ESPN Fantasy Hockey Blog

Posted by Tim Kavanagh

Even though they carried a five-game losing streak into Sunday's game, Edmonton still had a winning record for the season. But the Oilers are among the worst teams in the league in goals per game, and winning low-scoring games is noteworthy in the fantasy world only if you own that team's goaltender.

Sunday's five-goal outburst against Philadelphia shouldn't change the prevailing opinion on "the Oil" either. The goals came from Erik Cole, Ales Hemsky (twice), Sheldon Souray and Dustin Penner, four of the six Oilers skaters who are already owned in a double-digit percentage of ESPN leagues (Lubomir Visnovsky and Shawn Horcoff round off the sextet). Really, their value doesn't change as a result of their fleecing of Martin Biron and the Flyers, although it was encouraging to have Hemsky finally snag his first goal since, oh, March 16.

The important aspect of this game was between the pipes. Dwayne Roloson definitely has stolen a bit of thunder from Mathieu Garon. In spite of giving up four goals Sunday, Roloson's stats -- 2.22 goals-against average and .929 save percentage -- are still better than the incumbent Garon (3.18 and .895, respectively), and yet his ownership percentage is just 1.8 percent. Additionally, Edmonton coach Craig MacTavish seems to have developed a trust in Roloson of late, as he has been the starter in three of the past four games. Mark me down as the third person within the last week in this space to say: Pick him up! Even for those of you who landed superstar goalies in the draft, many of whom have been a disappointment, by the way -- I'm looking at you, Roberto Luongo and Jean-Sebastien Giguere -- it's always good to have a steady vet to start on the days your top guys aren't playing.

Speaking of disappointments, after giving up seven total goals in his previous three games, all wins, Biron regressed to early-season form Sunday. This is an especially big kick in the pants to those who started him Sunday, expecting a great performance against one of the league's most hapless offenses. That puts to rest any thoughts that the timeshare in Philly would be over; you should expect to see Antero Niittymaki again soon. Niittymaki shut out a vulnerable Thrashers offense in his last start, but Biron was unable to follow suit. The bottom line for Flyers goalies: If you own one of these guys, you'd better own both; it's a classic handcuff situation.

Ice Chips

Although reports regarding Martin Brodeur's elbow injury are saying he has only a bruise, he's out at least for Monday's game. Kevin Weekes isn't a great option for Monday night's game, though, as the Sabres have historically been able to light him up. … Rick DiPietro's mystery ailment has finally been revealed. He had knee surgery this past Friday to repair a torn meniscus, which will keep him out for at least four weeks. Neither Joey MacDonald nor Yann Danis is worth consideration for a pickup. … Ilya Kovalchuk equaled Hemsky, with two goals and one assist. It's been a pretty slow start for the usually lethal Kovalchuk, but history tells us big things are on the way, so see if you can buy him low. You don't really think Bryan Little will finish the season with more goals than Kovalchuk, do you? … The Sharks sensed blood in the water Sunday, and they assaulted Peter Budaj to the tune of five goals. Former top 10 overall draft picks Milan Michalek and Devin Setoguchi had two goals apiece, and Setoguchi is still available in about a third of ESPN leagues. … Todd Bertuzzi scored his seventh goal of the season, this one against his former Duck mates, and it's certainly been a surprising start given his lack of offensive punch the past two seasons. Unfortunately, Bert carries a minus-7 rating as well, but if you can stomach that, you might make an offer to his owner because it looks like he might've found his game again out in the Western Canadian wilderness. … Despite giving up four goals, Michael Leighton won the "Battle of the Backups" in Raleigh, as Curtis Joseph gave up six goals. Neither man provides much value unless the regular starter gets hurt. The two teams will finish the home-and-home on Tuesday, presumably with Cam Ward and Vesa Toskala in goal and likewise many fewer gents on the scoring sheet by game's end. … It was inevitable, really. Henrik Zetterberg is on his first hot streak of the season, with eight goals in the past eight games. Any worries that his move to line 1B would spell a decrease in scoring are being quelled game by game. It's important to note that although Daniel Cleary has taken the spot on Zetterberg's line vacated by the injured Johan Franzen, it's Jiri Hudler who is skating with Z and Mikael Samuelsson on the power play. Both have enjoyed the bump in value, but Hudler is the one to target if you need help in the power-play scoring categories. Furthermore, he's owned in only 11.2 percent of leagues.