Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft, ESPN.com
They're ba-ack.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, off to a "slow" start, at least by their standards, are apparently up to their old tricks, dominating the score sheet and perhaps getting the Penguins out of their 6-5 "funk." The first and third stars of Tuesday's game, Crosby a goal and three assists, Malkin two goals and an assist, bringing their season totals to five goals and 17 points, and five goals and 16 points, respectively, in 11 games.
Suffice to say, um, these guys are pretty good.
But it's the rest of the Penguins team that bears noting when the going gets good with these guys. Great offense creates great fantasy options, bringing former fringe guys into prominence, and it certainly seems that's happening again this year in Pittsburgh.
Take Ryan Malone, for instance. Could anyone ask for a better line assignment than being plopped on the first unit with Crosby and Malkin? That's fantasy gold, and it led to two assists and a plus-3 rating on Tuesday, making the fourth-year player far more relevant than his 4.7-percent ESPN ownership suggests. Sure, Malone has been wildly streaky, and occasionally defensively inept, in the past but with all the opportunities he might be provided in the coming weeks, it's well worth at least stashing him now as a wait-and-see move. I'm all in favor of mixing and matching with your back-end starting spots, and guys in the midst of hot streaks on loaded offenses are usually good bets for that.
The other name of relevance, and probably one you know: Petr Sykora. He scored another goal Tuesday, his second straight game lighting the lamp, and now has six goals and 10 points in his first 11 games for the Penguins. So much for Sykora being hurt by no longer skating alongside Crosby at even strength; the bottom line is that he's still an integral part of the first power-play unit, and, oh, by the way, Crosby's on that one. If Sykora, still a "kid" at age 30, doesn't crack the 30-goal, 80-point plateau, I'll be pretty shocked. After all, he was a 35-goal, 81-point performer for the Devils in 2000-01, and I'd call this year's Penguins a deeper offense than that Devils team, which was built more around defense. ...
Chris Mason really needs an extended trip to the bench. He has been that bad. He's in the midst of a dreadful seven-game losing streak, and his goals-against average has ballooned to 3.89 after he served up five goals on 33 shots to the Flames. Backup Dan Ellis, by comparison, has back-to-back wins and a 1.89 GAA, so expect him to get the next start between the pipes. Ellis is now a must-have handcuff for Mason owners -- something that's rarely advised in fantasy hockey -- but one has to wonder whether the Predators might consider making a deal (Ilya Bryzgalov? Martin Gerber?). ...
Sticking with that Predators game, "wonderkid" Alexander Radulov has been a bit disappointing -- at least in my mind -- but he did score the team's only goal Tuesday night, a power-play tally. There was quite a bit of buzz surrounding the sophomore heading into the season, with many calling for at least a 30-goal, 80-point breakout performance. Right now, he's on pace for 15 and 52, but I'd stay the course nonetheless. Mason's slow start, and perhaps the team's offensive losses during the summer, have to be having an impact on Radulov's adjustments, but he's far too talented not to come around. ...
Mike Keenan's offensive-minded approach sure seems to be paying off for the Flames, with Kristian Huselius, Jarome Iginla and Daymond Langkow all on pace for at least 48 goals and 82 points, and Alex Tanguay on track for 103 points. Of greater note Tuesday, though, was Miikka Kiprusoff's 39-save performance to win. That came only a day after he signed his multi-year contract extension, and it helps ease some of his owners' worries that Keenan's system was hurting his chances at elite fantasy numbers. ...
Dominik Hasek apparently didn't wait until late in the season to battle injury problems this year, though he did skate Tuesday and reported no problems with his groin. Still, one must wonder how the Red Wings can hand him back the starting role considering how well Chris Osgood has played in his absence. Osgood notched his sixth consecutive win, including victories in each of the team's past three games, on Tuesday, and he now has a 1.50 GAA and .931 save percentage on the season. Hasek, by comparison, has 2.68/.877 numbers. Hasek will almost assuredly reclaim the bulk of the playing time in net once healthy, but Osgood is going to be a factor. He's perhaps the best backup to own in fantasy hockey, a player who should get a handful of starts to keep Hasek fresh, and a virtual guarantee to sneak in at least 30-35 games considering Hasek's injury history. ...
Great stat: Brad Boyes netted his ninth goal of the season on Tuesday, in 10 games in October. Before this, he had never managed better than eight goals in any month of his career. Not bad for one of the year's biggest breakouts thus far!
Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
