Posted by John Pereira, Special to ESPN.com
Suddenly, things in Tampa Bay aren't as bad as they used to be. The Lightning used a balanced scoring attack to overwhelm the
Montreal Canadiens in front of the Bell Centre crowd to take the first game after the All-Star break 5-3. The Lightning, once and possibly still the laughing stock of the NHL, now have won six of their past eight games and are showing glimpses of the offense that owners Oren Koules and
Len Barrie thought they had cobbled together in the offseason. This obviously has fantasy significance for players once thought of as almost untouchable.
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
It's taken longer than expected for Ryan Malone to be a solid fantasy producer.
Aside from drafting
Steven Stamkos with the first overall pick, the biggest move the team made over the summer was the signing of free-agent
Ryan Malone. While an average salary of $4 million dollars may be a bit much for a rugged role-playing winger, Malone is proving lately he has some fantasy value. Dating back to December, Malone has 15 points, 22 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating in 20 games. He is looking more like the player that helped lead the
Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals last year and the type of player that same franchise is missing this year. He has proven to be a second-half performer in his career and is warming up for a similar run this season, so you might be able to pluck him off your waiver wire as he is owned in only 58 percent of ESPN leagues.
On the other hand, Stamkos certainly has been a disappointment so far. But there is hope for Stamkos this season. He has five points in his past six games despite playing limited minutes, but the club's recent hot streak has lead to his upturn in offense. While some have publicly stated the 18-year-old isn't ready and is too small for the NHL, he certainly isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The most recent Rookie of the Year winners have set the bar so high for early-round picks that Stamkos was likely to fail by comparison. But that doesn't mean he couldn't be useful for your fantasy team. If he continues to grow in his current role (8-13 minutes a night), he is worth a pickup off the waiver wire in deeper leagues.
The biggest winner in the team's improvement is goaltender Mike Smith. He has been on the fantasy bubble for a while, but has yet to break through due to poor overall team play. The 26-year-old has the 10th best save percentage in the NHL, ahead of Vezina candidates Henrik Lundqvist and Evgeni Nabokov.
So why no love for the young man with the fantastic afro? Simply, he's been like a lamb led to the wolves. Smith has seen the second-most shots in the league this season and leads the league in saves made because he's gotten little help from a defensive corps that could really use Dan Boyle. While he is still seeing more shots than one would like, he has been considerably less busy lately. Early in the season, Smith faced about 35 shots against per night. But since Jan. 1, it's down to 29 per night. If the defense continues to improve, Smith will break the fantasy bubble and be owned in more than 48 percent of ESPN leagues.
Ice Chips
David Krejci's Cinderella season continues. He scored the winning goal in overtime to push the Bruins past the Capitals 3-2. His 53 points are now 10th best in the NHL. ... In that same contest, Alex Ovechkin left the game after falling into the boards awkwardly. Later in the game, Alexander Semin was hit with a high stick and was forced to leave the ice as well. Luckily for Capitals fans, both players returned later in the night. ... In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Rangers placed Dan Fritsche on waivers. While Fritsche has yet to find his game in the NHL, he has long been thought to be a solid prospect and not someone a club would just release. ... Gary Bettman strikes again. The Detroit Red Wings certainly looked like they could have used Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk on Tuesday night dropping a game to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The pair was suspended by the NHL for not appearing in Montreal for All-Star festivities. ... That same game marked the 400th career NHL appearance for Henrik Zetterberg. Reports say Zetterberg and the Wings have agreed to a 12-year contract extension that will keep the smooth skating Swede in the Motor City for the rest of his career. ... Rick Nash provided all the offense that the Blue Jackets needed on Tuesday night scoring all three of Columbus' goals. He now has 22 this season. ... Brendan Shanahan scored his second goal of the season in only his third game with the Devils. He seems to be settling in nicely and may be a nice addition for those in deeper leagued. He is still available in 30 percent of ESPN leagues. ... Sean Allen pointed out in this week's Open Ice just how valuable David Booth has been this season. Well, the Panthers forward scored his 20th goal Tuesday. He's available in about half of ESPN leagues. ... Justin Pogge's second NHL game was not anywhere near as productive as his first. The Leafs' young goaltender allowed six goals on just 20 shots in a loss to the Wild. He's on his way back down to the AHL as we speak. ... Make it two consecutive stellar games for Marty Turco. The Dallas Stars' goaltender stopped all 25 shots he saw on Tuesday to shut out the Thrashers. In his last game before the All-Star break, he allowed just one goal on 28 shots against the Panthers. ... The best goaltending performance of the night, however, belonged to Evgeni Nabokov, who stopped 27 shots in a shutout win over the Colorado Avalanche. In that same game, Andrew Raycroft proved that he's no slouch, stopping 35 shots in the losing effort. It looks like he'll be getting the lion's share of starts ahead of Peter Budaj from here on out. I wouldn't say he's rosterable in the average fantasy league just yet, though. ... Am I reading that box score correctly? The Buffalo Sabres scored 10 goals to overwhelm the Edmonton Oilers. For all I can tell the year still is 2009 and Pat Lafontaine was nowhere to be found. Let's hope you didn't have many Oilers in your lineup. The surprise scoring leader from this rout was Drew Stafford, who had the hat trick and is up to 30 points this season. He's certainly worth a look in deeper leagues. ... We follow that 10-goal performance with another high-scoring affair in Phoenix. Corey Perry and Chris Kunitz each scored twice to lead the Ducks to a 7-3 victory over the Coyotes. Shane Doan carried over his offensive ways from the All-Star break scoring two goals of his own. ... Coyotes winger Peter Mueller had to leave the game after getting shaken up at the end of the second period. He did not return, but there was no other information on his condition after the game.
