Posted by Victoria Matiash, special to ESPN.com
The Blackhawks continue to place mild speed bumps on Detroit's route to Western Conference domination. Of the Red Wings' four losses this season, three of them have come at the hands of Chicago (Anaheim is responsible for the fourth). In Sunday night's victory, Yanic Perreault scored his second goal in as many games. Perreault is getting some time on the power play and is skating with more confidence, but there's too much firepower from others on this squad to consider him a regular scoring threat. Speaking of which, Jonathan Toews netted the winner with the man advantage, and Patrick Kane scored a power-play goal and added an assist. Robert Lang and Jason Williams contributed two assists each. The 'Hawks offense is clicking; it's going to be interesting to see what they can do when Martin Havlat returns this week.
Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 30-of-32 shots and put in an above-average performance between the pipes. Despite Patrick Lalime's stellar play of late, Khabibulin clearly remains Chicago's No. 1. On defense, Dustin Byfuglien is commanding some fantasy consideration. He's getting loads of time on the power play and already has a couple of points in only five games.
Jiri Hudler had the best night for Detroit with a goal and an assist. Nicklas Lidstrom potted the other goal while Henrik Zetterberg contributed a helper to run his scoring streak to 17 consecutive games. Chris Osgood played competently and blocked 24-of-27 shots. He didn't have the slightest chance to stop two of them and can't be blamed for the loss.
The night belonged to Paul Stastny in Colorado. The sophomore scored two goals, including the winner, in the Avalanche's victory over Minnesota. He also earned an assist on Wojtek Wolski's empty-netter to reach the 100-point mark in 99 career games. Stastny and Wolski are playing a ton together, and real chemistry seems evident. Wolski stands to benefit more from this relationship, since Stastny is productive skating with just about anyone. On the blue line, Kyle Cumiskey is garnering some attention. The Avalanche seem really high on the 20-year-old. He has only a single point in nine games, but he's getting more ice time and opportunities with the man advantage. If you're struggling on defense in a deep league, keep an eye on this kid.
With Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik still absent with nagging groin issues, the best news for Minnesota these days lies with their power play. Both Eric Belanger and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored on Peter Budaj with the extra skater. The Wild have seven power-play goals in their last three games.
In off-ice news: Maple Leaf Pavel Kubina is out indefinitely with an MCL injury to his right knee. There's no prognosis yet on when he might be back.
Victoria Matiash is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
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