Posted by Tristan H. Cockcroft, ESPN.com
While I'm not about to entirely condemn the Sabres for losing at New Jersey -- after all, they have won only once in their past 12 games there -- Tuesday's performance extended what has become a dreadful cold spell for the team. It represented their sixth consecutive loss, during which time they've managed a mere 10 goals.
Injuries have played a part; Maxim Afinogenov's groin is an issue, and Derek Roy's shoulder is acting up. Still, that hardly explains why Thomas Vanek finds himself on just a 50-point pace, Jochen Hecht is on track for 48 or Ales Kotalik is headed toward 46. In addition, Ryan Miller is 8-6-3 with a 2.62 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in his past 19 games, and those are no better than ordinary fantasy numbers.
Fortunately, despite all their problems, the Sabres remain a top-10 offense, averaging 2.93 goals per game, and they should get better as they get healthier. But it's clear their offseason losses, most notably Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, have hurt the team. Here at the midway point of the season, the Sabres have outscored their opponents by only nine goals, so we are simply not going to see those absurd plus/minus totals some of their players amassed in 2006-07, like Vanek's plus-47, Roy's plus-37 or Brian Campbell's plus-28. Lesser-known forward Daniel Paille is currently on pace for a team-leading plus-16.
Here's the other concern: Last year's team was much more consistent than this Sabres team; it was a comforting feeling to own Sabres players last year. They're susceptible to short-term funks this year (like this one), and that makes their entire lineup streak/matchup considerations and also limits their goalie to No. 2 status.
Sticking with the streaks theme, but turning the focus to hot teams, the Penguins notched their seventh consecutive victory, and 16th in their past 21 contests, on Tuesday. Unfortunately for fantasy, all of their studs -- Sidney Crosby, Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin, to name three -- are long since owned, but there still are a couple of nuggets to take from this hot spell. One, Ty Conklin has started and finished all seven of the team's wins, registering a 1.28 GAA and .958 save percentage. Ride the hot streak, though it's unlikely to last much longer. Secondly, new first-liner Colby Armstrong has three goals and 10 points in his past nine contests, and he's still out there in nearly three-quarters of ESPN leagues. Go get him, because there are few better roles than being Sidney Crosby's line mate.
Newest Hurricane Sergei Samsonov, claimed on re-entry waivers earlier in the day, debuted, started and skated almost 21 minutes Tuesday. Of course, he went scoreless, has just four points on the season and hasn't managed better than 40 points in a season since 2001-02, but yet again, a team is giving him an opportunity. Ah, the lure of upside, not that I'd recommend you go scoop him up, not by any means.
Even on a night where his team performed terribly, Ilya Kovalchuk still netted his NHL-leading 35th goal. That's All-Star talent, folks, the kind that helps a player rise above his team's inadequacies. I'll say it again: This guy will top 60 goals.
Mark down Feb. 5 and March 18 on your schedule; those are the next two dates the Flyers and Thrashers battle. Why is that significant? The Flyers have won eight of these teams' past nine meetings, and 23 of 30 all-time. Jeff Carter was Tuesday's standout, with two goals, and for his career he has seven goals and 11 points in 10 games against the Thrashers. By the way, backup goalie Antero Niittymaki got the start and the win, bringing him to 6-0-0 with a 1.68 GAA in his career against Atlanta. Gee, I wonder which goalie will get those next two starts against the Thrashers?
I named my Fantasy All-Star team Tuesday, and doesn't it figure that hours after I tabbed Chris Osgood for the squad, Dominik Hasek is the Red Wings goalie who tossed the shutout? You can read up on Osgood's accolades in the column, but turning our attention to Hasek, he has back-to-back shutouts and a streak of 134 minutes, 13 seconds without allowing a goal. The two have been splitting the starts evenly for the past month, but that's the kind of "hot-hand" streak that could push the veteran back into the starting role ... at least for the immediate future. Boy, what a battle that one is.
Congrats to Chris Chelios, who on Tuesday became the second-oldest player to appear in an NHL game. Unfortunately, he hasn't been fantasy-worthy for quite some time; in a way, he's kind of like the hockey equivalent of Julio Franco.
Well, Tampa Bay's Karri Ramo now has two wins in his young NHL career, and I've written up both of them. Of course, the last came on Dec. 20, which demonstrates Ramo's streakiness, as well as the lack of productivity of the Lightning's offense. Ramo flashes glimpses of his awesome potential at times, and the Lightning are playing him a lot (throwing him to the wolves?), starting him in seven of their past nine games. Does this matter for fantasy? Well, Ramo has keeper-league appeal, and he could be a matchups consideration this season. But he's going to need more team support, and more consistency, before he'll truly matter to fantasy owners.
The Blue Jackets really need to hope for better health from Pascal Leclaire in the coming weeks. Backup -- or at least he should be one -- Fredrik Norrena suffered his second consecutive loss on Tuesday, and he's 2-5-0 with a 2.89 GAA with a .901 save percentage in his past seven games. Leclaire, meanwhile, has a 3-2-0 record, 1.78 GAA and .931 save percentage in his past six games. He's the one fantasy owners want, a sneaky No. 2 option with No. 1 starter's upside. It's a shame he doesn't have a better offense backing him.
Andy McDonald seems to be enjoying an expanded role in St. Louis, and he tallied two goals and an assist Tuesday, bringing him to three goals and eight points in his first seven games for the Blues. He's averaging 18:27 ice time for the Blues, up from 16:40 in Anaheim, and continues to get first-unit power-play time. There's no reason he can't be for the Blues what he was for the Ducks the past two seasons, and that's a 15-goal, 40-point performer from today forward. In fact, he has more upside than that.
Tristan H. Cockcroft covers fantasy sports for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.
