Gabe Perreault achieved his first career hat trick in the Rangers’ 4-1 win over Detroit. Perreault also finished with a plus-2 and six shots, scoring one of his goals on the power play. Although he had recently made sense as a potential waiver-wire add due to icetime and power-play time, Perreault had gone without a goal for his previous 11 games. However, he is having a productive rookie season with 25 points in 44 games, which is sixth among rookies that have played at least as many games as he has. The Rangers play again today (Sunday), so he is worth considering as a playoff streaming option while on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere.
Adam Fox assisted on two of Perreault’s goals, giving him a six-game point streak with 10 points over that span.
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If you needed offense from the Dallas Stars on Saturday, you were left disappointed. Colorado was fresh off an 8-6 home loss to the lowly Canucks on Wednesday, so perhaps they were vulnerable in this Central Division showdown. As it turned out, one Avalanche goalie is playing better than the other right now, and that goalie happened to be in net on Saturday.
Scott Wedgewood stopped all 18 shots he faced in picking up his third shutout of the season, a 2-0 Avalanche win. Wedgewood has been the better Avs goalie recently with a 1.60 GAA and .937 SV% since the Olympic break. Meanwhile, Mackenzie Blackwood has a 3.22 GAA and .860 SV% over the same span. I’m not here to tell the Avs who to start in Game 1 of the playoffs, and they probably wouldn’t take my advice anyway, but the less accomplished Wedgewood may be the preferred option.
Nathan MacKinnon scored his 51st goal of the season into an empty net, while Martin Necas assisted that goal while scoring the icebreaker game-winning goal midway through the third period.
Congratulations to Brent Burns, who has now played 1000 consecutive games.
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Jake Sanderson returned to the Senators’ lineup on Saturday from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for nearly a month. Sanderson was held without a point with three shots and three blocked shots in nearly 25 minutes of icetime in a 4-1 loss to Minnesota.
Ryan Hartman scored two of the Wild’s goals on Saturday. Hartman is not the #1 center that the Wild need, but he has been playing like it recently. He has six goals over his last four games along with a five-game point streak with eight points over that span. Since March 15, Hartman has 32 shots over his past nine games, which is an average of about 3.5 SOG/GP. The Wild play again today (Sunday) against Detroit, so he is worth adding for the Sunday stream and perhaps beyond. Hartman has been on a scoring line with Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.
Zuccarello assisted on both of Hartman’s goals, giving him six points over his last three games. Like Hartman, Zuccarello is rostered in fewer than 20 percent of Yahoo leagues, so he’s another Sunday scoring option if you need one.
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Remember when it seemed like Evgeni Malkin was radioactive in preseason drafts? The future Hall of Famer was drafted in just 10% of Yahoo leagues, which likely consisted of either deep leagues or the odd fantasy leaguer that thought Malkin was still a superstar. It turns out that Malkin still has a lot left in the tank.
Along with the three goals, Malkin added an assist with six shots in an absolutely dominant performance. If the Penguins were serious about their statement of this being Malkin’s last season with the team, then surely other teams would be willing to sign the soon-to-be 40-year-old for at least one more season. Malkin has managed to reverse the aging process with his first point-per-game season (57 PTS in 53 GP) since 2022-23. Even if he slumps and falls below that mark, he’s had an impressive comeback season. Also of note is the fact that Malkin has increased his average shot total by nearly a shot per game from 1.8 SOG/GP last season to 2.6 SOG/GP this season.
Erik Karlsson had a four-point game of his own with a goal and three assists. Three of the points were on the power play, where he is now at a team-high 26 PPP. Karlsson snapped a three-game point slump with his effort on Saturday. You should have been starting Karlsson during that time anyway, as he has 10 goals and 28 points in his last 19 games.
The Penguins have been pasting opponents this week with 25 goals in four games this week. Guess what? They still have one more game this week – a Sunday encore with a Panthers team that has been officially eliminated from the playoffs. Over those four games, Anthony Mantha leads the team with seven points (4 G, 3 A), while Rickard Rakell has six points (5 G, 1 A). Sidney Crosby, Egor Chinakhov, Kris Letang, and Malkin each have five points. Need to go even deeper than those options? Elmer Soderblom and Samuel Girard each have four points this week.
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I could write about players that helped my fantasy team today, such as Artemi Panarin and his goal and two assists. Instead, I’ll spend a bunch of time on Darcy Kuemper, who not only got the start on Saturday but also got to face the sagging Leafs at home. Prime spot to start him, right?
Well… Kuemper didn’t so much win this game as he survived it. Six goals allowed on 20 shots is usually accompanied with a big fat L, but the Leafs/Kings game was devoid of much defensive structure. Sure enough, Kuemper made a massive save before Quinton Byfield scored the game-winner (his second of the game) for the Kings.
What action during fantasy playoff week! I don’t cheer that often when I watch hockey anymore (I’m a jaded Canucks fan, after all), but I let one out when this goal was scored. If I happen to win my matchup this week, that one sequence might well be the difference. The point swing involved Kuemper stopping a breakaway while earning a win moments later with Panarin assisting on the game winner.
And if I happen to win my matchup this week, I’m not sure I could handle starting Kuemper again next week. Saturday’s game resulted in a net negative for me because of the goals allowed (the league uses a point system for scoring, but also uses head-to-head matchups). Kuemper has allowed at least four goals in each of his last three games, with two of those games counting as really bad starts. Maybe the workload is tilted more toward Anton Forsberg next week as the Kings complete a homestand against Nashville, Vancouver, and Edmonton while trying to stay afloat in the playoff race.
Adrian Kempe‘s two goals and two assists is worth mentioning as well. Kempe has a four-game goal streak with six goals over that span. With seven shots on Saturday, Kempe has 16 shots over his past three games – an average of over five shots per game.
Matthew Knies led the Leafs with two goals and an assist. Despite all the Leafs’ doldrums, Knies has improved his scoring pace yet again from 0.74 PTS/GP last season to 0.85 PTS/GP this season. If the Leafs trade Knies, they must be serious about a total shakeup, as he is only 23 years old.
John Tavares pitched in a power-play goal and two assists. Tavares has a three-game goal streak as well as eight goals and 16 points over his last 12 games. With the goal, Johnny Toronto has also reached 30 goals for the eighth time of his career. At age 35, he’s still very much a quality fantasy contributor.
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At least I could rely on Kyle Connor on Saturday. Connor scored both Jets’ goals in their 2-1 win over Columbus. Connor is just three points shy of reaching 90 points in back-to-back seasons, and he has scored at least 30 goals in five consecutive seasons. He might be the most underrated player in the NHL.
My Connor goals were negated somewhat by my opponent’s Mark Scheifele assists. Connor and Scheifele continue to be joined at the hip, with Scheifele already reaching a career-high 94 points.
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It was Ilya Sorokin for the second pair of back-to-backs this week and the 11th consecutive game for the Islanders. Out of those four games, Sorokin does not have a win and has allowed at least three goals in each of those games as the Isles lean on their starter to try to keep their grasp on a playoff spot. But it might be more about the Islanders letting down Sorokin than vice-versa. Sorokin faced 40 shots in the 4-3 loss to Carolina, which is his second quality start of the week.
At the other end, Brandon Bussi earned the win despite allowing three goals on 16 shots. Depending on your scoring system and your team needs, Sorokin may have been the better option on Saturday.
Seth Jarvis led the Hurricanes with two goals, an assist, a plus-3, and six shots.
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In a 7-4 win over Vancouver, Clayton Keller scored three goals while adding an assist. Keller is on fire with 10 points over his last four games. The Mammoth have delivered some bang for their buck by scoring 13 goals in the two games they have played in this week. Keller, Dylan Guenther, and Logan Cooley have each recorded five points over those two games against Vancouver and Seattle.
In a losing cause, Linus Karlsson scored two goals for the Canucks. Karlsson is barely qualified to be a rookie as he was 25 years old at the start of the season and played 23 games last season. On a team filled with disappointment, Karlsson might be the most pleasant surprise with 15 goals and 33 points.
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Love him or hate him, Jack Hughes might be the hottest player in the league right now. With a goal and an assist on Saturday, Hughes has 11 points over his last four games. Since scoring his golden goal, Hughes has piled up 34 points over his last 19 games. He is tied with Nikita Kucherov for the most points over that span. If he can find a way to avoid a significant injury for an entire season, Hughes might truly become fantasy elite. A 100-point season would go a long way in attaining that designation.
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With two assists on Saturday, Pierre-Luc Dubois has eight points over his last three games with three consecutive multipoint efforts. Dubois had not recorded a point in the four games before that. Dubois has found his way onto the Capitals’ top power play, where he has registered three of his points. Since Washington plays again today (Sunday), Dubois is worth looking up (20% Yahoo/43% Fantrax).
Despite a 6-2 loss to the Capitals, the Buffalo Sabres have officially clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Celebrate, Sabres fans. Fourteen years with no playoffs is a long time.
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Three games under John Tortorella, three wins for Vegas. Yup. We knew all along that a coaching change was all that was needed to turn the Golden Knights around. Over those three games, Vegas has scored 15 goals. Ivan Barbashev and Mitch Marner lead the way with six points over those three games, while Jack Eichel has four assists. Eichel was in fine form in the late game on Saturday night, recording three assists in a 5-1 win in Edmonton. Matchups against the draft-lottery-bound Canucks and Flames as well as the defensively-challenged Oilers might be on the easy side, but you can only play the teams on your schedule.
Torts has shown faith in Carter Hart, who has started and won back-to-back games. Hart stopped 31 of 32 shots in earning a win and quality start. Goaltending is what ailed the Golden Knights prior to the coaching change, so it’s entirely possible that Hart turns out to be Torts’ guy. Remember that the two were together in Philly, a fact that I overlooked in the Fantasy Take. In fact, I think I completely forgot that Hart was on the Vegas roster because he was still injured. Hart is rostered in just 15 percent of Yahoo leagues, and he could be worth adding for games next week. Don’t forget to check GoaliePost for the latest starting goalie info.
Zach Hyman did not play on Saturday. Kris Knoblauch said after the game that Hyman won’t be on the three-game road trip next week, but he will likely return on April 13 or 16. You might be out of games by then, so do what you need to do.
Hope mother and baby are doing okay. That’s quite an entrance into the world!
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In the Flames’ 5-3 win over Anaheim, Morgan Frost scored two goals. Frost has reached 20 goals for the first time in his career, and he has six points over his last four games.
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Filip Forsberg led the Predators with two goals and an assist in their 6-3 win over San Jose. Tyson Jost also had three points with a goal and two assists.
Despite the loss, Alex Wennberg scored a goal to extend his point streak to six games. He has five goals and eight points over that span.
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Good luck if today is a do-or-die fantasy matchup for you! I’ll need a bit of the same. Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social