It was a busy day in the NHL yesterday with 11 games played. Dallas and Philadelphia kicked it off with a matinee, and it was no contest as the Stars won easily 5-1. Tyler Seguin had a big game for Dallas with 3 goals and an assist. 18 year old Star forward Valeri Nichushkin had a 4 point game as well with a goal and 3 assists. He has 15 points now on the season, and he will be a good fantasy player in a few years. I watched the whole game, and in my opinion the best player on the ice was Dallas' Jamie Benn. He only had 1 assist, but he was all over the ice. Flyers goalie Steve Mason deserved a better fate than allowing 4 goals, as he had some tremendous saves, but Philadelphia just did not show up. If he wants to make Team Canada's Olympic team, Claude Giroux is going to have to play a lot better than he did yesterday. He was invisible. The Flyers line that has been getting so much attention Steve Downie, Matt Read and Sean Couturier did nothing...Nice win by Boston over Pittsburgh who is still without Evgeni Malkin. Bruin d-man Zdeno Chara got the game winner, but he is not the same player he used to be with only 12 points on the season. Boston forward Loui Eriksson left the game with an apparent concussion. 19 year old Alex Galchenyuk scored a goal for Montreal against hapless Buffalo. He has 20 points on the season, and he is going to be a good one. Nice keeper for next year.
Anderson struggles continue: Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson continued his dismal year with a 4-3 loss to Toronto. He has won only 7 games and his goals against is a terrible 3.38 while his save percentage is .897. Look for Robin Lehner to get a lot more starts in goal for the Senators. James van Riemsdyk had a goal and 2 assists for Toronto. He is having a solid year with 25 points on the season.
Superdeau Huberdeau: Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game winning goal in Florida's 2-1 win over Detroit. While Huberdeau has been a disappointment this year with only 14 points so far, we still like him and think he will have a good second half of the season. Jonas Gustavsson suffered his first regulation loss of the season in goal for Detroit, but it was hardly his fault as he had 35 saves. We still think Gustavsson may take over Jimmy Howard's starting position.
Grab Grabovski?: Washington forward Mikhail Grabovski had 2 assists in the Capitals victory over Nashville. With 24 points on the year he is having a career season. Be a little wary because at 29 years old one usually doesn't suddenly get a lot better, and his best season was 2009-2010 when he had only 58 points. Don't chase.
Henrik blues contine: The Rangers lost to their New Jersey rivals 4-3 in a shootout. New York star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist had another miserable night allowing all 3 goals on 24 shots. Lundqvist has won only 9 games this year and his 2.51 goals against and .916 save percentage are just average. Oh well at least he got a big contract. The one Ranger who seems to be flourishing under Coach Alain Vigneualt's system is speedy forward Mats Zuccarello, affectionately know by his teammates as "the Hobbit" because of his 5' 7" stature. Zuccarello had a goal and an assist last night and he has 20 points on the season. More importantly he has 4 goals in his last 6 games. He is worth a shot.
More fantasy news: Jiri Hudler scored the game winner in Calgary's win over Edmonton. Hudler is having a big year with 27 points in 29 games played, but we would not chase him. He will cool down. His best year was 2008-2009 when he scored 57 points. Taylor Hall scored the only Oiler goal, and he had 7 shots on goal. With 25 points in 24 games he could push for 90 points this season...Young forward Tyler Toffoli scored a goal for Los Angeles yesterday in their win over the dismal New York Islanders. We are high on Toffoli who has 12 points on the year but in only 16 games. Some guy named Martin Jones pitched the shutout in goal for the Kings in only his 2nd NHL start. Kings Coach Darryl Sutter has been critical of the recent play of Ben Scrivens, who has been starting with Jonathan Quick out. While Jones only had to make 16 saves against the Islanders, he may see some more starts until Quick comes back.
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