Marc Savard is expected to return to the lineup Monday. During his 15-game absence, Bergeron has just nine points and is a minus-2 in that span. Meanwhile, Krejci is showing signs of life with four points in three games prior to Friday when he was held off the scoresheet. My hunch is that Bergeron’s production will slip, while Krejci will find last year’s form. Savard’s presence takes the heat off.

Scott Hartnell – 11 points in 11 games.

So when will Reinprecht slow down? He has 15 points in his last 16 games. His career high is 52 and I think he’ll finish around there.

Ryan O’Reilly has come back to Earth – just one point in his last six contests. As the Avs fall in the standings (out of the playoffs? Maybe) players such as O’Reilly will have more realistic numbers.

Varlamov his white hot – last four games: 3-0-1, 1.24, .957. His 8-1-1 looks better than Theo’s 5-3-4. His .917 looks better than Theo’s .893 and his 2.42 beats Theo’s 3.24 by a wide margin. Theo’s salary will give him a couple more chances yet…but when he stops getting chances and the team gives up on him you will get ZERO warning. Coach Boudreau will continue to say Theodore his the No.1 goalie and give him full backing…and then all of a sudden it will all stop. Don’t be left with Theodore on your roster when that happens.

Tuomo Ruutu has 15 points and 23 PIM in his last 16 games and nine (and four PIM) in his last six. This is the Ruutu we expected after his rookie year. At 26 years old, he’s hitting his prime now.

Brenden Morrow has just one point in his last nine contests.

Nik Kronwall is out a minimum of two weeks after this hit by Laraque (shown below).

With Stillman out, the Panthers recalled Matthias and Repik. Only Matthias got into the game (five minutes). Repik has 12 points in 13 AHL contests and Matthias has but six in 12. Repik is looking like the better keeper option at this point.

A player who I’ve had a soft spot for since he was drafted could be showing signs of life. Rusty Olesz has five points in his last five games and the team has been steadfast in giving him at least 15:30 of ice time per game (i.e. second line). They pay him too much to give up on him, and he’s still only 24. Injuries are the only concern.

Scott Gomez joins Gionta on the shelf and that opens up still more ice time for A. Kostitsyn. He saw 20 minutes last night for the first time this year and his three-game game total of 55:09 is his highest three-game span of the season. He has four points during that time. He better be active in your league.

Filip Kuba has recovered from his LBI obviously – four points in one game should make that clear. Only one of his points came on the PP. He and Alex Picard are shouldering the Sens offense from the blue line.

Ryan Vesce, recalled yesterday, has points in five of his seven NHL games this year. Last night he only played 5:55… prior to his leg injury he was seeing 17 minutes a game racking up the points. The 5-8 AHL star deserves a chance.

Another small player, Mathieu Perreault, has also impressed (you know me and the small, skilled guys – their upside always intrigues me). I assure that he will be at worst a 65-point second line NHL centerman. At best, with the wingers they have in Washington, I don’t want to put a cap on it. However, for now his offense is keeping him in the NHL and he has but a point in his last three games so expect a demotion soon. Next year he’ll be a regular.

Jamie Lundmark was recalled by the Flames and promptly earned an assist in his season debut. He was on a line with Iginla and Jokinen – and since Iggy had a hat trick, things are looking pretty promising that he’ll hang onto the job for another game. He has 13 points in 20 AHL contests.

Saku Koivu notched an assist in his return, lining up with Selanne (of course) and Evgeni Artyukhin.

Artyukhin is pointless in 10 games since his suspension and he has just four penalty minutes in that span. However, his 17 minutes of ice time last night was a season high.

Matt Lombardi returned, playing on the second line with Mueller and Pyatt – though he played the PP unit with Doan and Lang. He picked up a pair of points and is a good gamble to go on a bit of a hot run.

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Jimmy Howard: 5-3-1, 2.75, 0.898
Chris Osgood: 6-3-3, 2.70, 0.902
At this point, I’m not comfortable putting my money on either of them, but Osgood is paid to be the starter so the Wings will throw him out there the most, unless/until Howard takes a clear step ahead of him. Howard is 5-1-1 in his last seven (2.30 GAA)

Carey Price is still rolling – stopping 32 of 34 shots, though taking the OT loss. Give him eight of the last nine starts. Montreal’s golden boy would have to be vastly outplayed – not just outplayed, but “vastly” – to surrender the No.1 job to Halak.

Chris Bourque saw some PP time last night and also some time with Crosby, notching an assist on the deal. The situation bears watching.

In Tuesday’s Fantasy Pool Look article, I mentioned that Skoula may be one to watch, given the injuries to Goli and Letang. With two goals last night and three points in three games, he’s worth a temporary depth d-man pickup if you are in need in that position. He saw over two minutes of PP time last night.

With the Legwand/Erat line rolling now, the Preds are starting to score more as a team. Teams need that secondary scoring – it makes the first line even better, too. Steve Sullivan has five points in four games, Legwand has five in three, while Erat tallied his first points after a four-game drought.

Give Anton Stralman nine points in his last nine games. I think he’s arrived, folks.

Steve Mason stopped 45 of 48. After he got hammered for eight goals, he got two games off. Since then, he has returned and allowed just four goals on 74 shots. Very promising.

Claude Giroux has been in on Philly’s last four goals and five of their last six.

Jarome Iginla has 18 points in his last 13 games.

Since Kristian Huselius returned from his injury, has has seven points in four games. I often say that when he enters one of his hot streaks, he produces at levels that only superstars produce at. It’s those walls that he hits that makes us all want to hit our own wall – with our head.

Just jumped on quickly with some thoughts tonight. Back in the AM with more…

David Perron – get ready to crap yourself when you see this