Before facing Tampa Bay, the Mammoth had scored three or more goals in eight straight games, but that run came to an end with a 4-2 loss to the Lightning. It also marked their first home loss of the season.
Ian Cole poste two helpers in the Mammoth loss and he was the main points producer with Lawson Crouse and Kailer Yamamoto being the only two Mammoth players to score goals
Karel Vejmelka turned aside 22 shots but allowed three in the loss but so far has a steadying force for Utah to start the season, posting a 6–2 record and numbers that reflect reliability. His 2.75 GAA and consistent workload as the primary starter show he’s handling the crease well. The .891 save percentage sits a bit below league average, but +1.24 GSAx, shows optimism. Five quality starts in eight appearances back that up, along with two “steal” performances where his play directly secured wins.
On the other end, Anthony Cirelli has quietly scored his seventh goal of the season, notching 11 points in 12 games. Cirelli has seen an increase of nearly a minute of TOI at even strength and on the man-advantage from last year. He has posted four points in the last three games and is 36% rostered in Yahoo Leagues.
Jake Guentzel posted two points (1G, 1A) in the Lightning win.
Tampa Bay now sits at 6-4-2 through 12 games. Offensively, they have been averaging 26.7 SOG/G and a 10.9% team S% which is mid-pack in the league. The power play, is usually one of their calling cards, has sputtered at 14.6%, while the penalty kill has been excellent at 89.2%, keeping them competitive. They are very slowly settling into a rhythm after their stumbling start to the season, led by Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Anthony Cirelli, though Brayden Point‘s two goals through 12 games have been an issue, as he provides much of that scoring in the top-six.
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The Blue Jackets fell 3-2 to the Islanders in the final minutes of the game with Matthew Schaefer‘s two goals one of which was the game tying goal and Simon Holmstrom sealing the deal with the game winner.
As if you did not already know Schaefer’s been a standout among rookies, leading all players in average ice time (21:41) and shots on goal (35).
In comparison to other rookie defensemen, Schaefer tops the group in goals (5G), points (10Pts) while sitting second in assists (5A). He has been a lot of fun to watch.
Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri assisted on Schaefers first goal.
On the other end, Elvis Merzlikins played well making 36 saves on three goals allowed but was not able to come out with the win.
Denton Mateychuk and Miles Wood scored for Columbus while Boone Jenner, Adam Fantilli, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko all recorded an assist.
Despite the loss, the Columbus has been better than expected and Merzlikins’ numbers paint the picture of a goalie who is regaining form after inconsistent stretches in prior seasons. His .921 S% is well above the league average, and while his 2.82 GAA is slightly inflated, that has more to do with team defense and shot quality than individual performance.
As it currently stands, he has a 2.14 GSAx in six games played with five of those being quality starts. We are starting to see some steady goaltending and consistency in every appearance, something that Columbus has not seen in a sometime now.
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Jonathan Huberdeau scored his two goals last night making it four on the season and the latter proving to be the game-winner in a 2-1 win over the Flyers. Yegor Sharangovich and Brayden Pachal set him up on the first goal and Mackenzie Weegar and Joel Hanely assisted on the second play.
For Dustin Wolf, it was a quiet but highly effective night, as he recorded his third win of the year on 17 saves, keeping the Flyers to only one goal and securing win for the Flames.
Mackenzie Weegar has had a rough start to the season, though Calgary’s slow start hasn’t made things any easier. He has only posted four assists in 13 games. He is on pace for the lowest point totals in recent years with the Flames, however his peripheral stats in shots, hits and blocks are keeping him relevant. He posted five hits, four blocks and two shots on goal with nearly 26 minutes of TOI.
The only Flyer who was able to register a goal was Travis Konecny (assisted by Noah Cates).
Trevor Zegras‘ four game point streak ended however his arrival in Philadelphia has been the spark both he and the Flyers needed. Through 12 games, he has produced 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points, leading the team in scoring and setting a pace of over a point per game, a massive leap from last season’s 0.56 rate in Anaheim. Zegras has quickly established himself as the offensive centerpiece, also topping the Flyers in power-play points with six.
Zegras is averaging 16:34 of TOI with 2:41 coming on the man advantage. His 18.2% shooting percentage may dip slightly, but his involvement rate (IPP) shows he is directly contributing to most of the team’s offense when on the ice. That’s the sign of a player fully engaged.
His best production has been alongside Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, and Christian Dvorak. Much of Philadelphia’s early success stems from their balanced even-strength attack, which has accounted for 23 of the team’s 31 goals. While their low shot volume and high S% could regress, their balance between strong 5-on-5 play and special-teams efficiency could potentially give them a sustainable foundation moving forward.
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James Van Riemsdyk scored the game-winning goal in the shootout, giving the Red Wings their ninth win of the season.
Cam Talbot was solid all night, stopping 15 of 17 in regulation and overtime, then shutting down all three shooters in the shootout to secure the win.
With Jaroslav Askarov getting the night off, Alex Nedeljkovic stepped in for San Jose and made 29 saves on 31 shots. He performed well, but the Sharks couldn’t generate enough offense to get him the win.
On the scoresheet, Moritz Seider netted his first goal of the season in the third period, assisted by Simon Edvinsson and Alex DeBrincat, helping Detroit claw back into the game. Seider has found his rhythm after a slow start, posting a point in each of his last four games, including three on the power play.
Lucas Raymond added his fourth goal of the season with assists from Axel Sandin-Pellikka and Dylan Larkin.
Jeff Skinner put San Jose on the board first. Dmitry Orlov and Philipp Kurashev added the assists. Kursshev has been on a hot streak over the last five games posting eight points (4G, 4A) over the last five games.
San Jose’s Sam Dickinson also made a milestone, scoring his first NHL career goal with assists from Patrick Giles and Will Smith.
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Jack Hughes continues to pace the Devils offensively, scoring the team’s lone goal to reach 16 points in 13 games. Hughes is now tied with Nathan MacKinnon and Cole Caufield for the most goals in the NHL (10).
Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer set him up on the play, moving Mercer into second on the team in points behind Hughes.
Despite the loss to the Ducks and missing key depth players (Connor Brown, Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Brett Pesce) the Devils are tied for first in the league in powerplay conversion at 32.3% and are in the top 10 in penalty killing in the league and sit first in the Eastern Conference.
Beckett Sennecke put the Ducks on the board first, assisted by Ryan Poehling and Cutter Gauthier.
With last night’s game, Gauthier has extended his point streak to six games, racking up four goals and five assists and keeping pace at over a point per game.
Sennecke also finished the night with two points (1G,1A)
Frank Vatrano finally notched his first goal of the season, set up by Jackson LaCombe, marking LaCombe’s fourth point of the year. While LaCombe’s overall production is still lagging, his underlying numbers, ice time, power-play minutes, and overall engagement still remains encouraging. The results should start following the process soon.
Chris Kreider added the empty-net goal with an assist from Pavel Mintyukov and Anaheim’s leading scorer Leo Carlsson. Carlsson leads the team in points with 5 goals and 11 assist and five PP points (5A) this season.
This marked the Ducks third straight win and has placed them at the top of the Pacific Division for the first time since 2001.
Lukas Dostal had yet another strong game facing 33 shots and allowing only one goal. He has won his last three games and it gives him five wins on the season with nine games played.
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!