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Zack Kassian now has goals in three consecutive games for the Canucks. He continues to thrive on the RW with the Sedin twins.
Mason Raymond is worth an add right now - he won't sustain this kind of production, but he looks every bit the player that scored 25 goals a few years ago. He took a ton of heat for his play last season, but people tended to forget he was coming off of a broken back that he suffered in the Cup Final. Raymond has a lot of talent, and he looks ready to show that once again this year.
Cory Schneider was sensational, keeping the Canucks in the game until their special teams took over. 30 save shutout.
Last night was a great example as to why Corey Perry is so valuable in PIM leagues. He threw a few temper tantrums and ended up with 9 PIM.
Speaking of PIM, Matt Beleskey was in two scraps and ended up with 12 PIM. He fared pretty well in both of them (Volpatti and Bieksa).
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Alex Ovechkin - pointless and only two shots on goal in about 22 minutes of ice time last night.
Of Mike Ribeiro’s 15 minutes of ice time, almost half of it came on the PP. He did score a goal in that time.
Mike Green played 10 minutes on the PP, 30 minutes total, and he finished with a goal and a helper.
Michal Neuvirth started his second consecutive game, and he stopped 32 of 35 shots faced.
Ilya Kovalchuk and David Clarkson combined for 12 SOG. Kovy also scored the OT winner for the Devils.
Martin Brodeur’s strong start to the season continues - he has now won all three of his starts.
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The Staal brothers combined for two points and eight SOG in the win over Buffalo last night.
Mikhail Grigorenko played only seven minutes for the Sabres.
Vanek and Pominville each had a point and combined for 10 shots on goal. Both have gotten off to terrific starts - perhaps a few early sell high candidates?
Dan Ellis had a great game with 40 saves for the Hurricanes - having a capable back up is going to be super important this year more than ever.
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Keep an eye on Calgary - Sven Baertschi may be a healthy scratch tonight as the Flames welcome back Hudler and Cervenka (more below).
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Jaromir Jagr is day to day with a minor back issue - he may miss a game or two but it doesn’t sound serious.
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Scott Gomez is making his season debut for the Sharks tonight. Any guesses for how he fares tonight and for the rest of the season? I could see him playing limited EV minutes and a lot on the PP.
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A very solid NHL debut for Jonas Brodin - he saw steady minutes on the MIN back end, and ended up with his first NHL point, too.
Ryan Suter played 32 minutes for the Wild. They know he isn’t a robot, right?
A very Parise-like performance from Parise last night - two goals and six shots on goal. He was a buzzsaw all night long for Minnesota.
Datsyuk had three points and won 14 of 23 faceoffs taken. Filppula also had three points - he wants to prove that his breakout last year was not a one-off.
The goaltending wasn’t great, but Jimmy Howard made the big saves when he needed to. Not what poolies always want to read, though.
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Keith Aucoin is making the most of his time on Long Island - he scored both goals last night in the loss against Boston.
Dougie Hamilton’s ice time dropped to 16 minutes, but he still ended up with two helpers.
As I am sure many of you are, I am very surprised at Tyler Seguin’s slow start (one point in four games).
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Highway robbery:
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Five thoughts from the first week of hockey, including Chicago’s hot start, some stellar rookie performances, and more.
If Chicago can get steady goaltending from Corey Crawford and/or Ray Emery, the rest of the Western Conference is in trouble. Checking center Dave Bolland has shown he has the offense to play a top six role. Now that he is centering the second line, Chicago doesn’t really have any weaknesses on their roster. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are once again anchoring the defense, and Nick Leddy has emerged as a very good top four defenseman as well (Minnesota must be kicking themselves for moving him in exchange for Cam Barker a few years ago).
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Justin Goldman is writing for NHL.com, and in this piece he takes a look at the fantasy hockey goaltending market.
One goalie he is bullish on:
Craig Anderson -- with an average draft pick of 85.3 in Yahoo! Fantasy leagues, Anderson has played well above his fantasy value so far. He was focused and aggressive in his win over Winnipeg, and he followed that up with a 31-save shutout against his former team (Florida). He has not allowed an even-strength goal yet, and the shutout he earned in a sloppy opening week was a juicy point for poolies.
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Eric Gudbranson was brutally honest with his teammates and coaches after injuring his shoulder wakeboarding. Seems like a stand up guy. And he will be a huge part of the present and future in Florida.
Gudbranson is recovering from a significant shoulder injury he suffered while wakeboarding with friends in early September. At first, the injury was shrouded in mystery and it was reported he sustained it while doing hockey-related activities. However, Gudbranson took it upon himself to clear up the story and make sure the Panthers management and his teammates knew the truth. He phoned each of his teammates individually to explain the situation.
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Zack Kassian was more than just a physical presence in Vancouver’s midweek win over Calgary, writes the National Post.
At night’s end, Kassian had 19:14 of ice time, the most of any Vancouver forward except for the Sedins, scored a goal, had three shots on net, and four hits – the physical presence is something the Canucks really need. The goal Wednesday night adds to a cracker of a goal against Edmonton Sunday. This is all from a player who, last spring in the playoffs against the Kings, saw a maximum ice time of six minutes in Game 2 and was not even dressed for the decisive Game 5.
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This may be Jakub Kindl’s last chance in Detroit, as he is getting an opportunity to produce thanks to the injuries to White and Colaiacovo.
Kindl will be paired on the second power play unit with Brendan Smith. For Kindl it may be his last chance to make this team has a regular.
“That’s another good thing about injures, other people get opportunities,” Babcock said. “If you grab hold of it you get to play a long, long time. Everybody comes in has nobody and then does something.
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The Flyers have signed 40-year-old Mike Knuble to a one-year contract. I wouldn’t expect Knuble to set the world on fire, but he can still provide some leadership value, and he may be a productive player if he sees a steady dose of PP minutes. He is too slow to keep up with top flight players at even strength, though.
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Dallas prospect Jamie Oleksiak is very close to seeing NHL action, but would the Stars go with three rookie blueliners at the same time? Jordie Benn and Brenden Dillon have acquitted themselves quite nicely in the early going.
Throughout 41 games Oleksiak leads the entire team in assists with 20, is tops among all defencemen in points with 23, and is second on the team in plus-minus with a sparkling +12. Texas has gone 9-1 over their last ten games, vaulting them into a tie for 1st place in the AHL, and it's undeniable that Oleksiak's continued improvement has played a large role in that surge.
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Stephen Weiss missed Florida’s game on Thursday, prompting some Luongo-to-Florida speculation. However, it was announced soon after the game started that Weiss was suffering from a minor lower body injury.
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Tyler Pitlick, one of Edmonton’s best prospects down on the farm, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Pitlick’s injury is the reason the Oilers signed winger Jonathan Cheechoo to a professional tryout agreement. The former San Jose forward, who had 56 goals one year as Joe Thornton’s triggerman, is in OKCity on a game-to-game basis. He had an assist in a loss to Grand Rapids Wednesday night.
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Calgary hopes to have both Roman Cervenka and Jiri Hudler in the lineup against the Oilers on Saturday.
Cervenka participated in a full practice with the club for the first time.
He developed blood clots while playing in the KHL during the NHL lockout. While taking anti-coagulant medication, Cervenka wasn't cleared to play or have contact in practice until earlier this week.
I would expect both players to factor in to the top six and one of the power play units. Hudler, in particular, is a very good PP player and could end up being the quarterback on one of Calgary’s PP units.
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Your last day to get questions in to my fantasy mailbag – it closes tonight.
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Sami Vatanen is healthy and has been sent to the AHL by Anaheim. I’d expect him to be up with the big club at some point within the next few weeks – he is NHL ready and should be productive on the power play right out of the gate.
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Don’t forget to check out the awesome team coverage sections on the DobberHockey forums.
The East
The West
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Expect Adam Henrique to make his return to the New Jersey lineup towards the end of next week.
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More in Ian White’s gruesome injury.
"I was the third man back, and there was a two-on-two, and one of our guys got beat, and they were taking the puck to the net," White said of the play. "I just kind of started crashing the net, and Howie made a great save, and I took the heel of his skate right to the top of the knee."
White knew right away it wasn't just a boo-boo. "Goalies' heels are pretty sharp and pointy. I went right off it pretty hard, so I knew it was going to be pretty bad. But it could have been a lot worse -- I guess you have a tendon going over the knee, so if I would have cut that, it might have been the season. So, lucky, if you will."
Ouch.
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