Posted by Tim Kavanagh, special to ESPN.com
A frequent subject of my "Icing it Down" columns, Fredrik Modin has been having quite an injury-plagued season. His latest trip to the injured reserve had him miss about two weeks of action total, but in two games since returning, he's had three goals after a two-goal outburst Friday night. As we all know from the Theory of Linemate Osmosis, when you skate on a line with a top player, you'll inherit some of their gaudy stats, and such has been the case when Modin is paired with the dynamic Rick Nash. Nash, Modin and David Vyborny appeared to click very well as the Blue Jackets smoked the Red Wings, 5-1. Nash added a goal and two assists for Columbus while Nikolai Zherdev and Ron Hainsey added one of each. Pavel Datsyuk had the lone tally for Detroit, who probably played their worst game all season, much to the dismay of the fantasy owners that love them.
While Nash, Zherdev and Hainsey are universally or near-universally owned, Modin is sitting at just 3.1 percent ownership. For a lot of owners, I think a pickup of the left winger makes sense. Columbus coach Ken Hitchcock has used Modin on the Nash line going back to earlier this season, and that's where Modin has been during his latest return. While the major injury that sidelined Modin early this year was of the chronic variety to his back, he should be able to squeeze out a bit more production before the season is through.
Almost overshadowed by the offensive firepower, Pascal Leclaire put forth a solid effort, stopping 20 of 21 Detroit shots for the win, his twentieth on the year.
While the 20 wins on the year is a career-best and seasonal milestone for Leclaire, Marty Turco earned a more impressive career milestone in notching win No. 200, as the Stars downed the Ducks 4-2 in a matchup of Western Conference powerhouses. The game got off to a rough and tumble start, as 48 of the game's 54 penalty minutes were earned in the first frame, and the teams traded goals as Chris Kunitz and Mike Ribeiro scored for their respective sides. The second period belonged to the Stars, and Stephane Robidas in particular, as he scored two power-play goals during that span. Kunitz, who finished the game with 19 penalty minutes, added a third period goal, but the gritty Steve Ott finished it off for Dallas with an empty-netter with 18 seconds to play. Turco ended up with 20 saves on 22 shots for the milestone victory, which is also win No. 25 on the season.
Wednesday night was the milestone night for Martin Brodeur, as he earned win No. 30 in his 12th straight season. However, on Friday he was narrowly edged by Johan Hedberg as the Thrashers beat the Devils 4-3 after a 10-round shootout. Zach Parise owners owe the latter 'tender some sort of present for the game's first goal (or maybe just an e-card or something), as it was quite a gift. Then in the second, Brian Gionta scored for the Devs and he was matched by Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White of the Thrashers, which knotted the game at two goals apiece going into the third. John Madden and Marian Hossa then traded goals to send the game to the extra session, which finally concluded when Pascal Dupuis solved Marty Brodeur in round 10 of the shootout. Both goaltenders ended with decent ratios, Brodeur stopping 29 of 32 and Hedberg 30 of 33.
While Hossa's name continues to abound in the trade rumors, he is currently on one of his patented razor hot streaks. His one-goal, one-assist game on Friday gives him five points in the past three games, with the next three games on the road against the Islanders, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs.
Another big name circulating through the trade rumor mill is that of Olli Jokinen, and his fantasy owners would certainly enjoy a move that put him somewhere that he could improve his plus-minus rating (currently at minus-8). But while Jokinen will continue to garner the most interest in that regard, some big things are happening with the second line of David Booth, Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton. Horton scored the goal that tied Friday night's game against Washington at two, with assists from the other two gents, and Booth dumped in the empty-net clincher, as the Panthers beat the Capitals 4-2. Booth in particular is on a nice streak, with eight points in the past seven games and, along with Horton, they could prove to be a killer one-two punch for years to come. For this season, I'd take a chance on Booth as a lower-end left wing option and hope that this line stays hot.
The Washington offensive effort was led by Alexander Semin and Tomas Fleischmann, who each scored one goal, and Brent Johnson stopped 25 of 28 shots in the losing effort. For the victors, Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves on 32 shots for win No. 25.
Oof. Not a good night for Miikka Kiprusoff. The Finnish netminder faced just 25 shots, and six of them went past him. Two of the six came from Kings' rookies; Teddy Purcell, who scored his first NHL goal, and Brian Boyle, who now has four goals in his first seven games with the big club. The other King goals came from Kevin Dallman, Patrick O'Sullivan, Derek Armstrong and Anze Kopitar, who simultaneously grabbed goal No. 25 and power play point No. 27.
The Flames mounted an absolute barrage against Jason LaBarbera, but LaBarbera was up to the task, stopping 39 of 42 shots faced, shaking off two straight 4-2 losses to earn win No. 17. Daymond Langkow, Dustin Boyd and Owen Nolan were the three Flames able to solve LaBarbera. For those who haven't noticed, Nolan is on the cusp of a hot streak, with points in the past three contests. He still doesn't yet merit consideration in anything but the deepest of leagues, but keep your eyes open.
Tim Kavanagh is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com
