SMC 11-15-2015 Sorry for the delay today but life got in the way, but have no fear, I just finished my afternoon coffee and am ready to let fly. Patrick Kane doesn’t seem to be bothered by anything as he leads the NHL in scoring. Red Wing Justin Abdelkader signed a reasonable 7-year extension proving that some NHL players are in it for more than just the money.  Don’t get me wrong, the money is still good but he wants to be on a perennial contender with a chance at the Cup every year.  Smart. Craig Anderson always plays the Rangers tough.  Even though he lost 2-1 in a shootout Saturday afternoon, this might jump start him to a stretch of very good goaltending. No matter who gets traded away, who gets signed to the team, Patrice Bergeron is the heart and soul of the Boston Bruins, and very under-rated. Ovechkin had 15 shots on goal the other night versus the Red Wings and was held off the board.  He was probably exhausted at the end. Good to see Pavel Datsyuk suit up finally after off-season surgery on his ankle.   Always a pleasure a watching Dats play. Buffalo lost 2-1 to San Jose in a shootout just showing once again that they will be a tough team to play against this year.  They may lose a lot of games, but the will be hard-earned if that makes any sense. Rumors of Patrick Marleau being traded this early in the season is probably just a lot of hot air produced by the media and bloggers to create traffic.  Marleau, with his contract, probably won’t be traded until closer to the trading deadline so teams can fit him under their salary cap. The Toronto Maple Leafs have won three in a row.  I don’t know how many times you will get to say that this season. The Avalanche buried Mike Condon and the Montreal Canadiens 6-1 Saturday.  And they were playing in the Bell Centre. Condon was shelled for his first loss of the season.  Does this mean Carey price will be back in net sooner than later? Just keep in mind how streaky Max Pacioretty is so you don’t pull all your hair out when he goes stretches without scoring a goal.  He has one in the past 9 games. Matt Duchene has turned it on of late and if you haven’t noticed, he has brought along Mikhail Grigorenko along for the ride.  Grigs has 4 points in past two games. Nathan McKinnon is having a career year.  Already he has 19 points in 17 games and he has been a consistent scorer since the first day of the season. The Battle of Florida was a doozy with the Panthers winning 5-4 in a shootout.  The Panthers will ...

SMC-10/11/2015 Always love this time of year when the leaves start turning colors, Mallomars hit the grocery store shelves and NHL hockey comes back for another season! We at PrimePucks™ expected a big bounce back season from Nathan MacKinnon (77 pts.) and he sure hasn’t disappointed so far in the early going with 5 points in the first two games. Ranger rookie C Oscar Lindberg is surely fitting in just nicely with 3 goals and 4 points in the first three games of the season.  May be too early to go out and grab this kid, but you never know. The PrimePucks™ Rankings are up for your perusal.  The first BETWEEN THE PIPES article is up a few days early as we couldn’t wait to pour it on you.  Our DAILY ROTO LINEUPS have been up since Day 1 and last night was a successful one for yours truly. I didn’t expect Columbus to start out 0-2-0 but they did face the unbeaten NY Rangers in those 2 matches.  They have company in Pittsburgh who started their two games on the road.  Buy low people!  LOL! If Jaroslav Halak battles injuries this season, the Isles will be hard-pressed to repeat last season’s effort. No hangover for these Chicago Blackhawks.  They, instead of the Rangers, could be 3-0 if not for the heroics of Henrik Lundqvist on opening night. The Flyers look just like last year’s version.  Didn’t they get a new coach and new attitude for this season? Detroit may be winning because of other teams being in shock that they have so many young players in pertinent roles which was never the case before.  Or they are just that good of an organization.  I’ll go with the latter. Edmonton played two tough teams to open the season and the schedule doesn’t get any easier any time soon. Artemi Panarin looks like he’s been playing in the NHL for years with the poise he has displayed.  I’d take a chance on him if he’s still available, but I doubt he is. If you are looking for action-packed, high-scoring and any other hyphenated descriptions, watch any Colorado Avalanche game this season.  10 goals in 2 games….Who says global warming is here? Did you know that Buffalo is outscoring Pittsburgh, Anaheim & Edmonton so far?  Useless stat I know, but fun for the moment. Antti Niemi comes in to start his first game for Dallas as part of a so-called platoon and shuts out the Mighty Pittsburgh Penguins.  Then let’s in 6 goals against Colorado in the next start.  Oh boy. Happy for Jimmy Howard to get a shutout in Detroit’s opener.  Been hit with injuries the past two seasons so to ...

Winnipeg @ New Jersey                                 NY Rangers @ Columbus Chicago @ NY Islanders                                 Toronto @ Detroit Arizona @ Los Angeles Some interesting matchups this evening with the Winnipeg Jets trying to carry their offensive display they had against Boston over to New Jersey.  The Devils appear to be in a rebuilding stage......The Rangers try to make it to 2-0-0 to start the season with a match against Columbus.  Both teams sport players who once played on the other squad so this carries a bit more sentiment than usual.  The Rangers held on against Chicago on Wednesday, but we will see what the Blue Jackets have in their season opener.....The Isles begin their life at the Barclay Center with the front end of a home-and-home with the Chicago Blackhwaks who will be looking to exact some punishment against their opponent after losing their banner-raising season opener on Wednesday...Toronto-Detroit looks to be a doozy as ex-Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock returns with his humongous Toronto contract to face his ex-team.  Jeff Bashill makes his debut behind the bench for the Red Wings, equipped with many of the players he coached in Grand Rapids.  The Leafs have some learning to do while the Wings will look to impress their old boss.....The nightcap pits the Arizona Coyotes against the Los Angeles Kings.  The Kings look to take out some hosttlity for losing to San Jose in their season opener and this year's NHL doormat, the Coyotes, are just what the doctor ordered to take it out on. RAY'S PICKS G: Jonathan Quick D: Alex Martinez D: Mike Green C: Anze Kopitar C: Jeff Carter LW: Justin Abdelkader LW: Brandon Saad RW: Marian Hossa RW: Patrick Kane

March 24, 2015 LW: Jaden Schwartz - STL @ PIT LW: Justin Abdelkader - DET vs. ARZ RW: Rickard Rakell - ANA @ CLB RW: Jakub Silfverberg - ANA @ CLB C: Ryan Getzlaf - ANA @ CLB C: Henrik Zetterberg - DET vs. ARZ  D: James WIsniewski - ANA @ CLB D: Nicklas Kronwall - DET vs. ARZ G: Jimmy Howard - DET vs. ARZ *NOT CONFIRMED

March 24, 2015 LW: Jaden Schwartz - STL @ PIT LW: Justin Abdelkader - DET vs. ARZ RW: Rickard Rakell - ANA @ CLB RW: Jakub Silfverberg - ANA @ CLB C: Ryan Getzlaf - ANA @ CLB C: Henrik Zetterberg - DET vs. ARZ  D: James WIsniewski - ANA @ CLB D: Nicklas Kronwall - DET vs. ARZ G: Jimmy Howard - DET vs. ARZ *NOT CONFIRMED

Rangers win big; Bruins keep free-falling, Canucks keep pace; A huge triumph at MSG for the New York Rangers who pummeled the Anaheim Ducks 7-2 and gained a share of the NHL lead in points-99. Two Blueshirts who busted out of long scoring droughts were center Derek Stepan(2G/1A- First points in 13 games) and defenseman Keith Yandle(3A/ First points in 10 games!). With the Ranger's offense rather anemic over the last month, it's hard to recommend either player as a starting option right now, but both can be capable of a hot stretch to end the season. Feel much safer starting Yandle at D than Stepan at a forward postion.. It was a Detroit team without Pavel Datsyuk outlasting a suddenly struggling St. Louis team on the road, 2-1 thanks to Justin Abdelkader's OT goal. Not much to say here other than Marek Zidlicky picked up another point and has been a waiver-wire steal since his trade to Detroit.. The Boston Bruins are quickly playing themselves out of a playoff position with another key loss, this time to the Lightning. With David Krejci out and now also arguably their best defenseman in rising fantasy star Dougie Hamilton, the B's are in hot water..With a goal and an assist, Tampa's Ondrej Palat has recorded four points in two games since returning from injury. Get him in your starting lineups ASAP.. A decent goaltending battle ensued in Arizona as Jakub Markstrom, once regarded as the hottest goalie prospect, picked up the win for the Canucks over Mike Smith and company. Vancouver staying alive for the playoffs while the Coyotes are pushing hard for Connor McDavid..  

Huge nights for Benn and Spezza, Ovie dominates in Pitt, the Isles bounce back and deep fantasy sleeper in Detroit...   It was a night of "firsts" for Jamie Benn as the talented forward helped the Stars pull off the improbable road upset in St. Louis by collecting his first career "hat trick". Benn is currently on a four-game point streak where he posted 10 points (6G/4A). With Tyler Seguin out of action, Jason Spezza has moved up to the top line and responded with three assists last night. He also has a decent game point streak going, collecting ten points over his last six games. Offense will be tougher to come by without Seguin, but the off-season Spezza acquisition is starting to look great right now. Start both Dallas forwards as they will be heavily involved in the scoring as the Stars battle for a playoff spot. Also, don't understimate Kari Lehtonen's fantasy worth moving forward as the Star's goalie has won four straight, including three on the road against elite opponents, and has seen his overall numbers improve greatly over that stretch. More than a solid no. 2 fantasy option in goal so play him with confidence... In the Washington-Pittsburgh rivalry match, only one superstar showed up as Alex Ovechkin collected his league-leading 37th goal and an assist in the Capital's 3-1 road win. AO has been on an absolute tear lately, notching 14 points over the last ten games and looks poised to grab fantasy MVP honors if he keeps up his frenetic pace... What else can you say about Braden Holtby? A little belief instilled by coach Barry Trotz and a monster workload has resulted in an elite fantasy campaign for the young netminder... After suffering a brutal loss to the New York Rangers, John Tavares and the Islanders showed plenty of resiliency in defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in an obvious let-down game. JT picked up a goal and an assist, while rookie line-mate Anders Lee continued to impress by scoring his 18th goal. We have seen what Tavares has done for the fantasy value of wingers such as Matt Moulson and more recently, Kyle Okposo, so Lee's rise toward fantasy relevance can't come as completely shocking... A 5-1 score in favor of Nashville over San Jose looks lopsided on paper, but Pekka Rinne had to "stand on his head" to the tune of 42 saves in order to help the Preds secure the win. He continues to dominate more and more with each passing start, so enjoy the ride if you own Rinne.. Plenty of deserving kudos for Florida goalie Roberto ...

Three struggling teams were shutout at home last night, all by teams that struggled mightily last year. Four of the six games on the slate last night were won by visiting teams.  Of the shutouts, first Roberto Luongo blanked the Buffalo Sabres 1-0 earning his first, and the team's first, win of this season. Don't expect many wins from either team this year as they are in the midst of rebuilding...Secondly, the Nashville Predators remained undefeated as Pekka Rinne stopped all 31 Winnipeg Jets shots to raise his record to 3-0-1 and remind people that he is still one of the elite goaltenders of the NHL.  The Jets dropped to 1-3-0 even though G Ondrej Pavelec is playing better than he has ever played in his career with a 2.22 GAA and a .919 SP. It's only a small sample size of 4 games but it looks like Pavelec is determined to prove critics wrong.... Thirdly, Ryan Miller backstopped the Vancouver Canucks to a 2-0 blanking of the Edmonton Oilers to raise their record to 3-0-0 and drop the Oil to 0-4-1. The line of Radim Vrbata-Henrik Sedin-Daniel Sedin has been money so far and should consistently produce throughout the year as the Sedins look to rebound from last season's nightmare.... Just like last year, the Calgary Flames will fight to the end of every game and did so again last night but came up short against Sergei Bobrovsky and the Columbus Blue Jackets who built a 3-0 lead only to hold on for the 3-2 victory.  Ryan Johansen shows no signs of slowing down even though he held out of training camp. The blue Jackets are becoming a fantasy relevant team as they have a solid young goaltender, a deep defensive core and young forwards coming into their own.  Johansen, Cam Atkinson and Bobrovsky are must-starts in your fantasy lineups while d-men Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski are off to slow starts, this could be a good "buy-low" opportunity to strengthen your fantasy defense. One pl;ayer to keep your eye on is LW Nick Foligno who has quietly put up 5 points in 4 games... You just have to wonder how dangerous the Red Wings could be once Pavel Datsyuk returns to the lineup. Without the superstar center, Detroit, behind Henrik Zetterberg (3A), Gustav Nyquist (G, A) and Johan Franzen (2G), defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 last night. Franzen may be one player that is available in your league, but if not take a look at Justin Abdelkader who had a goal and assist in last night's tilt. Abdelkader now has 4 points in 4 games and may be helpful in deeper ...

Abdelkader missed practice on Thursday but said he will play tonight, despite Mike Babcock calling him a game-time decision. Abdelkader has one goal and one assist in three games this season. He will skate on the Red Wings third line with Darren Helm and Andrej Nestrasil.

According to the Red Wings GM Ken Holland it was just a "maintenance" day for the Red Wings' winger, but his status for Friday's game remains unknown. A decision on Abdelkader will come tomorrow, if he is unable to go, expect Stephen Weiss to make his season debut.