{"id":327187,"date":"2025-12-05T14:44:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/327187\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:44:09","slug":"marchenko-returns-and-produces-islanders-bury-avalanche-geekie-hot-streak-rolls-on-oreilly-leads-predators-to-late-win-december-5-dobberhockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/327187\/","title":{"rendered":"Marchenko Returns and Produces; Islanders Bury Avalanche; Geekie Hot Streak Rolls On; O\u2019Reilly Leads Predators to Late Win \u2013 December 5 \u2013 DobberHockey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Columbus Blue Jackets got a boost to the lineup as Kirill Marchenko<\/a> returned after missing the last four games with a knee issue. He was back in his usual top-line role so all of the Kent Johnson<\/a> and Yegor Chinakhov<\/a> enthusiasts \u2013 there are dozens of us! \u2013 are going to have to stand down for now.<\/p>\n

Boone Jenner<\/a> isn’t quite ready to reinsert himself into the Columbus lineup but that shouldn’t be too far away, either, as he’s been practicing with the team.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Scott McLaughlin<\/a> reported that Charlie McAvoy<\/a> was at Boston’s morning skate in a non-contact jersey on Thursday. Obviously, McAvoy isn’t quite ready to return just yet, but he may be back in an action over the next week or so.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

The New York Rangers won their second straight game with Adam Fox<\/a> injured as they went into Ottawa and came out with a 4-2 win. Goals from Artemi Panarin<\/a>, Mika Zibanejad<\/a>, Will Borgen<\/a>, and Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a> put the Rangers over the top. Zibanejad finished with five shots while Panarin added an assist on Zibanejad’s tally.<\/p>\n

Miller finished the game with three assists, a shot, two PIMs, and a hit in a very good multi-cat night. That was Miller’s first three-point game of the season and his first such effort in nearly 11 months (January 6th of 2024).<\/p>\n

Igor Shesterkin<\/a> was stellar in net for the Rangers, stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced.<\/p>\n

Drake Batherson<\/a> and Dylan Cozens<\/a> both scored power-play goals for the Sens with Batherson assisting on the Cozens goal. With four shots and a hit to go with his two points, Batherson now has 10 goals, 14 assists, 54 shots, 37 hits, and 10 blocks in 24 games, which is an 82-game pace of 34 goals, 48 assists, 185 shots, 126 hits, and 34 blocks. He has been excellent fantasy value so far.<\/p>\n

Leevi Merilainen was in net for the Sens and took the loss by allowing three goals on 27 shots.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Toronto went into Carolina and put a beatdown on the Hurricanes by a 5-1 margin. Bobby McMann<\/a> scored twice, Matthew Knies<\/a> had a goal and an assist, and both Auston Matthews<\/a> and Scott Laughton<\/a> got into the goal column. Knies is up to 28 points in 24 games this season, totaling 61 hits along the way. He has been as advertised in multi-cat fantasy formats, even if the goal-scoring isn’t where we might want it to be.<\/p>\n

Matthews had a huge multi-cat night with the one goal on five shots, adding six blocks, two PIMs, and a hit along the way. It isn’t what he was drafted for as a top-5 pick in fantasy this season, but he now has 44 blocks in 22 games. A superstar forward like him averaging two blocks per game for a span covering over a quarter of the season is quite preposterous.<\/p>\n

Jake McCabe<\/a> had a fine multi-cat effort himself with an assist, three blocks, and a hit.<\/p>\n

Joseph Woll<\/a> left the game after the second period with a lower-body injury. He technically gets the win, but that is not the story here. We will update his status whenever we get more information.<\/p>\n

Seth Jarvis<\/a> scored Carolina’s lone goal as goalie Frederik Andersen<\/a> gave up four goals on 18 shots. Andersen is now down to an .873 save percentage on the season. It is, how the kids say, ‘not great’.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Boston’s top-6 forwards had a big game on Thursday night as the Bruins earned a 5-2 home win over St. Louis. Pavel Zacha<\/a> had two goals (one PP) on three shots with a block, Morgan Geekie<\/a> had a goal and two assists (one PP) with three shots, a block, and a hit, Alex Steeves and Viktor Arvidsson<\/a> both managed a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm<\/a> had a trio of helpers (one PP) with a block and two PIMs. Poor Casey Mittelstadt<\/a>, being held off the scoresheet while the other five members of the top-6 had multi-point games.<\/p>\n

Mason Lohrei<\/a> managed two assists and a shot in the win while goalie Joonas Korpisalo<\/a> was busy, but steady, with 37 saves on 39 shots against in the victory.<\/p>\n

Pius Suter<\/a> and Pavel Buchnevich<\/a> scored the goals for the Blues. That is just the fourth goal of the season for Buchnevich, which isn’t great after his 20 goals last year were a four-year low. Now that he’s on the wrong side of 30 years old, it’s time to start asking how much juice he has left in the tank.<\/p>\n

Jordan Binnington<\/a> was in net for all five goals against on 27 shots directed his way.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

The New York Islanders put the boots to the Colorado Avalanche as the Isles earned a 6-3 home win over the league’s best team. The second line did a lot of the damage as Mathew Barzal<\/a> had a goal (PP) and two assists while Anders Lee<\/a> posted one of each. Jonathan Drouin<\/a> was a game-time scratch, and his spot was taken by Maxim Tsyplakov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bo Horvat<\/a> managed a goal and an assist (PP) with six shots and three blocks while Kyle MacLean, Casey Cizikas<\/a>, and Adam Pelech<\/a> also scored. Defenceman Matthew Schaefer<\/a> kept his great fantasy season going with an assist, three shots, two blocks, and two PIMs in over 25 minutes of ice time.<\/p>\n

Barzal managed four shots in the game and he now has 50 shots in his last 17 games dating back to November 1st. Managers in multi-cat formats rejoice.<\/p>\n

Ilya Sorokin<\/a> was very good in net once again with 35 saves on 38 pucks sent his way. He now has a .929 save percentage across his last 12 starts, winning seven of those games.<\/p>\n

Valeri Nichushkin<\/a>, Martin Necas<\/a>, and Artturi Lehkonen<\/a> scored the goals for Colorado. Necas assisted the Lehkonen goal and the former now has 35 points in 27 games this season, and 63 points in 57 career regular season games with the Avs.<\/p>\n

Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> was the goaltender for the Avs and he allowed five goals on 41 shots.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Tampa Bay before the Lightning made a late charge (pun!) with three straight goals of their own. It allowed Evgeni Malkin<\/a> to play the hero with under three minutes left in the game as he finished off a nice passing play.<\/p>\n

Malkin had assisted on a Ben Kindel power-play goal, scored another goal earlier, and all that pushes Malkin to 29 points in 26 games on the year. He is certainly doing all he can to help get the Penguins back to the postseason one last time.<\/p>\n

Ville Koivunen<\/a> (PP) scored his first goal of the year to get the ball rolling in the first period. Defenceman Erik Karlsson<\/a> had a solid fantasy night with a PP assist, six shots, and two PIMs.<\/p>\n

Tristan Jarry<\/a> was a difference-maker in net for the Penguins with 37 saves on 40 shots. His great rebound year has been cool to see.<\/p>\n

Brandon Hagel<\/a> scored twice (one PP) while Nikita Kucherov<\/a> had the other tally for the Lightning. Over his last 20 games, Hagel has 17 goals, 28 points, and 67 shots. Truly an absurd run he’s on right now.<\/p>\n

Jonas Johansson<\/a> got his number called in net for Tampa Bay and he gave up four goals on 31 shots in defeat.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

After trailing 1-0 for well over half the game, Ryan O’Reilly<\/a> scored with just over six minutes left in the third period, and Steven Stamkos<\/a> added another one in overtime, as Nashville took a 2-1 win in Florida. O’Reilly assisted the Stamkos goal, which was another one of those “the net was knocked off well before the puck went in, but the puck was going in anyway” goals.<\/p>\n

Either way, Nashville has now won four of their last five games. Remember a couple years ago when they went on a second-half tear to make the playoffs? Well\u2026<\/p>\n

Juuse Saros<\/a> was great for the Predators, stopping 30 of 31 shots sent his way. He has now allowed one goal in four of his last seven outings.<\/p>\n

New dad Carter Verhaeghe<\/a> scored the lone Panthers goal while Sergei Bobrovsky<\/a> earned the loss in net, allowed two goals on 29 shots.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

The Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets had an absolutely wild game on Thursday night as the game went like this:<\/p>\n

1-0 Columbus<\/p>\n

1-1 tie<\/p>\n

3-1 Columbus<\/p>\n

3-3 tie<\/p>\n

4-3 Columbus<\/p>\n

5-4 Detroit<\/p>\n

5-5 tie into overtime and then a shootout won by Columbus.<\/p>\n

For Columbus, Adam Fantilli<\/a> scored twice (one PP) on three shots and added a hit, Sean Monahan<\/a> had a trio of helpers (two on the PP) with a block and a hit, and Kent Johnson<\/a>, Kirill Marchenko<\/a> (PP), and Ivan Provorov<\/a> all scored as well. Provorov totaled four shots, three blocks, and two PIMs in a very good multi-cat effort.<\/p>\n

Defenceman Zach Werenski<\/a> had three assists (two PP) with two shots, a block, and a hit.<\/p>\n

On the Detroit side, both Patrick Kane<\/a> and Lucas Raymond<\/a> managed a goal and an assist, with Kane assisting a Raymond PP goal and Raymond assisting a Dylan Larkin<\/a> PP goal. James van Riemsdyk<\/a> (PP) and Alex DeBrincat<\/a> also scored.<\/p>\n

Red Wings blue liner Moritz Seider<\/a> had a pair of assists (one PP) with a shot, four blocks, and two PIMs.<\/p>\n

Elvis Merzlikins<\/a> and Cam Talbot<\/a> both allowed five goals apiece, the former on 34 shots and the latter on 30. Merzlikins stopped both shots he faced in the shootout to earn the win and the extra point for the Blue Jackets. \u00a0<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Goals from Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a>, Matt Coronato<\/a>, Connor Zary<\/a>, and Rasmus Andersson<\/a> lifted the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over Minnesota. Andersson also assisted on the Huberdeau goal while adding six shots, four blocks, and a hit. He is now up to 20 points on the year \u2013 the 16th defenceman to reach the mark \u2013 and has 66 shots, 57 blocks, and 16 hits. Just a m-m-m-monster multi-cat performance so far.<\/p>\n

Dustin Wolf<\/a> was excellent in net for the Flames, stopping 26 of 27 shots against for the win.<\/p>\n

Yakov Trenin<\/a> scored the lone Wild goal as Filip Gustavsson<\/a> gave up three goals on 30 shots. It makes me wonder if Minnesota will ever just finally give Jesper Wallstedt<\/a> the lion’s share of starts because he’s grossly outperformed Gustavsson this year and the Wild are not a sure thing for a playoff spot like Colorado or Dallas.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Connor Bedard<\/a> scored on the power play and Wyatt Kaiser<\/a> tallied his first of the year in the waning seconds of the second period as Chicago went into Los Angeles and skated away with a 2-1 win. Frank Nazar<\/a> assisted on both goals, adding two shots, two blocks and two hits along the way. He isn’t having the monster breakout season maybe we hoped for, but Nazar’s 82-game paces are for 16 goals, 49 assists, 174 shots, 75 hits, and 59 blocks. If he can raise his 9.4% shooting, then he’d easily be over 20 goals. All in all, it’s hard to complain.<\/p>\n

Spencer Knight<\/a> held the Kings to one goal on 27 shots for his ninth win of the year. That puts him in second place among regular starters (at least 12 starts) with a .919 save percentage.<\/p>\n

Trevor Moore<\/a> scored the lone Kings goal as goaltender Darcy Kuemper<\/a> was solid with 34 saves on 36 shots, but one shot too many got past him for the loss.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Last but not least on Thursday night, Edmonton put the absolute wood to Seattle by a 9-4 score. Let’s simplify this by using bullet points:<\/p>\n

Connor McDavid<\/a> \u2013 3 goals, 1 assist, 3 PPP, 7 shots<\/p>\n

Leon Draisaitl<\/a> \u2013 1 goal, 3 assists, 3 PPP, 3 shots<\/p>\n

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins<\/a> \u2013 3 assists, 2 PPP<\/p>\n

Evan Bouchard<\/a> \u2013 3 assists, 1 PPP, 1 shot, 2 blocks<\/p>\n

Matt Savoie<\/a> \u2013 2 goals, 1 PPP, 4 shots, 1 block<\/p>\n

Mattias Ekholm<\/a> \u2013 2 assists, 1 PPP, 3 hits<\/p>\n

Goals from Zach Hyman<\/a>, Mattias Janmark<\/a>, and Vasily Podkolzin<\/a><\/p>\n

Calvin Pickard<\/a> \u2013 28 saves of 32 shots<\/p>\n

Clear? Great. Whew.<\/p>\n

Jared McCann<\/a>, Jani Nyman, Frederick Gaudreau<\/a>, and Eeli Tolvanen<\/a> scored for the Kraken. Goaltender Joey Daccord<\/a> was pulled after giving up five goals on 14 shots, and then Philipp Grubauer<\/a> gave up four goals on 18 shots.<\/p>\n