Like the little kid that robbed the candy jar, last night’s Fantasy POTN was pretty academic.  Yes it was a considerable suprise but this player earned it.  Let’s get down to business.

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FANTASY POTN:

Matthieu Perrault, C, Washington Capitals — The nicest way to say this is “who saw this coming?”.  All Perrault does is score a hat trick against the Boston Bruins.  With a makeshift first line that featured no Alex Ovechkin (suspension) and Nick Backstrom (concussion), somehow the Capitals were able to score five goals.  Sometimes there are mysteries and then there is what happened last night in Washington.  Maybe Boston was caught up in a “web of red tape”.  Whatever it was, Perrault took advantage of it and literally waiver wires are buzzing at least a little this morning for this short term pickup.

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A LOOK BACK:

Kari Lehtonen, G, Dallas Stars — Dallas found a way to stop a winning streak and the Anaheim Ducks played well enough to win.  Most importantly, Lehtonen held Dallas in it early when they were being badly outplayed.  In the end, he pitched a 27 save shutout and proved again why Lehtonen is one of the best goalies in the league, when healthy.  Yes Dallas has a bit of a popgun offense but Kari Lehtonen is capable and has carried a Dallas team for stretches.  Can he do it the whole second half?  We are going to find out.  They need him to!

Pittsburgh and St. Louis — If you thought Detroit and St. Louis on Monday was a great game then you missed last night’s tilt between the Penguins and Blues.  How often do you see a goalie make nine split saves in a game?  How often do you see a game have so many outstanding chances in the regular season?  This was a game that had everyone talking and may have ignited Patrick Berglund (two goals).  Marc Andre-Fleury and Brian Elliott had a pretty nice little duel.  It was nice to see some good hockey last night.

Clarke MacArthur, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs — The MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin line clicks every so often and last night they did so to the tune of nine points.  They do this in short spurts at times and the All Star Break is here for Toronto which negates any momentum but what these guys did against the Islanders last night was impressive.  MacArthur’s two goals included the game winner midway into overtime which any GWG is huge but with Week 16 shaping up the way it is, is essential.

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SCHEDULE TIME:

Yes there is only one game tonight and the reality is that it looks like a one sided rout in favor of Detroit and sure that could be a result.  However, Jimmy Howard has 30 wins, Detroit has a Top 6 that makes almost every team envious, and they just win.  On the other hand, they are a .500 team on the road and have a tendency to mail games like this (right before the All Star Break) in.  This is the type of game where Montreal’s first line could actually cause Detroit enough fits to make this interesting.  Erik Cole, David Desharnais, and Max Pacioretty have to play like they did against the New York Rangers or Montreal is going to lose.  It is that simple.  Do they have to score a ton?  No.  Do they have to put a little fear in Detroit’s D?  Yes. 

If they do not, Detroit waltzes in and steals two points before the break.  Something tells me despite a better effort from Montreal, Detroit will squeeze out a road win against a team still searching for its soul.

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Good luck tonight everyone and The Program starts at 8pm ET to break down the week and look back a bit at the first half of the season.  Hopefully you can make it and listen.  Thanks again.

A LOOK BACK:

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The same old song and dance has fantasy players scratching their head in Anaheim.  Anaheim jumps out to a lead, looks pretty good for awhile and then the opponent imposes their will and takes over the game before Anaheim tries to recover and its too late.  New coach, same result.  What has become very abundantly clear with the Ducks is that maybe a lot of us overvalued them in the preseason.  Sure, there have been injuries but a lot of underwhelming and inconsistent play h as them at the bottom of the Pacific, ten points out of a playoff spot already.  Worse, fantasy owners who got killed by Lubomir Visnovsky are probably taking a bath with Cam Fowler, who has not really quite stepped up like a good deal of experts had thought.

Anaheim is similar to Carolina except Anaheim has more front end talent with Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan, and Teemu Selanne.  Despite all that, the results are about the same for both and for Fantasy GM’s, other than Selanne, it is getting pretty ugly to find suitable substitutes via the waiver or trade route because there are no real viable alternatives.  The 5-3 loss last night to Minnesota was really the same old song and dance for Anaheim and Coach Bruce Boudreau has a huge job ahead of him in changing the culture.  If he can, its good times for fantasy owners.  If not, it is going to be one very miserable year.

Even Colorado has righted the ship some and is winning a few at home.  They stopped the Detroit Red Wings last night 4-2.  The most important revelation is not that Semyon Varlamov made 27 saves but that Ryan O’Reilly continues to get points and produce as he notched two goals last night in the victory.  Gabriel Landeskog had two assists and has looked this week like the Landeskog of the first two weeks of the year.  Colorado will have to keep this rolling as their up again, down again roller coaster is up right now.  Run its course while you can.

Christopher Higgins and David Booth both had three points last night as Vancouver steamrolled the Calgary Flames 5-1.  This was not much of a contest but for fantasy purposes, Booth and Higgins should not be a surprise as Higgins, in particular, seems to get at least a point every Sunday he plays (weird stat).  Roberto Luongo had a pretty easy night as well.  The most important thing is the Canucks did not have to rely so much on the Sedin Twins last night.  That reality is good for fantasy owners naturally.

SCHEDULE TIME:

There are five games on the schedule with Washington and Florida being the big one but not for fantasy purposes.  Boston and Pittsburgh probably is your best bet there.  Names like Tim Thomas, Tyler Seguin, Patrice Bergeron, Marc Andre-Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby kind of make this one the fantasy game of the night and the reality is it is.  Here is what else we have our eye on.

Keep AN EYE ON:

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Washington @ Florida — This is a matchup that both teams and their fans have been looking forward to for a few weeks now.  Dale Hunter finally got his first win as a Coach the other night and has to think this is a huge early game standings wise for Washington if they want to get back in it.  Florida has the chance to put the hammer down.  With how, their first line has been a fantasy beacon all year and their mobile defense, that has given Washington fits.  They know Tomas Vokoun better than anyone and that may pay dividends tonight.  If Alex Ovechkin and their depth scoring can get going, all bets are off.

Tyler Bozak invades Gotham? — Well where are Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul?  Do not fret, they are on the first line too as Toronto invades Madison Square Garden tonight to face the red hot New York Rangers.  However, it is Bozak that really has sustained this first line for Toronto providing them a key fantasy pivot when the two wingers cannot generate their own offense.  Henrik Lundqvist is really going to have his hands full but Toronto has to look out for the GAS LINE (Gaborik, Anisimov, Stephan).  This has the makings of some offensive fireworks.

Corey Crawford — Much has been made of Crawford’s very inconsistent November but he may be able to right the ship tonight against Phoenix.  The key will be the first twenty minutes as Crawford can not give up softies like he has over the past month early in games.  If he can keep his composure, and let his offense do the work then Chicago should have no reason not to win tonight against a game Phoenix team.

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Well that about does it for Fantasy Hockey ONE today, as always you can follow us on Twitter via @TheProgramBTR for all your fantasy hockey needs.  Thanks again.