Busy day in the NHL yesterday as there were 13 games played. Chicago and Winnipeg kicked things off with a matinee game in Winnipeg.  Not much of a match as the Blackhawks cruise past the Jets 5-1.  Chicago defenseman Nick Leddy had a good game with a goal and an assist. Leddy now has 8 points in 14 games played, and on this team he is a marginal 4th defenseman option.  Corey Crawford had 26 saves for the win in goal running his record to 8-2-2.  With Chicago's defense Crawford is a top goalie option.  Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec continues to struggle as he allowed 4 goals on only 14 shots and was pulled from the game. With only 4 wins on the season he is not even a decent 2nd goalie option...Go with Getzlaf!  Ryan Getzlaf had a nice game in Anaheim's 6-3 win over the hapless Sabres. Getzlaf had a goal and 2 assists in the game, and he has 16 points in 15 games.  His partner in crime Corey Perry had 2 goals giving him 8 on the season. Both are elite scorers.  Jonas Hiller got the win in goal although he only made 14 saves. With Viktor Fasth still out with a LBI expect Hiller to get a lot of starts in the short term. Buffalo forward Matt Moulson had 2 assists and he is demonstrating that he can play well for any team. He has 13 points this season and he is a solid number 5 forward. Bishop is king: Tampa Bay beat St. Louis last night 4-2 and the star of the game was Lightning goalie Ben Bishop who had 27 saves. Bishop now has a 9-2 record with a 2:15 goals against and a .925 save percentage.  He is the main reason for Tampa's turn around from last season.  Young Tampa forward Alex Killorn had a goal and 2 assists, and he is thriving while playing on a line with Stamkos and St. Louis. He has 12 points in 14 games this season, and playing with those 2 he should be fantasy worthy.  Grab him if you can.  Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had a power play goal for the Blues, and with 12 points in 12 game he is scoring like a forward. Top defenseman.  Jaroslav Halak gave up all 4 goals on 25 shots, making the Blues goaltending situation even murkier. Look for Brian Elliott to make the next start in goal. Where in the world is Claude Giroux? The Flyers beat the Devils 1-0 in a game matching two teams that struggle to score. Ray Emery got the shutout for Philadelphia, but he only had to make 14 saves. Emery is still the backup to Steve Mason, so don't get too excited about last night's performance. The interesting thing was Flyer forward Claude Giroux had goose eggs again next to his name, and he has yet to score a goal this season and is a minus 9. This is a guy who scored 93 points two years ago.  What has happened to him.  He has got to get better than this, he has too much talent. Okposo is oh so! The Islanders suprised the Bruins on the island last night, and New York forward Kyle Okposo was the star of the game with 3 assists. After struggling mightily in his first 5 seasons Okposo is clearly beginning to understand the NHL game.  He has 17 points in 14 games this season, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist for New York, and he has been playing well since the big trade from Buffalo. Vanek is notoriously streaky, but he can put up 35-40 goals. Young guns shoot straight: Even without arguably their two best forwards in Rick Nash and Ryan Callahan, the Rangers appear to slowly be getting Coach Alain Vigneault's system. Getting home after starting 9 games on the road helps as well.  Last night they trashed the struggling Hurricanes 5-1.  Center Derek Stepan had the hat trick, his first 3 goals of the season. Even with that he has only 10 points on the year, and he is a marginal 6th forward right now.  When Nash comes back and they play on the same line then his value would increase a lot.  Young speedster Carl Hagelin had 2 goals and he has 3 points in 3 games since returning from his injury. He might be worth a chance. Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider each had three assists. They both have a lot of speed, but not much fantasy value.  Carolina forward Eric Staal continued his disappointing season with no points. Staal has only 8 points in 14 games this season.  Like Giroux he is a former 90 point scorer.  Great buy low candidate. New leader: With superstar forward Alexander Ovechkin out with a UBI, Nicklas Backstrom has stepped in to fill the leadership void. He scored a goal last night in Washington's 3-2 shootout win over Florida, and he scored the shootout winner.  Backstrom has 16 points in 14 games, and he has 4 points in his las two games.  He is a solid number 2 forward. More fantasy notes: Pittsburgh rookie Jeff Zatkoff got his first NHL win last night and he did it in style shutting out Columbus 3-0. Good for him. Despite this Zatkoff will not be seeing much ice time this year with Marc-Andre Fleury ahead of him...Vancouver shut out Toronto 4-0 as Daniel Sedin scored the PP game winner. Sedin has 16 points in 16 games, so he continues to play at a high level. The Sedin twins recently signed 4 year deals with the Canucks, so Vancouver still believes in them both even at 33 years old. Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo got the shutout and he has 8 wins on the season. His metrics are somewhat average at 2.27 goals against and a .915 save percentage, but he is going to get the vast majority of the starts with Cory Schneider gone to New Jersey. Toronto forward Dave Bolland left the game with a leg laceration. Bolland had 10 points on the season, so he was a decent 6th forward, but he may be out for a while...Colorado beat Montreal 4-1, and this team is on fire.  Young Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and and an assist and 6 shots on goal last night.  We are very high on Landeskog and think he can become a top player.  J.S. Giguere had 29 saves in goal for Colorado, and his numbers are lights out this year with a 4-0 record a 0.75 goals against and .977 save percentage. Semyon Varlamov is still the starter, but keep an eye on Giguerre as he may get more playing tim as Varlamov deals with his legal issues....With Jonas Gustavsson out with an injury, young Petr Mrazek started in goal for Detroit, and he got his first NHL win a 5-0 shutout over Edmonton.  Some of these European names are hard to spell.  40 year old Red Wing forward Daniel Alfredsson has benn playing much better after a slow start, and with 13 points this year he has become fantasy relevant again. Pick him up if he is available...Nashville beat the Kings 4-3.  Predator's forward Patric Hornqvist had 3 assists, but don't chase him and don't expect that to happen a lot. Dave Legwand had 2 goals for Nashville and with 12 points on the season he is having a good year, but he will top out at 55 points or so. Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist for the Kings and with 15 points in 15 games he is playing much better this year. The King to look at though is young defenseman Jake Muzzin. Muzzin had 2 assists last night as well as 6 shots on goal.  The 24 year old has 7 points in 10 games and he looks good.  If you need help on defense take a look at Jake...Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith literally stole the game last night against San Jose with 48 saves in a 3-2 shootout win. Although his goals against is a little high at 2.87 his other numbers are good, including an 8-2-2 record and a .917 save percentage.  Defenseman Dan Boyle returned to the lineup for the Sharks after missing seven games. He promptly scored a power play goal.  Get him back into your lineup immediately.  San Jose forward Logan Couture who has 16 points on the season did not score but he had 10 shots on goal last night. He is going to have a breakout year.