Posted by Victoria Matiash
Lowly Los Angeles closed out 2007 on a rare high, with a come from behind 3-2 victory over Chicago. It was the Kings' second straight win after losing the previous eight. Most of the credit goes to Dustin Brown for scoring both the opening and winning goals. The winner was Brown's 18th of the season; a new personal best. Kyle Calder had the third goal and Tom Preissing earned a couple of assists. L.A. winger Mike Cammalleri missed his third straight game with a rib injury. He's still listed as day-to-day. As for the Blackhawks, defensemen Brent Sopel and James Wisniewski didn't play. Sopel could miss a week or two with a broken finger; whereas Wisniewski might be out up to four weeks with a sprained knee. Look for Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook to shoulder more ice time in the meanwhile.
It took a while, but those who should be scoring for the Rangers are finally getting into the swing of things. Following Saturday night's 6-1 thrashing of the Leafs, New York rallied to beat Montreal 4-3 in overtime. Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Chris Drury netted goals; Drury added an assist while Scott Gomez had two helpers. Gomez extended his points streak to 12 games (17 points). The team has 14 goals in its last three matchups (all victories). After a disappointing first half of the season, expect much more production from the top two lines in 2008.
Vancouver edged Anaheim in an offensively-quiet 2-1 decision. Daniel Sedin and Matt Cooke scored for the Canucks, while Henrik Sedin contributed two assists. Scott Niedermayer and Todd Bertuzzi earned assists on Ryan Getzlaf's lone goal. Roberto Luongo put in an excellent performance, stopping all but one of 22 shots. Anaheim back-up Jonas Hiller garnered a solid, if rare, start in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere. He stopped 20 of 22 shots but lacks any fantasy value whatsoever. Canuck Mattias Ohlund missed his third game in a row with neck spasms, but Ryan Kesler was back on the ice after missing one match with a concussion.
Antero Niittymaki was the star in Philadelphia's 1-0 victory over Florida. The Flyers' No. 2 stopped all 38 shots for his first shutout of the season. As far as back-ups go, Niittymaki is worth owning in really deep leagues. He's good for the odd solid performance here and there. And if anything should happen to Martin Biron, his value would increase substantially.
Victoria Matiash is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com. You can send her Email for potential use in "The Vicky Files" by clicking here.
