The Canucks were hoping for better than a 2-0 loss in Carolina on Friday, as both Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko returned from injury. Pettersson was held without a shot in 20 minutes of icetime while skating on a line with Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland, while Demko allowed two goals on 20 shots. Interrupted by injury, Pettersson has been held without a point in seven of his last eight games. Demko has just two wins in the eight games since he returned from the much more significant knee injury.

Canucks/Hurricanes was a low-event (dull) game with 35-year-old AHL veteran/NHL backup Dustin Tokarski turning aside all 15 shots he faced to earn his first shutout since 2022. With Frederik Andersen out for a while, Tokarski was recalled to be the Canes' backup a month ago when Spencer Martin proved ineffective in that role. Tokarski's numbers are decent (4-1-0, 2.00 GAA, .907 SV%) if you need a streamer start from him.

With a goal and an assist, Jordan Staal suddenly has five goals in his last three games and eight points in his last four games. Prior to his three-game goal streak, Staal had just one goal in his previous 22 games. That should answer your question about whether the 36-year-old Staal's recent production is sustainable. The fact that Andrei Svechnikov was moved onto his line recently is certainly helping Staal's cause.

Svechnikov scored the Hurricanes' other goal in this game. He currently has a four-game point streak.

Rumored in a Pettersson trade last season, Martin Necas started the season with 44 points in his first 30 games. Since then, he has just four points in 13 games, including a recent six-game point slump. He has experienced an increase in power-play points and power-play time, but a decrease in shots per game from last season means that the regression from his early-season success isn't quite finished yet. He seemed like a sell high at the time, and I even tried to sell high, and now here we are.

–

A big juicy rumor surfaced out of Boston today regarding Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak:

Scoops @Keefe21 :

"The locker room is a disaster, and David Pastrnak is at the center of that. David Pastrnak has told the team he doesn't want to be on a line with Brad Marchand, and it may stem from Brad Marchand calling out Pastrnak for some of his play."😳

Yikes. pic.twitter.com/GeZg7sw05B

— Jones & Keefe (@JonesandKeefe) January 10, 2025

To be fair, both Marchand and Pastrnak both vehemently denied the rumor shortly after.

I wonder if the rift between Pettersson and J.T. Miller has already resulted in other teams' reporters trying to dig up other similar situations. A study of the line combinations in Boston shows that Pastrnak and Marchand generally play on separate lines except the power play, similar to Miller and Pettersson. Whether that is due to the two Bruins not liking each other or the team wishing to spread out the scoring (or both) is uncertain.

Oh wait, then there's this:

PP1: Lohrei, Pastrnak, Geekie, Zacha, Brazeau
PP2: McAvoy, Wahlstrom, Marchand, Lindholm, Coyle

— Fluto Shinzawa (@FlutoShinzawa) January 10, 2025

Pastrnak's most frequent linemates have been Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie, both in Quarter 1 when Jim Montgomery was the coach and in Quarter 2 with Joe Sacco taking over. Marchand has mainly skated with Elias Lindholm during Q1, but the other winger on his line has shifted from Justin Brazeau to Charlie Coyle.

It's also worth mentioning that the Bruins have lost six games in a row and are just hanging on to a wild card position. It's easier to spot problems within teams that are not meeting expectations.   

–

With an assist on Friday, Connor Bedard's point streak has now been extended to nine games. Over that span, Bedard has 12 points, inching his way into point-per-game territory (38 PTS in 42 GP). The coaching change from Luke Richardson to Anders Sorensen seems to be helping Bedard's production, getting him back on track.

Teuvo Teravainen scored a pair of goals for the Blackhawks on Friday, giving him four points over his last four games.

The Red Wings has now won six games in a row under Todd McLellan, climbing back into the Eastern Conference playoff race. Patrick Kane is back, or at least having a late-career surge. With three assists on Friday, Kane now has 11 points over his last six games. He is now rostered in over half of Yahoo leagues, so fantasy teams have jumped on adding the two-time 100-point scorer.

Other notable hot Wings include Alex DeBrincat with 10 points in his last six games and Lucas Raymond with six points in his last three games.  

–

Evander Kane underwent knee surgery on Thursday, which is expected to keep him sidelined for a while longer. Between the knee surgery and the hip/sports hernia surgery earlier in the season, Kane seems likely to miss the rest of the regular season. But… the Oilers could take a page out of the Vegas playbook and unwrap Kane just in time for the playoffs. That would free up just over $5 million in cap space for the Oilers, who could use that to go shopping before the trade deadline.

–

Connor Zary has been placed on IR with a knee injury following a knee-on-knee hit. The good news is that initial imaging shows that he avoided damage to his ACL or MCL. In a corresponding move, the Flames have recalled Rory Kerins, who leads the AHL in goals (21) and is second in points (34). The Flames don't have an elite scorer and tend to receive production from all over the lineup, which could result in Kerins receiving an opportunity on a scoring line fairly quickly.

–

The AHL's second-leading goal scorer made his NHL debut on Friday. Ethen Frank, who was undrafted, earned a callup after scoring 20 goals in 35 games for the Hershey Bears this season and 29 and 30 goals over the past two seasons. Frank scored a goal while playing on a line with Lars Eller and Taylor Raddysh.

Aliaksei Protas is having an out-of-nowhere breakout season while currently skating on the Alex Ovechkin/Dylan Strome line. Protas is just cracking the 200-game mark in his career, although it is supposed to take longer than that for a player of his stature (6-6, 225 lbs.) to take that next step. Some abnormal advanced stats (24.3 SH%, 14.8 5-on-5 SH%, 3.2 PTS/60, 1055 PDO) could foreshadow a second-half drop, which could be even more pronounced if he is moved off the Ovechkin line.

Strome put up 34 points over his first 23 games. Since then, he has 11 points over his last 19 games. Like Necas, Strome's shot rate is down from last season. Strome is averaging only 1.7 SOG/GP this season, but his job has been the setup man to Alex Ovechkin and a sub-2 SOG/GP number is normal for him. Also like Necas, Strome seemed like a sell high, but that window has probably closed.

Charlie Lindgren left Friday's game against Montreal with an upper-body injury. Logan Thompson's workload would increase significantly if Lindgren misses any time. Thompson is slated to start today (Saturday) in Nashville. The two Capitals' goalies have been alternating starts all season.

Cole Caufield paced the Habs in their 3-2 overtime win over Washington with a goal and an assist while taking six shots. Caufield is riding a five-game goal streak with seven points over those five games.  

–

Ridly Greig has signed a four-year, $13 million extension with the Senators. Greig has 12 points in 37 games this season.

–

Adrian Kempe scored the overtime winner and assisted on the Kings' other goal in their 2-1 win over Winnipeg. Kempe now has seven points over his last six games and has extended his goal streak to four games. He has also reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season.  

–

Dylan Guenther will be out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Guenther's injury occurred during Wednesday's game in a collision with Aleksander Barkov. With Guenther out, Josh Doan was recalled from the AHL. Doan even took Guenther's place on Utah's top power play. You may remember that Doan went on a late-season run last season with five goals and four assists in 11 games, so he might be worth keeping an eye on. Doan has 21 points in 25 games in the AHL this season.

Connor Ingram has also been recalled from his conditioning stint in the AHL. He has not played since November 18. Additionally, his mother passed away in early December, so he needed some time away from the team. Condolences to his family.

Ingram did not start on Friday, as Karel Vejmelka was between the pipes again for Utah. Vejmelka allowed just one goal on 20 shots in the Hockey Club's 2-1 win over San Jose. Since November 13, no goalie has played more games than the goalie they call Veggie (22 GP). He has a 2.31 GAA and .919 SV% over that span, so he has been getting the job done for fantasy teams. As well, seven of his past nine weeks have been quality weeks.

–

Don't forget about the Midseason Guide, which will be available for download in less than a week (Thursday January 16). We are hard at work with it right now, and we think you'll be impressed with it. Same format as in past years: Projections, line combinations including power-play units, team-by-team analysis including goalies, prospects, trade block, draft analysis, and much more!

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey