That's a tough pill for Canada to swallow at the World Juniors. Questionable roster selection, poor coaching decisions, and undisciplined play all played a part in Canada being eliminated in the quarterfinal in consecutive years – not what Canadian hockey fans are used to. With the talent pool continuing to improve in other countries, hopefully the decision makers in Canada learn something from this experience.

There's a lot more that I could say here, but I'll stick to the NHL fantasy game because there was a ton of action again on Thursday.

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With a goal on Thursday, Mika Zibanejad broke a slump of no points in his last eight games. In fact, Zibanejad scored his first even-strength goal since November 19. And Chris Kreider assisted on the goal – his second helper of the season! Unfortunately, this line was still at around 40% in shot attempts for again, but it's a Rangers' win and these players who are supposed to put up points finally did so.

Since Igor Shesterkin is now on IR, Jonathan Quick will have to try to turn the Rangers' season around. The aging backstop allowed just one goal on 33 shots for his first quality start since (scrolls down) November 17. That's his first quality start in eight appearances. It's difficult to have faith in the Rangers right now, but Quick should start the bulk of the games over veteran backup Louis Domingue while Shesterkin is out. Quick is also available in over two-thirds of Yahoo and Fantrax leagues if you could use another goalie.

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Anton Lundell scored his first goal since November 29, which is a span of 14 games without a goal. Jesper Boqvist assisted on the goal, giving him five points in his last five games.

Carter Verhaeghe's stock has fallen. Now six games without a point, Verhaeghe is off the top power play with Mackie Samoskevich taking his place there. As well, Verhaeghe has been moved off the even-strength scoring lines and onto a line with Lundell and Boqvist. Verhaeghe is a back-to-back 70-point scorer, and some of his advanced stats metrics (7.8 SH%, 955 PDO) suggest better luck could be on the way. Bench him if needed, but wait it out if you can.

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With a goal on Thursday, Ryan Hartman has broken a 20-game goal drought. He added an assist as well, giving him games with back-to-back assists after being held without an assist (or goal) for 18 consecutive games. Hartman has had fantasy value in the past – particularly in bangers leagues – but he simply hasn't brought the scoring this season.

The Capitals have four players with 15 goals already and we're not yet at the halfway point of the season: Alex Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael, and Tom Wilson. Ovechkin and Wilson both scored goals on Thursday. The Ovie goal count is now 871, and he is now 24 goals within Wayne Gretzky for the record. Ovechkin now has 23 points over his last 15 games, although that streak was interrupted by a broken fibula. Would we be that surprised if he broke the record this season?

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Zach Werenski is the MVP on one of my fantasy teams, and this is a first-place team. I was told by one of my leaguemates that I was crazy for placing such a high bid on him given his Band-Aid Boy status, but I noticed a 67-point pace last season. With Blue Jackets' scoring being better than expected (3.31 GF/GP, 8^th in NHL), Werenski has blown that target out of the water with 43 points in just 39 games. Werenski scored a goal and two assists with eight shots on Thursday, giving him 11 points in his last five games. Moreover, he has 19 shots over his last two games! I just have to cross my fingers that he doesn't get injured again. Werenski has not played more than 70 games in a season since 2018-19.

James van Riemsdyk – remember him? JVR scored two goals and added an assist in this game, breaking an eight-game string without a point.

Alex DeBrincat scored a goal to go with two assists, giving him six points over his last three games. Todd McLellan has breathed some life into the dead Wings offense, as they have several other recent additions to the Frozen Tools hot list:

Patrick Kane: 5 PTS in last 3 GP

Lucas Raymond: 5 PTS in last 4 GP

Dylan Larkin: 5 PTS in last 4 GP

Erik Gustafsson: 3 PTS in last 3 GP

Moritz Seider: 3 PTS in last 4 GP

Just a rollercoaster of emotions in this game. This one stings for Blue Jackets fans who consider a battle with the Red Wings to be an extension of the Michigan/Ohio State football and hockey (and I'm sure other sports) rivalry.

– The Blue Jackets tie the game
– The Red Wings challenge for goalie interference
– The goal stands, Wings head to the PK for the failed challenge

AND JONATAN BERGGREN SCORES THE GAME WINNER AFTER SERVING THE PENALTY FOR DETROIT 😱🚨 pic.twitter.com/aKCJXJTK6x

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 3, 2025

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Zachary L'Heureux has been handed a three-game suspension for slew footing Jared Spurgeon on Tuesday. L'Heureux is already making a name for himself as an aggressive player with 32 penalty minutes and 106 hits in 33 games. He finished second in the AHL with 197 penalty minutes last season. Spurgeon missed Thursday's game because of the hit that resulted in a lower-body injury, and he seems likely to miss additional games.

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Bobby McMann is providing the Leafs with quality secondary scoring. McMann scored both Toronto goals while taking six shots in the 2-1 win over the Islanders. McMann is now at six goals and 10 points in his last nine games playing on a solid third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. McMann might be worth a look in deeper leagues while he's holding the hot stick, although a move up to a scoring line would help his cause even more.

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Roope Hintz has a great Cy Young statline. With two goals on Thursday, Hintz now has 18 goals to go with just six assists. No player with as many goals as Hintz has as few assists. He has been lighting the lamp more often recently with seven goals (and no assists) over his past eight games. His 18 goals also leads the Stars.

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In Utah's 5-3 win over Calgary, Lawson Crouse scored a pair of goals. That broke a drought of eight games without a point and 14 games without a goal. Crowse can be of interest in bangers leagues, as he has scored 20+ goals and 40+ points over each of the past two seasons while regularly supplying 150+ hits. However, he is only on pace for 19 points this season. A 5-on-5 shooting percentage of 4.5% shows that he could be the recipient of better luck, but his scoring will need to drastically improve before he is worth consideration in fantasy leagues again.

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In the Ducks' 4-3 win in Winnipeg, Troy Terry scored two goals (including the overtime winner) and added an assist. That gives Terry six points over his last four games. Terry is the runaway leader in Ducks scoring with 13 goals and 31 points, yet he is rostered in only 23 percent of Yahoo leagues. Given the number of off-nights the Ducks usually play, that number could be higher. Terry has been a 0.8-0.9 PT/GP scorer over three of the past four seasons, which includes this one. The Ducks aren't known for offense, which doesn't help his cause.  

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I couldn't handle Olen Zellweger being a healthy scratch for the third consecutive game, so in a last-minute move on Thursday I dropped him for Devon Toews. I love it when things go according to plan. Toews scored the overtime winner and added two assists in 27 minutes of icetime on Thursday. Toews' production has fallen this season, but the three-point effort pushes him back up to a 0.5 PT/GP pace.  

The Sabres wasted a Jason Zucker hat trick, coughing up a 5-3 lead with under three minutes to play before losing in overtime. Might be cut off below, but that’s a 0 in front of the 7 for the time left. Man, it must be torture to be a Sabres fan.

pic.twitter.com/5XydsZCcJ3

— hockey images that precede unfortunate events (@UnfortunateHKY) January 3, 2025

THE AVS TIED IT WITH 6.8 SECONDS LEFT IN THE 3RD AND DEVON TOEWS CALLED GAME 48 SECONDS INTO OVERTIME 🚨 pic.twitter.com/SjBx2UtSIp

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 3, 2025

Back to Zucker. With three goals and an assist, he has five goals and seven points over his last three games. Two of his goals on Thursday were on the power play. And about that power play, he's on the top unit. Only Tage Thompson has more goals on the season among Sabres than Zucker (14). Often on league waiver wires, Zucker might still be there in your league (12% Yahoo/33% Fantrax). He might be worth adding while he's hot.  

Thompson, by the way, finished with three assists. With Zucker on his even-strength line, Thompson has also been finding the scoresheet recently with eight points over his last five games.

In the comeback win, Nathan MacKinnon chipped in three assists, while Cale Makar scored two goals.

Unfortunately, the Avalanche are dealing with injuries again. Valeri Nichushkin (lower body) is expected to be out 7-10 days, while Scott Wedgewood left this game with a lower-body injury after a collision in the crease.

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Thatcher Demko left Thursday's game in the second period, although coach Rick Tocchet clarified that was because of back spasms and might only be “a day or two,” but didn’t think it was serious. It seems like Canucks fans and Demko owners have dodged a bullet, as this isn't a recurrence of the rare knee (popliteus, to be exact) injury that has caused him to miss time both last season and this season. In the meantime, we'll have to wait and see if Demko misses any time.

If you dropped Kevin Lankinen when Demko returned, you might want to check on his availability again. Lankinen replaced Demko and backstopped the Canucks to a shootout win in Seattle. Even if Demko remains relatively healthy for the rest of the season, the Canucks aren't going to risk reinjury with a heavy workload.

All the injuries for the Canucks mean that you'll see some interesting roster deployment decisions. Since Erik Brannstrom was made a healthy scratch on Thursday, Tyler Myers was moved on to the top power play. Myers isn't afraid to take risks and jump into the offense, so his scoring could receive a small bump if he can stick there for another game or two. Myers entered this game with just one point in his last nine games, but he scored an even-strength goal.

Matty Beniers has goals in three consecutive games and five points over his last four games. Prior to the three games with goals, Beniers had not scored a goal in 19 consecutive games.

Vince Dunn has three goals and three assists over his past three games.

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Victor Hedman also left the game on Thursday after taking a puck to the head. Although teammate Erik Cernak said that Hedman was okay after the game, coach Jon Cooper would not provide an update. Check the Dobber Player News for further updates on Hedman, who is without a point in his last three games and has not scored a goal since November 16.

Jake Guentzel returned to the Lightning lineup after a one-game absence.

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Finally, could Jonathan Toews return to the NHL? Frank Seravalli lists three teams that might be interested in the former Blackhawks captain.

An update on Jonathan Toews potential comeback bid tonight on @SportsOnPrimeCA:pic.twitter.com/LUKrSaOAih

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) January 3, 2025

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