11 hours agoCarolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho looked like a man from another planet in Saturday's matchup against Minnesota, finishing a 6-2 win with five points. He recorded his third career hat trick and dished out two assists on his way to becoming the seventh player in franchise history to tally a five-point game. Teuvo Teravainen backed him up with three assists. Aho is having a pretty bizarre season, as he just can't seem to find consistent form. He had four pointless performances in his last five outings coming into Saturday's contest. Following the explosion, Aho is now the only active player to score multiple hat tricks that consist of an even-strength, power-play, and short-handed goal.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
11 hours agoFlorida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made a winning return to the crease on Saturday, finishing a 4-1 victory over his former team Columbus with 33 saves. The Russian was benched for a couple of games due to poor form before head coach Joel Quenneville decided to give him a new opportunity in a special matchup. Bob had more losses than wins this season coming into Saturday's contest in which he improved his record for the year to 10-6-4. He has a 3.35 goals-against average for the season and a .889 save percentage, which are far from good enough for a starting goaltender, but maybe he can get going now after picking up this emotional win.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
11 hours agoPittsburgh Penguins forwards Jake Guentzel and Evgeni Malkin both posted three points in Saturday's 5-3 win over Detroit. Guentzel opened the scoring before adding two assists to his tally, and Malkin scored the team's second goal, while also picking up two assists. Both players have been crushing it across the last three weeks with Malkin even posting a five-point game. The Russian has 19 points in total in the last 11 games, while Guentzel has enjoyed the ride alongside him with 17 points. They look set for another big night on Tuesday against Montreal, who haven't done much better than Detroit defensively this season.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
12 hours agoDallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop had another winning performance on Saturday, finishing a 3-1 victory over the Islanders with 34 saves. Big Ben lost only one start in November and he's started this month in hot form as well, going 2-0-1 in three appearances, while allowing only five goals and posting a spectacular .951 save percentage. He has an 11-6-2 record for the season with a 2.13 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage. The Stars have ended a four-game losing streak with two consecutive wins, so Bishop should be your starter every night he's out there.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
12 hours agoDallas Stars right wing Alexander Radulov made a successful return to the lineup on Saturday after being a healthy scratch in the previous game. He had a power-play goal and an assist in a 3-1 win against the Islanders, firing off three shots and logging 15:10 of ice time. The Russian winger went four games without a single point before being left out of Thursday's win over Winnipeg. It's been a tough season for him with only 17 points in 30 games, but he's clearly a talented guy and maybe he's gotten a wake-up call now. Andrew Cogliano and Denis Gurianov also scored for the Stars on Saturday.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 day agoPhiladelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart remained hot on Saturday, producing his fourth consecutive win in a 4-3 victory against Ottawa. He had 27 saves and gave up more than two goals for the first time in his last five starts. The young netminder now has a 10-5-2 record for the season. The Flyers are red-hot at the moment, having won seven of their last nine games, so both Hart and Brian Elliott have improved their numbers quite a bit over the last few weeks. The Flyers start a three-game road trip next, which begins with a very difficult matchup against the Avalanche on Wednesday. Hart has managed only two wins in seven road starts this season.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 day agoPhiladelphia Flyers center Scott Laughton helped the team improve to 7-1-1 across their last nine outings by scoring a late game-winner in Saturday's 4-3 victory over Ottawa. He scored the decisive goal 15:11 into the final frame just seconds after Anthony Duclair had made it 3-3. Laughton also had one assist in the game, helping Ivan Provorov get his seventh goal of the year. Travis Konecny and Shayne Gostisbehere scored for Philly as well. Laughton has put together a nice streak since the start of last week, scoring four goals and averaging a point per game in six outings.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 day agoOttawa Senators left wing Anthony Duclair bagged two of the team's three goals in Saturday's 4-3 loss at Philadelphia. Brady Tkachuk also scored for Ottawa, who suffered a tough loss. Duclair made it 2-2 with a short-handed goal in the second period and he again knotted things up in the third with five minutes left in regulation, but Scott Laughton scored the game-winner just 11 seconds later. Duclair has now scored in back-to-back games and he has 13 goals to show for the season. The 24-year-old winger is enjoying a decent season, but he tends to be very streaky. He went four games without a single point before putting together his current three-game point streak.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoArizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper produced the goods once more on Thursday against Philadelphia, stopping 28 of 29 shots in a 3-1 win. He now has a 12-6-2 record for the season and a league-best goals-against average (1.92) and save percentage (.937). There have been only five occasions this season where Kuemper has given up more than two goals. The Coyotes play again on Friday against Pittsburgh with Antti Raanta likely starting. He hasn't done too badly either this season, putting together a 5-3-2 record with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoArizona Coyotes right wing Phil Kessel potted a pair of power-play goals on Thursday when the team ended Philadelphia's winning streak with a 3-1 victory. Conor Garland also got on the scoresheet, Clayton Keller provided two assists. Kessel has struggled in front of goal all season long, scoring just six goals which have come in four games. It's taking a long time for him to adjust to his new teammates, but the Coyotes likely aren't too worried, as they took over the top spot in the Pacific Division with Thursday's win. Kessel returns to Pittsburgh on Friday night for a special game against his former team.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoVegas Golden Knights right wing Alex Tuch extended his point streak to four games with a goal in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders. Jonathan Marchessault also scored in the contest, which ended Malcolm Subban's winning streak at four games. Tuch has already six points this month and he's collected seven points in total during his current streak. He had just two points in 10 previous games after missing the start of the season through injury. Tuch was a 20-goal, 50-point guy last year, so it was only a matter of time before he got going. He gets a chance to take his point streak to five games on Sunday against the Rangers and their poor defense.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoNew York Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock scored the game-winning goal in Thursday's 3-2 overtime victory over Vegas. Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson also scored for the Islanders, who boast a superb 12-2-1 home record. The team has cooled off lately, but they still own a 12-game point streak at home, which is the seventh-longest in franchise history. Pulock has played a big part in the success, notching nine points in 15 home games. The 25-year-old defenseman ended last month with a three-game pointless run, but he's off to a great start in December, collecting four points in three outings.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoColorado Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz had a very good performance against Montreal on Thursday, finishing a 3-2 win with 38 saves. The team leaned on him heavily in the final frame where Francouz made 16 saves. He now has a 6-2-0 record in nine starts this season with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. The goalie situation has been a bit messy in Colorado this season, with head coach Jared Bednar using four different guys, but Francouz and Philippe Grubauer have both done a good job when healthy. The German sits on a 10-5-2 record with a 2.75 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoColorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog made his first appearance since Oct. 25 on Thursday, scoring the team's second goal in a 3-2 win over Montreal. Ryan Graves opened the scoring and Matt Calvert notched the game-winner with a short-handed marker. Nathan MacKinnon had a rare off night with zero points. Landeskog started on the second line with J.T. Compher and Andre Burakovsky, and he logged 18:34 while playing in every situation. Landeskog has only two points in his last seven outings, so it's not been a great ride for him so far this year, but he should enjoy a much better second half of the season if he manages to stay off the injured reserve.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
2 days agoCarolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek saved 28 of 30 shots in Thursday's 3-2 shootout win over San Jose, improving his record for the year to 12-6-1. Mrazek has done especially well at home where he's won nine of 12 starts so far with a 2.31 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. He gets another home outing at the weekend against Minnesota before the Hurricanes start a five-game road trip. Mrazek has a 3-3-1 record away from home with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
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