Posted by Sean Allen, special to ESPN.com
Congrats to Mike Modano for being the all-time American points leader in the NHL, with two goals in the first five minutes. Marty Turco was the hero though, stopping 38 shots to preserve the win. Evgeni Nabokov, by comparison, stopped just nine of 12 shots.
The Sharks did have a goal waved off that shouldn't have been, and it was put into the net by someone you need to be aware of in fantasy: Sandis Ozolinsh. That's right, the Ozo is back. After serving a suspension under the league's substance abuse policy, Ozolinsh (who has been working out with the Sharks since before the season) signed on and is in the lineup. Not just "in the lineup" either, Ozolinsh led all Sharks in ice time Wednesday. If you need help on defense, take a chance on the former fantasy darling.
The hot goalie did not pay dividends for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Recent fantasy darling Dany Sabourin showed us a version closer to his true colors, allowing three goals on 20 shots versus Philadelphia. The loss, more than anything else, means we get to see Marc-Andre Fleury take his first step towards getting his full-time job back. Fleury should be in net against an offensively inept Rangers team Thursday night and should give us (and Michel Therrien) a reason to believe in him. Don't even think about cutting your losses with him just yet.
Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby certainly appear as though they will be linemates all season long. They have been playing both even strength and on the power play together. The obvious reaction to them sticking together is that it devalues everyone else on the Penguins. The way things are right now only Ryan Malone (even-strength winger) and Petr Sykora (power-play winger) have significant value among the Pittsburgh forward crop, because they get time with the Crosby-Malkin connection.
Ryan Whitney missed yet another game with groin troubles, but he is expected to be in the lineup Thursday in New York.
The most impressive goal in the Battle of Pennsylvania belonged to Mike Richards. On a two-on-one break, Richards elected to shoot and promptly dangled the puck and roofed it past Sabourin. A bit of a line shuffle saw Richards play most of the night as the centreman between Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble. The combination seemed to work and makes me just as happy as when Gagne was working with Daniel Briere (who, incidentally, skated with R.J. Umberger and Joffrey Lupul).
Lupul continues to look like a new man. The Edmonton castoff is actually leading the Flyers in hits this season, while collecting 12 points to date. He's getting prime ice time and should continue putting up great numbers.
In Buffalo, the Sabres and Bruins didn't impact the score sheet too much. Buffalo has scored only seven goals in their past four games; a fact that highlights their seemingly weak offense this season. Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Maxim Afinogenov should shoulder much of the blame. The line has been broken up after being ineffective earlier this season. It doesn't help that Tim Connolly has been out with a sprained abdomen, but that is no excuse for these other guys. I'd re-assess where you stand on your Sabres. Vanek and Afinogenov were drafted the highest, and I'm more than willing to roll back expectations right now. As we warned in the offseason, Vanek is having a hard time repeating his league leading plus/minus now that he draws the best checkers from his opponent. I think we'll see a little less than a point per game and a negative rating for Vanek at the end of the season. Afinogenov certainly doesn't look like the explosive player he was last season. I wouldn't be dropping him, but I wouldn't be shopping for him either.
Clarke Macarthur was the lone bright spot for the Sabres, scoring the overtime winner in his first game of the season. It was assisted by a familiar linemate from the AHL last season, Drew Stafford. These players are where you will find your fantasy value in Buffalo but you need to be in a pretty darn deep league to take advantage of it.
Sleeper-turned-dud Michel Ouellet becomes an interesting fantasy add again. Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella juggled his lines for the Lightning's state/division rival game against Florida, and he ended up going with the combinations that were expected to start the season. Vincent Lecavalier, Vaclav Prospal and Martin St. Louis stayed together while Ouellet moved up from the toils of the third line to skate with Brad Richards and Jan Hlavac. The move didn't pay off with any stats Wednesday, but I'd go ahead and pick Ouellet back up in super-competitive leagues.
You want me to be impressed with Chris Mason's 43-save performance, don't you? Well, I'm not so much impressed. Saving 43 of 45 and still not notching a win doesn't exactly put a grin on fantasy owners. Besides, who wants a goaltender that is going to be peppered with 45 shots in a single game? Yes, I'm going to continue with my Mason hating. Detroit likes to fire a lot of shots from the perimeter and a lot of Mason's saves were pretty textbook. He didn't stop either shootout attempt he faced, resulting in the loss.
Jiri Hudler is becoming somewhat of a power-play specialist. The sophomore winger played 5:49 on even strength, and 5:17 on the power play. The end result (one goal, one assist, two power-play points) is not something to argue with in fantasy. If anything, Hudler is useful now, and the scoring hints at great things to come when he learns to play two-way hockey well enough for coach Mike Babcock.
We expected Tuomo Ruutu to be a terrific fantasy player for deep leagues. Someone you could draft late who was really going to exceed expectations in Chicago. Ruutu's linemates have been just so good, they have made him shallow league material. Those linemates, rookie Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, are actually starting to scare me. When Martin Havlat comes back, the Blackhawks are going to be even more explosive on offense. Ruutu and Toews each had a couple points as the Hawks unloaded on Columbus' goaltender Fredrik Norrena for five goals.
He's probably going to see his ice time reduced with the return of Havlat, but another member of the legendary London Knight's Memorial Cup team is playing big minutes right now. David Bolland had more than 16 minutes of ice time and registered an assist in Wednesday's game. Patrick Sharp (who scored his sixth goal of the season) and Rene Bourque (who had two assists) played much of the game as his wingers. He's a great set-up man and one to own in keeper leagues, as this Hawks offense looks to be terrific for the foreseeable future.
The most important thing for the Edmonton Oilers should be the fact that they scored on the power play. The Oil entered Wednesday's game with Colorado 4-for-60 with the man advantage. Although they exited the game only 5-for-64, it's the momentum that counts.
Andrew Cogliano's pass to Kyle Brodziak on Edmonton's first goal of the game is notable. Cogliano slid the puck around a diving defender and backhanded it through the crease. All Brodziak had to do was be there. Cogliano may offer more fantasy value if coach Craig MacTavish ever decides on a line shuffle to his benefit. For now, he isn't much use in regular-sized leagues.
Set-up man extraordinaire Robert Nilsson was attached at the hip with Oilers points-leader Shawn Horcoff. Although Nilsson's measly two assists don't show it, he has been making an impact this season and if he continues to play with Horcoff and Dustin Penner, the assists will come in bushels.
Peter Budaj had a rough first period in goal for Colorado, but settled down and notched the win with a solid performance in the shootout. I'd still say Jose Theodore and Budaj are in a fight for the starting role; the announcers were discussing whether the Avalanche would pull Budaj for Theodore to start the second period.
That sound you heard late last night that resembled shattering glass was Coyotes rookie Peter Mueller busting onto the scene. Pegged by myself and many others as the guy who needs to lead this Phoenix team, Mueller woke up and scored his second, third and fourth goals of the season against an increasingly sieve-like Anaheim team. By partway through the second period, Mueller was entrenched on a line with Shane Doan and Steve Reinprecht; a combination that deserves to be watched. Mueller has great amounts of potential if he clicks with a top line in the desert, the hat trick may be a sign that he has found his place. A precautionary add to your medium or deep league team is in order.
In net for Anaheim in the see-saw battle, Ilya Bryzgalov was pulled for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, but neither goalie looked like they knew what they were doing. The Ducks sure could use a strong skating, defenseman who can help move the puck out of their end faster. Someone like Scott Niedermayer would be perfect. If you own either goaltender, just pretend this night didn't happen.
Andy McDonald centered Drew Miller and Todd Marchant for the night (Teemu, where are you?). But both Marchant and Miller scored, and are worth looking into in deeper leagues. The line of Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry is the one to own though.
Sean Allen is a fantasy baseball and hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can Email him here.
