Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft, ESPN.com
In an 8-2 game, what's not to like for fantasy hockey owners?
The Flyers -- and some Penguins -- filled the stat sheet on Tuesday night, totaling 10 goals and 156 penalty minutes, the kind of production most fantasy owners call a good week. Among the standouts: Philadelphia's Joffrey Lupul and R.J. Umberger, each of whom netted a hat trick in the contest. Lupul added three assists and Umberger two, with one goal and one assist of Lupul's totals coming on the power play.
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According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lupul's three-goal, three-assist night marked the Flyers' first since Kevin Dineen did it during the 1992-93 season. It was also his first hat trick since he scored four goals in a May 9, 2006, playoff game, while with Anaheim. Still, while useful as a back-of-your-lineup fantasy type, Lupul isn't an instant star with the career night under his belt. Even with Tuesday's numbers, he finds himself on pace for 26 goals and 67 points, hardly elite numbers. Call a 25-goal, 60-point season a solid one for him, although those aren't bad numbers to slot in at right wing when he's facing weak defensive teams.
Umberger, meanwhile, is now on pace for 18 goals and 59 points, which might be about his ceiling numbers-wise. He's in the midst of a streak of 11 points in eight games, making him deep-league worthy, but be prepared to jump ship once he goes cold again.
Browsing the rest of that loaded box score, even some of the players who absorbed dreadful plus/minus ratings benefited from all the bad blood that seems to have run rampant between these two division rivals. For instance:
• Ryan Whitney finished with a minus-4 rating but also scored a goal and racked up 15 penalty minutes (PIMs).
• Evgeni Malkin had a minus-1 but added an assist and 10 PIMs.
• Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell went scoreless but had 17 and 15 PIMs, respectively.
Remember, penalty minutes, which are most easily racked up on fights and misconducts, are often bred in nasty rivalries such as this. It's the second straight meeting of these teams in which the two sides totaled 75 or more PIMs; they had 76 combined on Nov. 10. In other words, circle Jan. 24, Feb. 10, March 16 and April 2 and 6 on your calendars because we might see more fireworks between these foes. And as fantasy owners, we just eat up these bonus PIMs, so be ready to play those matchups. ...
The skinny on Roberto Luongo's condition, from The Province of Vancouver: He's unlikely to return to the lineup before next Tuesday's game against the Devils because of a rib contusion. Fantasy owners might be saddened to learn that the No. 3 goalie on the Player Rater might miss as many as four games, but look at it this way: Resting him now is a safer move in the long haul than having the Canucks rush him back before he's fully healed. By the way, I don't relish the idea of picking up and using Curtis Sanford for the time being, especially not with road games at Anaheim, San Jose and Edmonton due up next. ...
Welcome back, Sheldon Souray. The 2006-07 fantasy sensation scored a goal and added six penalty minutes in his first game back Tuesday after missing 25 with a sprained left shoulder. While it's highly unlikely he'll repeat last season's astonishing 26 goals, 64 points, 19 power-play goals and 135 penalty minutes, Souray has time to get to, say, 12-35-80-7 numbers in those categories, and that'd be a second-tier defenseman, at least. ...
I'm a bit worried that Manny Legace, sidelined only a week with a knee injury he suffered when he collided with a teammate during a pregame warmup last Wednesday, already says he might need surgery after the season. That just increases the chances we won't see him back at 100 percent this season, making him an instant sell-high candidate should he string together a few solid outings once he returns from injured reserve. ...
From ESPN Research''s Vincent Masi: The Blues' Brad Boyes on Tuesday scored his 18th goal of the season, in his 28th game played. He's already one ahead of last year's entire total, but in 53 fewer games, and eight short of his career high, which was set in 82 games in 2005-06. Even better: The longest Boyes has gone without a goal this season is five games, and his longest points drought is four. Perhaps he's not the sell-high candidate I thought he was. ...
Erik Johnson tallied three assists Tuesday, bringing his season total to 11 points in 16 games. Scale his numbers to an 82-game season and he'd be a 10-goal, 56-point performer, not at all bad for a rookie. Granted, you can't simply assume a full season from a guy who has been this injury-plagued thus far, but it's clear this Johnson kid, all of 19 years old, has the skills to be a solid fantasy option when healthy enough to take the ice. ...
Evgeni Nabokov moved into the league lead in wins with his 16th of the season on Tuesday, putting him on pace for 45, eight ahead of his career high set six years ago. He's 5-1 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .933 save percentage in his past six starts, and has dropped back-to-back games in regulation only once all year (Oct. 26-27). Only once in his past 16 starts, incidentally, has he allowed more than three goals in a game. Nabokov might have been frustrating to own the past few seasons, but like in his career year of 2001-02, he appears back to form as a top-tier fantasy goalie this season.
Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
