The early game on Sunday Philadelphia initiated the first strike with Sean Couturier opening the scoring off a clean setup from Owen Tippett and Noah Juulsen.
The Flyers made a real push in the third, outshooting Colorado 14–3, but Mackenzie Blackwood held firm and kept the Avalanche in control.
Travis Konecny posted goals in back-to-back games, bringing him to seven on the season. Emil Andrae and Christian Dvorak picked up the helpers, and Konecny’s up to 23 points on the year, tracking toward a 70-point pace just a touch below last season’s 76.
Blackwood was the difference for Colorado. He stopped 25 shots, including a key penalty-shot attempt from Trevor Zegras in the third, and improved to 8-1-1 through 10 starts. He has now won four of his last five, and the way he handled this one, especially under a late Philly surge shows why the Avalanche are comfortable leaning on him when the schedule tightens (back-to-back games)
Brock Nelson buried a power-play goal for his tenth of the season and his fourth in five games, another sign he is fully settled into Colorado’s rhythm. After a quieter start, Nelson has put up seven points over his last five and looks far more in tune with the pace the Avalanche play at. The S% is running hot and the volume still trails his Islanders days, but the finishing ability has not gone anywhere, and the recent stretch reflects a player in full control of his reads.
Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar picked up the assists on Nelson’s power-play marker.
Brent Burns scored off feeds from Jack Drury and Martin Necas while Valeri Nichushkin restored the Avalanche lead with his seventh of the year, finishing off a sequence started by Devon Toews and Victor Olofsson.
Burns’ goal today against Philadelphia moved him to 265 career goals, placing him eighth all-time among NHL defensemen, just one back of Bobby Orr and climbing a list topped by Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey, and Al MacInnis.
Samuel Ersson had a decent performance but was unable to notch the win allowing three goals on 28 shots against.
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Jordan Stall chipped in with his eighth goal of the season on the power play, set up by Andrei Svechnikov and Shayne Gostisbehere.
It has been yet another frustrating season for Svechnikov owners. Many expected a bounce-back season, but he has struggled to generate points. His S% is sitting at a career low 8.6%, down from his usual 11.5%, putting him on pace for roughly 44 points, another career low. Deployment does now look to be the issue, he is still paired with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis at even strength and still sees top power-play minutes, mirroring last season. The problem is simply finishing. He’s not converting chances, and that’s putting his fantasy managers in a tough spot.
Gostisbehere, on the other hand, has been a bright spot since returning from injury on November 11. Over 13 games, he has racked up 14 points (2G, 12A), showing he can drive offense from the back end and be a reliable contributor.
Seth Jarvis has been riding a strong wave lately, tallying six points over his last five games, and impressively, five of those have been goals however was left pointless the Hurricanes matchup against the Sharks.
Macklin Celebrini snapped a two-game pointless streak with a big night, scoring once and adding two assists.
It’s wild to see Macklin Celebrini sitting right up there with the legends for most points for a teenager though 30 games. Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky had 47 points each, Gretzky also had a 45-point stretch, and Celebrini is already at 43.
Depth scoring also came through from Colin Graf, John Klingberg, and Alex Wennberg, with Wennberg picking up a two-point night, including an assist on Celebrini’s empty-net goal.
Philip Kurashev, William Eklund, John Klingberg, and Will Smith all added assists, with Smith breaking his own two-game pointless stretch in the process.
In net, Alex Nedeljokovic was outstanding, making 29 saves and posting a .966 save percentage while allowing just one goal.
Carolina’s Pyotr Kochetkov took the loss, giving up three goals on 21 shots, since returning from injury on November 4, Kochetkov has won four of his last six starts.
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Florida kept rolling, and Carter Verhaeghe stayed right at the center of it. He scored again, stretching his run to six goals in six games. He is in one of those grooves where every touch looks dangerous, and when Florida’s puck movement sets him up in stride, he is finishing. His marker came off a clean setup from Jeff Petry.
The night actually opened with Uvis Balinskis snapping home his first of the season, thanks to some strong work below the dots from Mackie Samoskevich and A.J. Greer.
Seth Jones scored for the second straight game. He is starting to look comfortable jumping into space and picking his spots, and the assist work from Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart Jones is bringing steady offense on top of heavy minutes is a huge boost for this blue line.
Reinhart eventually put the game to bed with an empty-netter, helped out by Gustav Forsling, and that wrapped up a night where Florida got scoring from all layers of the lineup.
The Islanders had flashes, but not enough to keep up. Their lone goal came from Mathew Barzal on a redirected goal.
Credit to rookie Matthew Schaefer and Ryan Pulock for making the play happen, but that was about all the Islanders could muster.
Emil Heineman did not post any points however had a solid stat line of three SOG, five hits and one block.
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Dallas and Pittsburgh had a bit of a reunion feel to it, with both teams getting key pieces back in the lineup. The Penguins activated Noel Acciari and Justin Brazeau from IR, and also brought back Harrison Brunicke and Jack St. Ivany from their AHL conditioning stints.
Acciari jumped right in and made an impact, picking up an assist on the opening goal by Connor Dewar, with Blake Lizotte also involved in the setup.
Pittsburgh kept pushing, and Tommy Novak added their second of the night, his fourth of the season, off clean puck movement from Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby.
Tristan Jarry gave them a solid showing in net with 21 saves, keeping the Penguins in it until the shootout, where Mikko Rantanen eventually decided things.
Dallas also got reinforcements of their own. Matt Duchene and Nils Lundkvist were both activated from LTIR, a huge boost for a team already dealing with the season-ending loss of Tyler Seguin.
Jamie Benn and Miro Heiskanen each found the back of the net, and the top of the lineup did most of the heavy lifting. Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, and Rantanen all picked up helpers, spreading the production across their core group.
Heiskanen’s goal came at a critical point in the game to tie it with under two minutes left in regulation. Heiskanen has four points (3G, 1A) in his last three games.
Rantanen has been fantastic this season in Dallas which has been a statement. What he needed was a stable situation and linemates who process the game the way he does. Dallas has given him both, and he has responded with some of the sharpest two-way, high-end play of his career. He has shown he can jump teams, adjust on the fly, and still look like a top-tier winger every night.
Jake Oettinger sealed things on the Dallas end, picking up another win and improving to 14-4-2 with two shutouts, a 2.49 GAA, and a .909 SV%. He is on a strong run right now with five wins and four quality starts in his last six games.
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Washington rolled into this one without John Carlson, who was out with an upper-body injury, but Jakob Chychrun handled the extra weight without any hesitation. He opened the scoring with his 11th of the year, and that goal also saw him as the league leader in goals among defensemen. It’s been a breakout year across the board for him, and with the way he is driving play right now, and pacing toward a career-best 68 points. The confidence shows in his reads and timing.
Anthony Beauvillier and Tom Wilson chipped in on the setup, and Wilson continues to push what is shaping into his most productive season ever. He is now up to 32 points in 30 games, over a point-per-game pace, while logging the heaviest minutes of his career at even strength and on the power play. The shot percentage hovering around 25% will not last forever, but when a player this engaged starts stacking touches in all situations, just ride the wave.
Offense was sparse on both sides, with the only other goal came from Aliaksei Protas on the late empty-netter. Protas is at 10 goals and 10 assists on the season and tracking toward 55 points, a reasonable step back from last year’s heater, but his recent run is encouraging. Four goals and two assists over his last six, and the added workload at five-on-five is helping. If he ever gets real power-play time, that ceiling bumps higher in a hurry.
Still, the real storyline was in the crease. Logan Thompson delivered one of his sharpest outings of the season with a 39-save shutout, marking his 100th NHL win and seventh career shutout. He is up to a 13-6-5 record with strong underlying numbers, including an 18.31 GSAx, and performances like this one are the reason Washington keeps banking points even when their offense goes quiet.
Columbus pushed but just could not solve him. Kirill Marchenko fired six shots, while Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson added four each, yet nothing found daylight.
Jet Greaves did everything he could at the other end, stopping 36 of 37 and giving Columbus a real chance despite the lack of finishing.
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Vegas quickly notched a goal just 36 seconds in with Brett Howden opening the scoring for the Golden Knights, assisted by Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, setting the tone for a fast start.
However, the Rangers responded back in the second period and it looked as if they had the game under control. Mika Zibanejad netted the first, with assists from Alexis Lafrenière and Matthew Robertson, extending his point streak to seven games.
Later in the same period, Lafrenière scored the go-ahead snipe, assisted by Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, giving him points in back-to-back contests. Both players were directly involved on each other’s goals, highlighting how their connection is starting to click.
With just 52 seconds left, Tomas Hertl tipped in the tying goal, assisted by Jack Eichel, forcing overtime. Hertl has been rolling lately, scoring four goals in four games.
Jonathan Quick was between the pipes for New York, stopping 26 of 29 shots. He gave the Rangers a solid night, but could not hold off the late surge.
Carter Hart got the nod for Vegas in his second start, recording 21 saves through regulation and OT, earning his second win of the season.
The drama did not end in regulation. It took OT and Eichel’s game‑winner was a crisp neutral‑zone bank pass from Shea Theodore resulting in the OT wining goal to ruin the Rangers’ night.
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The Blues had contributions from all over the lineup in their 4–3 win over the Canadiens, with each goal coming from a different player and they scored two goals within 39 seconds of each other in the second period and never looked back.
Brayden Schenn was the standout, delivering two goals and an assist. He carried the offensive load showing chemistry with Dylan Holloway, who also had a huge night with a goal and two assists.
Pavel Buchnevich added the insurance goal in the third period, with assists from Robert Thomas and Justin Faulk, giving the Blues a cushion and helping to seal the game.
The third goal, Holloway’s second of the night, came off a play involving Schenn and Colton Parayko, highlighting how St. Louis is using multiple avenues to generate offense.
Montreal held their own against the Blues with Cole Caufield extending his point streak to 11 games with the opening goal, assisted by Nick Suzuki and Noah Dobson.
Lane Hutson also scored for Montreal, assisted by Zachary Bolduc and Jared Davidson, while Dobson added a late goal to bring the Habs within striking distance.
Both Dobson and Hutson have been productive for the Habs this season with Dobson posting 18 points and Hutson 22 points on the season.
Jordan Binnington stopped 23 of 26 shots to secure the win, while Jakub Dobeš, recorded 14 saves on 18 shots.
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I was looking forward to the Chicago Blackhawks vs. Anaheim Ducks game, expecting a fast-paced, high-scoring affair between two up-and-coming teams.
What I got was exactly that, but Anaheim completely dominated, running away with a 7-1 win over the Blackhawks.
The Ducks outshot the Blackhawks 53 to 20. That is not a typo folks, it is a real stat line. I watched this game and the Blackhawks looked straight up horrible.
Langon Slaggert and Sam Lafferty were scratches for the Blackahwks while Teuvo Teravainen and Colton Dach slotted back in, it clearly did not help all that much.
Tyler Bertuzzi scored the lone Blackhawks goal on the power play for his 15th goal of the season.
Ryan Donato who was once a top line fixture last year with the Blackhawks is now seeing third line minutes which would be frustrating to see for any manager.
Arvid Solderblom was peppered with 53 shots on the night, allowing seven goals against.
Meanwhile on the other end Anaheim just kept on rolling. In each period, the Ducks registered 17,27 and 9 SOG respectively.
The the scoring was spread out around nicely in this one. Jacob Trouba got on the board with an unassisted goal, while Mason McTavish added a power-play tally, set up by Beckett Sennecke and Cutter Gauthier.
Sennecke himself also scored, assisted by Gauthier and Radko Gudas. Alex Killorn contributed a goal with helpers from Ryan Strome and Pavel Mintyukov. Sennecke also registered five SOG and two hits.
Leo Carlsson had a big night with two goals along with four SOG, one even-strength and one on the power play, with the first assisted by Chris Kreider and Troy Terry, and the second set up by Kreider and Jackson LaCombe who himself registered six SOG, one hit and three blocks. A solid multi-cat night for LaCombe
Frank Vatrano added another goal, assisted by Olen Zellweger and Strome, who also picked up two assists on the night.
Cutter Gauthier rounded out the multi-point performers with two assists, on McTavish’s power-play goal and Sennecke’s goal, showcasing the Ducks’ balanced attack and depth involvement.
Ville Husso had a much easier night in comparison facing only 20 shots, allowing only one against.
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!