Did you expect a video from the early games?  Well we had figured we did enough of that last night.  However, we are going to take a look back at what was a strange Sunday in fantasy hockey and hockey in general.

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A LOOK BACK:

Jonas Hiller, G, Anaheim Ducks — Hiller was our Fantasy POTN for a reason.  Not only did he stop 43 of 45 shots in a 3-2 Anaheim win but he stopped 14 shots early in the game which kept Anaheim in it long enough for Bobby Ryan to net a shorthanded tally.  Yes, Colorado did almost come back from a 3-0 deficit but it was Jonas Hiller who stole the show and an all important two points for Anaheim.  He has been hot, winning five straight starts now.  Suddenly it seems the wheels are all on and rolling near Disney.

Scott Hartnell, F, Philadelphia Flyers — What had became a very funny trend #HartnellDown is actually not the story here.  The fact that Hartnell netted a hat trick in yesterday’s 6-5 loss to Boston was.  Add in the fact that it was a natural hat trick and you have a guy on pace for over 40 goals this year that no fantasy GM ever dreamed of.  Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux seem to know where each other is on the ice similar to Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora.  It is just a different kind of chemistry and that is paying huge dividends for the Philadelphia Flyers this year.  Look out fantasy world, Hartnell is not just a one year wonder.

Evgeni Malkin, F, Pittsburgh Penguins — He leads the league in scoring for a reason and it seems this year anytime Pittsburgh needs a goal, it seems #71 is on the ice.  Right on cue yesterday, in a 3-3 game, Malkin struck early in overtime and just like that the game was over.  The 4-3 Pittsburgh win over Washington gave the Penguins a six game winning streak and Malkin a three point afternoon (1 goal, 2 assists).  Malkin has 58 points in just 41 games ladies and gentlemen which is not the 66 in 41 pace that Sidney Crosby had last year but in some ways may be even better.  Malkin has 7 game winners on the year already and fantasy fans have to love that along with Pittsburgh.

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SCHEDULE TIME:

It is nice to see a six game slate on a Monday which normally gets the short end of the stick with fantasy weeks.  The Detroit-St. Louis tilt is going to be one that a lot of people have their eyes on and not just because of the fact that the Red Wings have a 16 game home winning streak.  If anyone can end it, it would be St. Louis.  Then there is that cooky Southeast Division battle between Winnipeg and Carolina.  Toss in what will be a fun game between Ottawa and Los Angeles (at least on paper) and you have the makings of a pretty nice night to watch some hockey.  Let’s see quickly what we should keep an eye on.

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KEEP AN EYE ON……

Jimmy Howard Vs. Jaroslav Halak — This Red Wings Vs. Blues matchup is interesting because of the two hot goalies that come in.  Jimmy Howard is on pace for 49 wins while Jaroslav Halak has been as hot as Brian Elliott was earlier in the season for St. Louis.  The Blues have two goaltenders they can insert into the lineup and they feel confident with both.  That is why Halak’s confidence level and win total has gone up.  Halak has a 2.00 GAA and .920 save percentage going in while Howard has a 1.98 GAA and .926 save percentage.  If you are loooking for high scoring, go somewhere else.  A 2-1 or 3-2 game seems destined to happen here.

Jonathan Quick Vs. Ottawa — We did joke about this a bit but Quick has no margin for error against Ottawa  because the offense in front of him barely can average over two goals a game and lately seems to be on its kick of 1 or 2 goals and pray for Quick intervention.  This has become no laughing matter and it does not help that the Ottawa Senators are in town.  Ottawa has a pretty good lineup and Craig Anderson in net tonight.  Jason Spezza has 50 points in 50 games along with Milan Michalek’s 23 goals and Erik Karlsson’s 39 assists.  Sure Los Angeles can play defense but they may need a few goals tonight and not even LA is sure where that is going to come from.

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Good luck fantasy hockey and hockey fans and as always we will keep you updated via Twitter.  Thanks for reading and off to Week 16 we go…..

A LOOK BACK

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This turned out to be our fantasy game of the night.  For half a game, Anaheim looked unbelievable under new coach Bruce Boudreau as they raced out to a 3-0 lead but the old Anheim problem (penalties) began to rear their ugly head as Philadelphia wound up going 3-6 on the Power Play as they rallied, forced overtime, then won on a man advantage 4-3.  The Flyers were the more aggressive team most of the night but Anaheim was able to turn defense into offense until the third period.  After the first 40, Anaheim managed just five shots on goal and two scoring chances the rest of the way.

The Flyers pounded 47 shots on Jonas Hiller which has continuously been a problem for Anaheim.  Other teams just impose their will more.  That has to change and it will be interesting to see what changes are implemented by the new coach.  He needs to let his players play because most of them, it seems, cannot play much defense.  They also need to remain more disciplined as Ryan Getzlaf’s penalties set up the game tying and game winning goals.  You cannot give a team like Philadelphia that many opportunities on the man advantage especially with the likes of Claude Giroux, Jaromir Jagr, and Dany Briere (Scott Hartnell too).  Despite all that, there was some good to be taken from the loss as well.  Saku Koivu had two assists and looked very good out there and Jonas Hiller made 43 savesa and probably deserved better just for starters.  Again the top line has to score but last night, they clearly need to learn (particularly Getzlaf) that discipline can help you win games in the NHL.

Then there was the “Wildness” in Minnesota last night where the first period saw five goals combined, two goalies chased, and then a game that was mostly dominated by New Jersey all for naught after a bad turnover late.  Kyle Brodziak is making a name for himself fantasy fans as he scored twice last night, giving him eight goals on the year.  Josh Harding played 40 minutes and stopped 22 shots in the 4-2 win that literally saw Martin Brodeur stop 1 shot out of 4.  To answer the question, this is not the worst I have ever seen Brodeur play but clearly “being ready at all times” is not sinking in.  The third goal by Casey Wellman (yes his first of the year) literally trickled under Brodeur and in the net.  It was a sure sign that he had not completely recovered from Wednesday Night against Colorado where he gave up six.

If you are New Jersey, the top line played pretty well but made more key blunders in helping the other team pad their fantasy stats.  Ilya Kovalchuk made one killer turnover and then was caused another one by his own teammate Zach Parise, who got in the way while Kovalchuk was racing up the ice.  Clearly New Jersey needs some Centers to return soon in order to restore things.  Players playing out of position can lead to disaster on the ice.  For the last week or so, it really has bit New Jersey and badly.

In other action, Jonathan Toews proved why he has been so hot lately as he tallied a shorthanded goal and then a clincher in the shootout to lead Chicago to a shaky 5-4 win over the New York Islanders.  John Tavares and Matt Moulson looked solid as they got two points each for fantasy teams. However, the best performance of the night was not to Pavel Datsyuk but was to Ryan Jones as he scored three goals on three shots in an Edmonton five goal third period barrage that led to a 6-3 win.  Columbus was up 2-1 after playing a brilliant 40 minutes but then just came unglued in the third period.  If that is not a coach killer, I do not know what is.  When you hold a team down and then have no answers afterward, maybe the bell should be sounded.  Columbus from a fantasy standpoint has been one of the season’s biggest disappointments as well as hockey aspect.

SCHEDULE TIME

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This is what you call a packed schedule tonight.  It is a true 12 pack of games and will basically decide your fantasy week.  At this point, we decided to call in some special ops in the form of Ian Gooding from Kuklas Korner to give you his Pick Six.  We will note some observations at the tail end as always.

PICK SIX

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Saturday
Brian Elliott, G, STL – start
No one in his/her right mind would have thought that Senators/Avalanche castoff Elliott would be leading the league with a 1.31 GAA and a .951 SV% two months into the season. Does that make him a Vezina Trophy candidate? Don’t expect him to be one of the three finalists, but at least expect him to timeshare with Jaroslav Halak for the rest of the season. Elliott is confirmed to start against Chicago on Saturday, so make sure he’s in there.

Tyler Bozak, C, TOR – add/start
Bozak has had a nice run recently with six goals and 11 points over his past ten games. It doesn’t hurt his situation at all that he is playing on the Leafs’ top line with the white-hot Joffrey Lupul and Phil Kessel. The Leafs get another crack at the Bruins on Saturday after falling 6-3, so goals may not come easy again. But Bozak is yet another example of why line combinations are so important in fantasy hockey.

Eric Nystrom, LW, DAL – add/start
Guess what? A player who was put on waivers earlier this season now has more goals than Alex Ovechkin. That’s right, Nystrom has nine goals with the Stars, including four goals in his last four games. Of course, he has only two assists, but it’s nice to see the son of former Islander great Bob Nystrom fit in so well with the Stars. Nystrom has never scored more than 11 goals in a season, so he don’t expect anything more than short-term offense here.

Nikolai Kulemin, LW, TOR – bench
As some above-mentioned Leafs are hot, some other high-scoring Leafs from last season are cold. Kulemin is one of those, with just two goals and 11 points in 25 games while averaging only 15 minutes of icetime. Hopefully you weren’t a Leafs fan who was projecting a repeat of last season’s 30-goal output. Bench him until he shows signs of life.

Patrik Berglund, C, STL – bench
So far my prediction of Berglund taking the next step is not looking good. The Blues’ center has only nine points (5g, 4a) this season with only two points in his last eight games. David Perron’s return on Saturday could spark some offense, but I’ve left him on the bench in leagues in which I have more active players than active slots.

Sunday
Roberto Luongo, G, VAN – start
Luongo could not shake off the rust in his return from injury/Cory Schneider dominance, allowing three goals on 15 shots in relief of Schneider on Thursday against Nashville. So why should fantasy owners feel confident starting him on Sunday? He has traditionally been strong against Calgary, with a 4-0-1, 2.17 GAA, .925 SV% last season and one goal allowed in his one start against the Flames this season. However, Lu will be on a short leash if he struggles on Sunday, as Alain Vigneault has now demonstrated that he will give the nod to Schneider for longer than a game even if Lu is healthy.

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The key tonight in your fantasy leagues is going to simply be go with your guns.  With a near full Saturday schedule featuring most of the marquis names, there is no holding back at all.  Yes there are three games on Sunday featuring some game changing players but not enough to carry the impact of a typical Saturday.  Mercy is for the weak and one would do well to simply just go for it!

Tomorrow night is the podcast and there will be some very damaging and revealing fantasy commentary expected…so listen on in at 8pm ET.  Until then, good luck with your fantasy leagues.  If you have questions, we will answer them.  Thanks again.