Ramblings: Laine Making Friends in Columbus; J. Staal, Teravainen, Markstrom (Feb 14)

Ian Gooding

2021-02-14

Yesterday I discussed how the North (Canadian) Division has been the highest-scoring division, even by average games played. So how about these for final scores from Canada today: 2-1, 2-1, and 3-1. Defensive hockey was really the theme for Hockey Day in Canada, making hockey coaches everywhere smile. There's going to be some regression from numerous hot starters in that division, if it isn't happening already.

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If you decided to roll the dice with Marcus Hogberg against Winnipeg on Saturday, then you have more blind faith then I do. Also, nice work. Hogberg stopped 30 of 31 shots he faced, which was long enough for the Senators to take advantage of a Brady Tkachuk goal with nine seconds left to squeak out a 2-1 win in Winnipeg. In his eighth game of the season, Hogberg finally recorded his first quality start. His season numbers are what you'd expect from a Senators backup – I'll just leave it at that.

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With a goal and an assist (both on the power play) on Saturday, Chandler Stephenson now has two points in three of his last four games. He's been the third wheel on a scoring line with Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty dating back to last season, and he's finally making good on that opportunity. In case you're wondering why he's been on that line, his speed makes him an ideal fit. I've just added him in one league, as I've figured that I shouldn't wait any longer.

Marc-Andre Fleury earned yet another win, giving him a 6-1-0 record this season. With a 1.58 GAA and .934 SV%, Fleury is throwing a monkey wrench at fantasy owners who drafted Robin Lehner early hoping that Fleury would either be traded or simply made irrelevant. Goalie values are unpredictable, but at least we know that Fleury has stormed back as motivated as ever.

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Earlier in the day, the Senators and Hurricanes made a trade. Ryan Dzingel is on his way back to Ottawa, while the much-travelled Alex Galchenyuk is on his way to Carolina along with Cedric Paquette. For more, read the fantasy impact piece.  

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Jean-Gabriel Pageau filled the statsheet for his fantasy owners on Saturday. The Islanders center scored two goals with a plus-2 and seven shots and five hits in the Islanders' 4-2 win over Boston. Leo Komarov, who cleared waivers earlier in the day, played on Pageau's line and assisted on both of Pageau's goals.

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Tyler Toffoli's mini-slump of four games without a point ended on Saturday. Proving he can score against someone other than the Canucks, Toffoli scored his tenth goal of the season and added an assist to power the Habs to a 2-1 win over the Leafs. Toffoli and Brendan Gallagher assisted on each other's goals, with Gallagher's goal sealing the win for Montreal late in the third period. Gallagher's assist was his first in 13 games.

Yesterday, I described Toffoli as a potential sell-high. Hopefully you didn't immediately take my advice and were able to leave him in your lineup for at least one more day!

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With Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Anthony Cirelli all out of the lineup, the Lightning will need to find additional scoring elsewhere for the time being. Tyler Johnson came through on Saturday, scoring twice to lead the Bolts to a 6-1 win. Johnson wasn't elevated to the top line, as Brayden Point skated with Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn. The two goals were Johnson's first points in five games. Those absences should help Johnson earn more valuable scoring opportunities.

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Whether Patrik Laine likes John Tortorella or not, the numbers show that the trade from Winnipeg hasn't hurt his fantasy value so far. With a goal on Saturday, Laine now has four goals in his last five games with the Jackets. After his fight in the first period where he stood up for fellow former Jet Jack Roslovic after the latter got hit, all Laine was missing was an assist for a Gordie Howe hat trick.

Playing on the Laine line has bumped up the recent production of both Roslovic and Cam Atkinson. Roslovic's six-game point streak came to an end on Saturday, but he had amassed nine points (4 G, 5 A) over those six games. Atkinson has four goals in his last five games, along with eight points over that span. Maybe I was wrong about the Laine trade potentially hurting Atkinson's value. I was thinking about dropping him, but now I definitely won't.

Fantasy Take: Dubois Going to Winnipeg for Laine, Roslovic

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With the overtime winner, Alex DeBrincat has scored goals in back-to-back games and six goals in his last five games. His metrics last season showed a lot of poor luck, so there's reason to believe this comeback season (16 PTS in 12 GP) is for real.

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From the "that helps no one" file: Luke Glendening scored a goal and added two assists to go with a plus-3 in a 4-2 Detroit win over Nashville. Glendening had not even recorded a point over his first 13 games and was re-entering the lineup after missing the past two games. Treat this as a one-off.

I also noticed that Dylan Larkin had eight shots on goal in this game.

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In the post-Dzingel era for the Hurricanes, Jordan Staal scored a power-play goal to help secure a 4-3 win over Dallas. I bring up Staal because he's been on a tear recently. Over his last nine games, Staal has posted 12 points. The only other game he has played this season was the first game of the season, so it's really 12 points in 10 games overall. Regardless, he's making it work on a line with Andrei Svechnikov, who has also been scoring at a point per game. The advanced stats (30.8 SH%, 10.6 5-on-5 SH%, 4.1 PTS/60, 1065 PDO) are all red on Frozen Tools, so regression is forthcoming. Also keep in mind that Staal has taken just 13 shots over his 10 games, so luck has been on his side.

From a hot Hurricane to a struggling one: Teuvo Teravainen finally scored his first goal of the season, in his ninth game. Teravainen entered this game with just two assists, which were from the first game of the season, which was a month ago. Many of his advanced stats (5.3 SH%, 5.3 5-on-5 SH%, 1.2 PTS/60) are showing green on Frozen Tools, indicating a good buy-low opportunity. He's reached the 60-point mark in each of his last three seasons, so there's tons of reason to believe he'll turn it around.

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This was a brilliant fake and snipe from Quinn Hughes. What natural ability.

Hughes currently leads all defensemen in scoring with 18 points in 18 games. Too bad he has the league's third-worst plus/minus with a minus-12, behind only two Ottawa Senators. The points have been there, but so have some real defensive struggles. No longer having Chris Tanev as a defensive partner has had a lot to do with that.

In spite of the loss, Jacob Markstrom should have been the game's first star. He held the Flames in this game even though they were outshot 46-19. The goal he allowed to Tyler Myers with about five minutes left in regulation turned out to be the ultimate backbreaker. However, he finished this game with allowing just two goals on 45 shots to pad his save percentage to .925 and goals-against average to 2.33. I wouldn't be surprised if Markstrom is the best goalie in the North Division by season's end. At the very least, he's been in the Canucks' heads for most of the four games he has played against his former team.

More bad news for the Flames, as Mikael Backlund left this game with a lower-body injury.

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Happy Valentine's Day! With only two games scheduled for Sunday, you'll have plenty of time to do something that will make your significant other happy. In my world, that will most likely be chores.

For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding

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