The Chicago Blackhawks fired head coach Luke Richardson on Thursday, replacing him with Anders Sorensen as interim coach for the remainder of the season. Expected to improve at least slightly this season, the Blackhawks currently hold both the league's lowest point total (18) and the league's lowest winning percentage (.346) with an 8-16-2 record.

The initial thought is that a coaching change has to help Connor Bedard, who has often looked frustrated this season. Bedard has been a better all-around player this season, but that has perhaps come at the expense of his scoring. Bedard has just five goals (and 14 assists) in 26 games, and we all know he has the potential for a lot more. New coaches can have positive short-term effects on certain players, as I’ll discuss with another team later.

On the other hand, the Blackhawks as constructed simply lack the high-end talent needed to compete for a playoff spot, no matter who the coach is. Bringing in Teuvo Teravainen and Tyler Bertuzzi was supposed to help, but both players have only two even-strength goals each in 26 games. Richardson had opted not to stick Bedard with Teravainen or Bertuzzi for extended minutes at 5-on-5, instead frequently rotating linemates in an attempt to find something that will click. At the rate the Blackhawks are going, the Dobber fourth-year breakout theory might have to apply to Bedard. He may even need more time than that to show his true upside if he can’t be surrounded by players closer to his caliber.

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Thatcher Demko appears to be getting close to making his season debut, telling reporters that he might be able to serve as a backup goalie sometime within the Canucks' next three games. Because of the unknown nature of the type of knee injury Demko has (ever heard of the popliteus muscle?) expect him to be eased in once he is ready. With Kevin Lankinen playing as well as he has, Demko might be in a timeshare situation for the rest of the season so he isn't overworked and risks re-injury.

Thatcher Demko sure looks ready to go to me. pic.twitter.com/MsTugaoqmD

— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) December 5, 2024

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Patrick Kane returned to the Red Wings lineup on Thursday, although he was held without a point in 15:36 of icetime. He is without a point in his last six games and has just two points in his last 10 games. The Wings as a team have struggled to score this season, so don't expect the Kane of old. Kane also has just three goals in 20 games.

Josh Norris scored both Senators goals in their 2-1 win over Detroit. Norris entered this game with just one point in his last four games.

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Fresh off being named as one of Canada's three goalies for the Four Nations, Sam Montembeault picked up a 29-save shutout of Nashville. Montembeault has now picked up wins and quality starts in back-to-back games after a stretch where he had a 4-10-2 record. The struggles in Montreal certainly aren't all on Montembeault, but I wonder why Montembeault was picked over Logan Thompson, who is having a much better season. It may not matter if Canada turns to Jordan Binnington and Adin Hill during the tournament.

Patrik Laine has now scored goals in back-to-back games since his return from a knee injury. Both of Laine's goals have been on the power play, where he is on the Canadiens' top unit. So far, he has been worth the wait for Habs fans, who haven't had much to cheer about this season. If Laine is somehow still available in your league (51% Yahoo), he's worth taking a chance on in the event that he can remain in the lineup and find his old form. That being said, he has missed a LOT of games dating back to 2019-20, so consider him a major injury risk. It goes without saying that he is a Band-Aid Boy.

Lane Hutson: still zero goals. But he has assists in each of his last five games.

Ryan O'Reilly missed Thursday's game, as he is now out week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Things aren't getting any better for Nashville.

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After three consecutive wins and a bunch of goals, the rebuilding Sharks turned back into the rebuilding Sharks on Thursday. The Lightning scored five goals on Vitek Vanecek before cruising to an 8-1 win. Thursday was the second time in five games that the Bolts have scored five goals in the first period of a game. Vanecek was pulled for Mackenzie Blackwood after the first period.

Brayden Point led the Lightning with four points – all assists. Point has piled up nine points over his last five games.  

Brandon Hagel has been heating up at the right time to be selected for Team Canada at the Four Nations. With two goals just 23 seconds apart on Thursday, Hagel has 14 points over his last seven games. He also logged 28:45 last Saturday – extremely high for a forward – and regularly plays at least 20 minutes per game. Hagel's and Anthony Cirelli's selections might look debatable given some of the bigger names that were left off, but both are key penalty killers for the Lightning and could also serve in that important role for Canada. Hagel is also scoring at a point-per-game pace for the first time in his career.

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While Tampa Bay scored eight times on Thursday, their cross-state rivals scored seven goals of their own. Matthew Tkachuk scored a goal and four assists, giving him an absurd nine points over his last two games. Tkachuk also has 11 shots over those two games.

Sam Reinhart scored a power-play game-winner with 1:59 left in regulation along with two assists. Reinhart's 19 goals leads the league. He's showing no signs of slowing down in the goal department.

In a losing cause, Owen Tippett scored a pair of goals, giving him goals in back-to-back games. Tippett's scoring has fallen compared to recent seasons, so dropping him in a pure scoring league isn't out of the question. His hits and shots totals mean that he should be retained in multicategory leagues, though.

Matvei Michkov contributed three assists, extending his lead in the rookie scoring race to 22 points in 24 games. The upcoming Frozen Tools Forensics will review Michkov and the other top rookies.

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Thursday provided more big one-game point totals from teams that used to play in the Southeast Division. Andrei Svechnikov scored a goal and added three assists in the Hurricanes' 5-3 win over Colorado. Svechnikov entered this game without a point in his previous four games, so the production should be welcomed by fantasy teams.

Valeri Nichushkin scored a pair of goals for the Avalanche. Since his return, Nichushkin has five goals and eight points in 10 games, so he is picking right up where he left off.

Expecting career backup Scott Wedgewood to be the savior in net for the Avalanche is a reach. In his first start with his new team, Wedgewood stopped 30 of 34 shots. Colorado has allowed an average of 3.78 goals per game, which is tied with Pittsburgh for worst in the league. Even though they are considered a Stanley Cup contender, the Avalanche currently hold a minus-13 goal differential.

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Vince Dunn scored a goal and added two assists in the Kraken's 5-2 win over the Islanders. Dunn has four points in the three games since he has returned to the Seattle lineup, and he has been getting the power-play icetime edge over Brandon Montour over the last two games. Dunn also has seven points in seven games. Make sure he's back in your lineup.

Despite the recently loss in power-play time, Montour added a power-play assist on Thursday. That gives him seven points over his last eight games.

Dunn's defense partner Adam Larsson chipped in three assists, smashing a (looks down) 21-game point drought! Larsson is more of the defensive conscience of this pair, although he reached 33 points in his second season with the Kraken – the season where the team had its most success.

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Colton Parayko celebrated his addition to Team Canada with an overtime winner. But should it have counted? I didn't think there was enough evidence to overturn the goal call, but many disagreed.

SING THE BLUES! 🎵

Parayko crashes the net to deliver the @SUBWAYCanada OT winner in Calgary! pic.twitter.com/3FY7UEv9su

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 6, 2024

Robert Thomas led the way with a goal, two assists, and 17 faceoff wins. Thomas now has three goals and six points in his last four games. The faceoff win total led all skaters on Thursday, as did the total faceoff total (28). Thomas is valuable in leagues that count faceoffs, as his 57.6% faceoff win percentage is the highest of his career and has improved for four consecutive seasons. That's smooth.

Dylan Holloway assisted on the overtime winner. Holloway might be playing the best hockey of his NHL career right now with eight points in his last five games. That coincides with the hiring of Jim Montgomery, who has led the Blues to a 4-0-1 record since taking over. Holloway is worth adding in deeper to mid-sized leagues, although the lack of power-play time means that he can probably be ignored in shallower formats.

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Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl each scored twice, while Connor McDavid assisted four times in the Oilers' 6-3 win over Columbus. Hyman returned to the lineup on Thursday after missing the past five games with an undisclosed issue. He hasn't had the same level of success that he did last season, as the two goals on Thursday were just his fourth and fifth of the season while he is scoring at a 40-point pace. That being said, he has an opportunity to be a buy-low candidate with his shooting percentage below 10% and zero secondary assists. He will need to up his shot total, though, as he is down a shot per game from last season (3.6 SOG/GP to 2.6 SOG/GP).    

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