30SecondHockey

Boston 3 vs Pittsburgh 0

Sidney Crosby rode into this game with a 4 game pointless streak, and left with a 5 game pointless streak.  Without Evgeni Malkin, there is a lot of focus on the young captain.  Without Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar don’t expect any long outlet passes. Without Brooks Orpik expect a few more pucks to make it past Marc Andre Fleury.  Note, he did make some great saves last-night. All that being said the Bruin support cast of Matt Hunwick and Daniel Paille were enough to over come the Pens. Patrice Bergeron got  1 goal (empty net) and 1 assist and accumulated some FW’s, he’s by far been the best Bruin this season.  Michael Ryder had 4 shots on net.  He won’t continue to slump if he can put up that many on net every night.  Tim Thomas was the highlight of the game as he earned a shutout and a win for his team.

Minnesota 5 vs Toronto 2

Mikko Koivu joins the list of players who respond the night after I call them out on this blog.  He had a 3 point night and is still the only Wild forward I’m recommending. Nicklas Backstrom should always be a start because we know he can’t be this mediocre forever..  The thus far non-existent Martin Havlat scored one and Marke Zidlicky got a goal and an assist.  Keep an eye on them over the next few games to see if their consistency increases. Phil Kessel scored and Tomas Kaberle has another multi point game with 2 assists. These two are keepers, the rest of the team has a much higher element of risk.  I like Jonas Gustavsson as a sexy option in net, but even on nights he stands on his head, he can’t guarantee the win.

Calgary 1 vs Montreal 0

Jarome Iginla scored in his fourth straight game. Doubters must really learn to keep quiet now.  Mikka Kiprusoff showed that he was fully recovered by keeping his net empty, and Jaroslav  Halak helped keep the game close. Note Rene Bourque added an assist to keep his team lead in points.

Ottawa 4 vs Edmonton 3 (SO)

Although Ottawa pulled off the win, I can’t say any of tonights goal scorers have been impressive thus far.  Johnathan Cheecho scored his 3 point since becoming a Senator. Chris Neil, who also scored, is much better at accumulating PIMs, although he hasn’t been doing that enough as of late to have a real impact on your fantasy roster. Edmonton may not have won, but it looks like they’re over the flu.  Steve Staois had 2 assists and a +3 rating on the night.  Gilbert Brule scored, just as I was about to cut him from my team (he looks like a good 4th Center), and Dustin Penner continued to show leadership on the ice with another goal.  However,  the team was without Ales Hemsky.  Sam Gagner looks to have cooled down from his October streak and only looks decent forFW’s.

St. Louis 6 vs Vancouver 1

Andy McDonald’s return has made an immediate impact on this team. Aside from the 1 goal and 2 assists he earned last night, he’s been able to spark players such as David Perron who now has 5 points in his last 2 games, including a hat-trick last night. Many fantasy owners will be glad to hear that Brad Boyes has also benefited from play with McDonald, by accumulating 1 goal and 3 assists last night.  Defensemen Eric Johnson also had a goal and an assist.  Andrew Raycroft let in 4 goals in an 8 minute span; uncharacteristic of his play of late, but not unheard of.  Roberto Luongo is expected to be back, just in time.  Keven Bieksa accumulated 22 PIMS and Darcy Hordichuck 17, the two have been great in those two categories as of late, suggesting some frustration on the Vancouver bench.

San Jose 4 Nashville 3

This was a night of secondary support players, Thomas Greiss was in net, and Ryan Clowe and Joe Pavelski scored a goal each.  This team is deep.  The only other notable, is that Patric Hornqvist scored a goal; he’s a player I’m keeping on in my peripheral; JP Dumont can’t be the only one expected to score on this team.