The defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes are as deep as any team in the NHL. Yet it is still a surprise to see Mark Jankowski on a six-game goal-scoring streak. Jankowski scored a power-play goal in the Hurricanes' 3-2 win over Winnipeg on Saturday. Jankowski also took a season-high four shots while also winning 10 faceoffs. Jankowski is a secondary option for the Canes both at even strength and the power play, while he is shooting at an unsustainable 40%. The 32-year-old Jankowski is only worth adding in the absolute deepest of leagues, but credit where it is due on the recent goal scoring.

Nikolaj Ehlers' first goal of the season came against his former team. Ehlers is averaging under two shots per game and is shooting at under 6%, which explains the lack of goals to start the season.

Shayne Gostisbehere was the only Hurricane to register multiple points in this game, recording two assists.

Mark Scheifele scored one of the Jets' goals, giving him eight points over his last five games.

According to Elliotte Friedman, Connor Hellebuyck's suspension from the Winnipeg Jets ends on Friday. Long story short, Hellebuyck intended to report to the Jets on October 2 but had been suspended by the team for not reporting to training camp. It is not known whether Hellebuyck will still rejoin the Jets after that or whether he will be paid to stay away. The fact that this decision looms could possibly expedite a trade. For those who drafted Hellebuyck (ADP 55 in Yahoo), a trade – or even a decision to play for the Jets for the time being – can't come soon enough.

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In the earliest game of the day, Ryan Leonard was one of four goal scorers in the Washington Capitals' 4-2 win over New Jersey. Leonard's goal, which was on the power play, was his sixth point in his last six games. Leonard could stand to pick up more minutes (13:48 ATOI), but he was moved onto the Capitals' top power play recently.

By the way, I would be fine with the Capitals making these their primary jerseys.

RYAN LEONARD SKATES THROUGH THE ENTIRE DEVILS TEAM AND SCORES A BEAUTY OH MY 😵😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/b5nJaMHGal

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 17, 2026

Low-scoring defenseman Vincent Desharnais was the only Capital to earn multiple points in this game, picking up two assists.

Arseny Gritsyuk led the Devils with a goal and an assist and six shots on net. Gritsyuk, who has been on the Devils' top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, has goals in back-to-back games and five points in his last five games. Rostered in just 1% of Yahoo leagues and 25% of Fantrax leagues, Gritsyuk could be worth adding in deeper leagues.

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In the Tampa Bay Lightning's 4-2 win over Vancouver, Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals. Jake Guentzel scored a goal while adding an assist, while Brayden Point picked up two assists.

I'm not sure what to make of Victor Hedman's lack of icetime. Hedman skated just 12:36 on Saturday and is averaging just over 14 minutes per game on the season. Despite the lack of icetime, Hedman managed to take four shots along with a hit and two blocked shots. I'd be tempted to drop Hedman in leagues that start fewer than four defensemen, as the power-play time has been almost nonexistent. Hedman did enter this game with points in three consecutive games, though. Maybe the Lightning are trying to load manage the 35-year-old d-man with the plan to increase his icetime as games increase in importance.

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It was two hat tricks for the price of one in Florida on Saturday. Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett each scored three goals in the Panthers' 8-3 onslaught of the Seattle Kraken. The Panthers are the first team in NHL history to record natural hat tricks in three consecutive games. Verhaeghe's natural hatty followed two from Brady Tkachuk in the previous two games.

THE FLORIDA PANTHERS ARE THE FIRST TEAM IN NHL HISTORY TO HAVE 3 STRAIGHT GAMES WITH A NATURAL HAT TRICK 😱🚨 pic.twitter.com/u9q8dZhUvP

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 17, 2026

After a slow start, Verhaeghe is picking it up with five goals and an assist over his last three games. Injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand have resulted in Verhaeghe returning to the top power play. Two of his goals over the last three games have been with the man advantage. His downturn over the last few seasons is at least partially due to a reduction in power-play time with the influx of talent coming to Florida. Verhaeghe is rostered in 37% of Yahoo leagues, so this seems like a great time to roster him again.

As for Bennett, the goals were his first three of the season in his ninth game. Bennett is being leaned upon while Barkov is out of the lineup, but he logged just 12:25 with this game getting out of hand by the second period.

Matthew Tkachuk added three assists, giving him 14 points over his last eight games. His ADP of 34 at Yahoo seems too low, considering his consistent point-per-game production in recent seasons.

It was a game to forget for Joey Daccord, who was in for all eight goals while facing 37 shots. Daccord is splitting starts with Philipp Grubauer (2.71 GAA, .909 SV%), who is having a better season than Daccord (3.89 GAA, .882 SV%). The Kraken are not a good hockey team, so expectations for either goalie should not be high.

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Yesterday, I described how Jet Greaves had been struggling early on, but the Columbus Blue Jackets' limited early schedule has resulted in a smaller sample size for Greaves than for most starting goalies. Sure enough, Greaves pitched a 29-save shutout where he had to work overtime against the Rangers. Rick Bowness's recent comments about the team's poor defense seemed to get through. After this start, Greaves seems like a much safer option, justifying why he was one of the top sleeper goaltenders entering the season. This is why I'd advise against panic drops early in the season.

I will take credit for Kent Johnson, though. Johnson scored the overtime winner while taking four shots and logging 20:55 in icetime. 3-on-3 overtime is an ideal setting for Johnson's talents. Johnson is just 7% rostered in Yahoo leagues, so add him to your watch list at the very least.

KENT JOHNSON WITH THE ONE-TIME BLAST TO WIN IT IN OVERTIME FOR COLUMBUS 🚀🚨 pic.twitter.com/TA9lDIsltS

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 18, 2026

Dylan Garand took the hard-luck loss, allowing only the overtime winner while making 28 saves.

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I have another shutout to discuss, although it was easier to project than the previous shutout. Jake Oettinger stopped all 19 shots he faced in the Dallas Stars' 4-0 blanking of the Chicago Blackhawks. Oettinger already has three shutouts in just six games. No other goalie has more than one shutout.

Arttu Hyry scored two of the Stars' goals in this game. Hyry also filled the statsheet with five shots and four hits, although very few fantasy teams likely benefitted. Hyry has goals in back-to-back games, although he was held without a point in his first six games.

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For at least the last several years, Dmitry Orlov has been the defenseman that you'd draft or add simply to fill out your roster. Yet on Saturday, he was the defenseman on the point on the San Jose Sharks' top power play, taking advantage of the situation by scoring a power-play goal against Detroit. In related news, Luca Cagnoni was made a healthy scratch for this game. After scoring a goal and an assist in the first game of the season, Cagnoni had been held without a point in his last six games. Moreover, the 21-year-old defenseman was tagged with a minus-5 on Tuesday against Boston. Cagnoni should be droppable in non-keeper leagues, although Orlov is far from certain to stay on PP1 all season.

Also for the Sharks, Macklin Celebrini had another outstanding game: 1 G, 2 A, 7 SOG, 13 FOW, 26:54 TOI.  

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With John Tavares out week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Gavin McKenna was moved up to the top power play of the Toronto Maple Leafs. McKenna was benched during Thursday's game, held to just 6:36 in icetime. On Saturday, McKenna's icetime was 17:56, which included four shots on goal but no points. McKenna should be rosterable in all leagues while he is on PP1.

McKenna and coach Jim Hiller might be all good now, but Saturday's result wasn't for the Leafs. Simon Holmstrom scored a pair of goals in a 4-1 win for the New York Islanders in Toronto. Holmstrom was on a line with Bo Horvat for much of this game, logging 20 minutes of icetime and first-unit power-play minutes. Holmstrom entered this game without a point in his last five games. Holmstrom has back-to-back 40-point seasons and could be an option in deeper leagues.

In his first season with the Leafs, Sergei Bobrovsky has been consistent, but not in a good way. Bobrovsky has allowed at least three goals in each of his six games. Goalie Bob has allowed exactly three goals in five of those six games. I'm sure Leafs fans and media will take it in stride if the 38-year-old goalie doesn't rebound from a tough 2025-26 season in Florida.

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Mr. Saturday Night was at it again. Cole Caufield scored a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, in the Montreal Canadiens' 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Caufield entered this game without points in four of his previous five games, so maybe the Hockey Night in Canada music got the juices flowing. Except it's not called Hockey Night in Canada anymore and the new tune isn't an earworm to hockey fans at large yet.  

SABRES MISS THE NET ON A 3-ON-1 AND CAUFIELD ENDS IT AT THE OTHER END ON A BREAKAWAY 🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/sIiIPsMXpR

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 18, 2026

Jacob Fowler has started four of the last five games for the Canadiens, who can ride the hot hand while Samuel Montembeault is out. You should still hang onto Jakub Dobes, since NHL waiver rules could mean that Fowler is back in the AHL once Montembeault returns. Dobes (4 GP, 4.63 GAA, .842 SV%) could still find his groove again at some point this season.

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The Philadelphia Flyers have finally won a game! It took 10 tries, but the Flyers skated away with a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. After winning 29 games last season, Dan Vladar finally won his first game of this season in five tries. Vladar made 25 saves in securing the win for Philly.

If you've been waiting on Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov, they both paid dividends in the win. Both young Flyers scored a goal and added an assist, although coach Rick Tocchet still left his mark by holding both to fewer than 15 minutes in icetime. Martone in particular has struggled, entering this game with just a single point in his first nine games. I'd normally say be patient with both, but Tocchet doesn't operate the Flyers the same way you manage your fantasy team. It's difficult to bench or drop such talented players, but that's how it is sometimes.

Thomas Chabot left this game with an upper-body injury, which is believed to be a wrist issue. The good news for the Senators is that Jake Sanderson is expected to return to the lineup next week. Tyler Kleven led an undermanned Sens defense with 22:29 in icetime on Saturday.

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The Flyers' victory means that the Los Angeles Kings are the only team without a win. Granted, the Kings have played only six games while the Flyers have played 10. The latest loss for the Kings was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Boston Bruins.

It's still early, but Quinton Byfield has been held without points in five of his six games played. Byfield scored a goal and added an assist two weeks ago (on October 3), but he has been held pointless since. Like I mentioned with the Blue Jackets yesterday, the best approach with Kings regulars like Byfield is to be patient due to the lack of games.

David Pastrnak and Marat Khusnutdinov each scored a goal and added an assist for the Bruins. Pastrnak hasn't disappointed his fantasy teams recently with 10 points over his last five games.

Pavel Zacha missed Saturday's game with an upper-body injury. Zacha left Friday's game in the third period after taking a hit.

Nikita Zadorov was made a healthy scratch on Saturday. Bruins coach Marco Sturm scratched Zadorov for disciplinary reasons, as Zadorov was assessed a double minor at the end of Friday's game.

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Zach Hyman played on opening night on September 29, but he did not play in his second game until Saturday due to an undisclosed injury. Hyman scored a goal in his return to the lineup, which was a 6-2 win for the Edmonton Oilers over the Utah Mammoth. Hyman returned to the Oilers' top power play while lining up with Kasperi Kapanen and Colton Dach. Vasily Podkolzin retained his spot on the top power play and the top line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Connor McDavid's presence was in full force, as the Oilers captain scored two goals and added three assists while finishing with a plus-4. McDavid now has 23 points in just eight games, which puts him on pace for over 200 points. That would put him into the Gretzky stratosphere if he can maintain that pace.

McDavid's exploits were too much for Karel Vejmelka, who was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 17 shots. Vejmelka has had really bad starts in three of his past five games, so perhaps we will start to see more of Sebastian Cossa between the pipes for Utah.

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In the Vegas Golden Knights' 6-2 win over Pittsburgh, Mark Stone scored a goal and recorded two assists. Stone now has back-to-back three-point games, pushing his point total to 14 points in 10 games. Stone is probably the most high risk/high reward player in fantasy hockey. He has been above the point-per-game mark in the previous two seasons, yet he has not reached 70 games played in a season since 2018-19. It's unfortunate to say this, but you could probably even set your watch to a Stone injury sometime this season. Enjoy the dividends while they last. Selling high for an elite player could be an option, as it'll be hard to find a Plan B that could fill the gap.

Adin Hill has won all four of the games that he has started this season. Hill won only 10 games all of last season.

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Data was taken from Frozen Tools and NHL.com unless otherwise noted.

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