Brandon Hagel was the most common choice among Dobber writers as player to disappoint this season in the 2025-26 Season Predictions. It seemed as though they were on to something early on when Hagel got off to an awful start with just a single point in his first seven games. However, Hagel turned things around after that, and right now he might be the hottest player in the league.
In Saturday’s matinee game with the Rangers, Hagel scored a pair of goals, which gives him goals in five consecutive games. Over those five games, Hagel has scored eight goals to go with four assists. He has also taken five shots in three of those games, averaging over three shots per game for the first time in his career. Despite that, Hagel still can’t seem to find his way onto Tampa’s top power play, but that might not matter much at the rate he scores at even strength. As of Saturday afternoon, Hagel is tied for ninth in the league with 23 even-strength points. Only three of his points this season have been on the power play. He is back on pace for another 90-point season.
In the Lightning’s 4-1 win, Nikita Kucherov and Darren Raddysh each had three assists. Kucherov is doing his thing with 18 points in his last nine games and five consecutive multipoint games. I discussed Raddysh in yesterday’s Ramblings, so I’ll just update by saying that he has 13 points in his last eight games. He’s on quite a run while the Bolts defense is dealing with several injuries, including Victor Hedman.
The Rangers are a sad bunch at Madison Square Garden this season. Their record at home is a dismal 2-8-1, and they could only muster 12 shots on goal on Saturday. Contrast that with an 11-4-1 record away from home, including a win on Friday in Boston. Some stats are truly inexplicable.
Adam Fox left this game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Hagel. The Rangers did not have an update on his status after the game, other than to say he is being evaluated.
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The 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques and the 2025-26 Colorado Avalanche are about as polar opposite as you can get in terms of team record. Yet for at least two times this season, they have shared the same jersey. The Avs brought out the 1980s retro look for a Battle of Quebec matchup with the Canadiens in the well-known Province of Quebec battleground known as Denver. Although the two franchises had some fiercely contested games back in the day, Saturday’s game was a one-sided affair in favor of the Nordiques/Avalanche.
Take a moment to soak in that uniform matchup. Instead of an out-of-control fight, you get a nice play.
Also, I completely understand if you were a Nordiques fan and were bothered by the Avalanche bringing these unis back. Having a team leave your city is a tough pill to swallow (NBA Grizzlies for me), and this can serve as a reminder of what could still have been.
In the 7-2 win, Brock Nelson scored two goals while adding two assists. Nelson entered this game without a point in his previous three games, so a few fantasy teams out there may have left him on the bench. There’s no way of knowing when a player will explode like this, but the Habs were playing their third road game in four days. That’s a prime opportunity to start as many Avalanche players as you can.
Having captain Gabriel Landeskog back might be the difference between the Avalanche being a good team and the Avalanche dominating the league. His stats this season (12 PTS in 25 GP) won’t blow anyone away, but he did provide two goals and an assist on Saturday. After starting the season with just four points (all assists) in his first 16 games, Landeskog has heated up recently with eight points over his last nine games. He has also totaled 11 shots over his last two games.
Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal and added two assists, while Martin Necas provided three assists and Artturi Lehkonen had two assists. MacKinnon has seven points over his last three games and leads the league with 44 points. No other player has reached 40 points yet.
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Sometimes the best option for a coach to handle a disastrous goalie game is to try to put it in the past by having them start the very next game. That was the case for Stuart Skinner, who posted a 26-save shutout in Seattle on Saturday afternoon. Skinner allowed a forgettable four goals on eight shots in one period against Dallas on Tuesday, prompting the usual questions about the Oilers’ current direction in goal. Make no mistake, this was an impressive bounce-back for Skinner. However, he will need more quality starts quickly in order for the doubters to disappear.
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The injury that Kyle Palmieri suffered on Friday turned out to be quite serious. Palmieri is expected to need 6-8 months of recovery time, as he will undergo surgery to repair an ACL tear in his left knee. That will effectively end Palmieri’s season, unless the Islanders make a deep playoff run. In case you missed it, Palmieri’s final act as he was leaving the ice was a takeaway that led to a goal. The toughness of hockey players is amazing.
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Morgan Geekie won’t stop scoring. With David Pastrnak out of the lineup for a second consecutive game, Geekie scored another two goals to give him 20 on the season. That matches MacKinnon for the goal lead. Geekie was on a line with Elias Lindholm and Alex Steeves for this game, so we can’t really say he has been propped up by certain linemates lately. I’ve said multiple times that he will slow down, which will eventually happen. But I continue to be proven wrong. In the meantime, keep starting the hot hand in all formats. If you can trade him for a top-tier player, I say do it.
Lindholm assisted on both of Geekie’s goals. That gives Lindholm two assists in each of his last two games. Due to injury, those have been his only points during November.
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In the Flyers’ 5-3 win over New Jersey, Owen Tippett scored two goals and added an assist. The goals were Tippett’s first in seven games. After a slow start of just six points in his first 16 games, Tippett has caught fire with 11 points over his last eight games. He’s available in two-thirds of Yahoo leagues and is known for checking boxes in multiple categories such as goals, shots, and hits.
Dan Vladar picked up his fourth consecutive win, stopping 29 of 32 shots he faced. In his first season with the Flyers, Vladar has very respectable numbers, which include an 80% quality start percentage. Of goalies with at least 10 games played (40 goalies), only Jeremy Swayman has a higher quality start percentage. Vladar is rostered in fewer than half of Yahoo leagues, so he’s worth looking up if you need goaltending help.
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A follow-up from yesterday on Luke Evangelista. The 23-year-old Predators forward picked up another two points on Saturday, giving him multiple points in three consecutive games. Unfortunately, he qualified for a Draisaitl Hat Trick with a goal, assist, and a minus-2 for the game. The assist was on the power play, while the Preds lost 5-2 to the Jets.
In the Winnipeg win, Nino Niederreiter scored a pair of goals, which were his first points in five games.
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In the Leafs’ 7-2 win over the Penguins, Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a goal while adding an assist. That extends Ekman-Larsson’s point streak to nine games and gives him points in 12 of his last 13 games. That might not be the story of the game for OEL, as he left the game later on with an upper-body injury. After the game, coach Craig Berube said that he doesn’t expect the injury to be serious, although Ekman-Larsson will be evaluated on Sunday. Stay tuned, Leafs fans.
Another even-strength/power-play point disparity (referring to Hagel earlier) belongs to Matthew Knies. Only two of Knies’ 26 points have been with the man advantage. This despite the fact that Knies plays on the Leafs’ top power play. Both of Knies’ assists on Saturday were even strength.
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While we’re on the topic of injuries, Logan Cooley left Saturday’s game after a knee-on-knee hit. Alexey Toropchenko received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit. Cooley needed assistance to leave the ice, so hopefully this isn’t anything serious for one of the game’s bright young stars. The following bit of news was provided after the game, so perhaps he dodged a bullet. Regardless, you might have to bench him for next week.
Word is Logan Cooley avoided serious injury and suffered more of a charlie horse, albeit a very painful one.
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) November 30, 2025
Joel Hofer stopped all 18 shots he faced in the 1-0 win for the Blues over Utah. Jordan Binnington hasn’t played well for the Blues this season, but Hofer hasn’t really been any better. Hofer earned his first win and quality start in five games with the shutout. He has a clear opportunity to force at least a timeshare if he can build off this game.
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Evander Kane scored a goal for the Canucks on Saturday, giving him points in three consecutive games. Kane’s scoring has been trending downward for the past few seasons, but he is still contributing in the bangers category. Kane has had exactly two hits in each of his last five games, and his average in that category is… about two per game. Kane is also consistently taking minor penalties, which is good if you play in a league that counts penalty minutes, but it’s becoming all too familiar for the wrong reasons if you’re a Canucks fan. Only Nikita Zadorov has more minor penalties than Kane (17) this season. Kane is also in the top 10 with 44 PIM.
Quinn Hughes leads the league with 27:18 ATOI. His 30:13 TOI on Saturday brought that average up.
Adrian Kempe scored the overtime winner and assisted on the Kings’ other goal in their 2-1 win.
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Tomas Hertl led the Golden Knights with two goals in their 4-3 win over San Jose. Mitch Marner scored a goal and added an assist, which places him at an even 25 points in 25 games in his first season in Vegas.
Will Smith scored a pair of goals for the Sharks. Smith now has goals in back-to-back games.
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