Rickard Rakell's power-play goal with just 40 seconds left in regulation earned the Penguins a point in Florida on Friday, although the Panthers were able to eventually win the game in a shootout. Over his last 10 games, Rakell has seven goals and 14 points. He has been productive on Sidney Crosby's line and on the Penguins' top power play.

Matt Grzelcyk continues to be used on the Penguins' top power play. He picked up an assist on Crosby's power-play goal, giving him 12 points over his last 15 games. In addition, his eight power-play points this season represents a career high. He's only 7 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues, which might be because many assume that Erik Karlsson is still on the top power play. Of Grzelcyk's 20 points this season, only one is a goal. Regardless, he's worth adding if you need points from your defense.

If you're worried about Karlsson, you may not need to be. Karlsson has seven points over his last eight games. In addition, the Pens' second power-play unit is receiving a higher share of minutes than it has in the past. In addition, that group also features Evgeni Malkin, who for years has been productive with the man advantage.

Philip Tomasino left Friday's game with a lower-body injury.

Carter Verhaeghe broke a six-game point drought with an assist in Friday's game. As I mentioned yesterday, his current deployment is not ideal. However, I'm fairly confident that things will turn around for him. So much so that I recently turned down an offer for Bryan Rust in a one-for-one trade in one league.

Mackie Samoskevich continues to be on the Panthers' top power play in place of Verhaeghe. However, the rookie forward has just one point in his last seven games and no power-play points since November 30.  

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Brandon Saad is rostered in only 1 percent of Yahoo leagues and 5 percent of Fantrax leagues, and for good reason. Saad entered Friday's game against Ottawa without a goal since November 14 – a span of 19 games, where he had also registered just two assists. Saad smashed that slump in a big way on Friday with a hat trick, plus-3, and six shots on goal. That's nice, you say, because it didn't help your team.

Here's a weird Saad stat: He only has multiple-goal games this season and does not have a game with just one goal. He has only scored goals in three games, and in those games, he scored 2, 2, and 3 goals. In other words, he's been held without a goal in 34 of 37 games. He's the ultimate all-or-nothing player this season, but he's mostly provided nothing.

Dylan Holloway is hot again. With an assist on Friday, Holloway has eight points in his last five games. Prior to that, Holloway was held without a point in six games. Before that slump, Holloway had 11 points in seven games. Maybe the hot and cold is just a pattern we need to expect from the 23-year-old forward in his first season with the Blues.

Jordan Binnington picked up his second shutout in four games, a 20-shot blanking of the Senators. Binnington also has three quality starts over his last four games.

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The Blackhawks rebounded from a disappointing 6-2 loss to St. Louis at the Winter Classic by taking down Montreal 4-2 on Friday. Nick Foligno scored a pair of goals, giving him 10 goals on the season.

Cole Caufield scored his 20^th goal of the season for Montreal while taking seven shots on goal. Nearing the midway point of the season, Caufield is on pace for a 40-goal season. His career high is 28 goals, set last season. Caufield has also averaged five shots per game over the past three games. However, Caufield is averaging nearly a shot per game less than last season (3.8 SOG/GP to 2.9 SOG/GP), benefitting from a shooting percentage that has doubled from last season (8.9 SH% to 18.2 SH%). Getting shots on net will be key for Caufield reaching that 40-goal target.

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Jackson LaCombe scored a power-play goal on Friday, giving him nine points over his last 11 games. LaCombe continues to quarterback the Ducks' top power play, which makes him worth an add (16% Yahoo/43% Fantrax) while he is there, even though the Ducks' power play is meager (13.0 PP%, 30^th in NHL). Two of the points have been on the power play, but he has just three power-play points all season.

Also with the Ducks' blueline, Olen Zellweger returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the past three games. That meant Pavel Mintyukov was a healthy scratch. Mintyukov is without a point in his last three games and has not registered a point since December 22. It's hard to trust either Zellweger and Mintyukov while they are rotating in and out of the lineup.

Stuart Skinner may not seem like the most reliable goalie, but he has quality starts in 11 of his past 14 games. Skinner made 27 saves in a 3-2 win over the Ducks.

Leon Draisaitl scored his league-leading 28^th goal of the season for the Oilers, which turned out to be the game-winner. Draisaitl has been scorching hot with 25 points in his last 13 games, but he has only one Draisaitl Hat Trick (goal, assist, minus rating in a game) this season.

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Wins have been harder to come by this season for Juuse Saros, who picked up just his ninth win in 31 games this season in a 3-0 shutout in Vancouver. Of his nine wins, four have been shutouts. Only Connor Hellebuyck has more shutouts than Saros this season, even though the Predators have been a huge disappointment. Saros entered Friday's game with just one win and one quality start over his previous four games.

Gustav Nyquist's empty-net goal was his first in 19 games, dating all the way back to mid-November. After finishing 2023-24 with an unexpected career high of 75 points, Nyquist is on pace for a steep decline all the way down to 35 points (16 PTS in 38 GP). Those kinds of outlier career highs should signal some kind of dropoff the following season. In addition, the offseason signings of Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault seemed likely to push Nyquist down the lineup. That has happened on the power play, where Nyquist have been bumped down to the second unit. After matching his career high of 24 PPP last season, Nyquist has yet to record a single point on the power play this season.

With an assist on the Predators' second empty-net goal of the game, Roman Josi broke a four-game point drought. However, he still has only two points in his last nine games. Add in three games missed with a lower-body injury and Josi has not scored a goal since November 29. Nashville's drop in scoring this season has affected Josi, who after scoring 85 points last season is on pace for just 55 points this season. Josi is also a team-worst minus-22 this season.

While we're on the subject of slumping players padding their stats with empty-net points, J.T. Miller has just two goals in his past 21 games. Both have been into empty nets. It's understood that Miller took a personal leave that lasted nearly a month, but he has not scored a goal in 12 games (since before his leave), and the last goal he scored on a goalie was October 26. Miller does have six assists over his last six games, so it hasn't been all bad. The turmoil from the perceived rift with Elias Pettersson may be affecting him.

The good news for the Canucks is that all of Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, and Elias Pettersson will all travel on their upcoming road trip, which starts Monday in Montreal. Rick Tocchet has said he would be "shocked" if they didn't play at some point on the trip. Having all three players available would go a long way in reversing the team's recent slump as they hang on to the final wild card spot in the West.

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The Bruins have signed forward Mark Kastelic to a three-year extension with a $1.567 million AAV. Kastelic leads the league with 76 PIM and is second in the league with 150 hits, so he has become an effective banger for Boston since moving there from Ottawa in the Linus Ullmark trade. He has also provided 11 points in 39 games, which is already a career high for him.  

The Leafs have signed defenseman Philippe Myers to a two-year extension with a $850,000 AAV. In limited minutes, Myers has proven to be effective for the Leafs. However, this signing has little in the way of fantasy impact.

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Let's check out the schedule for the weekend and where you can focus on maximizing your games played.

Teams with games both Saturday and Sunday: Boston, Carolina, NY Rangers, Tampa Bay, Toronto

Teams with no games on Saturday and Sunday: Florida, Ottawa, Vancouver

Here are two possible weekend streamers:

Bobby McMann – Now at six goals and 10 points in his last nine games, McMann has been skating on a solid third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson. Back-to-back home matchups against Boston and Philadelphia could be favorable. Domi, Robertson, Max Pacioretty, and Matthew Knies are also possible Leafs pickups. Knies has been on the top power play with Auston Matthews out, although he is without a point in five games and a goal in nine games.

Ty Smith – Once a prospect of interest in fantasy leagues because of his offensive upside, Smith is back in the NHL and has jumped directly onto the Hurricanes' top power play with Shayne Gostisbehere injured. So far, he has one power-play goal and no assists in three games. His total minutes are very limited, so he should purely be an option if you need scoring help.

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Ozzy Wiesblatt, a 2020 first-round pick of San Jose, made his NHL debut with Nashville on Friday. If you're not familiar with his story, please take the time to watch this.

In 2019, Kim White and her sons Ocean, Orca, Ozzy, and Oasiz Wiesblatt were featured on Home Team Heroes. Kim, a deaf single mother of 5, made incredible sacrifices so her boys could play hockey. Tonight, Ozzy Wiesblatt made his NHL debut with the Nashville Predators. pic.twitter.com/x8i0ngasxY

— sophie (@sophiemg2018) January 4, 2025

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Don’t forget about the Midseason Guide, available for download on January 16.

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Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey