Posted by John Pereira, special to ESPN.com
The
Ottawa Senators took matters into their own hands Saturday. They once again were able to keep the
Montreal Canadiens from overtaking them for first place in the Eastern Conference in beating the Habs 6-1.
Dany Heatley and
Daniel Alfredsson returned to the lineup after bouts of injury, and linemate
Jason Spezza benefited the most. Spezza recorded a hat trick and added another three assists for an amazing six-point night. Alfredsson chipped in two goals and three assists, while Heatley had a goal and three assists. Goaltender
Ray Emery looked good in the win, stopping 33 of 34 shots on the night.
It sounds strange to say, but the Pittsburgh Penguins don't appears to be missing Sidney Crosby all that much right now. Evgeni Malkin led the team to yet another win Saturday, this time a 4-2 decision over the lowly Los Angeles Kings. Malkin scored two goals and picked up an assist on Ryan Malone's goal early in the second period. In the nine games since Crosby's injury, Malkin has 17 points and has been held off the scoresheet only once. His 69 points this season leave him only four points behind the league leader, not bad for someone considered to be the "second fiddle" on the Penguins.
As a Henrik Lundqvist owner, I believe what happened Saturday was one of the most frustrating feelings a fantasy hockey owner can get. I saw the final score of Saturday night's game, a 2-0 win over Philadelphia, and assume he just did me a favor and dropped my averages in net by posting a shutout. It didn't take long before I noticed it was Stephen Valiquette who stopped all 31 shots on the night, not my goaltender, and the frustration sets in. The Rangers play back-to-back games this weekend, and Lundqvist was expected to sit out one of them; it just hurts to see it was this one. A quick side note: Nigel Dawes had a two-point night and might be a good pickup in a deeper league. He's having a nice start to February.
The sudden parade of players getting called up from the AHL to the Toronto Maple Leafs seems to have lit a fire under the floundering squad. The Leafs were able to knock off the best team in the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings, with a 3-2 overtime thriller to win their third game in their last four attempts. Nik Antropov scored the Leafs' winner in overtime by deflecting Anton Stralman's slap shot past Dominik Hasek. With one more goal, Antropov will break the 20-goal plateau for the first time in his career. Vesa Toskala also looked good on the night, stopping 32 of 34 shots.
Brent Burns is a rare exception in Minnesota: a defenseman who's allowed to play a role on offense. Burns scored the game-winner Saturday 2:34 into overtime to give the Wild a 4-3 win over the Islanders. At only 22 years old, Burns has become a real fantasy asset; he already has 30 points through 55 games and logs nearly 25 minutes of ice time each night. Another player flying somewhat under the radar this season, Brian Rolston, also had a good night, scoring twice to bump his season total to 22. He's owned in 100 percent of ESPN leagues, but you likely could get him via trade for relatively cheap compared to what he'll give you in return.
When you look at the matchup on paper, you wouldn't imagine Tampa Bay versus Atlanta to be conducive to a low-scoring game. Despite a number of star forwards and two mediocre goalies in the lineup, defense ruled the roost. The game saw Alexei Zhitnik score only his second goal of the season, but it was a big one. He beat Filip Kuba, who was without a stick, to score the overtime winner and give the Thrashers the 2-1 win. I've never been much of a Kari Lehtonen fan, but I will give him this: He's having a good February so far. He's has a 2.00 goals-against average for the month. While it would be a bit much to expect him to continue like this, it has been a welcome surge for his owners.
Suddenly the Florida Panthers have learned how to find the back of the net. The offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday as they beat the Boston Bruins, 6-3. After a thrashing of the Maple Leafs and a high-scoring loss to the Senators, the Panthers have scored 18 goals in their last three games. Olli Jokinen continues to impress in what could be considered an audition before the trade deadline. I bet he ends up north of the border after the 26th. Glen Murray owners can feel confident about sliding him back into their lineups. He's showing no ill effects following that hip injury. He scored a goal and an assist on the night.
Whatever the reason, after a host of locker room changes, the New Jersey Devils found their confidence again and made the Carolina Hurricanes pay. Jay Pandolfo, Paul Martin, Jamie Langenbrunner, Patrik Elias and David Clarkson all had multi-point nights in the 6-1 win. Consider this a message to the rest of the league: The Devils are going to step up their game and make a run at first place in the Eastern Conference. My man-crush continues to grow for defenseman Johnny Oduya, who scored one of the best end-to-end goals we've seen in awhile. He picked up the puck behind his own net, skated the length of the ice, beat five defenders and put the puck past Cam Ward while falling to the ice. He has been scoring nearly a point per game for almost a month now but still remains available in 45 percent of ESPN leagues.
Miikka Kiprusoff barely even broke a sweat, and Owen Nolan provided a bulk of the offense as the Calgary Flames beat the Edmonton Oilers in the battle of Alberta. The Kipper stopped 14 of 15 shots and Nolan scored twice in the 4-1 win. I wouldn't personally buy into Nolan at this point. Sure, he has seven goals in the past month, but they've all come in bunches. I don't think he'll sustain that pace.
The St. Louis Blues' goaltending tandem was under siege all night as the Dallas Stars scored six times to take the 6-2 win on the road. All the usual suspects were in on the scoring for the Stars; Mike Ribeiro had three points, Mike Modano two assists, Brenden Morrow a goal and Antti Miettinen two goals. Marty Turco owners have no need to panic. He's listed as day-to-day with a sore neck but was healthy enough to serve as Mike Smith's backup Saturday. Smith looked good, but Turco has no threat of losing his starting job. He has a 1.72 goals-against average since the All-Star break.
Apparently it was the night of the six-goal game. The Colorado Avalanche was one of five teams to score six goals Saturday, in this case beating Vancouver. The fantasy enigma that is Marek Svatos scored twice on the night, along with a two-goal performance from Milan Hejduk. Svatos now has 24 goals on the year but only six assists. He sits tied for 18th in goals on the year, but is tied for 135th in points. I want no part of someone who is unable to create offense for others. I'm literally picking my jaw up off the floor right now. Meanwhile, how in the world can Wojtek Wolski be owned in only 53 percent of ESPN leagues? He picked up three assists on the night and has been a steady source of points since players like Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth went down to injury. If he's available, pick him up now.
A few of us here at ESPN have been saying for awhile that the cream would eventually rise to the top in San Jose and that those players rated highly before the season would re-find their form at some point. It appears we've hit the nail on the head. The once potent duo of Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo seem to have found their old form, and they sparkled Saturday. Cheechoo scored three times and added an assist, while Thornton had three assists in the 4-3 win over Nashville. You still might be able to convince Cheechoo's owner to include him as a throw-in in a bigger trade.
John Pereira is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.
