Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft, ESPN.com
Who would have tought
Vesa Toskala would suddenly matter again in fantasy hockey? Certainly not me.
Toskala saved 34 of 35 shots in Tornoto's 3-1 win over the Predators on Tuesday. That extended his win streak to three games; he aptly handled two potent offenses (the Thrashers and Penguins) in the previous two. Dating back to Nov. 3, he has a 2.44 goals-against average and .911 save percentage in 10 games (nine starts), and those rates put him right in line with some of the better goalies in the past month.
Of course, Toskala is 4-3-2 during that span, helping demonstrate the inconsistent nature of Maple Leafs hockey. Toronto isn't a defensively sound team -- it hasn't been much of this decade, really and is prone to lapses on that side of the ice. Ultimately, when things are going well with Toskala, ride it. He'll be a useful No. 2 fantasy option when he is on hot streaks like this, at least now that he finally looks comfortable in Toronto. The problem, though, is you probably can't count on them lasting for extended periods of time.
Hey, maybe a little healthy competition was good for Carey Price. Now that Cristobal Huet is out with a groin injury, perhaps Price is letting his guard down? On Tuesday, he served up four goals on 34 shots in Montreal's loss to the Red Wings. To be fair, I look at Price's game logs and see him getting all the toughest starting assignments -- twice at Pittsburgh, twice at Toronto, once at Ottawa and games at home versus the Thrashers and Red Wings -- in his 11 starts. One or two bad games against elite offenses don't concern me, although he's going to need to pick up the pace in the near future to take advantage of the golden opportunity to play regularly with Huet injured.
Ray Emery dropped his second consecutive start, each during a shootout, though that's better than fellow Ottawa goalie Martin Gerber, a back-to-back loser during regulation. Until one separates himself as the more effective goalie, expect a straight split of the duties in the short term. Still, Emery certainly seems to have the slight edge for now.
Interesting stat: In his first 22 games, Pavel Datsyuk fired 78 shots and scored four times (5.1 shooting percentage). In his past five games: 22 shots, seven goals (31.8 percent). Is there any better example of how fluky the goals category can sometimes be?
Nik Antropov scored his 11th goal of the season Tuesday, drawing him within seven of his career high, which was set a season ago. Injuries have long been his greatest concern, but if he can remain relatively healthy, as he has thus far, it's not unthinkable he could produces 30 goal and 70 points. Ultimately, though, remember he has never appeared in more than 72 games in a season or 62 games in any of his past three seasons. The bottom line is enjoy this hot streak while it lasts because he's about as big a health risk as they come.
No one seems to talk about him, but I still like Filip Kuba as a solid back-of-your-lineup type while Dan Boyle remains on the shelf. In 13 games since Boyle's last appearance (on Nov. 3), Kuba is averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time per night and has totaled three goals, six assists and a plus-10 rating. He's getting the key minutes that once might have gone to Boyle, so expect that kind of output for at least another month.
Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
