Artem Anisimov, Chicago- Patrick Kane is riding a massive 16-game streak and the 27-year old center has reaped the rewards of late. Anisimov is currently on his own 5-game point streak and is sitting on 15 points in 21 games. Not enough power play time to justify a huge breakout, but playing with Kane could easily lead to surpassing his previous career high of 44 points. 55 plus anyone?   Teddy Purcell, Edmonton- With all the high draft picks on the Oilers roster, it's easy not to notice Purcell's play lately but he has heated up while on the top line with Taylor Hall. Seven points over the last six games should have him on your radar, given that his line should provide the bulk of scoring while Connor McDavid is out. As long as keeps the gig, he could be a decent fantasy contributor for awhile.   Melker Karlsson, San Jose- In this case, playing with the two Joes on the top line-Thornton and Pavelski-has it's fantasy merits as Ksrlsson has collected 4 points in 6 games since season debut. He clicked with them in spurts last season so definitely keep tabs on the youngster.    Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia- The long-term injury to Mark Streit has given the 22-year old a crack at the top power-play unit and the early returns are encouraging- 2 points in 4 games. This one qualifies as a deep sleeper alert as I thought MDZ would be the heir apparent in Streit's absence. Given the moment, the youngster should at least be on your radar.   Michael Hutchinson, Winnipeg-the youngster now has a chance to take at stab at the full-time gig with Ondrej  Pavelec being injured with significant knee sprain.  His numbers are rather modest this season as compared to his hot stretch in '14-15, but hex should be motivated to play well over the next few games. Watch him closely as he is slated to start tonight and could go a long away in getting more playing time with a few good consecutive starts. 

Brandon Dubinsky, Columbus- A few Blue Jackets have seen their roles increase under new coach John Tortorella, one being the 29-year old Dubinsky. The hard-working center has collected three goals and five assists over the first games since Torts has taken over. While expecting his ppg clip to last over the course of the season is unrealistic, 55-60 is not. He is worth a pick-up as his fantasy value is more long-term than most.    Teemu Terevainen, Chicago- With Marian Hossa back from injury, it's likely the talented winger could be shuffled around the lineup again. He showed some chemistry with Kane but who doesn't. Best case scenario-  stays on top line with Toews/Hossa or sees some 3rd line duty again. Insane upside so he might worth stashing on the bench until he gets going. Cause it will happen at some point this season.    David Desharnais, Montreal- I don't like recommending third line centers but his line with Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann has been absolutely killing it. DD has been the top dog before and has been a 60-point producer just a few years back, so you know he has tons to prove. Ride him in the short term    Leon Draisatl, Edmonton- A devastating injury to Connor McDavid has opened the opportunity for this former no first round pick to get top six minutes and contribute right away. Since his callup from the AHL, all Leon has done is hav collected 7 points over 5 games and has looked in sinc alongside Taylor Hall. The return of Jordan Eberle has the trio forming a potential explosive top unit. Playing with those two has its advantages in fantasy so take a gamble on him.    Ryan Spooner, Boston- In the case of this youngster, his importance on special teams clearly places him on the fantasy radar. He currently plays on a smokin top power play unit alongside the likes of David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron but gets this line minutes. There is a surplus of elite centers in Boston so his interim fantasy upside is a bit capped but he should be able to flirt with the 50-point mark. 

The Minnesota Wild roll by the St. Louis Blues 6-3, as Brian Elliott was pulled after giving up four goals. Thomas Vanek scored a goal, extending his point streak to seven games. His late season scoring surge is good enough reason to get him in your starting lineups... Is there a better line going in the NHL than the Gaudreau-Hudler- Monahan unit for the Calgary Flames? In another big spot, the trio have combined for five points but the team fell short in overtime after Rene Bourque buried the game-winner. Start all three as thay are providing the bulk of Calgary's offense during their hot streak... Carey Price for MVP? It's looking more and more likely as he keeps churning out suberb efforts in the crease, this gtime posting his second straight shutout and blanking the San Jose Sharks...   Jonathan Quick kept the Los Angeles Kings in the match with 36 saves, but Radim Vrbata spearheaded the Canuck's offense with the go-ahead goal in the third period plus an assist. He has been heating up so give him an extended look as Vancouver pushes hard for a playoff spot.  Boston blows another opportunity to extend their point lead over Florida as Roberto Luongo outlasted Tuukka Rask in the shootout to give the panthers the 2-1 win. In two games back, "Bobby Lou" looks every bit the solid fantasy goalie that he was during his peak years in Vancouver...  Jaroslav Halak is back starting for the Islanders after missing two games and his presence along with the return of defenseman Nick Leddy helped lead them to a 3-0 win over New Jersey. Kyle Okposo scored his 16th goal of the season, slowly shaking off his injury rust and getting ready for a strong finish. Get him in your starting lineups..   Kyle Turris continued his hot play with the game winning goal and Andrew Hammond won his sixth straight start for Ottawa as the Senators defeated their provinciakl rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3. Defenseman Erik Karlsson finished the match with a goal and an assist. He is definitely paying fantasy dividends now for those owners who drafted him in the early rounds.. The goaltending enigma known as Kari Lehtonen was spectacular in net after he posted his fifth shutout of the season in the 4-0 drubbing of Chicago. Jason Spezza picked up a goal and  an assist while Alex Goligoski notched two helpers. Give "Gogo" the starting nod this upcoming week if you own him as he is on a serious scoring roll to finish the season.. What a return for Taylor Hall as he assisted on ...

Flames never quit; Young guns answer the bell in Carolina; Goalie battle in Chi-town; and more: In a wild affair in Carolina, the Edmonton Oilers jumped out to a 3-goal lead before the hurricanes scored 6 unanswered goals. Elias Lindholm scored three goals and two assists while Eric Staal collected four points of his own. Their output was slightly superior to Ryan Nugent Hopkins(3G) and Jordan Eberle (3A) who provided most of the Oilers offense in this one. Lindholm holds the most promising long term upside, but it's way too early to give up on RNH. A healthy Taylor Hall next year could help him get to the next level. Am less confident of Eberle being more than 30-goal, 60- point producer unless he changes uniforms in the near future.... Huge win for Boston as they sweep the weekend set to strenghen their hold on the 8th playoff spot. Brad Marchand scored another goal, his fifth in four games and is heating up for the stretch run. He could be a worthwhile fantasy addition during his hot streak.... The Devils top the struggling Flyers who were hard pressed to compete after blowing that heartbreaking game Saturday afternoon to Boston. Not much to say here other than MDZ missed the game due to injury and could be sitting for a few, so monitor his situation before setting your weekly lineups. That's if you even needed to play him... A wild game in Ottawa, as the Flames fought back after a third-period four-goal deficit to force overtime. The Senators prevailed in the shootout but no doubt will turn back to Andrew Hammond for Tuesday's contest. As for the Flames, Kris Russell(2G) has turned it up since the Mark Giordano injury. Possibly a sneaky good short-term pickup.. So much for Semyon Varlamov tanking today in Minny after his huge shutout effort yesterday. However, he did leave the game in the third period after suffering an injury, opening the door for a late Wild comeback that ultimately fell short.  Gabriel Landeskog is on quite the roll, collecting 7 points over the last 5 games. Jarome Iginla is also heating up again after a few quiet games. Look for these two to up the ante a bit with Nathan MacKinnon out for the remainder of the season. The Rangers survive a heck of a goaltending duel between Cam Talbot and Chicago's Corey Crawford, winning in OT 1-0 thanks to Derick Brassard's game-winner. What can you say about Talbot as a short-term fantasy beast during Henrik Lundqvist's absence-10-2-3! That a boy...

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..

QUICK NOTES: Sergei Bobrovsky signed a 4-year extension with the Columbus Blue Jackets solidifying their goaltending as the team start to mature and gain experience. A solid dynasty fantasy league keeper although you would think otherwise as he let in 4 first-period goals after signing the contract....Peter Horachek has been named the Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the remainder of the season.  It was decided that a full-time head coach would be decided on in the off-season.  This feels like it has Mike Babcock written all over it. The New York Islanders have been playing well all season and have been getting a lot of press and even though John Tavares hasn't been written about a lot, he has been quietly putting together a solid season. As the year turned into 2015, Tavares has been lighting it lately, more to the liking of his fantasy faithful.  In 4 January games, JT now has 7 points, including the 3 points in last night's OT victory over the New Jersey Devils.  Jaroslav Halak continues to provide consistent goaltending and picked up his 22nd win on the season. Continue to start with confidence.... The Tampa Bay Lightning managed to squeak by the Buffalo Sabres as Steven Stamkos potted his 22nd of the season with just over 5 minutes remaining in regulation for the win. Ben Bishop picked up his 21st win. The Sabres kept the hot Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat off the score sheet, but it was small consolation as they lost their 7th in a row and 11 of their last 12.... Toronto redeemed themselves after their losing effort against Washington the other night with a 5-2 pasting of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The top three Maple Leafs Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk & Tyler Bozak, were the main catalysts with a combined 7 points in the win. Continue to start with confidence as on any given night.... It wasn't the prettiest of games but the Florida Panthers won in Calgary in a 6-5 shoot'em out at the Saddledome. Jonathan Huberdeau continued his hot streak with a goal and an assist giving him 5 points in past 2 games. The problem is consistency but if he finds that, he can be a great addition to your fantasy forward depth...Flames D-man T.J. Brodie had 2 goals in the contest and now has 28 points in 42 games. Not bad for the young defenseman entering his 4th full season. Kudos to those who drafted the young talent.... Now that was a little bit more like what everyone was expecting from the Edmonton Oilers this season as they defeated the visiting ...

As enter the final stanza of an exciting 2014 for the NHL, a few thing things stood out from last night. First, Brian Elliott showed no rust in his first game back from injury in the St. Louis crease. Despite losing the match to Nashville, his 44 saves is a strong indication that he is ready to re-claim his starting spot. With no disrespect intended to future HOFer Martin Brodeur and young Jake Allen, it's been Elliott with the dazzling numbers- 1.90 GAA and .931 SP. He should continue to receive the majority of starts moving forward, but it's probably more like a 60/40 split... Second, the Florida Panthers have become extremely competitive and it all starts in goal with veteran Roberto Luongo. His fantasy value has actually improved since his move from Vancouver, as he has compiled a 14-7-7 record with a 2.31 GAA and a .923 SP on the upstart Florida team. He turned aside 33 of 34 shots in the 2-1 loss to Montreal, but fantasy owners should not shy away from the Sunshine State. Youngsters Nick Bjugstad and Aaron Ekblad continue to improve, indicating bright fantasy futures for both in the years ahead... Shea Weber is again playing like one of the fantasy elite on defense, scoring two huge goals to raise his point total to ten over the last ten games. He was off to a somewhat slow start, but the dominant defender is a lock for top-five fantasy status moving forward... The Edmonton Oilers snapped a nine-game losing streak in the 2-1 win over the Kings, but make no mistake about it- they are still REAL bad. Even superstar Taylor Hall has performed way below fantasy expectations because of the utter debacle going on in the City of Champions. Maybe buy low on Hall and RNH, but the situation does not offer much hope for a huge turnaround in the second half...

Could this be the coming out party for Montreal's Alex Galchenyuk? Moved to the center the top line a few games ago, the ultra-talented Center, with his 3-goal game tonight against the Hurricanes, has 5 points in the three games since being moved.  It's too early to say for sure that he is ready for greater things, but he is capable...Max Pacioretty who knows a few things about hat tricks assisted on all three Galchenyuk goals... Tampa Bay won for just the second time in the past 6 games with rookie G Andrei Vasilevskiy making his NHL debut and turning aside 23 of the 24 Philadelphia SOG for the win. Regular starter Ben Bishop hurt himself the previous night but according to Bishop, he shouldn't be out long...Tyler Johnson had the game-winner and an assist in the game giving him 33 points in 33 games this season. No sophomore jinx for this Johnson....  Toronto continued their winning ways and remain the hottest team in the Eastern Conference with an impressive 6-2 win over Frederik Andersen and the Anaheim Ducks. The top line of Phil Kessel-Tyler Bozak-James van Riemsdyk combined for 7 points in the Leaf victory....G Jonathan Bernier, our latest BETWEEN THE PIPES feature, remained hot with a 40-save effort in notching his 13th win and his 8th win in last 10 decisions. Continue to ride the hot net minder.... Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Jimmy Howard wouldn't budge in their matchup last night and it took a shootout to decide the regulation scoreless tie. Both net minders have been playing excellent goal of late and should continue for the remainder of the season..... The Florida Panthers continue to scratch and claw their way against their opponents to come away with at least a point and last night was just another reminder that the Cats aren't going to be an easy game anymore. Roberto Luongo turned aside 23 of 24 and then saw another 20 attempts in the shootout before Nick Bjugstad put an end to the shootout marathon for the win....   Just when you thought the Los Angeles Kings would continue their recent dominance over St. Louis, their breakout star Vladimir Tarasenko fueled the 5-2 comeback win with a heck of a third period effort- two goals and an assist. He finished with four points on the night to extend his point streak to six games. His overall 36 points is only two behind the NHL lead so treat Tarasenko as an ultra-elite fantasy option and enjoy his monster season. Trading him is not recommended... Not much to say about Arizona's 2-1 overtime win ...

For many fantasy owners, the return of three elite fantasy forwards back to live action highlighted Sunday's NHL events. After missing 5 games due to a concussion, Minnesota winger Zach Parise ignited a dormant offense with 2 huge goals in the 4-3 win. This game featured both starting goalies- Ondrej Pavelec and Niklas Backstrom -getting pulled after allowing 3 straight goals in one period, but Darcy Kuemper comes in to deal the late OT victory. Parise's return is perfect time for his fantasy owners, who can now place him in starting lineups for the upcoming scoring period. The same thing can be said for Taylor Hall and Corey Perry, despite both of their teams coming up on the losing side. Taylor Hall has easily been the Oilers most dangerous forward, cutting a 2-0 deficit to one with a third period goal and playing over 20 minutes last night. With 11 points in 12 games, only more injuries can prevent Hall from putting up 80+ pts and maintain his elite fantasy status amongst left wingers. Corey Perry was the least productive upon his return but that could have been expected after his body weakening bout with the mumps. I would hesitate to gesture not starting him this week only because he is too good to keep on the bench if he is donning a uniform. Just temper your expectations while he gets back up to full speed. As for the Ducks, they fell flat in the 6-2 defeat to Florida after two emotional battles with LA Kings. Nothing to worry about.. PRIME PERFORMERS: 1. Troy Grosenick G, San Jose- His 45-save shutout performance in Carolina was an awesome debut for sure, but probably carries minimal fantasy ramifications unless Antti Niemi gets hurt too. Great moment for the youngster.. 2. Patrick Kane RW, Chicago- You know what you get from this guy, as he dominated Dallas with a goal/two assists and is a lock to score at a PPG clip by season's end. 3. PK Subban D, Montreal- A big night for the 25-year old, delivering a game-winning goal and an assist in the Hab's 4-1 road win in detroit. PK has sruggled of late, but still remains an elite fantasy option with five goals and 12 points in 19 games.

While I am a bit skeptical of Ryan Callahan continuing his strong play for the Lightning for the long-term, he is being utilized in a very fantasy-friendly fashion so far. The feisty winger collected two more assists last night in the SO win over Detroit, giving him 11 points in 10 games. Playing alongside Steven Stamkos could result in career numbers if he can stay healthy, but I am loving the supreme dose of power-play time that he has been receiving, Five of his 11 points have come on the man-advantage, so you need to start Callahan right now as he has been sizzling.. Winger Gustav Nyquist will have to wake up for Detroit and take a permanent step forward if the Red Wings are going to withstand the latest injury to Pavel Datsyuk. Good sign for fantasy owners as he responded last night with a goal and an assist. 11 points in 14 games, but young Gustav is on a 40-goal pace to start the year.. Despite losing three of his previous four starts, Chicago goalie Corey Crawford has been "money" for his fantasy owners in the early going. After stopping 32 of 34 shots in the 5-2 triumph over San Jose, his peripheral stats are now 1.75 GAA and .932 SP. Even with Taylor Hall out, Ryan-Nugent Hopkins has been remarkably consistent for the Edmonton Oilers, gathering points in 8 of his last ten games. RNH was the fantasy star of the night in the Oiler's road win at MSG, collecting a goal and an assist. Look for his numbers to soar by mid-season with Hall back in the line-up and the chemistry fully intact.