Minnesota's star winger Zach Parise was instrumental to the Wild's 4-2 upset road victory of Anaheim with a goal and two assists, his first points since returning from injury 3 games ago. With only 4 points in his 10 contests prior to injury, the usually consistent Parise has been hurting fantasy owners with sub-par offensive production, certainly not reminiscent of his 80+ point scoring days with New Jersey. The Wild's offense has been hampered by key injuries throughout the season, but with Mikko Koivu also expected back soon, you could expect a significant scoring upgrade after the Oympic break. With only 30 points in 40 games, Parise is looking like a solid "buy low" option if you can get him on the moderate cheap. Another guy I am "wild" about is goalie Darcy Kuemper, who has been stellar in relief of Josh Harding with a 6-3-1 record, a 2.26 GAA, and a .924 SP. He stymied the Ducks to a tune of 31 saves on 33 shots. Harding has shown to have his share of medical issues, so maybe getting your hands on Kuemper would be a shrewd investment. More Fantasy Game Notes: The biggest news of the nights revolves around the potential blow to Shea Weber owners, as the elite defenseman left the Nashville-Winnipeg contest with a back injury and did not return. No word on the severity of the injury yet, but we will keep you posted. Weber is well on his way to his second career 50+ point season with 36 points (13G/23A) in 52 games.. Two more goals from Chicago's Marian Hossa, who has arguably been the most consistent fantasy forward in the "Windy City". The Slovakian winger hasn't gone more than two games without scoring a point since November 21st. Not bad for someone who many had touted as well past his prime at the age of 35.. Another point-explosion from Alex Ovechkin, who saved the Capitals in Buffalo with two goals, including the overtime game winner and 2 assists. Not much to say here, other than sit your Washington players when "Ovie" is out of the lineup.. Huge effort from Carey Price, as Montreal's goalie slowed down a streaking Carolina club with a 36-save shutout effort. The Canadien Olympian had lost four straight and allowed more than 4 goals in the last five, so his fantasy owners can breathe a sigh of relief for now.. Steve Mason snapped a three-game skid with a 33-save shutout in the 5-0 Fler's win over Detroit. Huge letdown for Mason since signing a lucrative extension, but how many of us have our doubts whether he had proved enough to warrant ...

Well, for starters, Anaheim's Sami Vatanen is temporarily off my fantasy sleeper list as he has been demoted to Norfolk of the AHL. I loved the youngster's offensive upside under the tutelage of Coach Bruce Boudreau, but the emergence of Hampus Lindholm has hurt him on the Duck's depth chart. Having said that, one of my favorite dark-horses from a few years back has begun to hit his stride in his fifth year- Jason Demers of San Jose. With 8 points in 10 January games including 3 power-play assists, the 25-year old has begun to show some offensive promise with more quality ice-time. With Logan Couture out for awhile, Demers has been promoted to the primary power play and has been flourishing ever since. He is flying so low under the fantasy radar that most owners have not noticed his scoring success yet. 24 points in 47 games is not shabby for a d-man available in more than 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues. Roman Josi is a good bet to continue rising up in the fantasy charts for Nashville. Paired off with the great Shea Weber on the first defensive pairing, the talented Swiss defender is currently on a 4-game scoring streak. Upstart Ryan Ellis has gained some offensive momentum with 5 points in his last 8 games, but Josi has held firmly to his prime power-play time. The state of defensive affairs are in flux for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as coach Randy Carlyle is beginning to hand over more responsiblity to Jake Gardiner in recent games. With Dion Phaneuf and Cody Franson not cutting it, the 23-year old has led the scoring charge for his fellow blueliners with four points in the last 7 games. Gardiner's power-play minutes has been rising, so he needs to be noticed by fantasy owners in need of defensive production. Don't get caught up with the recent Andrej Meszaros hype in Philly. He has been scorching with 10 points in his last 10 games, but this is far from the norm for the dependable two-way defender. Relegated to secondary PP duty, his scoring will come to a screeching halt soon but he has some short-term value while he is on his streak. Former Calder Trophy winner Tyler Myers has scored 3 goals in the last four games, but he goes "hot" and "cold' in seconds. The guy to own in Buffalo is the more consistent Christian Ehrhoff who has 12 points in the last 17 games. He has a much more proven scoring pedigree than Myers, considering he has surpassed 40 points 3 times in his career. Parting Shots:Paul Martin returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup last ...

Hot coffee on a cold morning. Mmmmmmmm. The Bruins stopped the Jets dead in their tracks with a 4-1 pasting. Boston D Torey Krug is having a sensational rookie campaign. The San Jose/Colorado afternoon match was very entertaining, especially the second period. Those Sharks are deadly. I'm sure Jamie McGinn was happy to score against his former team. If you haven't noticed, Buffalo has been playing better hockey over the last 15 games or so. The Rangers had an offensive explosion with 7 goals against Toronto on Saturday night. Dominic Moore had two goals in the contest. Happy for him. It's only a matter of time before Joffrey Lupul goes on a tear. He had 7 SOG last night and 7 the other night against Buffalo. I think Shea Weber is starting to go on a little bit of a run offensively. 13 points in last 11 games.  Amazing that Nashville D-man Ryan Ellis was the only Predator without a SOG against Florida. Hmmmm. Jeff Skinner is having the kind of season we all knew he had in him; he just needs to stay healthy. The St. Louis Blues just get scoring from everyone in their lineup. Is Braden Holtby really this bad? Mike Green has awoken with 2 goals last night, just in time for him to get injured again. Ryan Suter with a hat trick reminded me of the old Al MacInnis days. The Wild scored 5 goals on 11 shots on goal. Either they are that good (not!), or Washington needs some goaltending help (YES!). Did you know that the Flyers are in 7th place in the Eastern Conference after that terrible start? And just a few points out of being in 5th? They are for real folks. Colonel Klinkhammer with a goal and 3 SOG in just under 11 minutes played. Yeah baby! I think that the NHL's Committee for Player Safety ought to get a bit tougher with these suspensions. It certainly isn't curbing anyone from trying to ruin the lives and careers of their fellow colleagues. Mason beat a Smith, just like in Colonial days. Quick is back and cured the LA Kings woes after the team lost 5 straight. Bye for now Mr. Jones.  "It's not you, it's me" kinda thing. You gotta love this 3-team race in the Western Conference between Chicago, St. Louis and Anaheim. Have A Happy and Healthy New Year everyone!

Undoubtedly the fantasy performer of the night was Montreal winger Max Pacioretty, who collected four points (2G/2A) in the 6-4 road win over Dallas. With 25 points in 33 games, the talented forward is on the cusp of being considered an upper-tier fantasy option but needs to be less streaky and more consistent. Perhaps, the emergence of David Desharnais in the recent weeks will help lead to more reliable offensive production from "Mad Max". Coming off a three-assist game, the diminutive center added a goal and an assist to raise his totals to 5 points in the last 2 contests. If both forwards can get each other going, fantasy owners will reap huge rewards in the second half. Desharnais is plenty available in most leagues, so he is well worth a waiver pick-up at this point. Also, do not underestimate the effect of being selected to the American Olympic team for Pacioretty, who responded to the news with arguably his best performance of the season. More Fantasy Notes: In a battle featuring rookie gooltenders Boston beat Nashville in OT 3-2. Swedish goaltender Niklas Svedberg got his first NHL win in his first NHL game. Nice to see that.  Predators goaltender Marek Mazanec took the loss, and after a fast start his record is now only 7-8-2 with a .906 save percentage. Brad Marchand got the game winner, and while he has only 20 points on the season, he does have a knack for scoring important goals. Boston forward Jarome Iginla had a goal and after a slow start this year he has 28 points and has scored in each of his last 6 games.  Nashville defenseman Shea Weber had a good game with a goal and an assist, and he has 10 goals and 24 points on the season. His -12 is a bit disconncerting though... The New York Islanders continued their mini-hot stear beating the Blachawks in OT.  The Islanders have won 4 of their last 5 games, and 3 of them were against quality teams; Chicago Boston and Detroit.  New York forward Kyle Okposo scored the game winner and he had an assist as well. Last night Okposo seemed determined to demonstrate to the US Olympic Committee that they made a mistake in not choosing him for the team.  He has 42 points in 42 games this year.  Well its good news for poolies who own him, as he will have a little extra motivition the rest of this year. Corey Crawford looked sharp in goal for Chicago after missing more than 3 weeks with an injury as he had 31 saves, but Evgeni Nabokov was better with 39 saves. Lets see if the Islanders can keep this going....

Undoubtedly the fantasy performer of the night was Montreal winger Max Pacioretty, who collected four points (2G/2A) in the 6-4 road win over Dallas. With 25 points in 33 games, the talented forward is on the cusp of being considered an upper-tier fantasy option but needs to be less streaky and more consistent. Perhaps, the emergence of David Desharnais in the recent weeks will help lead to more reliable offensive production from "Mad Max". Coming off a three-assist game, the diminutive center added a goal and an assist to raise his totals to 5 points in the last 2 contests. If both forwards can get each other going, fantasy owners will reap huge rewards in the second half. Desharnais is plenty available in most leagues, so he is well worth a waiver pick-up at this point. Also, do not underestimate the effect of being selected to the American Olympic team for Pacioretty, who responded to the news with arguably his best performance of the season. More Fantasy Notes: In a battle featuring rookie gooltenders Boston beat Nashville in OT 3-2. Swedish goaltender Niklas Svedberg got his first NHL win in his first NHL game. Nice to see that.  Predators goaltender Marek Mazanec took the loss, and after a fast start his record is now only 7-8-2 with a .906 save percentage. Brad Marchand got the game winner, and while he has only 20 points on the season, he does have a knack for scoring important goals. Boston forward Jarome Iginla had a goal and after a slow start this year he has 28 points and has scored in each of his last 6 games.  Nashville defenseman Shea Weber had a good game with a goal and an assist, and he has 10 goals and 24 points on the season. His -12 is a bit disconncerting though... The New York Islanders continued their mini-hot stear beating the Blachawks in OT.  The Islanders have won 4 of their last 5 games, and 3 of them were against quality teams; Chicago Boston and Detroit.  New York forward Kyle Okposo scored the game winner and he had an assist as well. Last night Okposo seemed determined to demonstrate to the US Olympic Committee that they made a mistake in not choosing him for the team.  He has 42 points in 42 games this year.  Well its good news for poolies who own him, as he will have a little extra motivition the rest of this year. Corey Crawford looked sharp in goal for Chicago after missing more than 3 weeks with an injury as he had 31 saves, but Evgeni Nabokov was better with 39 saves. Lets see if the Islanders can keep this going....

Valeri Nichuskin- Dallas Stars, RW (Owned in 11.5% of ESPN leagues) The 18-year old Russian has turned many heads as a rookie, collecting 6 points (2G/4A) in the last 5 games. Playing on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn has given him more opportunity to showcase his immense talent, even though his power-play time has been limited. He will endure his share of ups and downs in Year 1, but he should make a strong push for the Calder Trophy. Serious keeper league upside. Martin Jones- Los Angeles Kings, G (Owned in 78.5% of ESPN leagues) The 23-year old goalie has taken the NHL by storm with incredible numbers in relief of an injured Jonathan Quick. Pushing aside Ben Scrivens for the temporary King's starting gig, he has gone 5-0-0 with a .99 GAA and .967 SP. Safe to say, he needs to be owned in your league, but chances are that he might be gone by the time you read this. Heck, it's worth a shot! Ilya Bryzgalov- Edmonton Oilers, G (Owned in 16.9% of ESPN leagues) After being out since suffering a concussion on December 1, the beleaguered net-minder is set to start tonight for Edmonton against Anaheim. He was very effective in limited duty prior to the injury, going 1-1 with a 2.11 GAA and a .939 SP. The Oiler defense continues to struggle, so temper your expectations on his potential fantasy value. Having said all that, maybe he can provide them a spark in the goal and the young guns get hot. He could be a lower-tier 2nd goalie option, so he is worth a look. Roman Josi- Nashville Predators, D (Owned in 56.5% of ESPN leagues) Fantasy owners were hoping for the young defenseman to offensively break out this season, but a concussion suffered at the hands of Steve Downie derailed his "coming out" party. After a slow start to his third campaign, the Swiss defender has turned it around lately with 2 goals and 3 assists in the last 4 games. Fully recovered from injury, Josi has been promoted to Nashville's top pairing with Shea Weber both at even-strength and on the power play. Expect his numbers to keep rising, as the youngster makes a move up the fantasy charts. Sergei Gonchar- Dallas Stars, D (Owned in 25.6% of ESPN leagues) After many years of being one of the elite offensive defensemen in the NHL, the 39-year old veteran looked washed up during the first quarter of his debut season with Dallas, where he collected just 5 points in the first 28 games. However, his four-point explosion on Saturday was his best effort while donning a ...

"Today was a good day," said Weber, who suffered the injury in a 3-0 loss to Edmonton on Thanksgiving night. "It was good to be back out there with the guys and skate with them and hopefully move forward going ahead this week." Weber's playing status will be determined this morning, coach Barry Trotz said. "When he gets up in the morning and we can do our meetings and all, I'm sure I'll know at that point," he said.

Weber missed the last three games after taking a puck to the face near his eye on November 28. Weber will sport a visor in tonight's contest following the scary incident. Weber has seven goals and five assists while averaging 26:09 TOI in 26 games. He is expected to return to the top-pair with Roman Josi.

Weber will wear a visor when he returns to action, whether or not that is Saturday in Washington remains to be seen. He will miss his third consecutive game tonight and should be considered questionable for the weekend, but monitor his status closely because if he plays he should be activated in all formats. Weber is tied for the NHL lead in goals by defesemen with seven.

Weber will likely miss a couple of games, which will hurt the Predators, but it could have been much worse. He is obviously out tonight and should be considered questionable for Tuesday's contest with the Canucks.