Busy schedule in the NHL yesterday with 11 games.  Lots of low scoring games, with only the St. Louis 6-1 and the Ottawa 4-2 wins really generating much in the way of scoring....Josh Harding stepped on a puck in warm-ups and he was unable to play so Niklas Backstrom replaced him. Not sure how long he will be out.  He had clearly gained the starter's job in Minnesota so we will have to see how serious his injury is.....LA right wing Matt Frattin is also out with a LBI, and Anaheim backup goaltender Viktor Fasth will be out 3 to 4 weeks also with a LBI.  Pittsburgh forward Beau Bennett is also out with an LBI....Detroit star forward Pavel Datsyuk got hit hard last night, taking an elbow from Ottawa D-man Jared Cowen on the chin, and it looks like he may have a concussion.  More when we know it....The Bruins beat Carolina in a matinee game yesterday 3-2. Chad Johnson played well in goal in place of Tuukka Rask with 22 saves, but he is strictly a backup and has no fantasy value. Cam Ward did his best in goal for the Hurricanes with 35 saves, but Carolina is just not a good team this year. Ward has only 3 wins on the season.  Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara had a PPG. Chara used to be considered an elite fantasy defenseman, but he is beginning to show his age, and he has only 8 points in 23 games played. Forward David Krejci scored the game winner for the Bruins in OT. With 17 points in 23 games played he is a waiver wire type player....as we noted above, Josh Harding was unable to play for the Wild in yesterday's 3-2 win over Winnipeg in a shootout so backup Niklas Backstrom got the start and the win with 37 saves.  Backstrom may be a good play here on the short term because Harding's injury looked like a groin strain.  Those types of injuries can keep a goalie out for a while....Minnesota forward Zach Parise had a goal and an assist. Parise has 22 points in 24 games, and we view him as a point per game player....James Reimer was outstanding in goal for Toronto with 49 saves in a 2-1 win over Washington. The issue with Reimer is that he platoons with Jonathan Bernier thereby greatly diminishing both of their fantasy values. Mad Max beyond Thunderdome:  Montreal forward Max Pacioretty has come back with a vengance. Pacioretty had 2 goals last night in Montreal's 3-2 win over Pittsburgh. Mad Max now has 5 goals in his last 3 games and he is really playing well. He is now up to 9 points in 15 games, but expect him to start heating it up....James Neal had 2 goals for the Penguins and he now has 9 points in 9 games. He and Evgeni Malkin work really well together. The Robin gets the worm:  Backup goaltender Robin Lehner had a big game last night with 34 saves in Ottawa's 4-2 win over the really struggling Detroit Red Wings. Lehner has put up some good numbers this season, but Craig Anderson is clearly the starter.  Detroit has now won only 1 regulation game out of their last 9.  Hard to know what has happened to them.  They have made the playoffs in 22 straight seasons, but maybe not this year. The Flyers are flying: After a brutal start where they lost their first 6 games, Philadelphia is on fire.  They are 6-0-1 in their last 7 games.  Part of this hot streak is due to goalie Steve Mason who has been outstanding this season with a 2.11 goals against and a .933 save percentage. Forward Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist and he is beginning to heat up. See if you can grab the former 90 point scorer.  Other fantasy notes:  The Blues pounded Dallas 6-1 and backup goaltender Brian Elliott was outstanding with 34 saves. One has to wonder if Coach Hitchcock will continue to use Jaroslav Halak as the starter when he has a save percentage of .906 while Elliott's is .932....Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had 2 assist for St. Louis and he has 18 points on the season. He is on his way to becoming one of the best fantasy defensemen in the NHL...Cam Talbot continues to eat away at Henrik Lundqvist's next contract as he had his second shutout in a row for the Rangers 2-0 over Nashville....with Viktor Fasth, out expect Jonas Hiller to get most of the starts for Anaheim. He had 42 saves in a strong effort last night for a 4-2 win over Phoenix....nice goalie duel in Los Angeles where the Avalanche beat the Kings 1-0.  Despite his legal issues, Semyon Varlamov has played well for Colorado, and he had 19 saves in a shutout last night. He has 12 wins on the season.  He is due in court December 2.  Ben Scrivens continues to play well in place of Jonathan Quick, as he had 32 saves last night. His numbers are outstanding with a 1.37 goals against and a .946 save percentage....While the Devils lost last night 2-1 to San Jose, it was not goalie Martin Brodeur's fault as he had 28 saves. At 41 years old his numbers are amazing with a 2.06 goals against and .917 save percentage.