Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
In a matchup pitting two of the Western Conference's best teams Saturday night, it was a sure-fire Hall of Famer who stole the show.
Dominik Hasek stopped all 22 shots he faced to pick up his 78th career shutout and 375th career win. The 3-0 Detroit victory over Dallas pushed Hasek into 11th place all-time in the win column. It has been a somewhat disappointing season for Hasek and his owners in fantasy, as he has been splitting his starts with
Chris Osgood on a 50/50 basis. Even though Osgood's numbers have been far superior this year, I think the Wings will begin to play Hasek on a more regular basis as the season continues. You generally want to find one goalie who can carry you through the playoffs, and history would suggest that goalie is Hasek.
We've all heard of Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Niklas Backstrom, but what about Mike Green? Green, one of the Capitals' lesser-known young players scored the overtime winner for Washington in a 5-4 win over Montreal. The 22-year-old defenseman has not only the best hair in the NHL (a Mohawk), but a great game as well. With 24 points, he has nearly doubled his career numbers coming into this year. Meanwhile, the face of the franchise also had a great game; Ovechkin scored twice to bump his season total up to 32.
It might sound strange, but Ty Conklin is the hottest goalie in the NHL. He looked great Saturday night, stopping all 35 shots he faced for a 3-0 shutout over the Florida Panthers. He has won his last seven starts and has dropped his goals-against average below the 2.00 mark. More impressively, he has stopped 104 of his last 107 shots (.972 save percentage) and has posted a goals-against average of 0.97 over the past week. His ownership has jumped from nearly zero to 87 percent, but if he's still available in your league, act fast since he'll probably be gone tomorrow. On the offensive side of the ice, Evgeni Malkin picked up his first assist in his last 10 games. Despite the recent assist drought, if he maintains his 92-point, 80-penalty-minute pace, he'd be worthy of a Top 5 draft pick next year.
Not surprising: The Toronto Maple Leafs lost again. Surprising: It really wasn't their fault. Philadelphia Flyers backup goalie Antero Niittymaki stole a 3-2 win out of the Leafs' hands at the Air Canada Centre with an astounding 54-save performance. Unfortunately for Nittymaki, Martin Biron is firmly entrenched as the Flyers' No. 1 goaltender and is at no risk of losing his job. Mats Sundin scored both goals for the Leafs, his 19th and 20th of the season. He's showing no signs of slowing down as the season progresses, and he might just find himself on a contending team come trade-deadline time. And for a future file note, young Philadelphia right winger Steve Downie scored the first of what should be many of them over a long career. He might even be a sound investment in a deeper league for the remainder of this season.
A cast of unlikely characters led the way for the Boston Bruins in their 4-3 win over New Jersey. P.J. Axelsson had a goal and two assists, Marco Sturm added two points, and Andrew Ference added an assist on a key shorthanded goal. Some high-profile players did make it on to the scoresheet, though. Marc Savard scored the winning goal, Dennis Wideman scored, and Phil Kessel added two assists. I think the key player out of that group today would be Wideman. The goal was his second in his past three games and gave him 17 points on the year. He's logging a ton of minutes and playing on the power play, and yet he's still available in nearly 20 percent of ESPN leagues. He should be owned in all formats.
It was a game that saw four of the league's top 11 scorers on the ice, so plenty of offense was expected in the Senators' 4-3 overtime win over the Lightning. However, Randy Robitaille (two goals) and Mike Fisher (the overtime winner), neither of whom are top scorers, led the way. The big guns weren't completely quiet, though. Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza each had at least one point on the night.
Chris Mason who? Former backup Dan Ellis was back in net for the Nashville Predators on Saturday night and played another good game in an attempt to impress coach Barry Trotz. Ellis stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 4-1 win over Minnesota and now has won his last three starts, with a goals-against average of 1.00 while doing it. And yet is still available in 70 percent of ESPN leagues. I doubt we'll be seeing as much of Mason now.
We've seen two shutouts already on our quick trip around the box scores from Saturday night and Manny Legace gets No. 3. Legace was perfect on the night for the Blues and kept the Hurricanes off the scoreboard in a 1-0 win. The news must come as some relief for his owners, as he was taken out of a game earlier last week when he felt sick after getting hit in the back of the head with a puck during warmups. It's good to have him back he hasn't allowed a goal in 157 consecutive minutes. Lee Stempniak scored the lone goal in the game.
Peter Mueller scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Phoenix Coyotes the 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Of course, they wouldn't have made it that far if not for a great game from Ilya Bryzgalov. Bryzgalov played well against his former team, stopping 29 shots and earning the win. Unfortunately for fantasy owners, until the Coyotes improve a little, his goals-against average will never be better than good. But he's still worth owning for that save percentage. He has the sixth-highest percentage in the NHL and fourth-highest among full-time starters. A quick nod to fellow columnist Sean Allen, who appears to have hit the nail on the head when it comes to Steve Reinprecht. Allen recommended him in this week's Open Ice and Reinprecht delivered with a goal on the night.
I'm beginning to sense a goaltender-heavy focus this morning, but I'm sticking with it. The Islanders' Rick DiPietro did all he could, stopping 37 shots, but still ended up taking the loss against the Colorado Avalanche. Marek Svatos scored the Avs' game-winner in overtime on a backhand shot that found its way over DiPietro's shoulder. Svatos is on pace to hit the 30-goal plateau for the second time in his young career (the first being in his rookie season in 2005-06), but I do have some concerns about him. His shooting percentage seems a bit too high to sustain, and he lacks the ability to create offense on his own, as evidenced by his subpar two assists this year. I imagine coach Joel Quenneville shares my concerns considering Svatos is logging the least amount of ice time of all the team's regular forwards.
Edmonton Oilers rookie Sam Gagner has struggled to find the back of the net in his last eight games, but he's still dangerous in the shootout. Gagne scored his fifth shootout goal and fourth game-winner of the season, both league-leading marks, in the Oilers' 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Mathieu Garon made his third straight start in net for the Oilers and picked up the win. He was perfect in the shootout as well and is somehow still available in 40 percent of ESPN leagues.
Neither the Los Angeles Kings nor the Calgary Flames have been considered high-scoring teams in the past, but they combined for an exciting 10-goal game on Saturday night. Calgary's first line of Daymond Langkow, Jarome Iginla and Kristian Huselius each had three points to lead the offense in the 6-4 win. It was an important game for Langkow, who had found his way off the first line and into coach Mike Keenan's doghouse. He was back on the first power-play unit Saturday and is sure to find himself skating with the captain again on a regular basis.
I don't blame you if you have never heard of Patrick Rissmiller until now. The defensive-minded forward plays in relative anonymity and has done little to grab the spotlight on a team loaded with recognizable names. But it was Rissmiller who led the way Saturday for the San Jose Sharks in their 3-2 win over Columbus. The 30-year-old left winger scored twice, bumping his total up to just four goals this season.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
