There was no baseball tonight so I am assuming most hockey fans specifically in Canada are focused around their respective hockey teams and fantasy rosters. We had a good slate of games for Sunday night with eight games on tilt which could mean most of your fantasy rosters were likely making an impact to close out the week.
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The Devils hosted the Avalanche in the sole matinee game. The entered the night red-hot at 7-1-0, riding a seven-game win streak and still unbeaten at home. Their special teams continue to be a major storyline, the power play has been converting at around 31%, while their penalty kill sits north of 90%, siting top three in the league. That efficiency has often been the difference in tight contests.
Jack Hughes has been electric this week (5G, 1A over 3 GP) and led the way with two goals, including the OT winner less than two minutes into overtime, while Simon Nemec continued his impressive start to the season with three assists in the Devils win and seven points on the season.
Arsney Gritsyuk looks like he is getting comfortable at the NHL level posting his second goal in the last three games and Connor Brown added in on the fun with a goal himself. Gritsyuk now has six points so far this season (2G, 4A)
The Avalanche clawed back thanks to Valeri Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson adding the game tying goal for Colorado in the third to force overtime.
For Colorado, this marks a fourth straight loss (0-1-3) after starting the season 5-0-1.
Jake Allen made 21 saves on 24 shots to earn the win, while Colorados netminder Trent Miner stopped 20 of 24 in his first start of the season.
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Brandon Hagel finally got on the scoresheet with his first goal of the season and also set up Nikita Kucherov‘s overtime winner. His slow start is not a shock, many of us at Dobber Hockey anticipated a drop in production compared to last year but it does highlight the Lightning’s broader early-season struggles.
Tampa Bay came into Sunday’s game at 2‑4‑2, still searching for consistency, and the OT win against Vegas might be just be what they needed.
The game-winning goal featured a clean give-and-go between Kucherov and Hagel, showing the kind of chemistry that can make a difference down the stretch.
Andrei Vasilevskiy had a quiet night in net, facing just 19 shots to secure the victory.
On the other end, the Golden Knights top-six was held scoreless in the game with William Karlsson scoring the loan goal assisted by Rielly Smith and Shea Theodore.
Carl Lindblom slotted in as the starter for Vegas and faced 28 shots in the loss.
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The Sharks have been entreating the watch in recent games led by Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith putting up big offensive numbers.
Michael Misa also notched his first NHL goal, cleaning up a rebound off a Timothy Liljren shot.
William Eklund led the Sharks with two goals and an assist, logging a whopping 25:29 of ice time.
Macklin Celebrini continued his hot streak, adding two assists, including one on the OT game-winner. Over his past four games, Celebrini has racked up five goals, five assists, and four power-play points. He was dominant in the circle again last night, going 16-for-20, and sits top three in NHL points heading into today’s action.
Yaroslav Askarov let in five goals on 33 saves in the Sharks win. Not the best numbers but a win nonetheless.
Brock Faber had a surprisingly productive night, recording three assists and making his first appearance on the power play this season. Two of those assists came with the man advantage.
Kirill Kaprizov also had a big night, tallying three assists on goals from Marco Rossi, Ryan Hartman, and Joel Eriksson Ek.
Eriksson Ek’s goal was particularly timely, tying the game with less than three minutes remaining and keeping his team in contention. He also posted five SOG and four hits for a solid multi-cat evening.
Zeev Buium added a goal of his own, marking his third point in as many games, though his ice time was limited to 16:45, the lowest he’s seen this season.
In net, Jesper Wallstedt took the start but was tagged with the loss, allowing six goals on 25 shots.
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The Mammoth secured their seventh consecutive victory with a 3–2 win over the Winnipeg Jets with Dylan Guenther securing go-ahead goal late in the third period, assisted by Logan Cooley and JJ Peterka.
Mikhail Sergachev opened the scoring for Utah with a power-play goal in the first period, and Michael Carcone added another in the second.
Vitek Vanecek made 28 saves to earn the win, while Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 shots for Winnipeg. The Jets, now 6–3–0, received goals from Dylan DeMelo and Mark Scheifele, the latter also on the power play.
Josh Morrissey led the team with two assists. Josh Morrissey also hit a milestone becoming the first defenseman in Jets franchise history to reach 300 assists.
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The Stars pulled off back-to-back comeback wins this weekend, erasing two-goal deficits on Saturday and again on Sunday versus the Nashville Predators in a 3-2 victory.
Jonathan Marchessault opened the scoring on the power play for the Predators in the first, and Spencer Stastney extended the lead in the second before Dallas turned the game around with three unanswered goals.
Oskar Bäck initiated the rally with a goal in his season debut, and Wyatt Johnston tied it late in the second period.
In the third, Mikko Rantanen buried the go-ahead marker on the power play, assisted by Robertson and Mavrik Bourque. It was exactly the type of response Dallas needed. Coming off a four-game winless stretch, this comeback should give them a bit of momentum.
Through nine games, the Stars sit at 5-3-1, a decent record, but not quite the dominant start expected from a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. Offensively, they have produced 3.11 goals per game, though their defensive structure has been shaky at time, allowing 3.33 per game.
On the other side, Nashville’s special teams continue to drag them down. Their power play sits at the bottom of the league at 9.7%, and their penalty kill has been equally concerning, allowing opponents to convert at nearly 89%. Both areas remain major issues for the Predators.
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Connor Bedard opened the scoring for Chicago with a slick finish early in the first period, assisted by Ilya Mikheyev. From that point on, the Kings dominated possession, dictated pace, and outshot Chicago heavily through the final 40 minutes.
Mikheyev left the game in third period and did not return from what looks like a shoulder injury.
Alex Laferrière tied the game with help from Corey Perry and Phillip Danault, and just over a minute later, Kevin Fiala buried one off a setup from Brandt Clarke.
The Kings had an uneven start to the year but has recently shown signs of turning the corner.
Fiala’s fifth goal of the season tied him with Adrian Kempe for the team lead, while Danault and Laferrière each chipped in multi-point efforts.
Points production has been a collective effort for the Blackhawks this season, with no single player standing out as the clear offensive driver.
Frank Nazar currently leads the team with nine points, while Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen follow closely behind. Chicago’s blue line, however, has been largely ineffective in generating offense or stabilizing play defensively, Sam Rinzel leads all defensemen with just three points, a reflection of how limited their impact has been.
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The Rangers were fighting an uphill battle from the opening puck drop and now sit on a three-game losing streak. The Rangers have allowed the first goal in now seven of their first 10 games. They have only won one of the previous six games and sit at the bottom the Metropolitan Division. It just keeps getting worse for the Rangers.
Noah Laba scored his first NHL goal which also happened to be the Rangers only goal, assisted by Will Cuylle and Vladislav Gavrikov.
Artemi Panarin registered seven SOG but was not able to convert on any of them.
Blake Coleman, Nazem Kadri and Mikael Backlund all posted multi-point games. Coleman scored a short-handed goal to give the Flames some extra cushion after an already 3-1 lead.
With Calgary’s 5–1 win over the Rangers, Dustin Wolf earned his 39th career victory, and tied with Dan Vladar for the fifth-most wins by a goalie in their first 80 games with the Flames. He had a tremendous outing stopping 30 of 31 shots for this second NHL win since opening night against the Oilers.
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The Canucks Captain, Quinn Hughes was held out of the lineup against the Oilers with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. He was hurt in Saturday’s loss to Montreal, and fantasy managers should monitor his status closely over the next few days.
Brock Boeser scored the opening goal on a partial breakaway assisted by Marus Petterson and Evander Kane. He finished the game with three points and now has six points on the season of which four are goals.
Elias Pettersson added to that with a powerplay goal giving him two goals in each of his last two games and he is slowly staring to show some signs of life on the scoring end.
Kiefer Sherwood scored two goals and the eventual game winning overtime goal. He now has more goals than players like Auston Matthews, Kirill Kaprizov and Kyle Connor.
Leon Draisaitl posted two goals making it his seventh on the season on the season and Jack Roslovic scored his first goal as an Oiler while also recording an assist on the Draisaitl goal. Roslavic spent the game playing along side Draisaitl and Podkolzin on the second line.
Connor McDavid posted yet another assist putting him to 11 assists and one goal on the season.
Calvin Pickard got the start against Vancouver, allowing three goals on 27 shots in the loss. On the other end, Thatcher Demko picked up the win and continues to look sharp, now with four victories in his first six starts this season.
Thanks for reading! See you next week! For more fantasy hockey content and analysis, follow me on X @Punters_hockey. If you have any questions about your team or a trade? My DMs are always open, happy to help!