The last Saturday before the Olympic break featured 14 games, so hopefully you were able to find a game or two to watch. Next Saturday will be completely dark for any NHL or Olympic hockey, so you may have to find some other things to do (aside from reading the Ramblings, of course).

Adrian Kempe scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner from Quinton Byfield in overtime in the Kings' 3-2 win over Philadelphia. Kempe has a six-game point streak with eight points over that span.

With two assists, Corey Perry has 13 points over his last 12 games. His fantasy value has been boosted by the fact that he has been on the Kings' top power play, with six of his 13 points coming with the man advantage. Even with Anze Kopitar (lower body) being activated from injured reserve for Saturday's game, Perry remained on the Kings' top power play, with Kopitar starting on the second unit. Rostered in just 7% of Yahoo leagues and 21% of Fantrax leagues, the ageless Perry is a great Sunday streamer for the Kings' matchup against the Hurricanes.

Drew Doughty finally made an appearance on the scoresheet! With a secondary assist on Byfield's overtime winner, Doughty broke a 14-game point drought. He appears to have lost a considerable amount of value this season, so it will be interesting to see if he is able to bring it during the Olympics for Canada.

Travis Konecny scored a goal and added an assist for the Flyers, giving him at least a goal and multiple points in three consecutive games.

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Nathan MacKinnon led the Avalanche with two goals and an assist in their 5-0 win over Detroit. Nate Dogg is the first player to crack the 40-goal mark and the second player to crack the 90-point mark, following Connor McDavid. MacKinnon was without a point in his previous two games and without a goal in his previous five games, which is about as much of a slump as we usually see from him.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 28 shots he faced to shutout the Red Wings. Blackwood entered this game with just one win and one quality start in his previous four games. After being nearly unstoppable for most of the season, the Avalanche have fallen back to earth a bit. The Avs entered Saturday's game with losses in six of their past eight games. That record has affected the recent goaltending numbers of Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood.

Martin Necas was announced as a scratch just before game time with a lower-body injury. He is considered day-to-day for now.

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One Ranger who could see an increase in value from the impending departure of Artemi Panarin is Alexis Lafreniere. In the Rangers' 6-5 loss to Pittsburgh, Lafreniere scored two goals and added an assist while taking four shots on goal.

The area in particular where Lafreniere could benefit is power-play time, as one of his goals was on the top power play. In each of the three games that Panarin has been out of the lineup, Lafreniere has played over 50% of the Rangers' available power-play minutes. Now age 24, Lafreniere probably won't meet the lofty expectations of being a onetime first overall pick. It might be premature to suggest it's now or never for him, as he is signed to a seven-year contract with a cap hit of over $7 million. Assuming the Rangers don't make any major offseason additions, Lafreniere should be leaned on even more than before, which could take his scoring to another level.

The subject of trade rumors (although not to the extent of Panarin), Vincent Trocheck scored a goal and added two assists. Trocheck entered this game without a goal in his last 10 games.

In the Penguins' win, Noel Acciari and Anthony Mantha each scored a pair of goals. Held to just 13 games last season while battling injuries for much of his career, Band-Aid Boy Mantha appears to be a candidate for comeback player of the year in already reaching the 40-point mark in just 53 games. He has been especially hot recently with five goals and five assists over his last six games.   

Kris Letang was a Band-Aid Boy at one time, but he has remained relatively healthy for the past few seasons. That is about to change, however, as Letang will miss at least four weeks with a foot injury.

After going 19 games without a goal, Ben Kindel now has goals in three consecutive games with 11 shots over that span. The inconsistency might be par for the course for an 18-year-old, but Kindel appears to have a very bright future given his 40-point pace in his rookie season.

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Victor Hedman practiced on Saturday and could return for the Stadium Series game against Boston today. This is a development to watch for those who are benefitting from Darren Raddysh's breakout. I could still see Raddysh keeping his spot on the top power play in order to ease Hedman back into the lineup and keep him fresh for the playoffs, but Raddysh's overall icetime could be reduced.

Since November 12 when Hedman has missed all but three games, Raddysh has averaged 24:23 per game. Prior to that, Raddysh was basically averaging third-pair minutes at 14:09 per game. I don't expect Raddysh to fall that far now that he has established himself as a major scoring threat, but I do expect some sort of impact.

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Linus Ullmark's return to game action from a leave of absence was a success. Ullmark stopped 26 of 27 shots in earning a 4-1 win over New Jersey. Ullmark had not played in just over a month, with the Senators struggling in net without him. Ullmark should receive the bulk of the starts going forward for Ottawa, with recently signed veteran James Reimer as his backup. Given the results of his return, Ullmark appears to be okay to start going forward in spite of some struggles this season. A lot of hockey fans are pulling for him.

Linus Ullmark gets the W in his first game back from his leave of absence, and was overcome with emotion as he was announced the 1st star of the game 🥹👏 pic.twitter.com/ZEAyXFSySW

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 1, 2026

Brady Tkachuk led the Senators with a power-play goal and two assists. Tkachuk is heating up with seven points over his last three games.

Thomas Chabot left this game for what was described as precautionary reasons.

Jack Hughes did not play for the Devils on Saturday due to a lower-body injury. Yep, another Hughes injury. At least he'll have the Olympic break… oh wait, he's playing for Team USA at the Olympics. No time to rest. Except maybe for the Devils' final two games before the break.

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William Nylander returned to the Leafs' lineup after missing two weeks with a groin injury (his finger seemed to be working fine during his absence, though). Nylander was held without a point but scored in the shootout and took five shots in just over 20 minutes of icetime in the Leafs' 3-2 shootout win in Vancouver.

Morgan Rielly exited this game with an upper-body injury. After the game, coach Craig Berube said he would need further evaluation.

How about some appreciation for Nikita Tolopilo. Playing in his third consecutive game and starting his second consecutive game, Tolopilo made 39 saves, including stopping Auston Matthews on a penalty shot in overtime. Tolopilo now has three consecutive quality starts, giving the Canucks another goaltending option. Tolopilo is a risky fantasy option with the Canucks trying to maintain the inside track on the best draft lottery odds, but it looks like he is in line for more starts. Kevin Lankinen had been struggling mightily recently with just one win and quality start (and two really bad starts) over his last five games.

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Cole Caufield continues to be Mr. Saturday Night. Caufield scored two goals and added an assist in the Canadiens' 4-2 win over Buffalo. Caufield has now scored 24 goals on Saturdays dating back to the start of last season. His 32 goals trails only MacKinnon and McDavid in that category. More recently, Caufield has been on fire with 11 goals in his last eight games. Barring an injury to another player, Caufield will also have the Olympic break to rest.

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In the Predators' 4-3 win over the Islanders, Filip Forsberg scored two goals. Forsberg now has at least one goal and four shots in back-to-back games.

Mathew Barzal led the Islanders with a goal and an assist. He has been hot recently with three goals and two assists over his last four games.

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In the Blues' 5-3 loss to Columbus, Jimmy Snuggerud and Jonatan Berggren each scored a goal and added an assist. Snuggerud has been hot recently with six points over his last four games.

The Blues also announced that Robert Thomas recently underwent a minor procedure on his leg. Thomas is expected to return after the Olympic break.

Rick Bowness is now 8-1-0 as the Blue Jackets' head coach.

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After a 12-game point drought, Jamie Benn now has points in back-to-back games. Sometimes the dam breaks open when the slump finally ends. The Stars' captain is on a one-year contract, so his status after this season is unknown. His scoring totals have declined over the past few seasons, so his days of being universally rostered in fantasy leagues have passed.

In Utah's 3-2 loss to Dallas, Kailer Yamamoto scored both Mammoth goals. Yamamoto now has two goals in back-to-back games. Yamamoto was on a line with JJ Peterka and Barrett Hayton in this game, which could result in some scoring. However, he does not receive any power-play time. He has also been a healthy scratch at times this season, but this recent run should keep him in the lineup at least in the short term.

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With a goal in Seattle's 3-2 win over Vegas, Jared McCann has goals in three consecutive games and seven points over that span. McCann has missed some time due to injury this season, but he is very close to reaching the point-per-game mark (29 PTS in 30 GP). He is still rostered in fewer than half of Yahoo leagues, likely dropped in some leagues due to injury.

With two assists, Chandler Stephenson has a four-game point streak with five points over that span.  

Fortunately, Jack Eichel was not injured on this “play.”

Jack Eichel attempted to jump on the bench and it didn't go well 😭🤣 pic.twitter.com/5CqqVTC19m

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) February 1, 2026

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Quinn Hughes scored a goal and added an assist in the Wild's 7-3 win over Edmonton. In an eight-game point streak, Hughes has 13 points. Since joining the Wild, Hughes has 29 points in 24 games compared to 23 points in 26 games with Vancouver. His fantasy value has improved with the trade, which was probably to be expected considering where both teams are in the standings.

Marcus Johansson was the only Wild forward to not record a point on Saturday.

Tristan Jarry was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals on 20 shots. Since being acquired by the Oilers, Jarry has a 3.59 GAA and a .872 SV% in 10 games. Maybe Stuart Skinner wasn't the problem, or not as much of a problem as thought. By comparison, Skinner has a 2.53 GAA and .895 SV% in 12 games with Pittsburgh. But more recently, Skinner has eight wins and seven quality starts over his last nine games with the Penguins, and that includes the five goals on 20 shots that he allowed over three periods on Saturday.

Just when I'm finally trusting Tristan Jarry in fantasy leagues, he gets traded to… Edmonton.

— Ian Gooding (@Ian_Gooding) December 12, 2025

Maybe I was kidding when I said this. But maybe I wasn't. Anyway, I've watched the Oilers play on back-to-back Saturday nights, and let's just say thank goodness they have such a high-powered offense. Jarry is worth starting for the empty calories of wins with poor ratios, if you can handle that.

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