After weeks of an exhilarating record chase, the inevitable happened: the Great Eight passed the Great One. Alex Ovechkin scored his 42nd goal of the campaign and the 895th goal of his career, taking sole possession of the NHL's all-time goal-scoring record. You've probably consumed tons of content contextualizing this historic feat by now, so I'll just quickly point out a couple of small-scale trends that may be relevant in fantasy leagues. Not only is Ovi riding a five-game goal streak, he's also on a five-game power-play point streak.
Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson got the assists on Ovi's record-breaking goal. Nicklas Backstrom has been the key setup man for most of Ovi's career, but that role has gone to Strome in recent years. Strome is on a five-game assist streak and five-game PPP streak.
Ryan Leonard's first taste of NHL action hasn't included as much offense as he might've liked, but he's certainly made an impact. The 20-year-old forward racked up five hits on Sunday and has 14 hits through four games since signing his entry-level deal out of Boston College.
Strong goaltending is a prime reason why Washington is one of the league's top teams this season, but there's been a big gap between Charlie Lindgren and the currently injured Logan Thompson. Sunday marked Lindgren's fifth-straight game with a save percentage below .900.
New York's fourth line led the team to a victory Sunday as 25-year-old rookie Marc Gatcomb scored two goals while Kyle MacLean picked up two assists.
Bo Horvat scored the game's opening goal and is up to 26 goals on the season. He'd need four more in these final six games to reach the 30-goal mark for a fourth-straight season. It's a tall task, but he's in solid form right now, boasting six goals and four assists in his last 12 appearances.
Simon Holmstrom's assist on Sunday was just his second point in his last seven games. He's been averaging around 16 minutes a night during this stretch – a step down from the 20 minutes he was averaging through the first few weeks of March, when he put up 8 points in 11 games.
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Marco Rossi added another page to his impressive sophomore season with a power-play goal in overtime to seal the deal for Minnesota. He also posted an assist in regulation for good measure. Although Rossi has been skating on PP2 over the past few games, he was out with Minnesota's top group in OT. 14 of Rossi's 58 points this season have come with the man advantage. He's seen more power-play opportunity this year since Joel Eriksson Ek has been injured for almost half the season. It’ll be interesting to see what Minnesota's top unit looks like when the team is fully healthy. Rossi certainly has the talent to be on PP1.
Matt Boldy had an excellent performance on Sunday, potentially swaying a few fantasy matchups in the process. He tallied a goal, two assists and five shots, not to mention some peripheral contributions like a block, hit, power-play point, two faceoff wins, and two penalty minutes. The 24-year-old is on track to flirt with a 70-point pace for a fourth-straight season. In my eyes, he's one of the most underrated young talents in the league.
With Sunday's goal, Marcus Foligno is up to four points in six games since returning from injury. It's a nice bit of offense for a player that's usually relied upon for his physicality. He's racked up 19 hits in these six games.
Mats Zuccarello's assist extends his point streak to three games, but his production on the season remains underwhelming due to a lack of power-play offense. He's posted around 30 PPP in each of the last three years but has just 14 as we near the end of this season. Zuccarello had been setting up Kirill Kaprizov's power-play goals in previous campaigns, but hasn't had that luxury much this season with Kaprizov sidelined for so long with injury.
He left with the loss, but Jake Oettinger still had an outstanding game Sunday, stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced. He's achieving excellent form with the playoffs around the corner, posting a save percentage of .917 or better in each of his last six starts.
Speaking of players in great form right now, Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene each tallied an assist on Sunday and are tied for the team lead in scoring over the past few weeks, with each player boasting 13 points in Dallas' last 13 games. The Stars' deep offense is a big reason they'll be ones to watch in the postseason.
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Jake Sanderson's breakout campaign continues! Sunday's assist gives him six points in his last six games, which puts him at 55 points on the year. Just over half of those points have come with the man advantage as Sanderson has benefitted from seeing 64% of Ottawa's total power play time – up from last year's share of 52%. It also helps that the Sens are producing more on the PP this year, boasting a 23% success rate after posting an underwhelming 18% last year.
Thomas Chabot picked up two assists on Sunday, but his overall production is down compared to recent seasons. The rise of Sanderson's PP opportunity has meant the fall of Chabot's. After seeing 47% of Ottawa's PP time last year, Chabot is down to 37% this year. That's caused him to drop from 0.14 PPP/game to 0.08 PPP/game.
22-year-old Ridly Greig got off to a tough start in his sophomore season, posting just 13 points in his first 46 games. However, after tallying an assist on Sunday, he's up to 18 points in his last 28 outings. He's been trusted with more ice time and is starting to produce offensively, complementing his solid peripheral category coverage.
This was Ottawa's fourth-straight game without captain Brady Tkachuk, but fortunately it doesn't sound like he'll be out too much longer.
Linus Ullmark stopped all 30 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season. He's had a strong debut campaign with Ottawa and is in good form right now, having posted a save percentage of .912 or better in five of his last six starts.
Columbus' playoff hopes took a massive hit this weekend after they were shutout in back-to-back games by the Ontario teams. The lack of offense certainly can't be attributed to a lack of effort on Zach Werenski's part. He racked up eight shots on Sunday after posting five on Saturday.
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We've reached that frustrating portion of the season where teams are starting to rest players. Florida gave Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart the day off Sunday, leaving the team with a depleted lineup as Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk are currently injured, and Aaron Ekblad is still out suspended.
Florida's underpowered roster outshout Detroit 33-24 but managed just one goal as they lost 2-1. Anton Lundell, the team's only goal scorer, often steps up his game when Florida's top centers are injured. Lundell has at least four shots and 11 faceoff wins per game since Barkov got injured on April 1st.
With an assist against Detroit, Mackie Samoskevich is up to 11 points in 16 games since March 3rd – when he was promoted to Florida's top power-play unit. Eight of those points have come with the man advantage.
Carter Verhaeghe's helper was just his fourth point in his last 17 appearances. Verhaeghe only has 17 goals this season after scoring 34 last year. I'd say he's suffered from a bit of back luck as this season's shooting percentage (7.3%) is about half of his career shooting percentage coming into this year (14.9%). He put seven pucks on net against the Red Wings.
With Florida's loss and Ottawa's win, the Sens are now just two points behind the Panthers in the standings. The much-anticipated playoff battles of Ontario and Florida could be in jeopardy if the Sens jump the Panthers and end up playing Tampa in the first round instead of Toronto.
Marco Kasper's assist on Sunday gives him 25 points in 36 games since he was promoted to Detroit's top six in early January. He sits fourth in rookie scoring during this stretch – just two points behind Macklin Celebrini (who, in fairness, has played three fewer games).
Detroit's lethal power play, which ranks third in the league with an impressive 28.1% success rate, clicked again on Sunday as Alex DeBrincat scored a goal assisted by Patrick Kane and Lucas Raymond.
Giving the lion's share of PP time to one clear-cut top unit has helped the aforementioned players rack up lofty point totals with the man advantage this year.
Cam Talbot came up big, stopping 32 of the 33 shots thrown his way. He's posted a save percentage of .946 or better in four of his last five outings. He was still solid in that one game which was the exception, registering a .909 against Carolina.
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Mason Lohrei, who's been quarterbacking Boston's top power play while Charlie McAvoy is injured, tallied a helper with the man advantage on Sunday. He's up to four points in his last five games, with three of those four points coming on the power play. PP1 is a nice spot to be in, but given Boston's offensive struggles, it hasn't translated to consistent production for Lohrei. Just look at the single point he had through 12 games (while still skating on PP1) immediately prior to this stretch.
It's been a disappointing debut campaign with the Bruins for Elias Lindholm, but he's been hot lately. Sunday's goal gives him 11 points in his last 13 appearances, as well as a three-game goal streak. It certainly helps that he's centering the team's hottest wingers, who we'll discuss below.
By scoring on Sunday, Morgan Geekie extended his point streak to seven games. He's in incredible form right now, having scored in seven of his last 10 outings, now just one goal shy of the 30-goal mark. Geekie has benefitted from playing beside elite talent David Pastrnak for most of the season, but will be hard-pressed to replicate his lofty shooting percentage (20.6%) next year.
Speaking of Pastrnak, he followed up Saturday's incredible five-point performance with three assists on Sunday. An eight-point weekend that probably swung a few fantasy playoff matchups. Hopefully you were on the right end of Pasta's sauce. It's remarkable that he's pacing for a third-straight hundred-point season given Boston's anemic offense this year.
Speaking of fantasy matchup-winning performances, Tage Thompson also came in clutch Sunday, posting a hat trick on six shots. He's on quite the hot streak, having scored in six of his last seven games.
Thompson isn't the only Sabre on a goal-scoring binge, as Alex Tuch is right there with him. Tuch's tally on Sunday gives him 17 goals in 24 games since February 4th. The only player with more goals during this stretch is the newly crowned greatest goal scorer of all-time, who has 18 in 25.
Tuch's linemates have also benefitted from his success lately. With two assists on Sunday, 24-year-old Peyton Krebs is up to eight points in his last seven outings, and Jason Zucker's goal against Boston gives him five points in his last four. It's worth noting that Jack Quinn took Tuch's spot beside Zucker and Krebs in the middle of Sunday's battle with the Bruins, so let's see if that change sticks for Buffalo's next game.
Rasmus Dahlin is quietly putting together another outstanding season. He missed a few weeks with injury in early December, but since returning to the lineup on December 23rd, he's racked up 43 points in 41 games. Cale Makar, who has 46 in 42, is the only blueliner with more points during this stretch.
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Ville Koivunen, who posted an impressive 55 points in 62 AHL games before getting called up, has two points in four NHL games after tallying an assist on Sunday. The 21-year-old forward is in an excellent position beside Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell at even strength. He's also been skating on PP1 while Malkin eases into PP2 during these first few games back from injury. You'd think Malkin would take that top-unit spot back sooner rather than later, but it's hard when Koivunen is setting up plays like this:
Speaking of young players producing in the NHL, Frank Nazar is up to four points in his last three games after scoring a shorthanded goal Sunday.
Sam Rinzel continues the trend of impressive young talent, registering his first career point on Sunday. Reports indicate that the 20-year-old smooth-skating blueliner has had a solid first four games in the NHL. His strong performance has earned him a look quarterbacking Chicago's top power play lately.
Folks, you've heard of elf on a shelf, but now there's a Russian on a radiator in Chicago. Roughly translated, that means Ilya Mikheyev is on a heater. With two goals on Sunday, Mikheyev is up to 10 goals and five assists in his last 19 appearances. He found chemistry on a line with Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato at the beginning of this hot streak, and has maintained that chemistry with Donato and Connor Bedard – his current linemates. Mikheyev seemed to have lost a step after knee surgery in 2023, it now appears he's rediscovered the speedy form he flaunted frequently earlier in his career.
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In a game where his team was outshot 37-17, Jakub Dobes stood tall, surrendering just one goal in a 2-1 victory over Nashville. He plays a chaotic style that I fear might get exposed against tougher opponents, but I guess that's why the Habs have been relying so heavily on Samuel Montembeault as they inch closer to a playoff spot.
Patrik Laine scored his 20th goal of the season in his 47th game, which would put him on pace for roughly 35 in a full season. Remarkably, Sunday's goal was just his fifth even-strength goal of the campaign as his other 15 have come with the man advantage. Watching Laine play, a step slower than his younger days, I remember that he sprained his knee in preseason action this year. I think to Mikheyev, who we discussed in the previous section – a player who had knee surgery and took some time to rediscover his skating ability. I wonder if we see that same thing with Laine, finding another gear next year as he gets comfortable skating again.
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After missing six games with an injury, Nils Höglander scored a goal in his return to the lineup Sunday. He had six points in six games prior to the injury and impressively picked up right where he left off.
Vancouver's other goal also came from a young player as 22-year-old Aatu Raty scored his fourth goal in six games. He's been a solid asset in fantasy leagues that track hits, racking up 2.4 per game this season. Nothing like NHL hits leader Kiefer Sherwood of course, who managed six hits on Sunday (matching his season average) and chipped in an assist on Raty's goal.
William Karlsson snapped a four-game point drought with an assist on Victor Olofsson's game-winning goal. That line – completed by Reilly Smith – has looked excellent over the past few games, outscoring opponents 4-0 while dominating in high danger scoring chances (via NaturalStatTrick). Olofsson had five shots Sunday after posting nine on Saturday.