SMC 11-6-2016  SOME CHANGE IS GOOD! This could be the time to pick up Carl Hagelin of the Pittsburgh Penguins as he had 3 assists last night 2 of those on Crosby goals.  He may not get much PP time, if any, but he can skate and with Sid the Kid feeding him, can anyone spell B-R-E-A-K-O-U-T? Al Montoya smacked up for 10 goals the other night.  YEEESH!  And it was the Columbus Blue Jackets scoring those10 goals.  Haven’t seen 10 goals scored by 1 team in a looooong time.  Reminds me of the old-old days when the Rangers played the Minnesota North Stars and the games would be 10-2, 1-3, etc. Saturday matinee was a bit of a snoozer as Colorado beat Minnesota, no not the North Stars, 1-0 behind Calvin Pickard’s 32 save shutout.  AS my buddy Steve said in the Fantasy Guide, Varlamov may start out the season as the Avs #1, but Pickard will wrestle that from him come mid-season. The NY Rangers with another 5-goal game.  They are exciting to watch this year.  And no one gave them a chance this year, but it’s early still.  But they are getting contributions from everybody, I mean everybody. Looks like Boston’s Patrice Bergeron is in form now after missing the first few games of the season. Look out Auston Matthews!  It certainly looks like Mitch Marner is getting more and more comfortable and just might surpass you for the team scoring lead next game. Hey!  The Vancouver Maple Leafs finally scored last night after being shutout in 4 of their previous 5 games. I had to look twice at the date when I saw that Devin Setoguchi had a hat trick the other night.  There were a couple of goalie fights on Saturday night.  Well one goalie vs. goalie and another with Dubnyk fighting Landeskog who got the game-winner.  Sweet revenge.  Elton John was right!  Saturday night is alright for fighting. Montreal let in 14 goals in back-to-back games giving the NY Rangers the best goal differential by far in the NHL with +23.  Next is Chicago with a +10. No sophomore jinx for Shayne Gostibehere that’s for sure.  And what a turnaround for team mate mark Streit.  The young and the old can play and contribute.  The PrimePucks™ Fantasy guide had Streit for 10 goals and48 points.  Some might have thought that generous, but with a line of 3-6-9 in 13 games, we like our chances. Buffalo is 5-3-2 in last ten.   Imagine when Jack Eichel returns to the lineup? Our prayers are with Craig Anderson and his wife and their families.  Having been stricken with cancer myself and also my daughter, I know all the emotions that run through a person when confronted with this terrible disease.  Stay positive, pray, eat all the right foods to boost your immune system, and exercise.  Godspeed! Nikita Kucherov is a real beast for Tampa Bay.  I could see a nice run by the Bolts coming real soon. If only New Jersey would score more, then imagine what D-man Damon Severson would do now that he is getting quite comfortable in his role with the team.  He leads the Devils with 9 points followed by Taylor Hall with 8. Everyone had a SOG (total 38) for the Devils against the Lightning but still only scored 1 goal. It’s a race between Willie Desjardins and Jack Capuano being the first Head Coach replaced this season.  And maybe Garth Snow going as well.  Don’t know if it will be as a package or separately. How is it that former Boston defensemen do well when coming to the Island?  He has 8 points in 12 games.  And a +10. Hmmmm.  I can’t see Florida hanging in the Atlantic Division basement for long. I don’t see the Capitals winning the President’s Cup again but that isn’t what they are focused on anyway. The Dallas Stars will start to score big time when they start getting some of their top players back from Injury. I don’t know why the St. Louis blues are having trouble scoring but when they break out, they will break out big time. Has anyone seen Pekka RInne?  Please give him a call.  The season has started and the Predators need a reasonable facsimile of you.  I mean the Hurricanes beat him last night. Chicago is in first place with the make-shift lineup they have going on.  I guess when you have the likes of Toews, Kane, Panarin and Hossa along with very under-rated Crawford in net, you are going to challenge no matter what. Two late 5-0 shutouts on the West Coast last night.  There was a shutout to start the day’s action and a shutout to end it. Have a great week and may all your fantasies come true!