About the time that Mike Smith shoved his blocker into Aaron Voros' mouth I was positive that I was sitting at the most exciting game in the NHL last night until I saw the scores of the Edmonton/Pittsburgh game, Washington/Carolina game and Calgary/Nashville. Any doubts that scoring is up this year in the NHL can be quickly dispelled by a quick glance at last night's scoreboard. Of 11 games only 2 had less then 5 goals; 3 had 7 goals; and 3 more had 9 or more. The big one was Calgary v. Nashville which featured a grand total of thirteen tallies. Enough babbling... lots going on...
-To yesterday's BTT Injury update add the following:
- Paul Kariya left Wednesday's game in Anaheim in the second period with an undisclosed lower body injury. He returned to St. Louis for an MRI and missed yesterday's game against San Jose. St. Louis is in the middle of a road trip and plays Los Angeles tomorrow night before flying off to Buffalo for a game next Wednesday. Best case scenario I would expect Kariya to miss at least Saturday's game in LA.
- Joe Sakic missed last night's game against Minnesota with a strained lower back. This is the kind of injury that you worry about with an older player as its the kind of the thing that can become recurring. I wouldn't be too worried about Joe though as he has been a point a game so far and will play unless he is physically incapable.
- Brent Burns left Minnesota's road trip with a dreaded upper body injury. Burns hasn't really caught fire yet this year but if you still have him on your team be aware that he is going to miss at least a few games.
- Evgeni Nabakov oh noes! Nabakov finished the game against St. Louis slumped over on the ice. San Jose is calling it a "lower body injury" today but several sources are saying that he "did something" to his "left leg" and that's at least a little bit more specific. His backup, Brian Boucher, is not spectacular fantasy wise but San Jose might be good enough for a speculative add if you've got a free roster spot.
- A miniature Breaking the Slump:
Congratulations to a pair of Mighty Mites who broke their slumps last night at the Rangers/Tampa Bay game. Martin St. Louis scored one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen. He took the puck, kicked it behind his back up to his stick then skated backwards towards Lundqvist before switching to his backhand and popping the puck top shelf. Follow that? Neither did Hank. It was a freaking street hockey goal.
Marty has had a tough start to the season, but I wouldn't be worried if I were a St. Louis owner. The guy has a history of being streaky but I still think he'll get you somewhere between 70 and 80 points. The big concern, as it is with all Tampa Bay players, has to be the powerplay. I'm not convinced that that is going to change. Watching as many Tampa games as I, unfortunately, have it would seem that their special teams are just... well... off. The penalty kill is just... wow
Also on the score sheet last night, Chris Drury came out of the fog and potted a hat trick. Good for Dru... I don't think this makes him fantasy worthy yet, as you've probably already missed his production for the next few games (and he's currently the Rangers third line center). Big wait and see for Drury.
-Observations on last nights games
- Mike Smith owners... don't you wish goalie PIM's counted? Mike Smith channeled Billy Smith last night and dropped the gloves against Aaron Voros after battling with him for the entire game. Smith apparently saw a vacancy for "Rangers fans most hated goalie" with Marty out and decided to put in his application. Another point. How good is Voros? Still miss Sean Avery Rangers' fans?
- WHOOPS! Blake Wheeler recorded his first NHL hat trick for the Boston Bruins last night. Congrats to Whoops on the achievement. Wheeler, I think, still needs another year before he is reliable fantasy contributor but he is turning into a very fun player to watch.
- Pittsburgh fans! Be discouraged with Fleury's play (though putting up 4 goals and losing is Edmonton's Modus Operandi these days) but be encouraged by the play of Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora. The Pens put up 5 goals last night and none of them were scored by Crosby or Malkin. Satan is on fire right now (8 goals) but Sykora has been slow to the starting gate. Well, 2 goals last night plus some powerplay time encourages me. If you've got Sykora on your bench it might be a good time to start playing him.
- Shea...motherflippin... Weber... that is all. No. OK so did I think he'd have 7 goals at this point in the season? No, but he does and now you need to figure out what to do with him? Guys like Weber, Semin and Vanek are all performing above their lofty expectations. Is it time to consider selling high? No I don't think so, particularly with Weber and Semin. Weber could very well continue to be a strong contributor throughout the year. He has 7 goals, top amongst d-men, and is ranked second to only Chris Pronger in standard Yahoo leagues. I think he finishes the year in the top 15 amongst d-men and I don't think you'll get that kind of return on him. Same for Semin, the return won't be worth what you are giving up.
- LUONGO! 2 shutouts in a row. Luongo owners... exhale.
- Ryan Clowe... two goals and the shootout winner... told you to watch him preseason based on his strong postseason and told you to pick him up yesterday... just saying. Setoguchi had another great night as well with two assists and 4 SOG.
That's all for now. I should be back a little bit later on in the day with updates, news, musings, etc.
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1 comment:
Definitely don't miss Avery anymore. Voros is more than sufficient. Whehter he's a pest or not or whether he deserved it or not... that last slash from smith to the back of Voros' knee was absolutely terrible. Voros isn't the actor that Avery is. His limping after that slash was definitely for real. Smith should have been suspended for that last one.
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