Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
After losing seven straight to round out November and to begin December, the Ottawa Senators are back on track. They scored at will on Saturday night as they won their fifth straight game in a 7-3 win over Atlanta. Dany Heatley scored twice in the win, making that six goals in his past three games. Heatley is currently on pace to eclipse 100 points in his third straight season. Senators defenseman Joe Corvo continues his hot start to December picking up two points, good for eight points over his past seven games. Likely the biggest fantasy note on the night would have to be the play of Martin Gerber. He played well again for his third straight game making him a great sell-high option before Ray Emery returns. I was able to package him up to get Evgeni Malkin this past week.
The Montreal Canadiens were able to use an old face and a new one to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1. Saku Koivu scored twice to lead the offense while Carey Price stopped 28 shots. Amazingly, Price is still available in about 40 percent of ESPN leagues despite an injury to starter Christobal Huet. With performances like this, Price should be owned in all formats, especially until Huet returns to the ice.
Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro each had multi-point nights as the Dallas Stars beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2. Marty Turco was in net for the Stars and although he wasn't tested too often he did look fairly good. I'd have full confidence with him as a starter on any of my fantasy teams from here on out. After a nine-game scoring drought, Devin Setoguchi registered a point for his second game in a row. He scored his eighth of the year with a helper from Joe Thornton. While his scoring will be inconsistent at best this year, he's still a valuable commodity in deeper leagues.
Rookie Tyler Kennedy scored the winner and lead the way overall with three points as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Islanders 3-2. Dany Sabourin was in net for the Penguins in the win, making 27 saves. Sabourin is rostered in only about 50 percent of ESPN leagues and should be owned across the board for the time being. If you remove the numbers from his one bad start against Philadelphia, he would have a goals-against average of 2.19 in December. Back to Kennedy quickly for a minute, he's Sidney Crosby's latest linemate and looks to be quite comfortable in the role.
Joffery Lupul is finally showing that Edmonton GM Kevin Lowe isn't crazy, he just gave up too early. Lupul was the key piece for the Oilers when they traded Chris Pronger to Anaheim and after a miserable season he was promptly traded away to Philadelphia. Well, Lupul had a good night for Philadelphia scoring a hat trick in a 6-5 shootout loss to Columbus. Lupul pushed his point total on the year to 26 compared to just 28 all of last year. His ownership in ESPN leagues is up more than 50 percent this week but is still available in about 20 percent of leagues...go get him.
As Pete Townsend once penned, the kids are alright. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews hooked up for Chicago's lone goal on the night in a 3-1 loss to Buffalo. Very rarely do you see two teenagers take the NHL by storm as these kids have, even more rare is that one team would have the luxury of having them both. With every game they get better and I'd be looking to swing a trade to bring them onto any of my fantasy teams.
Ryan Miller took home first-star honors in the game, stopping 26 of 27 shots on net. Don't be fooled by his numbers this season, if you look at his game log you'll see the real story. He's been wildly inconsistent and could really kill a head-to-head fantasy team. Try to pawn him off on another unsuspecting owner in return for a more consistent netminder.
You have to feel bad for Alex Auld right about now. Earlier this season, he was relegated to the AHL and then traded. He was able to settle into his new home and play some great hockey, only to be told he'll be sitting on the bench for the near future. Auld recorded his first shutout as a member of the Boston Bruins with a 32-save performance agains the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. That's the same night the Bruins activated Tim Thomas from the injured list. Thomas will undoubtedly be the No. 1 goalie in Beantown once again, putting Auld into the backup role and Tuuka Rask back down to the AHL.
The juggernaut Detroit Red Wings continue to steam roll the competition this year and the Florida Panthers proved to be no match in Saturday's 5-2 Detroit win. It's the same story we've seen out of Hockeytown lately, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg account for most of the offense and Chris Osgood held down the fort on the other end making 33 saves. Brian Rafalski also had a good night picking up a goal and an assist. He's on pace to shatter his previous career best point total in a season set just last year. It's not inconceivable that he'd break the 70 point plateau.
Not often have you, or will you, read about the lowly Phoenix Coyotes victimizing one of the best goaltenders in the NHL. But that was exactly the case on Saturday night as the Coyotes beat the New Jersey Devils and Martin Brodeur 4-1. Fredrik Sjostrom lead the way for Phoenix, scoring twice and adding an assist. The game was a slight setback for Brodeur, who has been playing fantastic hockey over the past month.
Brian Pothier was back on the ice and back making a contribution for the Washington Capitals. Pothier had two points in the Capitals 3-2 win over Tampa Bay after being a healthy scratch in his two previous games. It was just another win for the Capitals since Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach. They have won five of their last seven games.
Is there even an argument any more as to who is the best player in the NHL. Vincent Lecavalier picked up two more points on the night to bump his total on the year to 51. He's on pace for nearly 130 points by year's end. Does anyone else remember a time when you could lead the NHL in points and not even crack the 100 point barrier? It seems like so long ago.
Peter Budaj was given his second straight start and was impressive again in the Colorado Avalanche's 3-1 win over Nashville. Budaj has stopped 61 of the last 63 shots he has faced and has stolen the thunder away from Jose Theodore for the time being. Theodore has been underwhelming over the last month and should not be in any fantasy team's starting lineup. Speaking of poor performances in net, Chris Mason had yet another. 13 saves on just 16 shots is not acceptable. He should not be starting in any but the deepest fantasy leagues.
It was an unlikely pair, but Curtis Sanford and Mathieu Garon dueled for three periods, each allowing just one goal through regulation. Fernando Pisani finally scored the winner in the shootout to win it for Edmonton 2-1 over Vancouver. Roberto Luongo remains sidelined and sat out his fourth consecutive game due to a bruised rib. Sanford will continue to get the nod in goal until Luongo returns, which should be sometime soon. Also of note, Sheldon Souray picked up a point in his third consecutive game since returning from the injured list. He might be a nice buy-low option at this point.
Josh Harding certainly didn't look like he was suffering from the flu. He stopped 35 shots on the night in Minnesota's 2-1 win over the lowly Los Angeles Kings. Of note in the game for deeper leaguers was an assist part-way through the second period. Kurtis Foster picked up a point on the power play after missing some time to a broken cheek bone. He's a talented young defenseman and could be on the track back to being a fantasy contributor.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
