This version of SMC is coming to you from Wells, Maine where it's really cold but the coffee is really good! I've been telling you that Boston has been getting their act together. Don't let last night's hiccup against Columbus discourage you.  They are back. T-Rask is back to being his dominant self. Ryan Johansen looks like you ‘will' be the centerpiece for the Jackets after all. It has been a pleasure to see him rise to new levels. Once Milan Lucic gets a head of steam, watch out! I think Philly's season is practically over, but they still had to beat Buffalo last night. It will take a miracle for the Flyers to make the playoffs.  That's a shame considering the seasons that Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek are having. I had to take a week of lessons on how to both pronounce and spell this Buffalo Sabres name because I think Zemgus Girgensons is going to be a good one in a very short time. The Toronto Maple Leafs went 0-4 on their mostly West Coast road trip scoring only 1 goal. I wonder if they left their sticks in TO?   They'll probably be glad to be home, but they have 5 of their next 7 on the road.  David Backes has 16 points in last 9 games. Say what?!?!?!  He's a good fantasy player in all categories but this prolific of a scorer? The Islanders are going to have to work on their defense if they want to go deep into the playoffs. Are John Tavares and Kyle Okposo going to tear up the NHL from here on out? I think JT has been saving it up for the stretch run. I truly believe that. This Montreal Canadiens team is scary. Carolina beat Ottawa in a "does anyone really care" matchup. Eric Staal should not be disappearing in some games. He's just too good for that. What happens to Jeff Skinner? Sometimes he looks like a world-beater and then you don't hear from him for months. I mean besides the oft-times that he's injured. Too many top goalies getting injured of late. Or is it a plot to keep them out of the All-Star game?  My conspiracy theory for the week. Tomas Tatar has 20 goals already. What have I been watching to not realize he was having this good of a season? That 5-2 loss to Detroit really showed how much Pekka Rinne is perhaps the best net minder in the NHL right now. If anyone can have a huge second half that has been pretty much non-existent, it's Nathan MacKinnon, he's that talented. For a minute I thought Victor Hedman got injured again when I saw Anton Stralman's line in the box score. 1G, 1A, -1, 1 SOG, 1 BS, 2 HT, and the most power play ...

*The goaltending competition between Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson in Winnipeg continues to stiffen. "Pavs" allowed four goals on 23 shots while giving up a two-goal lead in the 4-3 loss to Philadelphia. He hasn't lost in regulation during his last six games (3-0-3) but he hasn't been nearly as stingy in goal as Hutchinson. This situation should bear watching in the second half.. *What are the Colorado Avalanche to do? Calvin Pickard wins another tight game, stopping 34 of 35 shots in Detroit and could earn extra playing time despite Semyon Varlamov almost ready to return. If you own Pickard, hold onto him as he has been way too hot for Patrick Roy to quickly discard.. *We all expected Tyler Seguin to rise up the scoring ranks, but Jakub Voracek continues to shock the NHL with two more goals and the outright scoring lead. For my money, if anyone other than the BIG THREE- Crosby, Malkin, Stamkos- wins the Art Ross trophy, it will be Seguin. As elite as they come.. Dougie Hamilton snapped a five-game point drought with two goals and an assist in Boston's 4-3 OT win over Buffalo. The return of Zdeno Chara has slowed down Dougie a bit, but don't count him out for a strong finish. The kid is the real deal and has supplanted Torey Krug as their future go-to blueliner... *Despite playing with emotional hearts due to the sudden death of Chicago's assistant equipment manager, Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp combined for 6 points in the 4-0 rout of the suddenly reeling Maple Leafs. We told you to buy low on "Sharpie" as he is showing clear signs of busting out of an early season slump.

With Marian Gaborik returning to the lineup, Anze Kopitar has woken up. I think LA is ready to go on some sort of streak. Gaborik has 6 goals in last 4 games. As streaky as they come and as injury-prone as they come. Colorado played Buffalo last. A very uncharacteristic game for both clubs as the Avalanche won 5-1. Jarome Iginla did his Kopitar imitation and had 3 assists last night as well. Did you know that Jeff Carter has 9 goals and 16 assists so far this season? Usually it's the other way around.  You know what that means. Jakub Voracek had 4 assists last night to take over the NHL point lead. His team mate Claude Giroux and Dallas Star Tyler Seguin (does Boston feel that pain yet?) are 3 points behind. Not a positive nigh for the Toronto Maple Leafs in their 7-4 loss to Philadelphia. Pekka Rinne was irregular last night against Minnesota but still won 6-5 in overtime. I think Alex Galchenyuk is loving the new responsibilities of centering the top line. He has 6 points in last 3 games.  Ottawa is going to have one of those years where they seem like they can't move one way or another. Tampa Bay is 3-5-2 in last team. You can breathe Lightning fan.  They will be alright, trust me. The last year on Long Island is turning out to be a special one. Brooklyn is awaiting. Every Florida Panther had a SOG except Derek MacKenzie so you know they were trying in their 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. See Derek, you made the SMC! Steve Downie had a great night with 2 assists and 17 PIMs. I am very disappointed in the Pittsburgh Penguins for scratching Robert Klinkhammer from the lineup on a Saturday night. I may have to call Bettman. I just don't know if the New Jersey Devils are this bad. They have a lot of home games coming up so maybe they can get back in the thick of things.  Or, they may be looking at a new head coach pretty soon. Nicklas Backstrom is becoming a scoring machine lately notching his 9th and 10th goals on the season. The Rangers are streaking. Martin St. Louis needs to start scoring a little bit more methinks. Even with going 8-1-1 in last 10, Columbus still finds themselves 7 points behind a playoff spot. Keep plugging away boys. Minny G Niklas Backstrom has started the last 3 and last 4 of 6 games. He had to relieve Darcy Kuemper in last night's game. What has happened to Kuemper? Calgary is really going through a tough stretch right now. They face LA and Edmonton twice in the next four games.  So there is hope in two of those games.  The Christmas/...

Let's start off with saying "Hat's off to Nick" as the cerebral passing machine known as Nicklas Backstrom collected his first career regular season "hat trick" in Washington's 4-2 win over Tampa Bay. His career high in goals scored was 33 in 2009-10, but he routinely falls in the 15-20 category. Meaning, don't get overly excited over his scoring explosion. His point-per-game ways will continue this season thanks to a healthy dose of assists.. Need to mention our second fantasy star of the night, Kris Letang who has played this season like a man on a mission, scoring another two goals in Pittsburgh's losing effort to Columbus. He has collected points in five straight games, plus goals in three straight. With 21 points on the season and injury-free again, get him in your starting line-ups ASAP.. Should we start to take Buffalo's goalie Jhonas Enroth seriously in all fantasy leagues? The streaking Swede did not enjoy his best night by any means but held on for his eighth win in his last ten starts. The Sabres have been gaining much confidence during this hot stretch and are even scoring some goals. When you see them defeating Florida and Calgary by the score of 4-3, then you know the team is trending upward. I say use Enroth as a solid no. 2 if your goaltending is struggling.. Tyler Seguin is the "man" again, scoring a goal and an assist in the 4-2 Dallas triumph over New Jersey. His 23 goals and 38 points leads the entire NHL, while his robust 118 SOG ranks him second. Superstar status has arrived.. Want to add that Jason Spezza is back on Seguin's line. His two points last night was no coincidence. Start him immediately... The formula is simple for Philly's offensive success- secondary scoring is a must and it's been on display over recent games. Third-line center Sean Couturier scored a goal in their 5-1 win over Carolina, extending his point to six games. Wayne Simmonds is back on one of his famous hot streaks, collecting the game-winner plus a helper so use him while he is on fire. The Flyers have been buzzing on offense as top dogs Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek continue to lead the way.. Where have you been, Mats? Despite sub-par offensive production at the quarter mark, Mr. Zuccarello sparked the 'Blueshirts to a 5-1 win over Vancouver with his two goals. With 13 points in 25 games, he is falling way short of his 59-point pace he set last season, but consider "buying low" on him. He was moved up to the Rick Nash-Derick Brassard line, which would ...

Let's start off with saying "Hat's off to Nick" as the cerebral passing machine known as Nicklas Backstrom collected his first career regular season "hat trick" in Washington's 4-2 win over Tampa Bay. His career high in goals scored was 33 in 2009-10, but he routinely falls in the 15-20 category. Meaning, don't get overly excited over his scoring explosion. His point-per-game ways will continue this season thanks to a healthy dose of assists.. Need to mention our second fantasy star of the night, Kris Letang who has played this season like a man on a mission, scoring another two goals in Pittsburgh's losing effort to Columbus. He has collected points in five straight games, plus goals in three straight. With 21 points on the season and injury-free again, get him in your starting line-ups ASAP.. Should we start to take Buffalo's goalie Jhonas Enroth seriously in all fantasy leagues? The streaking Swede did not enjoy his best night by any means but held on for his eighth win in his last ten starts. The Sabres have been gaining much confidence during this hot stretch and are even scoring some goals. When you see them defeating Florida and Calgary by the score of 4-3, then you know the team is trending upward. I say use Enroth as a solid no. 2 if your goaltending is struggling.. Tyler Seguin is the "man" again, scoring a goal and an assist in the 4-2 Dallas triumph over New Jersey. His 23 goals and 38 points leads the entire NHL, while his robust 118 SOG ranks him second. Superstar status has arrived.. Want to add that Jason Spezza is back on Seguin's line. His two points last night was no coincidence. Start him immediately... The formula is simple for Philly's offensive success- secondary scoring is a must and it's been on display over recent games. Third-line center Sean Couturier scored a goal in their 5-1 win over Carolina, extending his point to six games. Wayne Simmonds is back on one of his famous hot streaks, collecting the game-winner plus a helper so use him while he is on fire. The Flyers have been buzzing on offense as top dogs Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek continue to lead the way.. Where have you been, Mats? Despite sub-par offensive production at the quarter mark, Mr. Zuccarello sparked the 'Blueshirts to a 5-1 win over Vancouver with his two goals. With 13 points in 25 games, he is falling way short of his 59-point pace he set last season, but consider "buying low" on him. He was moved up to the Rick Nash-Derick Brassard line, which would ...

Hot coffee on a cold day.....let's go! I think Christian Ehrhoff took the task to hand yesterday with 7 SOG and the game-winning goal in the third period. Finally earning that paycheck... No Kunitz. No Dupuis. No Hornqvist.  No Bennett.  No Letang.  No problem for the Penguins as long as they have both Crosby, Malkin and Fleury leading the way.... The Islanders had the Blues, leading 3-0 after 1 period, but Marty was the inspiration taking over for Jake Allen.... Both top defensemen for the St. Louis Blues had a combined 15 SOG, Shattenkirk 8 & Pietrangelo 7..... Vladimir Tarasenko is slowing down, but not much as he potted his 17th goal to seal the deal on Long Island. You knew Jaroslav Halak had to lose after winning 11 in a row and Steve Mason had to win eventually. It was just odd that the Flyers would beat the Kings in LA after going 1-8-2 in last 11 games.... Has anyone seen Anze Kopitar this season? Two teams you gotta believe in this year are the NY Islanders and the Calgary Flames.... If Florida can string together a few wins, then they would be my surprise team of the season so far... And Columbus would be my surprise team going the other way but with the way Sergei Bobrovsky has been playing in his last few games, I think the Blue Jackets are ready to make a run.... I mean, the Jackets did beat the Tampa Bay Lightning on their own ice 3-1 as they have everyone back in their lineup.... Buffalo's Matt Moulson had 7 SOG but I'm sure he daydreams about his days playing alongside John Tavares on Long Island.... Roberto Luongo must be loving life playing in Florida again, getting away from last year's circus in Vancouver.... You just gotta love what this kid Aaron Ekblad is bringing to, not only the Florida Panthers, but the NHL as well.   3 more assists last night brings him up to 17 points in 25 games.  Impressive indeed... Remember how it was the end of the world for Leaf fans when they took a 9-2 shellacking from the Tampa Bay Lightning? They have gone 5-1-1 since that game.  Sometimes you need a little smack on the behind to get you going... With 7 points in last 4 games, Joffrey Lupul seems to be getting into one of his zones that he is famous for. The other thing that Lupul is famous for is getting injured... Every single Canuck had a SOG in yesterday's contest against Toronto.... Tyler Seguin with his 3 points leapfrogged over Crosby and Voracek for the NHL lead in points. Plus he leads with 21 goals.  Boston?  Do you see what is ...

Hooray to the great Martin Brodeur for picking up his first win For St. Louis, after stopping 14 of 16 shots in relief of an ineffective Jake Allen. Somewhere way inside me, I have a feeling he can push Allen for playing time given his tremendous future HOF pedigree but am not sure how it would play out when Brian Elliott returns. I would say that if you any room on your bench, stashing him for now might not be the worst idea.. To stay on this game, Kevin Shattenkirk's three points has vaulted him to second amongst NHL defensemen in scoring with 22 points. For fantasy formats that reward power-play points, he actually leads all d-men in power-play assists with 14. As elite as they come.. Up-and-coming Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad is making quite the rookie impact with three more assists, giving him 17 points in 26 games. While its unreasonable to expect the youngster to maintain that level of production, I could easily see him pull off a "Tyler Myers"... Chicago's other great line came up huge for the second straight match, as Marian Hossa scored two goals in the 3-1 win over Nashville. Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg have been dynamite on the second line, but the impending return of Patrick Sharp to the top unit might give them the edge going forward. Nonetheless, plenty of goals to go around as the Blackhawks are explosive.. While Sidney Crosby and Jakub Voracek have been battling for the NHL scoring lead seemingly all season long, studly Tyler Seguin roared past the two with a three-point effort and now also leads in goals scored with 21. There is a subtle "change of the fantasy guard" going on here, as the Dallas center making a bold statement for universal top-three selection in next year's fantasy drafts... Maybe it's time to change Mark Giordano's first name to "Norris" as the Calgary defenseman continues to prove that his breakout season of 2013-14 was no fluke. With his goal last night, he now leads all defensemen with 28 points. His point-per-game production last year-.73- ranked third only behind Erik Karlsson and Duncan Keith, so he keep your faith in this guy. He's legit elite and not worth trading under most circumstances... Shades of heavy-duty Vezina form for goalie Sergei Bobrovsky lately, as he turned aside 33 shots in the improbable victory in Tampa. He has now won three straight for an injury-plagued Columbus squad and should only get better as the team gets healthier. Your "buy-low" window is closing rapidly... MORE COMING..

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday! Coffee time! The Flyers are in a bad state right now. Something is going to happen sooner than later. The mumps are making their way around the NHL. That's right, the mumps. Tyler Seguin is having a monster year. Who woulda thought that Columbus would be the worst team in the NHL right now? It's not Ryan Johansen or Nick Foligno's fault the Jackets are last in the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres are on fire, going 5-5-0 in last 10! It is sad how the Edmonton Oilers aren't better yet. The Toronto Maple Leafs are 12-8-3. I thought they were having a terrible season? Tyler Bozak is having himself a very nice season. I knew the Islanders would be better this season, but not "tied at the top of the Eastern Conference with the Penguins, Lightning and Canadiens" better! I wonder if New Jersey will beat Philadelphia in making a head coaching change. Pekka Rinne is better than ever since his hip surgery/infection last season. Zach Parise fans will be happy that he had 9 SOG against St. Louis on Saturday night. Thomas Vanek has not been his normal self ever since going to Montreal last year. The Colorado Avalanche have quietly gone 6-4-0 and are climbing back into the race. IF there is any player that is ready to go on a streak it's Jarome Iginla.   A notorious slow starter, it's around this time of the year when his game comes around. Kris Versteeg and Alex Tanguay are two veterans who are having better than expected productive seasons so far. That Calgary defense can sure put up points, can't they? Joe Thornton did not have a SOG last night against Anaheim. I wish they had a stat like, Attempted Assists because Jumbo Joe would probably lead that category every game. Calgary and Nashville at, or near, the top of the Western Conference standings. Impressive! Henrik Lundqvist has 9 wins, 4 of those by shutout. Have a great week and I hope all your fantasies come true.

On a night of thrilling comebacks and "stand on your head" goalie efforts, lets first take a look at the only significant fantasy injury from Sunday's full slate of action. Washington defenseman Mike Green left the contest with an upper-body injury and did not return. We all expected this to happen sooner or later as the talented blueliner usually can't stay healthy long enough to finish amongst the most productive fantasy "D" options. However, there are no details regarding the severity of his injury, so Green owners can be hopeful that he will back soon. He has been on a decent roll to start the season, collecting 12 points in his first 19 games. Another reaction to throw out there- most Cory Schneider owners rather have New Jersey rest him periodically in order to prevent a second half "burnout". Well, the team tried just that in Calgary last night as Scott Clemmenson received the start after Schneider started in the Devil's first twenty games. The results were catastrophic as he gave up three third-period goals including two in the last three minutes. Perhaps Schneider will start in the next fifty games.. kidding. Now for our top five fantasy performers from a busy Saturday: 1. Marian Hossa- The Chicago winger has showed clear signs of offensive decline over recent seasons, but he surely "turned the clock" back with his four-point performance in the 7-1 win over Edmonton. With seven points in his last three games, the Slovakian sniper has raised his scoring totals to 15 on the season and should be able to produce at his normal .75 PPG clip the rest of the way. 2. Jamie Benn- Tyler Seguin's sidekick in Dallas enjoyed a brilliant night with two goals and an assist, as his Stars have won two straight at home with the latest 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The prolific winger has been somewhat inconsistent along with the entire Star's offense, but now finds himself amidst a three-game point streak while totalling three goals and six assists during that span. Very few forwards can rack the points as quickly as Benn and seguin, so don't let the few dry spells get you down. 3. Jhonas Enroth- The most impressive effort in the crease came from a goalie with very little fantasy appeal at this time, as Buffalo's enroth has clearly been struggling all season. However, with michal Neuvirth out with an injury, the embattled Swede showed plenty of guts in delivering a 43-save effort in the face of a constant offensive barrage during Buffalo's 2-1 road win ...

Seguin missed yesterday's practice because he had his wisdom teeth removed on Sunday, but he is back on the ice today and will be in the lineup tonight vs. the Kings. He will centre the top line with Jamie Benn and Valeri Nichushkin on his wings.