It's been a fun week for your fantasy team, hasn't it? At least no games were postponed today (not including ones that were previously), although it's debatable as to whether certain games should have been played with undermanned rosters. Normally we try to help you dominate your week, but these uncertain times mean that it might be more about keeping your head above water this week.

With that in mind, I'll focus on teams that have been affected the most by COVID and what they looked like on Thursday. That means there's a bit of a different format to today's Ramblings.  

Boston

With numerous players in COVID protocol, most notably Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, the Bruins were down to 11 forwards against the Islanders. Not having their two leading point producers hurt the B's, as they were handed a 3-1 loss by the Islanders.

The player most hurt from the COVID absences might be David Pastrnak, and it's not coming at the right time. Pastrnak is now without a goal in his last seven games. The absences of Marchand and Bergeron meant that Pasta was on a line with Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle, who aren't exactly lighting it up either. Hall has no goals in his last 10 games, while Coyle has no points in his last four games. At least Pastrnak fired seven shots, so there was no lack of trying on his part.

With many much-lower-than-expected advanced stats, most notably a 7.0 SH% and 15.4 Sec Asst%, Pastrnak might be worth a buy-low offer. Just keep in mind that the slump may not end until Marchand and Bergeron are back.

Carolina

A taxi squad would have certainly helped the Hurricanes, who had the misfortune of being short two forwards on Thursday. Andrew Poturalski was the odd forward out, playing less than 10 minutes. With no Sebastian Aho or Andrei Svechnikov (among others), Martin Necas and Vincent Trocheck both logged more than 23 minutes. Trocheck scored an empty-net goal, while Necas finished with two assists.

Nino Niederreiter played on the Necas/Trocheck line, scoring two goals while taking five shots. After an iffy start, Niederreiter has been heating up lately with 11 points in his last 10 games. Assuming the COVID cases don't further escalate, the Canes play weekend games on Saturday and Sunday. Niederreiter (27% rostered in Yahoo) is worth adding if he happens to be available in your league.  

Colorado

Darcy Kuemper, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Andre Burakovsky, and J.T. Compher are all in COVID protocol. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Avalanche voted to play Nashville in spite of being given the option of not having to. When all was said and done, the Avs were down to 10 forwards but still deployed six defensemen. That meant Nathan MacKinnon logged 26 minutes of icetime, while Valeri Nichushkin nearly reached that mark (25:47).

Nichushkin has very quietly scored 10 goals and 16 points in just 18 games, including goals in back-to-back games. This goal and point pace is easily the best of his career, but many of his advanced stats (21.3 SH%, 13.7 5-on-5 SH%, 2.9 PTS/60) scream regression. Assuming the Avalanche don't get shut down soon because of increased COVID cases, Nichushkin is worth retaining anyway simply because of the recent spike in icetime and the fact he is on the MacKinnon line for the time being.

With both Makar and Toews out of the lineup, Samuel Girard was on the ice for over half the game, logging 31:46. Not surprisingly, he received first-unit power-play duties as well.

Pavel Francouz was summoned to make his first start since the 2019-20 season, making 30 saves while allowing four goals. The Avalanche might have a fraction of their usual lineup at the moment, but Francouz (20% rostered in Yahoo leagues) is a must-add. They still have lots of scoring, which should help Francouz earn the W's.

Edmonton

The Oilers roster hasn't been ravaged by COVID like other teams, but coach Dave Tippett is in COVID protocol. No coach, no problem, as they ended their six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Columbus.

Jesse Puljujarvi scored two power-play goals and added an assist to lead the Oilers to victory. Pool Party also fired a season-high eight shots.

Florida

An increasing number of cases this week resulted in the Panthers icing only 11 forwards and five defensemen. Spencer Knight was sent to the AHL to allow for the callups. Jonas Johansson, claimed on waivers this week, backed up Sergei Bobrovsky on Thursday.

Aaron Ekblad in COVID protocol meant that Mackenzie Weegar would stand to earn major minutes. That's exactly what happened because Weegar played over half the game (31:32), which included first-unit power-play time (finally!) Unfortunately, the Panthers could only score one goal, and Weegar wasn't in on it.

To give you an idea how depleted the Panthers defense is (no Radko Gudas, Gustav Forsling, or Brandon Montour either), Chase Priskie logged 25 minutes. That's an exceptional feat if you consider that Priskie was playing in just his second NHL game!

Los Angeles

The Kings were in better shape than their opponent (Florida), but they were without Drew Doughty, as he also entered COVID protocol. Sean Durzi played a season-high 23:09 while receiving first-unit power-play minutes. He's shown a bit of an offensive touch as well with six points in 10 games. The rookie might be worth a short-term add while Doughty is out of the lineup.

Anze Kopitar continues to produce at a point-per-game pace, but he has been having trouble hitting the twine lately. His goal on Thursday ended a 13-game goal drought.

Montreal

The big news from Montreal is the fact that they were the first team to return to no fans. But if you're a Habs fans, would you really want to pay money to watch them play this season? At least the fans watching at home were treated to a 3-2 shootout win, which was the Canadiens' first win in eight games.

Nashville

Pause the season until after Christmas ? This is ridiculous https://t.co/4Lyekdd906

— Nick Cousins (@Cous27) December 16, 2021

Shortly after that tweet, Nick Cousins was one of the Nashville players added to COVID protocol. At first, facing Colorado seemed to be a daunting task for Juuse Saros and the Predators. The Avalanche have scored at least three goals in each of their last nine games, winning seven of them. But then Colorado ran into their own COVID problems. In the end, despite the less-than-ideal 11 F/7 D arrangement, Nashville was able to earn a 5-2 win, extending their win streak to six games.

The Predators icetime leader was… Colton Sissons? With three assists and 25 minutes in icetime, Sissons had a game. The Preds were without both Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen up the middle, which meant that Sissons was elevated to a line with Filip Forsberg and Tanner Jeannot. Forsberg scored two goals and added an assist, so he was able to make it work with Sissons. After recording just seven points in his first 25 games, Sissons has five points over his last three games. The Preds play both today (Friday) and Sunday, so Sissons (2% rostered in Yahoo leagues) is worth short-term consideration in deeper leagues.

New Jersey

P.K. Subban and Jesper Boqvist missed Thursday's game, as they were in COVID protocol. As a result, Mason Geertsen entered the lineup. He played very little but went looking for a fight at the end of the game.

Rough stuff at the end of VGK/NJD. Robin Lehner gets thrown out pic.twitter.com/Cky0SSMEsQ

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 17, 2021

NY Islanders

The Isles faced their own COVID shutdown earlier this season, so they were in a better spot than their opponents from Boston. Semyon Varlamov finally found the win column and was nearly able to make that first win a shutout, but a Bruins goal with just under a minute to play spoiled the shutout bid. Finally showing his form from last year, Varlamov made 40 saves in the win.

Another Islander who broke a long slump was Anthony Beauvillier. After being a healthy scratch on Saturday, Beauvillier recorded his first point in 15 games and first goal in 16 games – a power-play marker. Beauvillier also fired four shots, which was his second consecutive game of reaching that shot total. His advanced stats are very low at the moment, in particular a 5.2 5-on-5 SH% and 25 Sec Asst%. At this point you could probably find Beauvillier on your waiver wire. Remember that he was a much better second-half player last season and has nowhere to go but up.

Vancouver

After the Canucks had multiple COVID positives this week, I really wondered if it was worth it for them to cross the border for one game in San Jose, considering possible US quarantine for further positive tests. Sure enough, the COVID situation didn't spread as quickly as it did last season. Thanks to a 5-2 win over the Sharks, the Canucks now have six wins in six games under new head coach Bruce Boudreau. Bruce there it is!

Fantasy Take: Green Out, Boudreau In for Van City

In 22 games under Travis Green this season, Brock Boeser scored a grand total of four goals. In six games under Boudreau, Boeser has already scored five goals, including a pair on Thursday. When he first took over, Boudreau reportedly had a chat with Boeser telling him he needed to shoot the puck more, and Boeser listened. Boeser has taken at least four shots in four of his last six games. Like many Canucks, Boeser is feeling it right now. Hopefully you didn't bail on Boeser when he was slumping.

Whether the coach is Green or Boudreau, J.T. Miller has been scoring all season (32 points in 31 games). He has at least a point in all six Boudreau-coached games, including a goal and two assists on Thursday.

Vegas

Shea Theodore was a scratch, but not because of COVID. It's like this Vegas beat writer took the words right out of my mouth!

Theodore was scratched because Pete DeBoer hates your fantasy team: source

— Justin Emerson (@J15Emerson) December 17, 2021

Robin Lehner earned his third consecutive win but has only one quality start in his last four games. As you saw with the video above, he was ejected from Thursday's game. His season ratios (3.05 GAA, .905 SV%, 43.5 QS%, -4.87 GSAA) are not where you'd think they should be.  

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Stay safe out there! For more fantasy hockey discussion, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding