Harding stopped 26 of 27 shots in Saturday's shootout victory against the Avalanche. Harding continues to dominate the NHL - he has won four of his last five starts with a 1.38 GAA and .949 SV%. Harding has a tough matchup with the Canucks in town, but his 13-1-0, 1.25 GAA and .945 SV% at home says he is a must-start.

Harding stopped 26 of 27 shots in Saturday's shootout victory against the Avalanche. Harding continues to dominate the NHL - he has won four of his last five starts with a 1.38 GAA and .949 SV%. Harding has a tough matchup with the Canucks in town, but his 13-1-0, 1.25 GAA and .945 SV% at home says he is a must-start.

Harding stopped 29 of 31 shots in a loss to the Ducks on Wednesday. The loss snapped a three game winnnin-streak, but it was still another good performance from Harding. He will get his third start vs. the Avalanche tonight, he is 0-1-1 with a 1.93 GAA and .911 SV% in the first two.

Harding stopped 37 of 38 shots (.974 SV%) in a win over the Sharks on Sunday. The Wild did not generate much offence in this one, but Harding stood on his head and led the team to a W. It was his third straight win and 16th of the season. He will take on the Ducks in Anaheim tonight, he enters the contest with a 3-3-3 record and 1.86 GAA and .928 SV% on the road.

Fantasy owners should plan not to have Penguin's star winger James Neal in their lineups this week, as he will be facing a probable suspension for kneeing Boston's Brad Marchand on Saturday.He will be awaiting a phone interview from the Department of Player Safety this afternoon, so you are probably looking at a few games. With 20 points in 16 games, Neal has reached elite fantasy status, but his bone-headed move will likely cost his owners for this week. Patrick Was Plenty "Sharp": While the big news of the night centered on Chicago goalie Corey Crawford leaving the contest with a LBI, Patrick Sharp led the Blackhawk's offense with 2G/1A in the 6-2 win over Florida. Prior to his huge effort, he had collected only 4 points in the last 10 games-all goals. He and Jonathan Toews(2A) have been quiet in the scoring department, but maybe this game will wake them up. With 4 games for Chicago in the upcoming scoring period and the three-game losing streak over, expect some hefty returns from your Chicago fantasy options this week. "Hot" Goalie in Minny: Josh Harding continues his exceptional goaltending for the Wild, stopping 37 of 38 shots in the 3-1 win over visiting San Jose. With 3 straight wins at home, allowing just 4 goals during that stretch, his record stands at 16-4-3 with a 1.50 GAA and a .938 SP. It's all but official that Harding has stolen the top job for the Wild. Nothing ground-breaking in that announcement, but Harding owners should enjoy the ride.

Fantasy owners should plan not to have Penguin's star winger James Neal in their lineups this week, as he will be facing a probable suspension for kneeing Boston's Brad Marchand on Saturday.He will be awaiting a phone interview from the Department of Player Safety this afternoon, so you are probably looking at a few games. With 20 points in 16 games, Neal has reached elite fantasy status, but his bone-headed move will likely cost his owners for this week. Patrick Was Plenty "Sharp": While the big news of the night centered on Chicago goalie Corey Crawford leaving the contest with a LBI, Patrick Sharp led the Blackhawk's offense with 2G/1A in the 6-2 win over Florida. Prior to his huge effort, he had collected only 4 points in the last 10 games-all goals. He and Jonathan Toews(2A) have been quiet in the scoring department, but maybe this game will wake them up. With 4 games for Chicago in the upcoming scoring period and the three-game losing streak over, expect some hefty returns from your Chicago fantasy options this week. "Hot" Goalie in Minny: Josh Harding continues his exceptional goaltending for the Wild, stopping 37 of 38 shots in the 3-1 win over visiting San Jose. With 3 straight wins at home, allowing just 4 goals during that stretch, his record stands at 16-4-3 with a 1.50 GAA and a .938 SP. It's all but official that Harding has stolen the top job for the Wild. Nothing ground-breaking in that announcement, but Harding owners should enjoy the ride.

Harding gave up three goals on 19 shots but was on the right side of a 4-3 final on Thursday vs. Chicago. It was not his best outing, but it was enough to get the W. He was given last night off, so he will be back in the crease on Sunday vs. the Sharks. Harding enters the game 12-1-0 with a 1.27 GAA and .941 SV% on home ice.

Minnesota goalie Josh Harding has taken the starting goaltender job away from Niklas Backstrom with his stellar play this year. Harding has 15 wins with a spectacular 1.52 goals against and a .935 save percentage.  Former Wild starter Niklas Backstrom hurt his knee at the beginning of the season which gave Harding the opportunity to show what he could do as he had previously just been a back-up.  Harding's career numbers were solid, but would never have indicated that he would exhibit this type of performance.  He has a 2.47 goals against and a .917 save percentage.  These are hardly numbers that knock your socks off.  But the 29 year old is playing extremely well this season, and he has demonstrated a lot of athleticism as well, with his quickness.  But there are certain issues with Harding.  Backstrom is now back healthy, and considering he was the number one goalie for 7 years in Minnesota, he will likely take some ice time away from Harding, especially if Harding has a couple of weak games.  Backstrom and Harding's carreer numbers are almost eerily similar, with Backstrom at 2.44 goals against and with a .916 save percentage.  In addition Harding has never played more than 34 games in one year in the NHL, so his stamina may come into question later this year.  Stick Saves: At the beginning of this season most poolies would have considered Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard as one of the best in the league. Last year he went 21-13-7 with a 2.13 goals against and a .923 save percentage.  But Howard has really struggled this season going 6-8-6 with a 2.70 goals against and a .909 save percentage.  His back-up Jonas Gustavasson has really outplayed him with a 7-0-1 record a 2.15 goals against and a .929 save percentage. Detroit Coach Babcock is starting Gustavsson tonight, and I have a feeling that this is a very important start in terms of the Detroit starting goaltender position. If you own Jimmy Howard, you may want to see if you can grab Gustavsson before tonight' s game. If he is light's out tonight he will likely get the next few starts. 

Harding turned aside all 21 shots he faced on Monday to earn his third shutout of the season. Not a bad way to kick off December, but things get a little more difficult on Thursday with the 20-5-4 Blackhawks coming to town. Harding is an astonishing 11-1-0 with a 1.12 GAA and .949 SV% at home.

UPDATE: According to Hockeybuzz.com, Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings will miss 2 weeks with a herniated disk. AND, according to TSN, Vancouver Canuck Alex Burrows is out indefinitely with a broken jaw. With only 3 assists in 17 games played, tha's not the only thing broken.  We wish both speedy recoveries. Even though he had lost 2 in a row and the team 4 in a row, Josh Harding was back in net for the Minnesota Wild and continued his stellar goaltending despite the losses by blanking the Philadelphia Flyers. It was Harding's 3rd shutout of the season in just 19 starts. He also lowered his GAA to 1.45 and saw his save percentage rise to .939.  If you haven't already done so and he is still available in your league, grab him ASAP as he has proved he can handle the Number 1 goaltending job in Minnesota....Jason Pominville ended his 5-game goal-less streak with a goal I nthe 3rd period that proved to be the game-winner. Pominville is as streaky as they get and when he gets hot, he gets on a roll.  Perhaps you can get him on the cheap....Charlie Coyle also broke a 5-game goal-less streak. Coyle is counted on to provide offense, but at 21 years old he still lacks the consistency. More Fantasy Game Notes: NY Ranger backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his consecutive start after his stellar effort against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Talbot didn't fare as well and saw his 6-game winning streak come to an end.  He also saw his streak of not allowing more than 2 goals in a game end at 7, which is a Ranger record.  He is a more than capable backup but that is all that he will be as long as the King reigns on Broadway....Olli Jokinen was the offensive hero for the Winnipeg Jets in their win over the Rangers with 2 goals and an assist but this Jokinen is past his fantasy prime so don't go rushing out to grab him hoping that he returns to his glory days. Although, he does have 17 points in 29 games played but only 2 power play assists....Except for his one clunker against Chicago, (and could anyone blame him?), Jets' G Ondrej Pavelec has not allowed more than 2 goals in 6 of his last 7 starts. There may be still be a disgruntled owner around if you need a 2nd tier goalie...Destiny is thy name but it is shared by Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais. Since being put back together, these two have been dynamite.  In last night's 3-2 victory against the New Jersey Devils, Max Factor had a power play goal while Double D had 2 assists to continue their ...