Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
Just one lonely game on the schedule on Monday night in the NHL and it saw the New York Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. It's safe to say the Pens have been pretty good overall this season, but they have struggled mightily against teams in their own division, their record being just 4-10-1 against them coming into Monday's game. They bucked the trend with a 4-1 win over the Rangers. Evgeni Malkin was the key to the Penguins' offense as he scored three times for his second hat trick of the month. Malkin has truly been a fantasy owner's dream in 2008; he's on a six-game point streak during which he has registered 11 points. Overall, Malkin is on pace for 95 points and 80 penalty minutes this season, and he is only 22 years old. He's a surefire top-five pick next season.
Even though Malkin led the way on offense, someone else had to hold down the fort at the other end of the ice. Ty Conklin was that man. He made an astounding 43 saves on 44 shots to pick up his 10th win of the season and he remains unbeaten since taking over the starting gig. It's a strange turnaround for a goalie who has never been thought of very highly. He went undrafted to start his NHL career, never posted outstanding numbers in the minors and had his best season back in 2003 when he started all of 35 games for the Edmonton Oilers. Conklin is not someone I'd be ready to draft next season for my fantasy team, but if you own him now, just ride the wave.
It must have been a frustrating night overall for the Rangers. When you throw 44 shots at a goalie, you tend to come away with more than one goal. But that's been the story of the season for the Rangers. Jaromir Jagr scored his 13th goal of the season for New York, but overall has been somewhat underwhelming so far this month. He's getting little help from his teammates. Brendan Shanahan remains out of the lineup with a sore knee and high-profile free agent Chris Drury hasn't been finding the back of the net as often as Rangers management had hoped.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
