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 leagues....
In what was the marquee matchup of the evening, the visiting Minnesota Wild's Darcy Kuemper and Anaheim's Frederik Andersen battled to a 2-1 Duck victory. Kuemper was on his way to a third straight season-opening shutout but 2 3rd period goals by the Ducks, the game-winner by Corey Perry, spoiled that ambition. Kuemper's metrics are insane at 0.67 GAA and a .972 SP. Expect Kuemper to start most Wild games for a while. Andersen meanwhile is looking more and more comfortable in net in his second season with the Ducks as he raised his record to 4-0-0 with a 1.72 GAA and a .937 SP. Andersen should remain as their no. 1 even when rookie G John Gibson returns.
DAILY PRIME - OCTOBER 18, 2014: VISITING OURS primepucks.comSat 10/18/14 9:02 AM