Jacob Markstrom earned a 26-save shutout of the Rangers in a Saturday matinee game. Markstrom now has four consecutive wins and three consecutive quality starts after a rough patch in March that saw him go 1-4-1 with a 4.33 GAA and .830 SV% with three really bad starts. Markstrom has four shutouts this season, with two coming against the Rangers.

Nico Hischier led the Devils with a goal and two assists. Hischier now has goals in three consecutive games and seven points over those three games. The Devils captain has also set a career high in goals with 35.

Timo Meier scored two goals, breaking a four-game point drought.

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Another afternoon game, another shutout. This time it was Anton Forsberg blanking the Panthers with a 40-save effort. Although he has not played often in the past two months, the last time Forsberg has allowed more than three goals in a game was February 6. The Sens were playing the first game of back-to-backs, as Linus Ullmark is expected to start today (Sunday) against Columbus.

A Florida/Ottawa tilt is usually a matchup of the Tkachuk brothers, but both Matthew Tkachuk and Brady Tkachuk were sidelined for this one. Florida's offense is currently compromised, as Aleksander Barkov is also injured and Aaron Ekblad is suspended. The Panthers' offense as a whole is cold with just six goals over their last three games, with the team also on a four-game losing streak.

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No Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl meant that the Oilers were the victim of a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Kings. Darcy Kuemper earned a 27-save shutout, extending his current hot streak to four wins and five quality starts over his last five games. Kuemper's goals-against average is getting closer to the 1's at 2.01, and he currently leads the league in that category (minimum 20 games). He continues to have an outstanding season. For a little more on Kuemper, see Friday's Ramblings.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored another goal, giving him three goals and seven points in his last four games. After a slow start with the Kings, Kuzmenko is scoring like a player that is deserving of at least one more NHL contract after being traded twice this season. He might be okay as a rest-of-season streamer since he can get on a roll, but you shouldn't trust him for an entire season.

According to Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada, McDavid may return later next week.

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While we're on the subject of goaltending, Lukas Dostal allowed five goals in the first period. He stayed in the game and allowed just one more goal in a 6-2 loss to the Canucks. With John Gibson injured (again), Dostal should likely play out the string for the Ducks.

Brock Boeser scored a power-play goal and added a power-play assist for the Canucks, while Quinn Hughes picked up two power-play assists. Only five Canucks skaters finished without a point, the most notable being Jake DeBrusk and Pius Suter.

Another one from Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada: Elias Pettersson hasn't given up hope about returning before the end of the season but is running out of time.

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The Penguins have nothing left to play for, but don't tell Sidney Crosby. The Penguins captain scored three times while adding an assist in a 5-3 win over Dallas. Crosby has now reached 30 goals for the 13^th time in his career, only the 11^th player in NHL history to do so. Crosby also has 20 points in his last 12 games, so like Alex Ovechkin he isn't slowing down that much. Sid the Kid is just four points shy of reaching 90 points for the third consecutive season. At this point in his career, he might actually be underrated.

That wasn't the only hat trick in the Penguins/Stars game. Evgenii Dadonov scored all three goals for the Stars, snapping an eight-game point drought. Dadonov is now just one goal shy of reaching 20 for the first time in three seasons. He also took five shots in this game, giving him 11 shots over his past three games. The Stars appear to be shuffling their lines at the moment, but Dadonov is receiving some icetime with Wyatt Johnston.

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The St. Louis Blues have now won 12 games in a row, claiming a 5-4 victory over Colorado on Saturday. Robert Thomas led the way with a goal and three assists, staking his claim to the top of the Frozen Tools Hot List with 19 points over his last eight games. That means over a significant portion of the Blues' win streak, Thomas has averaged over two points per game. In addition to that, no player has more points since the 4 Nations break than Thomas (34 PTS in 22 GP). From a points-per-game perspective, Thomas is in the top 15 in the league with 75 points in 66 games, which works out to 1.14 PTS/GP. From a pure scoring perspective, Thomas is the main reason that the Blues are where they are right now.

Cam Fowler picked up three assists for the Blues, giving him six points and a plus-5 over his last three games. Since being acquired by the Blues from Anaheim, Fowler has 34 points in just 47 games after just four points in 17 games with Anaheim. Needless to say, his value has shot up like a rocket since joining the Blues. That wasn't expected, but something has really clicked in St. Louis. Fowler is rostered in just 18 percent of Yahoo leagues, which is surprising given his point pace with his new team.

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The Bruins are on a race to the bottom of the Eastern Conference, but David Pastrnak continues to do his thing. Pasta registered a hat trick along with two assists for a five-point game in a 5-1 win over Carolina. Even with the Bruins' recent woes (snapping a 10-game losing streak on Saturday), Pasta still has 10 points in his last five games. He has scored 40 goals for the fourth consecutive season and is only six points shy of his third consecutive 100-point season, so he may not be affected that much by having less scoring talent around him.

One player who is connecting with Pastrnak is Morgan Geekie. Little brag here, but hopefully you were reading yesterday when I suggested adding Geekie. Sure enough, Geekie had his own five-point game on the Pasta line. Geekie has 12 points in his last six games, and he has piled up enough points for his first 50-point season. He also sits just two goals shy of 30 goals. If you missed out on Geekie, the Bruins play again today (Sunday) in a bottom-of-the-Atlantic battle with Buffalo. Geekie is rostered in 21 percent of Yahoo leagues and 38 percent of Fantrax leagues.  

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As for the Sabres, they took a 3-2 shootout win over Tampa Bay. Tage Thompson scored a goal, making him one of five players to reach 40 goals this season. Thompson's closest comparable in the goals-to-assists department this season is… Alex Ovechkin.

Thompson: 40 G, 27 A, 67 PTS

Ovechkin: 41 G, 27 A, 68 PTS

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Nick Robertson and William Nylander each scored a pair of goals in the Leafs' 5-0 win over Columbus. Nylander is second in the NHL with 44 goals, while Robertson has matched last season's total of 14 goals.

On what seemed like the day of the shutout, Anthony Stolarz made 27 saves to pick up his second shutout of the season. Stolarz is making a case to be the Leafs' starting goalie in Game 1 of the playoffs, picking up wins and quality starts in each of his last five games. Stolarz hasn't proven he can handle a heavy workload yet, so that job might go to Joseph Woll. But Woll has had injury issues throughout his career and has never played 40 games in a season. Neither has Stolarz. Playoff tandem?

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Props to Brendan Gallagher, who I saw play numerous times in the WHL. With a goal on Saturday, Gallagher has his first 20-goal season since 2019-20. Forgotten about in fantasy leagues, Gallagher has been on a heater recently with 11 points over his last 10 games. He's in a secondary scoring role for the Habs, but he's a possible deep league streamer today against Nashville.

The Lane Train keeps on rolling. Lane Hutson scored a goal on Saturday, giving him seven points over his last four games. As a defenseman, Hutson leads all rookies in scoring with 63 points (with just six goals). I like his Calder Trophy odds.

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In the Kraken's 5-1 win over San Jose, Jared McCann led the way with two goals, an assist, a plus-3, and six shots. McCann had some so-so results during the middle two quarters of the season (22 PTS in 39 GP), but he has turned it up a notch recently with 12 points over his last seven games. McCann also has back-to-back three-point games, so he should be rostered at the moment.

Andre Burakovsky has been an afterthought in fantasy leagues over the past two seasons, but he has nine points in his last seven games, including a goal and an assist on Saturday playing on McCann's line. Just 1 percent rostered in Yahoo and 10 percent rostered in Fantrax, Burakovsky is a possible streamer with Seattle playing four games next week.

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Reilly Smith's second goal of the game was the overtime winner for Vegas. Talk about a lucky bounce.

REILLY SMITH IN OVERTIME! VEGAS WINS 3-2!#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/6UgnS32lEa

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) April 6, 2025

Shea Theodore assisted on all three Vegas goals, giving him six points in the six games since he returned from an arm injury.

Victor Olofsson finished the game with an assist and nine shots on goal. Where did that shot total come from? Olofsson averages less than two shots per game.

Zayne Parekh's OHL season has ended, and it's believed that the Flames would like to bring him in. Parekh, the ninth overall pick in the last draft, racked up 107 points in just 61 games with the Saginaw Spirit – as a defenseman! Something to watch late in the season.

Nine-year feuds are great for the game.

A feud nine years in the making 😤

The HNIC panel discuss Nazem Kadri and Jack Eichel's tumultuous history pic.twitter.com/VunfLMu0uJ

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 6, 2025

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Will Alex Ovechkin break the record today? We'll find out soon enough. 12:30 pm ET/9:30 am PT versus the Islanders.

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Threads @goodsfantasyhockey and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social