In the second game of back-to-backs, the Rangers ended their five-game losing streak. Kaapo Kakko scored a power-play goal with only 24 seconds remaining to secure a 4-3 win over Montreal on Saturday.  

Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad each scored a goal and added an assist, both breaking mini-slumps in the process. Zibanejad finished with a Draisaitl Hat Trick (goal, assist, -1).

Chris Kreider returned to the Rangers' lineup after missing the past three games with an upper-body injury. Kreider did not register a point, so he has just one point over his past seven games.

In an attempt to break out of their recent funk, the Rangers made Reilly Smith a healthy scratch. Smith has just one point in his last five games and has not scored a goal in his last nine games.

Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki each contributed a goal and an assist for the Habs.

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Spencer Knight picked up his first shutout of the season, which was a 20-save effort against Carolina. The Panthers were playing the second of back-to-backs against the Hurricanes, having won both games while scoring six goals in each.

Aleksander Barkov scored a goal and added an assist, while Matthew Tkachuk picked up two assists. Jesper Boqvist and Tomas Nosek were the only Panthers forwards not to record at least one point in this game.

With one of the Panthers' other goals on Saturday, Sam Bennett now has goals in three consecutive games and a four-game point streak. Bennett is on easily his best point pace this season with 23 points in 24 games.

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Auston Matthews returned to the Leafs' lineup on Saturday from an upper-body injury, contributing two assists in their 5-3 win over Tampa Bay. He's still at just five goals in 14 games, but the goals should start to come. Matthews' shooting percentage has never been below 12% in a season, and it is currently at 8.6%. You might not receive many opportunities to buy low on Matthews, but this may be one.

With the Leafs' 5-3 win, Joseph Woll now has five consecutive wins, four of which are quality starts. Between Woll and Anthony Stolarz, the Leafs are getting solid goaltending.

Nick Robertson broke his 12-game point drought with a goal. He may be better off on another team, but perhaps the goal will help get his season back on track.

Chris Tanev scored his first goal as a Leaf and first since March 8. Tanev also added an assist for his first two-point game with the Blue and White. Only Rasmus Andersson has more blocked shots than Tanev (74) this season, so Tanev is continuing to do what he does best.

Nikita Kucherov missed Saturday's game due to what is believed to be a day-to-day injury. With Kucherov out, Anthony Cirelli was on the top power play. Gage Goncalves moved up to the top line with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel. Goncalves has posted solid AHL numbers for 2+ seasons but has yet to make any noise at the NHL level. If Kucherov misses more than Saturday's game, then Goncalves might be worth adding to your watch list.

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I'm just as surprised as you are that Adam Gaudette has 12 goals. But with just one assist, he's a prime candidate for the Cy Young award. No player has that many goals with that few assists.

With an assist against Ottawa, Jordan Spence registered his first point in 17 games. I thought he would benefit from Drew Doughty's extended injury, but that really hasn't been the case. Brandt Clarke certainly has, though, although his three-game point streak was snapped on Saturday. Doughty is believed to be targeting an early January return, as per Dennis Bernstein.

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The Avalanche and Predators swapped goalies on Saturday, with the Avs receiving Scott Wedgewood and the Preds receiving Justus Annunen. I wrote about the fantasy impact of the deal here.

Because of the timing of the goalie trade, Alexandar Georgiev had to start on consecutive nights. After allowing four goals on 23 shots to Dallas on Friday, Georgiev just met the threshold for a quality start in allowing three goals on 31 shots. Unfortunately, he took losses in both games. The Avalanche play back-to-backs again next weekend, so expect to see Wedgewood in the Colorado net by then.

Also because of the timing of the trade, Juuse Saros had to play back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, allowing three goals on 28 shots and losing in overtime in both. Saros has not picked up a win or quality start in his last four games. After winning 35 games last season, Saros is on pace for just 24 wins this season.

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David Jiricek, who had been rumored to be on the trade block, was moved to Minnesota on Saturday for Daemon Hunt and draft picks. I also wrote about this trade in a Fantasy Take here.

Something not covered in the Fantasy Take: Jared Spurgeon has logged more power-play time than Brock Faber over the past two games, including Saturday. I'm not sure if that means Spurgeon is now on PP1 for the Wild, but he has been bringing the offense recently. Spurgeon scored the overtime winner and added a power-play assist on Saturday, which followed his two-goal effort on Friday. Spurgeon is now 35 years old, but he is also the Wild captain and is under contract for two more seasons after this one. He will be part of a very strong right side that will include Faber and should eventually include Jiricek.  

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Recently acquired by the Penguins, Philip Tomasino now has goals in back-to-back games. He has also averaged 11 shots over those two games, making an impact. It's early, but perhaps a change of scenery will help. The Penguins could also use better secondary scoring, and he should help in that area.

Michael Bunting and Kris Letang each scored a goal with two assists in the Pens' 6-2 win over Calgary. Letang took eight shots in this game, while Bunting took six. The Penguins haven't had an enjoyable season, and both players have produced below expectations. Yet the Penguins have now won three games in a row, so perhaps things will start to turn around for both players.

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There are all kinds of Capitals that I could write about each time they play, so I have written about their main scorers multiple times by now. Today I'll focus on the defense, so please don't @ me if I missed your player. I have a maximum word count that I try to stick to. Plus writing about the same players eventually becomes tedious, and I like to mix things up a bit. Bringing this back to the Capitals, that's how effective they've been this season.

John Carlson assisted on three goals while taking five shots in their 6-5 win over Jersey. Carlson has now picked up five points over his last three games. His production has gradually slowed over the past few years, but he has rebounded a bit (19 PTS in 24 GP) with the Capitals' resurgence.

Jakob Chychrun scored a power-play goal, giving him seven points over his last four games. Chychrun also has power-play points in four consecutive games. His eight goals ties him for the league lead, and he's reached that total in fewer games than Zach Werenski and Cale Makar.

Rasmus Sandin is also finding reasons to be in your fantasy lineup. Sandin had a goal and an assist on Saturday, both of which were on the power play – his first two power-play points of the season. He's on a 40-point pace.

In summary, scoring from the defense might be a major reason for the Capitals' turnaround.

With Sandin and Chychrun scoring that period, the Capitals are now up to 16 goals from defensemen in 24 games this season. That's the most in the NHL. They got 20 goals from defensemen all of last season, which was 31st in the NHL.

— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) December 1, 2024

In a losing cause, Stefan Noesen scored two power-play goals. He's up to 13 goals overall, including six power-play goals, which is tied for third in the league. The Devils (and previous to that, the Hurricanes) have figured out that Noesen is an effective net-front presence on a power play. This would also explain why Timo Meier is the odd man out from the Devils' top power play.

Given his path as a late bloomer, I figured that Noesen was drafted in the later rounds or not at all. Until just now, I didn't realize he was actually a first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators (21^st overall) back in 2011.

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Ilya Sorokin picked up his first shutout of the season, stopping all 29 shots he faced from the Sabres. The win was just his second since November 5, however.

Simon Holmstrom has scored two goals on consecutive days with a plus-4 over that span. That's not helping many people besides myself in my deep salary cap league. I wrote more about Holmstrom yesterday.

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Flyers/Blues: I'll just leave it with this save from Jordan Binnington.

TAKE A BOW, JORDAN BINNINGTON!!! 🤯

WHAT. A. SAVE. pic.twitter.com/1e3EyTdT8j

— NHL (@NHL) December 1, 2024

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In his first game with Utah, Jaxson Stauber stopped all 29 shots he faced in a 6-0 blanking of the Vegas Golden Knights. The shutout is also the first in Utah Hockey Club history. Connor Ingram is not yet ready to return, which resulted in Stauber making a start. Perhaps Stauber will be able to build on the shutout in some way.

Nick Schmaltz led the Hockey Clubbers with two goals, which happened to be his first two goals of the season! Schmaltz had played in 23 games without scoring a goal, but he also has a team-leading 17 assists. Schmaltz had been trying hard to get that first goal with five shots on Friday and then another five shots on Saturday.  

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A few fringe Oilers have been benefitting from recent line deployment.

On Leon Draisaitl's line, Vasily Podkolzin has now scored a goal in three consecutive games and has five points in his last five games. Podkolzin's season point total still isn't all that high, but at 23 years of age, he could still be considered a work in progress.

On Connor McDavid's line, Kasperi Kapanen scored his first goal as an Oiler on Saturday. Kapanen has two points and 10 hits in four games as an Oiler.

With Zach Hyman out, Corey Perry is making a cameo on the top power play. Perry is still on the fourth line at even strength, so don't expect him to channel the Perry of old offensively.

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Is Nathan MacKinnon in a slump? He has just one point in his last four games and no goals in his last 10 games. Consider this a speed bump, as MacKinnon has fired 22 shots over his last three games. Yes, call it a slump, but he'll be fine.

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Break up the Sharks! They've just won back-to-back games against Seattle. In addition, they're red hot with 18 goals over their last three games.

The Jake Walman train keeps on rolling. With another two assists, Walman has seven points in his last five games and 19 points in 22 games (tied for sixth among all defensemen). He also logged 26 minutes of icetime on Saturday. Seems like he is doing it all for the Sharks.

Moving to the Sharks has revived Mikael Granlund's career. Granlund also added two assists on Saturday, which gives him 10 points in his last seven games. Granlund is taking nearly three shots per game, which is a career high for him and why his point-per-game pace (28 PTS in 25 GP) isn't completely unsustainable.

Vince Dunn returned to the Seattle lineup on Saturday after missing more than a month with an upper-body injury. Dunn was held without a point in 26 minutes of icetime, so the Kraken didn't exactly ease him back in. As well, he and Brandon Montour were both on the top power play. Sure, why not use two d-men on your top power play, especially when you don't have a ton of standout forwards. Get Dunn back into your lineup.

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