Sidney Crosby finally made his season debut on Saturday, but neither he nor the Penguins received the result they were hoping for. Crosby was held without a point with a minus-3 with two shots in 19 minutes of icetime in a 4-2 loss to New Jersey. The Penguins have to be relieved that their captain is back in the lineup, but they are still far from a completely healthy group, as their line combinations would suggest.

TEDDY BLUEGER – BROCK MCGINN – ZACH ASTON-REESE

JEFF CARTER – JASON ZUCKER – KASPERI KAPANEN

SIDNEY CROSBY – EVAN RODRIGUES – JAKE GUENTZEL

BRIAN BOYLE – DANTON HEINEN – DREW O’CONNOR

BRIAN DUMOULIN – JOHN MARINO

CHAD RUHWEDEL – MIKE MATHESON

MARCUS PETTERSSON – JUUSO RIIKOLA

In other words, still no Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, or Kris Letang. At least Jeff Carter was able to return as well, although like Crosby he was also held without a point and also a minus player. Carter actually played more than Crosby (21 minutes), so expect him to continue to be used in the top-6 while Malkin is out.

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On Saturday, we were given another reminder that COVID is not over and will still affect our fantasy teams this season. With the Sharks having to place a number of players into COVID protocol right before puck drop, their game with Winnipeg was delayed. That delay created chaos for fantasy owners who were locked out from swapping out players like Erik Karlsson and Jonathan Dahlen due to the fantasy providers not updating the game's start time. Several other Sharks missed the game, as did coach Bob Boughner. Logan Couture also missed the game due to feeling "under the weather" but was not in COVID protocol.

Me looking at the #SJSharks lineup tonight pic.twitter.com/s8vXQoxad7

— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) October 31, 2021

With Couture and Dahlen out, the Sharks featured a top line of Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, and Alexander Barabanov. The new trio combined for a second-period goal scored by Hertl, while Meier scored the overtime winner for a two-point game. Hertl and Meier also took six shots each. Those two will be rostered in most leagues, but Barabanov could be worth taking a flier on if the other players' absences extend beyond this game.  

Brent Burns, who assisted on the overtime winner, also fired six shots and logged 29 minutes of icetime. He has averaged 26 minutes of icetime this season and could log even more if Karlsson remains in COVID protocol.

James Reimer has had an outstanding start to the season, posting quality starts in each of his three starts with a sparkling 1.13 GAA and .964 SV%. Reimer's numbers will eventually fall back down to earth, but he appears primed to challenge Adin Hill for starts in the San Jose net. He's also available in a high percentage of leagues, and the Sharks have three home games next week, so he's definitely an option if you need goaltending help. I'm not sure San Jose will continue winning at the pace that they have early on, though.

Speaking of COVID, Blake Wheeler was back in the lineup for the Jets. He did not record a point in 18 minutes of icetime.

Kyle Connor continued his hot run to start the season, scoring his seventh goal of the season in his eighth goal of the season. Connor has a six-game point streak in which he has scored 13 points, which makes him one of the hottest players in the league. Connor has also taken six shots in back-to-back games.

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Tanner Jeannot scored a pair of goals to help Nashville to a 3-2 shootout win over the Islanders. Jeannot currently leads the Predators with four goals and also has five points in his last six games. He's not on a scoring line, but he's providing plenty of value in bangers leagues at the moment because he's also averaging about two hits per game.

Eeli Tolvanen had a great chance to score the game-winner in overtime, but Ilya Sorokin slammed the door on that possibility. Tolvanen is now seven games without a point, but he at least took four shots in this game. I'd rather see him on the first power-play than the second power-play, especially on a team like Nashville that isn't overflowing with fantasy-relevant scoring options.

That Ilya Sorokin save though… 👀 pic.twitter.com/rPPvCcqtQQ

— NHL (@NHL) October 30, 2021

Nashville has the four-game week next week with a road trip through Western Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver) and then a stop in Chicago, so Tolvanen might be worth a stream if he's available. At this point, I'd probably look up Matt Duchene or Mikael Granlund first, as they are both receiving top-line minutes and first-unit power-play time. Granlund played a season-high 25:20 on Saturday, while Duchene logged 22:38.

For more information on planning your roster for the upcoming week, check out this week's Looking Ahead.

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Alex Iafallo scored twice and added an assist, leading the Kings to a 5-2 win over Montreal. That gives Iafallo seven points in eight games. One positive trend from Iafallo is that he is taking three shots per game, which is one shot higher than his average over the previous two seasons. Another positive trend is that his 63.1 CF% is near the top of the league. He's also not reaching these numbers with Anze Kopitar as his even-strength linemate, unlike last season. So Iafallo appears to be a solid player on his own accord.

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Petr Mrazek returned to the crease on Saturday, making 27 saves in the Leafs' 5-4 win over Detroit. I'd still expect Jack Campbell to receive the majority of the starts, but his workload should decline somewhat with Mrazek back.

John Tavares powered the Leafs with his first multipoint game of the season, scoring a goal and adding two assists and a plus-2 and three shots. He also won ten faceoffs, going 71% in the faceoff circle. Tavares was also playing on a new line with Alex Kerfoot and Mitch Marner. Kerfoot finished the game with an outstanding plus-4; Marner, a plus-3. Marner also scored his first goal of the season.

Joe Veleno was recalled in time for Saturday's game, hitching a ride with Steve Yzerman to Toronto. He had a noticeably strong game, scoring a goal and adding an assist with a plus-2 with three shots in 12 minutes of icetime. He also impressed with his dangle on the assist. For more on Veleno, see his Dobber Prospects profile.

We can't get enough of that Joe Veleno (@jveleno91) dangle.

📺: @Sportsnet 👉 https://t.co/MOb2vdglsN pic.twitter.com/GjEGHutXNv

— NHL (@NHL) October 31, 2021

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Gabriel Landeskog filled your stat categories like they were pillowcases full of candy on Halloween night. The Avalanche captain scored two goals, added two assists, was a plus-3, took a minor penalty, took four shots, and delivered two hits in the Avalanche's 4-1 win over Minnesota. After a slow start, Colorado now has back-to-back wins against divisional foes St. Louis and now Minnesota. Landeskog doesn't score nearly as often as his teammate Nathan MacKinnon, but he provides top-notch value in multicategory leagues.

Speaking of MacKinnon, this was quite the shift for him.

nathan mackinnon is a monster. poor brodin rip pic.twitter.com/w6sLVsvlbO

— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) October 31, 2021

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Jacob Markstrom posted his league-leading third shutout of the season on Saturday. He's a major reason that Calgary is red-hot right now (six wins in a row), as he's allowed just one goal over his past four games. Given the volatility of goalies, Markstrom seemed like a great value pickup well after pick 100 in fantasy drafts. I think that Markstrom needed a season to get used to his new surroundings in Calgary, and it was probably difficult for him with the COVID restrictions on top of that. Perhaps not mentioned enough is that Darryl Sutter's defensive system should help Marky as well. Even though the current numbers (1.33 GAA, .957 SV%) won't keep up, expect him to improve over last season, particularly the so-so .904 SV%.

Sean Monahan scored his first goal since April 23 of last season, which is a span of 14 games. The HNIC broadcast mentioned that he battled a painful hip injury last season, which would explain the significant dropoff since his point-per-game 2018-19 season. If he can show that he has put that injury behind him, he could be a valuable fantasy asset again. But Monahan has battled a series of injuries throughout his career, which at age 27 could all be catching up to him.

Another Flame who is hot is Monahan's onetime regular linemate Johnny Gaudreau, who has a seven-game point streak. Over that stretch, Monahan has 11 points. What's more impressive is that Sutter is his coach. Maybe it's not such a bad thing that Sutter is his coach.

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Elias Pettersson's slow start (9 GP, 1 G, 3 A) is probably the most frequent topic of conversation among Canucks fans right now. Pettersson appears to be out of sorts right now, kind of like in Space Jam when the monsters stole the basketball abilities away from the NBA stars. I think at least some of that has to do with the fact that Pettersson hasn't played a lot of hockey recently. Remember that his wrist injury ended his season in early March, then his contract wasn't agreed upon until late in training camp. Petey is a special player, but I think it's going to take a while for him to show what he is capable of. Be patient, or maybe even consider buying low.   

Connor McDavid's multiple-point streak to start the season was snapped, as he was held to "just" one assist on Saturday. Now he has only a seven-game point streak to start the season. Oh yeah, and he's fired 25 shots in the past three games, including back-to-back games of nine shots. The Oiler power play is pretty automatic right now, and the proof is that McDavid has a power-play point in all seven games this season.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins: the league leader in assists (10). Still no goals.

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A couple more quick hits:

Jordan Binnington posted his first shutout of the season, a 25-save effort against the still-winless Blackhawks. No doubt he was a little less frustrated than he was on Thursday.

The Florida Panthers are no longer undefeated, as they were handed a 3-2 shootout loss to the Bruins. The only undefeated team left is Carolina, who have what should be a relatively easy matchup with Arizona today.

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