Josh Norris scored two of the Buffalo Sabres' goals in their 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday. This is a welcome sign for those still hanging on to Norris, who entered this game without a point in his previous six games. Norris' production has plummeted this season, as he improves to just five points in 16 games with the two-goal effort. Norris has averaged just 14 minutes of icetime this season, including averaging only 11 minutes over his last three games. With plenty of young scoring talent in Buffalo, Norris may be falling through the cracks.

Owen Power finished this game with three assists. Although he entered this game without a point in his previous three games, Power's overall scoring is way up this season with 14 points in 16 games – all of those points being at even strength. Although Power likely won't see the top power play with Rasmus Dahlin around, a major reason for the scoring spike is an increase in icetime of nearly five minutes. Power averaged 21:39 last season, but he is up to 26:14 this season. No one on the Sabres is averaging that much icetime – not even Dahlin.

Jack Quinn is not slowing down. Quinn scored his ninth goal of the season and added an assist, giving him 16 points in 16 games. He is benefitting from additional icetime of nearly three and a half minutes per game, some of which is the difference in power-play time between the first and second unit. A 20.5 SH% should mean that the goal pace slows down, but Quinn is also making the most of the additional icetime by averaging half a shot per game more than he did last season. Maybe Quinn doesn't finish with a point per game because that is hard to sustain over a full season, but exceeding his career high of 51 points set last season seems like a definite possibility.

Kent Johnson was in on both Blue Jackets' goals, finishing with a goal and an assist. Johnson is now up to eight goals and 16 points in 15 games, and he is currently riding a seven-game point streak that includes 11 points. Johnson also led the Jackets with five shots in this game, increasing his average to 2.3 SOG/GP. Like Quinn, Johnson will probably score goals with less frequency going forward, as he is riding a 23.5 SH%. However, he can probably be rostered in more than 21% of Yahoo leagues. Just six points shy of his total all of last season, the dynamic Johnson is in the running for fantasy hockey player to rebound.

Matthew Knies produced an assist in this game. However, Knies hasn't scored a goal since opening night, which is a span of 14 games.

Adam Fantilli has been held without a point in five games and has just six points in 15 games. Despite that, Fantilli is averaging three shots per game, over 20 minutes per game, and nearly 60% of his faceoff wins. Missing much of training camp while he waited for a contract may be an underlying reason for the lack of scoring. Yet his underlying numbers, which include being one of the few Columbus players with a positive CF%, mean that you should probably be patient.  

Sean Monahan left Friday's game with an upper-body injury.

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After a slow start, Cutter Gauthier is scoring goals like no one else. Gauthier's two goals over his first 11 games raised cause for concern, especially since he scored 41 goals last season. Since then, Gauthier has fired 10 goals over his last five games, including the game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Gauthier recorded back-to-back hat tricks earlier this week. That's why you need to stay patient with these guys.

On a side note: One of my fantasy teams has seven goals this week. Five of those goals have been scored by Gauthier. Without him, I'd be in big trouble in that category this week.

The Anaheim Ducks can almost score at will, emerging as a top-5 offense with 3.76 GF/GP. Much of that has to do with a potent power play (36.1%, 2^nd in NHL). The Ducks added another power-play goal on Friday, this one from Leo Carlsson. With that goal, Carlsson is second in the league with 17 power-play points, only one behind Connor McDavid. With 26 points in just 17 games, could Carlsson actually earn his $18 million per season?

Tristan Luneau is also benefitting from the Ducks' offensive explosion, scoring a goal on Friday to extend his point streak to seven games. Over that span, Luneau has accumulated 10 points. Prior to that, Luneau had recorded just two points over his first 10 games. The 22-year-old Luneau's QMJHL and AHL numbers show some offense, and his recent long-term contract demonstrates that the Ducks are committed to him. Luneau looks like he will become a solid NHL defenseman with at least some fantasy value.

The flipside to all the offense is that the Ducks are a mess defensively, allowing an equivalent 3.76 GA/GP. (If you want a laugh, look up Vancouver's number.) Lukas Dostal was pulled on Friday after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Dostal had sat for the previous four games, and you can see why after the third goal he allowed to the Calgary Flames. This goal looks like what happens when the video game controller freezes. Something may not be right, although Dostal is not listed as injured. All three Ducks goalies (Dostal, Ville Husso, Laurent Brossoit) have poor numbers this season.

Some of the Flames' hot hands from a week ago have cooled off. Matt Coronato and Matvei Gridin have each been held without a point in their last four games.

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The San Jose Sharks were supposed to be right there with the Ducks in terms of up-and-coming offenses. Yet the Sharks sit in the bottom-5 of the league's total offenses with just 2.5 GF/GP. That wasn't supposed to be the plan! The Sharks have slid further recently, scoring just eight goals over their last six games. Included in that was a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday.

Macklin Celebrini scored the Sharks' only goal, giving him goals in back-to-back games along with 11 total shots over that span. He is doing his thing with 18 points in 16 games, so he's the one Shark that you don't have to worry about. The Sharks could still be another year or two from being dominant offensively, with its core players (Celebrini, Will Smith, Ivar Stenberg, Michael Misa, am I missing anyone?) ranging between 19 to 21 years of age.

The Wild are having no problem scoring right now – in particular Kirill Kaprizov. With another goal on Friday, Kirill the Thrill now leads the league with 16 goals in just 18 games. Kaprizov assisted on the three other Minnesota goals to give him 30 points in just 18 games. Only the Oilers' twin towers of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have more points this season.

Quinn Hughes contributed a goal and two assists, giving him 12 points over his last seven games. Only Evan Bouchard has more points among defensemen than Hughes (25). Will he still be with the Wild after this season, or will he join his brothers in New Jersey? Don't expect the rumor mill to affect his play.

Maxim Shabanov scored a power-play goal, giving him four goals over his last six games. The 5-9, 167 lb. Shabanov has been added to the Wild's top power play, scoring eight of his 11 points this season on the man advantage. He's worth adding in leagues that reward power-play points in some way (6% Yahoo/40% Fantrax). Two areas of concern, though: 1) His shooting percentage currently sits at 24%, which could decline, and 2) He will lose considerable value if the Wild go in a different direction on the top power play. For now, the undrafted KHL free agent seems to be the low-cost Mats Zuccarello replacement on the power play.

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In case you missed it, Dobber announced earlier this week on his various socials that his cancer has returned.

As unfortunate as this news is and as much as a setback this is for Dobber, I am confident that he will take cancer down again. Let's all send a prayer, positive vibes, or whatever preferred form of best wishes that we can. I also send my support to his wife Hemwanti, who I worked with while he was in the worst part of his second battle, as well as his two daughters. Dobber has shared details of his recent diagnosis in his personal blog Dobber's Take. I think he has studied cancer research and analytics to the point where he could earn a medical degree!

As mentioned in the message, I'll be steering the ship on the Midseason Guide. It's the least I can do to help Dobber out. The good news is that I've taken the lead on this particular guide three times already, so I know what to expect and can rely on previous notes, files, and emails. In addition, I'll have a great team to work with, along with the asset of time. Two months is plenty of runway to build this, as long as I stay on top of things. You can do the math on a release date, but I'll announce it in short order.

We believe this year's Midseason Guide will be an important tool for your fantasy playoff push – just as it has been in past seasons.  

And of course, F*** Cancer.

“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley

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Data was taken from Frozen Tools and NHL.com unless otherwise noted.

Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social