In his return after a brief conditioning stint in the AHL, Anaheim G John Gibson had an easy go of it against the Columbus Blue Jackets, turning aside 16 of 17 SOG for his first win of the season. With the stellar play of Frederik Andersen so far this year, it looks like Gibson will get spot starts unless Andersen begins to falter. Everything looks to be in Andersen's favor, but one never knows how quickly the hand of fate delivers.  Corey Perry continues his torrid start with a goal and an assist but if somehow D Sami Vatanen is still available in your league, snatch him up ASAP as he had a goal and an assist, both on the power play. Cam Fowler seems to be the forgotten offensive d-man in Anaheim although he did also notch an assist on the power play and now has 5 points in 8 games... Edmonton rattled off their third win in a row as they blasted the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 at Rexall Place. It appears there is no fantasy-worthy options in Carolina but as the top talent returns to the lineup, the production should improve.  Jeff Skinner broke the ice in his third game back since opening the season on the injury list, so look for his numbers and the rest of the Canes to get quite better as C Eric Staal is close to returning as well. Without either of those in the lineup, the Canes have been horrible as they have gone winless.  Some good "buy-low" options in Carolina.... Speaking of being lost, Edmonton's Jordan Eberle broke out in a big way last night with 2 goals and an assist, the first goal a thing of beauty as he and Tayler Hall had a nice give-and-go to break Eberle free. Those who were a bit disgruntled can breathe a sigh of relief as Eberle should be a big part of that Oil offense.... You knew sooner or later that the Colorado Avalanche offense was going to break out as they scored 7 goals against the visiting Vancouver Canucks. The return of starter Semyon Varlamov didn't hurt either as the team seemed to play much better with their no. 1 back in the crease. Matt Duchene (G, 2A), Jarome Iginla (2G, A) and Tyson Barrie (3A) all had a 3-point night while Erik Johnson had a goal and an assist. Perhaps the Colorado Rocky air was just the right elixir.  Put your Avs back in the lineup pronto.  Take me home country roads.... The talent of the Tampa Bay Lightning, especially starter Ben Bishop (40/42 SVS), was just too much for the Winnipeg Jets. Ondrej Pavelec was chased after giving up 4 through 2 periods and his numbers are clearly not what the team ...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the Canadian solider who was shot and killed in yesterday's shooting in Ottawa. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Battle of Pennsylvania last night with a 5-3 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Flyers held Crosby off the score sheet and gained a much needed win over a division rival.  Claude Giroux (G, A) and Jakub Vorcaek (2A) were active but it was Sean Couturier who had an empty-netter plus 2 assists to lead the scoring. Couturier has been called upon by GM Ron Hextall to be more involved the offense at the start of the season.  Couturier has the skill set to be more productive.  And with 5 points in the first 7 games. perhaps this is the start.... Anaheim's Corey Perry didn't need such a pep talk as he has started the season on fire, scoring a hat trick against the Buffalo Sabres last night. Perry now has 8 goals and 10 points in 7 games.....Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen remains unbeaten at 6-0-0 with an incredible 1.32 GAA and a .952 SP. He seems to have locked down the starter's role.... Don't look now but the Edmonton Oilers have won 2 in row with their 3-2 win over Washington Last night at Rexall Place. The Oil carried over their solid play from the Tampa Bay game and shut down another explosive forward last night in Alex Ovechkin. Some home cooking is all the Oilers needed to right the ship as the team is playing better defensively in front of G Ben Scrivens who may just be getting on a roll as he has let in only 2 goals in each of the two victories and has a .931 SP in that span....Is Edmonton D-man Justin Schultz heating up? Schultz has now scored in 2 straight games after going scoreless in 4.  Look for the talented young defenseman to be more involved in the offense going forward.   Schultz has so much untapped potential that if the team can play a sound defensive game in front of Scrivens, this could allow the extremely talented offense to shine through, benefitting both Schultz and Scrivens.

Andersen stopped all 28 shots that he faced in a 3-0 win over the Blues on Sunday. The win moved him to 5-0-0 with a 1.38 GAA and .950 SV% on the season. He is off to the best start of any goalie in the NHL and is an absolute must-start tonight vs. the Sabres.

Andersen stopped all 28 shots that he faced in a 3-0 win over the Blues on Sunday. The win moved him to 5-0-0 with a 1.38 GAA and .950 SV% on the season. He is off to the best start of any goalie in the NHL and is an absolute must-start tonight vs. the Sabres.

Anaheim goaltender Frederik Andersen remains undefeated at 5-0-0 after blanking the St. Louis Blues 3-0 in the Ducks' home opener last night.  Andersen turned aside all 28 shots he faced but the big story of the night was defenseman Sami Vatanen who netted 2 power play goals and looks to be a solid choice in your fantasy lineup with 5 points in 6 games. Vatanen led all defensemen in power play time with 3:48, almost a minute more than Cam Fowler. Grab Vatanen if he's still available as Head Coach Bruce Boudreau has been using him more and more... The New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks 4-0 last night at the garden behind Henrik Lundqvist's 33-save effort giving the Rangers a modest 2-game winning streak. The Sharks, who were playing their 3rd game in four nights, came out flying but lost the game when they let up 2 goals 4 seconds apart late in the 2nd period that made the score 3-0. Rick Nash continued his torrid scoring pace and leads the NHL after scoring his 7th goal of the young season. Martin St. Louis scored his 1st of the year so look for him to get back on track as key players start returning to the lineup.... Mason Raymond was the story for the Calgary Flames last night with a goal and two assists giving him 7 points in 7 games. Those 7 points tie him for the team lead with Defenseman T. J. Brodie who has shown some consistency so far this season. Start both with confidence as they are main parts of the upstart Flames.... The 70's Line for the Los Angeles Kings continues to roll early on this season with another fine effort in the Kings 2-1 win over Minnesota. The line figured in both LA goals as Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson netted the goals and Jeff Carter notching an assist. Start them while they are hot.  G Jonathan Quick raised his record to 3-1-1 with another fine effort turning aside 40 of 41 shots quieting any concerns about his off-season surgery.

Andersen stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 2-1 win over the Wild on Friday. He has won all four starts with a 1.72 GAA and .937 SV% in the first few weeks of the season. He draws a tough matchup vs. the Blues, but is as hot as any netminder in the league right now.

Andersen stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 2-1 win over the Wild on Friday. He has won all four starts with a 1.72 GAA and .937 SV% in the first few weeks of the season. He draws a tough matchup vs. the Blues, but is as hot as any netminder in the league right now.

Three struggling teams were shutout at home last night, all by teams that struggled mightily last year. Four of the six games on the slate last night were won by visiting teams.  Of the shutouts, first Roberto Luongo blanked the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 earning his first, and the team's first, win of this season. Don't expect many wins from either team this year as they are in the midst of rebuilding...Secondly, the Nashville Predators remained undefeated as Pekka Rinne stopped all 31 Winnipeg Jets shots to raise his record to 3-0-1 and remind people that he is still one of the elite goaltenders of the NHL.  The Jets dropped to 1-3-0 even though G Ondrej Pavelec is playing better than he has ever played in his career with a 2.22 GAA and a .919 SP. It's only a small sample size of 4 games but it looks like Pavelec is determined to prove critics wrong.... Thirdly, Ryan Miller backstopped the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 blanking of the Edmonton Oilers to raise their record to 3-0-0 and drop the Oil to 0-4-1. The line of Radim Vrbata-Henrik Sedin-Daniel Sedin has been money so far and should consistently produce throughout the year as the Sedins look to rebound from last season's nightmare.... Just like last year, the Calgary Flames will fight to the end of every game and did so again last night but came up short against Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets who built a 3-0 lead only to hold on for the 3-2 victory.  Ryan Johansen shows no signs of slowing down even though he held out of training camp. The blue Jackets are becoming a fantasy relevant team as they have a solid young goaltender, a deep defensive core and young forwards coming into their own.  Johansen, Cam Atkinson and Bobrovsky are must-starts in your fantasy lineups while d-men Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski are off to slow starts, this could be a good "buy-low" opportunity to strengthen your fantasy defense. One pl;ayer to keep your eye on is LW Nick Foligno who has quietly put up 5 points in 4 games... You just have to wonder how dangerous the Red Wings could be once Pavel Datsyuk returns to the lineup. Without the superstar center, Detroit, behind Henrik Zetterberg (3A), Gustav Nyquist (G, A) and Johan Franzen (2G), defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 last night. Franzen may be one player that is available in your league, but if not take a look at Justin Abdelkader who had a goal and assist in last night's tilt. Abdelkader now has 4 points in 4 games and may be helpful in deeper ...

Andersen allowed three goals on 42 shots in a 4-3 shootout win over the Flyers last night. He has posted a 3-0 record with a 1.95 GAA and .928 SV% in his first three starts. John Gibson was sent to the AHL for the weekend, so this is Andersen's gig right now.

Andersen only had to stop 11 of 12 shots to earn a 5-1 win over the Sabres last night. Despite head coach Bruce Boudreau saying both goalies would play twice on this road trip and most people believing that John Gibson would go tonight, it is Andersen who will put his 2-0 record on the line tonight vs. the winless Flyers.