Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
Now's the time for Evgeni Malkin to earn some respect. After two seasons of playing Robin to Sidney Crosby's Batman, Malkin has taken center stage for the Pittsburgh Penguins while Crosby sits on the injured list. Malkin scored twice and added an assist as the Washington Capitals edged past the Penguins 6-5 on the shootout. Not to be outdone, Alexander Ovechkin looked good at the other end of the ice, with two goals, an assist and another goal in the shootout. Overall, Washington's first line was impressive, with Viktor Kozlov scoring twice and Nicklas Backstrom registering his second four-assist night in a row. I'll say it again, he'll give Patrick Kane a run at rookie of the year.
Cory Stillman played the role of hero and scored in overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes the win over the New York Islanders. It was a frustrating collapse for the Islanders, who lead by two goals heading into the third period but ended up losing the game 3-2. Rod Brind'Amour has given his owners reason to breathe a sigh of relief. He seems to be back on track, his two assists pushing his points streak to five games, during which he has nine points.
Remember when Buffalo used to be on the right end of lopsided scores? The Phoenix Coyotes opened the flood gates on offense and scored at will on Jocelyn Thibault to take the game by a score of 6-2. The offense was spread fairly evenly across the Coyotes roster, but Shane Doan and Peter Mueller stood out with a goal and an assist each. This has been a great season for Doan after a disappointing one last year. He's on pace for a career-best 79 points and can have a nice impact on fantasy with his penalty minutes as well. Expect him to move up to the first few rounds of your draft next year.
Alexander Radulov is beginning to make good on all his potential. The Predators' 2004 first-round pick looks to have finally found his game in his second full NHL season. He's on pace to hit the 60-point plateau. Don't get me wrong, it's not an outstanding number by any means, but he has come a long way from last season when he was in Barry Trotz's dog house. Radulov had three points to lead the Predators past the struggling Blues 6-3. Blues forward Brad Boyes scored his 27th goal of the year during the game.
Other than the occasional Marian Gaborik five-goal night, the Wild isn't usually a source of outstanding individual offensive performances. That apparently didn't matter to Pierre-Marc Bouchard. The undersized centre factored in all four of Minnesota's goals as the Wild beat Vancouver 4-2. Bouchard picked up two goals and two assists to bump his total to 42 points. It's safe to say this is the breakout season we were waiting for from 2002's 8th-overall pick. He's on pace to hit 70 points this year to break his previous career high of 59 set back in 2005-06. Meanwhile, it was a good night in net for Niklas Backstrom. The reigning rookie of the year rediscovered last year's form, stopping 38 of the 40 shots he faced.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
