five points over his last three games. Only Zach Werenski has scored more goals among defensemen than Chychrun (9), who has fired 13 shots on net over the last three games.

With the win, Logan Thompson has a 12-1-2 record. No goalie with as many wins has as few losses. Team Canada really couldn't find room for him at the Four Nations Tourney?

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Anton Forsberg was expected to start on Saturday, but he suffered a minor injury during warmup. That meant Linus Ullmark was starting on back-to-back nights, and he delivered with his second win in as many nights. Ullmark now has five wins in his last five games, as well as seven consecutive quality starts.

Meanwhile, the Senators had to bring in an emergency backup goalie. Maybe he could have used a ride… or was traffic bad near the Canadian Tire Centre?

Zach Dietz (EBUG for tonight's Senators game) had to sprint to the arena with his gear to make it on time 😅 🏃

( via @muggers_hockey )
pic.twitter.com/v29WKiWU8u

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 15, 2024

With a goal on Saturday, Kris Letang has five goals and nine points over his last seven games. This after a rough start of just six points in his first 22 games. Surprisingly, Letang already has more power-play points this season (8) than he had all of last season (5) with only slightly higher power-play time. His shot total has also increased by nearly a shot per game. Maybe he has something left for fantasy leagues after all.

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Jeff Petry scored a pair of goals in the Red Wings' 4-2 win over Toronto. The goals were Petry's first two of the season. Petry was also a plus-3 while also adding four shots and three hits for a strong multicategory game. The 37-year-old Petry hasn't done much else statswise this season, so consider this one to be more of a one-off.

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Cam Fowler wasted no time in making his Blues debut on Saturday. Fowler seemed to be eased into the lineup, though, playing 17:57 while being held without a point and without any power-play time. Not a huge splash, but maybe that wasn't to be expected. For more on the Fowler trade, read the Fantasy Take here.

Since returning from injury, Robert Thomas has 15 points in 12 games. He was over a point per game last season, and he is over that mark again this season (21 points in 19 games).

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As for the Ducks, they pulled out a 4-3 overtime win over Columbus in their first game without Fowler. Alex Killorn scored twice and added an assist to lead the Ducks.

Jackson LaCombe scored a goal along with an assist with a plus-1 and three shots in 22 minutes of icetime. That's the second consecutive game LaCombe has had that exact statline. LaCombe has also received over 50% of the Ducks' available power-play minutes for the second consecutive game. Don't be surprised if LaCombe, Olen Zellweger, and Pavel Mintyukov take turns in that role on the top power-play going forward.

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The Avalanche top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Artturi Lehkonen picked up the points in Colorado's win over Nashville. MacKinnon scored two goals while adding an assist, Lehkonen scored two goals, while Rantanen picked up three assists. MacKinnon and Rantanen scoring is old news, but Lehkonen has scored seven goals over his past nine games while mainly on this line.

The Avalanche made some changes to their power-play for this game. Ross Colton and Casey Mittelstadt were moved to the top power play, while Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin were moved to the second unit. Mittelstadt's stock had been falling with a stretch of eight games without a point, but he has four points in his last five games (yet still no goals in his last 13 games). Colton was an early-season waiver-wire pickup, but then he was injured and fell off the fantasy radar. Playing on the Avs' top power play with MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Cale Makar could really boost Colton's and Mittelstadt's value.

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Prior to Saturday, Dustin Wolf had sputtered in allowing at least four goals in each of his last three starts while also losing starts to Dan Vladar. Yet on Saturday, Wolf stopped all 33 shots he faced in the Flames' 3-0 win over Florida. The win was Wolf's first since November 21. This recent stretch prior to Saturday has probably taken Wolf out of the Calder Trophy conversation, but he appears to have a bright future.

The Panthers have now been shut out in back-to-back games on the road in Western Canada. Maybe there's a flu bug going around the team during this long road trip. Aleksander Barkov missed this game for that reason.

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The Bruins' recent nosedive has affected David Pastrnak, who is not on pace to finish with his third consecutive 100-point season. Pasta and the Bruins bounced back in a big way on Saturday, as he scored a goal and added three assists in a 5-1 win in Vancouver. With 11 goals, Pastrnak is a long way from the goal-scoring lead. Yet at least he has nine points in his last seven games and is back at the point-per-game mark (32 points in 32 games). I don't know if there's ever a buy-low opportunity on Pastrnak, but maybe there has been one this season.

Brad Marchand's scoring totals have been on a gradual decline for the past few seasons. However, he is on a six-game point streak with five goals in his last five games. He also took seven shots in this game and left an impression on the Vancouver crowd in a way that only Marchand can.

Marchand getting boo'd whenever he touches the puck. Then proceeds to score and immediately taunts the Vancouver crowd 😂 pic.twitter.com/JYt3FDrdye

— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) December 15, 2024

With a power-play assist in the first period, Elias Lindholm registered his first point in eight games. However, Lindholm is now up to 11 games without a goal. The Bruins already have to be wondering if giving Lindholm a contract with a cap hit of $7.75 million for seven years was a good idea.

Earlier in the day, the Bruins claimed Oliver Wahlstrom off waivers from the Islanders. A former first-round pick, Wahlstrom has just four points in 27 games this season. Let's see if a fresh start can help Wahlstrom get his career back on track.

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Brandon Hagel scored a pair of goals in the Lightning's 5-1 win in Seattle. Hagel now has goals in back-to-back games and 18 points in his last 11 games. I'm fine with him being on Team Canada.

But wait, there are more Bolts who are red hot at the moment. With a goal on Saturday, Jake Guentzel now has goals in six consecutive games. Guentzel registered a hat trick on Thursday. He has eight goals over his last six games. Stamkos who? Meanwhile, Brayden Point has 15 points over his last five games. Point has three 4-point games over that five-game stretch. Points for Point!

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The Islanders were not in action on Saturday, but Mathew Barzal is expected to be a game-time decision for today (Sunday). Barzal has been out of the lineup since the end of October with an upper-body injury.  

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Don't forget about the Midseason Guide – available January 16.

📢The 17th annual DobberHockey Midseason Guide will be released Thursday, January 16. If you have a Gold or Platinum membership, or bought the Ultimate Fantasy Pack, this is already included for you.
Otherwise, you can pre-order here:https://t.co/ixbaFpbla8

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) December 13, 2024

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