Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
It had been a long time since the Oilers won a game in regulation time - more than a month, to be exact - but Edmonton ended the drought by beating the Islanders on Monday night.
Ales Hemsky led the way on offense, and
Mathieu Garon was perfect in net in the 4-0 win. Hemsky isn't showing any ill effects from the knee injury that sidelined him the latter part of December; he has four points in two games since returning to the lineup. He's having his best season in three years in the league and is on his way to breaking the 60-point barrier.
Garon, meanwhile, looks like he's poised to take over the No. 1 goaltender role in Edmonton. He stopped all 35 shots in recording his third shutout of the season. With fellow goaltender Dwayne Roloson looking uncomfortable and out of place this season, Garon should continue to start the bulk of the team's games this season. That he's playing this well is just icing on the cake.
The Dallas Stars signed center Mike Ribeiro to a five-year, $25 million contract Monday, and he thanked management with two assists in the Stars' 3-1 win over Minnesota. The trio of Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow and Antti Miettinen connected twice in the game, with Miettinen scoring both goals. All three have been pleasant surprises for fantasy owners this season and have combined to score 107 points in 117 games this season. Not bad for a first line that was considered a major disappointment last season. Marty Turco was back in net for the Stars and looked good, stopping 18 of 19 shots. It was a nice performance for his owners, who had witnessed two pretty rough starts from Turco to start the New Year, including a game last week in which he allowed three goals on just four shots before being pulled.
The Anaheim Ducks looked more like what a defending Stanley Cup championship team should look like in a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Chris Pronger and Corey Perry both scored on the power play a little more than a minute apart to spur on the rare offensive burst for the Ducks. Overall, the team has had a hard time creating offense this season; their 2.4 goals per game ranks 27th in the league. If they want to succeed, they'll need more performances like this from their younger players. Ryan Getzlaf and Chris Kunitz each had a goal and an assist.
At the other end of the ice, defenseman Marek Zidlicky scored his third goal of the season for the Predators. He has been slipping under the radar this season, but he's still on pace for 50 points and is available in a handful of ESPN leagues. Even if he's not available in yours, he might come cheaper than other defensemen on pace for a similar season.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
