When I started typing this on Thursday night, I was going to write about how the debut of Porter Martone and the return of Tyson Foerster have made the Flyers suddenly look like an intriguing fantasy team. However, despite the Flyers winning 4-1 over the Islanders on Friday night, both Martone and Foerster were held off the scoresheet. As I’ve told a few other writers on this site, all it takes is one game to change what the narrative should be for an article. I’ll still get to Martone and Foerster later, but they weren’t the focal point of this game.
Instead, Matvei Michkov was the first star for the Flyers on Friday. (Yes, I still look at the three stars from time to time, although it seemed like much more of a thing when I was a kid.) Michkov finished with a goal, two assists, a plus-3, and three shots, breaking a 12-game goal-scoring drought in the process. Michkov was held to just 11:43 in this game, probably because the Flyers led 3-0 early in the second period and Rick Tocchet decided to park the bus after that with a tired group playing the second of back-to-backs.
Still, Michkov has averaged just 14:50 in icetime this season, which is rather low for a player of his talent level. He will also finish well below the 63-point output of his rookie season. Efforts like Friday’s remind us of what Michkov is capable of, and it’s easy to forget that he is only 21 years old. Yet I’d have to wonder if Michkov would be better off on another team, since he may not see eye to eye with Tocchet.
Owen Tippett was also one of the Flyers’ other goal scorers. He now has nine goals and 14 points in his last 15 games. Tippett has also equaled his career high of 28 goals and has already reached a career high of 153 hits.
Trevor Zegras left the game for a bit after what appeared to be an arm injury following a hit. Zegras played just 11:03 in this game, which may have also had to do with the Flyers protecting a lead (and Patrick Roy pulled the goalie with about eight minutes left!) The Flyers next play again on Sunday and are now very much in the playoff race, but this is something to watch anyway.
Although Martone took just one shot on Friday, he fired nine shots on Thursday and piled up 14 in his first two games. That’s the most among any player in their first two games in NHL history. On a line with Travis Konecny and Christian Dvorak, Martone led the Flyers in 5-on-5 icetime on Thursday. At first, I was skeptical about Martone because of Tocchet’s reputation of making young players earn their place in the lineup. However, Martone’s impact and upside are making it impossible for Tocchet to give him the true rookie treatment.
In case you missed it, Foerster returned on Thursday and scored a goal on four shots while on a scoring line with Zegras and Tippett.
Rasmus Ristolainen once again led all Flyers’ defensemen in power-play time, which I’m not really sure why that’s the case. Ristolainen still remains a solid source of hits and blocked shots. He has at least one hit in 12 of his last 13 games along with at least one blocked shot in 13 of his last 14 games. Ristolainen blocked four shots on Friday.
Ilya Sorokin was making his 10th consecutive appearance on Friday. The workload might be catching up with him, as he has allowed 14 goals over his past three games, all of which have been losses. The Islanders are clinging onto third in the Metropolitan Division but are also 11th in points percentage in the Eastern Conference because they have played more games than any other team in the conference. They play again today (Saturday) against Carolina, which seems like a tall order if he is given the nod again. But that means the Islanders will need to count on Big Save David Rittich to maintain their hold on a playoff spot.
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Friday featured only one other game, which had the Blues take down the Ducks by a score of 6-2. Robert Thomas led the way for the Blues with a goal and two assists. That gives him seven points over his last four games and goals in back-to-back games. Even though Thomas has seen his production decline with injuries on top of that, he has had a better second half with 23 points over his last 18 games.
Dylan Holloway filled the statsheet with two power play goals, five shots, two hits, and two blocked shots. Since his return from injury (which was also the end of the Olympic break), Holloway has 23 points, 30 hits, and is a plus-22 in just 18 games. What he is showing now is why he was a top-100 pick in many multicategory fantasy leagues. Hopefully you didn’t drop him prior to that, when he recorded an underwhelming 17 points in 34 games. With Holloway much more of a factor now, the Blues have climbed back into the playoff race.
Sorry, Oilers fans, here’s another paragraph of what you’re missing out on. With two assists, Philip Broberg has a seven-game point streak with eight points over that span. Three of those points have been on the power play. The Blues haven’t been consistent with which defenseman will QB the top power play all season, but right now it is Broberg. He is a worthy add for what will be an important Sunday in many fantasy leagues and beyond for teams that play that close to the end of the season.
If you were looking for Pavel Buchnevich, he sat out Friday’s game for maintenance purposes. He is expected to play on Sunday.
As for the Ducks, Lukas Dostal was left in for all six goals, which is his second really bad start this week. I would assume Dostal was not pulled because the Ducks play again tonight (Saturday) against Calgary. Expect Ville Husso to get the nod for that game.
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The Blue Jackets announced that Damon Severson will miss the rest of the season following shoulder surgery. Severson has been out of the lineup since late March, finishing the season with 32 points in 71 games. The Jackets as a team are sliding, having lost five games in a row after a major new coach bump from Rick Bowness taking over. One example where Columbus could have used Severson was on Sunday, when they coughed up a 3-0 lead in the third period before losing 4-3 in a shootout to Boston.
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Let’s get you set up for the weekend.
Teams with games both Saturday and Sunday: Boston, Carolina, Colorado, Detroit, Florida, Minnesota, Montreal, New Jersey, NY Rangers, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Washington
Every team plays at least one game this weekend.
Here are some players that you could consider adding this weekend on your way to victory.
Sam Malinski – Did you miss out on Malinski’s three goals and two assists this week? No problem, because the Avalanche have two more games this week. In case you missed it, Malinski has replaced the injured Cale Makar on the Avalanche’s top power play while being paired with Devon Toews at even strength. Malinski is only three points shy of 40 in spite of receiving almost no power-play time this season (0:11 PPTOI/GP). Only one defenseman (Mattias Samuelsson) has more points with fewer power-play points (0) than Malinski (1). Even if Makar is ready to return soon, he may be rested before the playoffs start. The latest report has Makar out for the weekend.
Cole Hutson – This seems like a good time to check in on Hutson. In eight NHL games, Hutson has already recorded six points, which is an accomplishment in itself. Yet what stands out is the fact that five of those points have been on the power play, even though Hutson has appeared in at least 50 percent of the Capitals’ available power-play minutes in only three of his eight games. Jakob Chychrun is a fine quarterback on the Caps’ top power play, since he has no problem firing the puck and scoring goals. Yet Hutson is a ready-made playmaker and puck distributor who will find his way onto a PP1 one day. In the meantime, don’t be afraid to add the 19-year-old this weekend if you need some offense from your defense. Another thought: the John Carlson trade was about (among other reasons) giving Hutson true runway before the end of the season.
Egor Chinakhov – Is there a player who has benefitted more from a trade this season than Chinakhov? With Chinakhov registering just six points in 29 games with Columbus and rumors swirling he had asked for a trade, you knew one was coming. Yet since the trade, Chinakhov has 17 goals and 30 points in 38 games as a Penguin. Included in that is three goals and an assist over his last two games. The Penguins as a team have torched teams for 22 goals in their last five games, so they have plenty of strong fantasy options at the moment. Chinakhov is rostered in less than 20 percent of Yahoo leagues and less than 40 percent of Fantrax leagues, which might make him the best Penguin available on your waiver wire. Anthony Mantha is also an option, but he is rostered in just under half of Yahoo leagues and just over half of Fantrax leagues.
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