The Pittsburgh Penguins were led by the return of superstar Evgeni Malkin as goalie Marc-Andre Fleury picked up his league-leading 7th shutout in the 2-0 win over Edmonton. With Malkin back, you can expect the Pen's top-six to take full form and no winger should benefit more than Patrick Hornqvist. The ex-Pred was super hot earlier in the season before injuries took their toll, but expect a strong finish while playing main side-kick to "Geno"... Taylor Hall missed the game for the Oilers and must rank amongst fantasy's top disappointments of the season.. So much for Joni Ortio experiment in Calgary, as Jonas Hiller has taken back his starting job with a vengeance. After defeating the Sharks last night by a 3-1 score, the Swiss goalie has won three straight and looks to be on one of his famous "hot" streaks. Start him with confidence while the resilient Flames keep winning... Jiri Hudler's power-play tally proved to be the game-winner. Expect him to get back to his early season form where he was scoring close to a point-per-game clip.. Rick Nash's two points give him five over the last three games, plus a league-leading 32nd goal. His recent surge followed a slow period where he had collected just two points over the pevious seven games. Fantasy owners need to keep riding Nash as he could challenge for the goal-scoring honors this season..

The New York Islanders continue their supremacy over the Rangers this season with a 4-1 win for their 4th win of the season over the Blueshirts. Jaroslav Halak almost had another shutout but lost it with just 10 seconds left in the game. The Isles are tied atop the Eastern Conference with the Detroit Red Wings who beat the Florida Panthers 5-4.  Stephen Weiss was the offensive hero for the Wings with a goal and 2 assists. Weiss is probably still available on the waiver wire and should be picked up as a lower end forward or for depth purposes.... The Pittsburgh Penguins were without the services of top guns Crosby and Malkin but got back some significant contributors in Patric Hornqvist (2 goals) and D Kris Letang who had 5 assists in his return from injury. Keep these fantasy studs in your lineup at all times because if they can score without Crosby and Malkin, imagine what they could do with them in it.... Columbus and Philadelphia kept their playoff hopes alive with must-needed victories over Washington and Arizona respectively. With Bobrovsky lost to injury, Curtis McElhinney pushed aside 25 of 28 SOG for the win and will be counted on to keep them in the race until their starter Bobber returns....Philly beat the Coyotes in a shootout to stay in the hunt. IF you are looking for some defensive help on the score sheet, take a look at Michael Del Zotto who seems to have found his scoring form with his fourth on the season but that makes 5 points in last 4 games.... Carey Price turned aside 40 shots as the Montreal Canadienssneaked by the visiting Dallas Stars by a 3-2 score. Defenseman Andrei Markov has firmly jumped back into fantasy relevance by collecting another power-play assist to improve to eight points in his last six games. After collecting ten points over the first two months, all the cagey veteran has done is rack up 17 points in his last 22 contests. Start him with confidence as he and PK Subban have revitalized the Habs on the power-play..Jason Spezza has shown signs of life for the sputtering Stars, extending his point streak to five games with an assist. Expect him to juice up his numbers in the second half, but don't count on a point-per-game clip... It seems that Cam Ward is clearly the forgotten man in the Carolina crease as Anton Khudobin keeps flashing his breakout form from last season. In the 4-2 win over Tampa Bay, the streaking Russian improved his win total to six over his last seven games and his streak of allowing two or less ...

Jiri Hudler RW, Calgary: The Czech winger has poured it on lately for the Flames, collecting eight points during a current four game point streak. The departures of key veteran scorers over the last few years has resulted in a more prominent role for Hudler, who looks to build on his 54-point season from last year. With 23 points in 24 games, he looks poised to do just that. The Flames look for real and so does Hudler.. Kris Versteeg RW, Chicago: Having prospered with a plum assignment on the second line, Versteeg has scored close to a PPG clip with 18 points in 20 games. The impending return of Patrick Sharp will change things, but there is no guarantee that the prolific Kane-Versteeg-Richards line will be dismantled. At the very least, Versteeg is worth a short-term look for fantasy teams struggling on offense. He could very much have a longer fantasy impact if he continues to click with his line-mates. Justin Faulk D, Carolina: With 14 points in November, the young rearguard has taken his game to the next level for the Hurricanes. How he is still available in over 50% of ESPN fantasy leagues is beyond me, as Faulk should be a safe bet to reach the 40-point mark. Scoop him up ASAP. Matt Niskanen D, Washington; This one is pretty simple: He plays big when replacing key offensive defensemen on the power-play. Last season, it was Kris Letang who went down and Niskanen responded with a career-high of 46 points. This year, he has scored five points in the last four games as Mike Green is currently out of the line-up. Overall, his numbers are not impressive but he is worth starting while Green is out. Jhonas Enroth G, Buffalo: After sweeping a weekend home-and-home series against Montreal, the 26-year old has won 4 of his last 5 starts. Even though Michal Neuvirth was the superior goalie prior to his injury, it seems that Enroth could hold onto the starting job with his recent "hot" streak. If you want to get your hands on a sleeper goalie with some upside, he might be your guy.

The Philadelphia Flyers are just in a bad state right now as they lost for the 8th time in their last 9 games, losing again to the New York Rangers in the back end of a home-and-home series. The Story for the Rangers offense was their depth as Derick Brassard scored twice and Jesper Fast and J.T. Miller potted their first of the season with Fast's being his first NHL goal with both adding assists as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Philadelphia didn't make some sort of move like replacing Craig Berube behind the bench or pulling off a big trade to shake things up..... For those lucky enough to draft Tyler Bozak, you have been rewarded with the best start to a season in his career. With 22 points in 23 games this season, Bozak is on pace to obliterate his season high of 49 points last year, and that was in 58 games.  Playing alongside Phil Kessel (2A) doesn't hurt. James van Riemsdyk (2A), who after a somewhat slow start to the season, now has 13 points in 13 November games. All three should be in your starting lineups... Don't look now but the Buffalo Sabres are thundering back into legitimacy as they won for the 5th time in the past 6 games with a 4-3 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens, who lost both ends of the home-and-home series. Jhonas Enroth was the story as he stopped 41 of 44 for his 4th win in past 5 starts. The Sabres now will face Tampa Bay in a home-and-home series this week so the schedule doesn't lighten up.... Speaking of Tampa, G Ben Bishop raised his record to 14-3-2 with a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators, where he had played briefly in 2012-13, to keep him apace with the league leaders. Bishop has developed into a go-to guy in fantasy circles playing with the Bolts..... Jaroslav Halak has won for the ninth straight time defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-1, making Halak a must-start in fantasy circles as the Islanders are for real this season. When you have a superstar like John Tavares leading the way, and back that up with some steady goaltending, you know you have a chance every night.... It's time to take notice of Calgary's Jiri Hudler, carried the offense with a goal and two assists in their 3-0 win in Arizona. The 30-year old extended his point streak to four games and has been basically a point-per game producer with 23 points in 24 games. Coming off a 54-point effort in his second year with Calgary, Hudler has become the veteran centerpiece of a young but talented forward corps, so give him a look. His 50.5 % ownership ...

Hudler missed Saturday's game with the flu, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Predators. Hudler already has two goals and one assist in two games this season.

Expect Devin Setoguchi to be in the lineup tonight against the Blues with Hudler sitting with an illness. Consider Hudler day-to-day.

Hudler has missed the last seven games with an upper-body injury. Hudler has 14 goals and 30 assists (44 points) in 62 games this season. Hudler will skate on a line with Matt Stajan and Curtis Glencross.

Hudler will miss his fourth straight game tonight, but he is expected to be back in the lineup later this week. Hudler is the Flames leading scorer with 44 points (14G / 30A) in 62 games this season.

Hudler was injured in Wednesday's win over the Senators. He played exactly 10 minutes before retiring to the dressing room for the night. Monitor his status following the Flames back-to-back tonight and Saturday. He could be back in the lineup on Monday vs. the Kings.

One has to feel sorry for Cory Schneider who has gone from being the top goalie on the Stanley Cup contending Canucks last season to the backup on the lowly Devils.  Hard to have your fantasy value fall more than that.  But smart poolies will realize that Martin Brodeur will likely retire soon, that General Manager Lou Lamorello will rebuild the Devils, and Schneider will be the starter. Unfortunately, none of this is going to happen this year, but keep Schneider in your mind for the future.  He is an excellent goaltender  who went 17-9-4 last year with the Canucks with a 2.11 goals against average a .927 save percentage and 5 shutouts. Heck even with the Devils his goals against this year is only 2.09.  New Jersey loses to Toronto 2-1 in a shootout, as Maple Leaf forward James van Riemsdyk scored the game winner in the shootout. Phil Kessel scored the only goal in regulation for Toronto, and he has 10 goals and 19 points on the season. Little is big: Winnipeg forward Bryan Little had 2 goals last night, including the game winner as Winnipeg thrashed Nashville 5-0. We are big supporters of Little who now has 10 goals on the season and 15 points in 18 games.  Grab him if you can.  Young Winnipeg forward Eric Tangradi got his first goal of the season. Nice to see that.  He will be fantasy relevant one day, but not for a few more years. Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec got the shutout with 41 saves. Pavelec has been hot and cold this season, as his 5-7-2 record with a 2.86 goals against and a .911 save percentage would indicate.  Not a big fan.  Nashville has a real problem in goal with Pekka Rinne out for a while. Backup goaltender  Carter Hutton got thrashed last night giving up 3 goals on 8 only shots. His 3.32 goals against and .898 save percentage in 7 games played is not good.  Stay away from Predator goalies until Rinne returns. Love the Irish: Colorado forward Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and an assist in last night's 4-2 win over Calgary. O'Reilly now has 6 goals and 11 points on the season. We sort of like him as a 6th forward option.  Future superstar Matt Duchene had a goal as well for Colorado, his 11th of the season. This guy has a 100 point season written all over him. But it will be a year or two.  Calgary's Jiri Hudler is suprisingly having a big year with 19 points in 17 games played. The left wing has never scored like this before, but he seems to have found a home in Calgary.  Pick him up if you can.  He had 2:39 in power play time last night ...