It was another busy Tuesday slate in the National Hockey League, and it was a great night for fantasy. While we had just a few multi-goal scorers, and no hat tricks, there were some memorable moments for the skaters. And we also had one goaltender post a shutout, although it probably should have been a total of four shutouts had things gone a certain way. Three goaltenders lost their shutouts in excruciating fashion, including one due to a short-term absence due to an equipment issue. Let’s get started!
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Tampa Bay Lightning 2, Florida Panthers 1
Normally when the Lightning and Panthers hook up it’s end-to-end hockey with plenty of scoring. The Sunshine State rivalry game was a defensive slog for once, likely due to the tremendous backstops at either end. Andrei Vasilevskiy is finally starting to resemble his Vezina Trophy winning form, and Sergei Bobrovsky is also rounding into form in Sunrise after a slow start by his standards.
Vasilevskiy yielded just one goal on 28 shots to push his record to 12-8-1 with a 2.82 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He is enjoying his best stretch of the season, allowing just one goal in each of his past two outings.
Alex Killorn scored a goal and added an assist on Steven Stamkos’ goal, and Killorn how has four goals and eight points with a plus-4 rating in the past five outings.
Bob stopped 46 of the 48 shots he faced, but he was unable to avoid the loss. Still, it was the offense which left him high and dry, as he was good enough to win.
Montreal Canadiens 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 1
Tristan Jarry entered the day with two consecutive shutouts, but he left his home arena with a loss, courtesy of Les Habitants.
Jarry didn’t allow a goal in the first period, but Tomas Tatar struck on the power play in the second period, while Joel Armia and Shea Weber also struck for markers against him. Brendan Gallagher added an empty-net goal to cap off the impressive road win. Only the diminutive Jake Guentzel was able to score for the home side.
The big fantasy winners were the goal scorers for the Habs, as all four players also notched an assist to get them into the multi-point club. Antti Lehkonen had an assist and a plus-1 rating, and he dished out six hits, too. Ben Chiarot went scoreless, but he blocked two shots and had a game-high eight hits.
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Buffalo Sabres 5, St. Louis Blues 2
The Sabres cooled off Jake Allen and the Blues in a good measuring stick game for the surging Sabres.
Linus Ullmark allowed just two goals on 30 shots, besting Allen who had three goals allowed on 31 shots for the defending champs.
Perhaps no one is hotter than Jack Eichel right now, as he extended his career-high point streak to 14 games with a pair of goals while adding a plus-3 rating. He has 12 goals with 25 points and a plus-16 rating during the sick run.
Johan Larsson isn’t nearly as hot as Eichel, but he is opening some eyes for fantasy owners. He posted just one goal and one assist in October, one goal and one assist in November, but he has two goals and eight points with a plus-8 rating in five games in December.
Nashville Predators 3, San Jose Sharks 1
Juuse Saros was on top of his game while giving Pekka Rinne a much-needed rest, keeping the toothless Sharks attack at bay. He allowed just one goal on 25 shots in the win.
The Preds received goals from Nick Bonino, Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Johansen, while Jarnkrok also posted an assist and a plus-1 rating with four penalty minutes. Filip Forsberg posted a pair of assists and had four PIM, too, while Austin Watson ended up the big winner with 15 PIM after dust-up with Evander Kane.
As far as Kane is concerned, he picked up four penalties and 19 PIM, and he is up to 51 PIM in five games in the month of December.
Anaheim Ducks 3, Minnesota Wild 2 (SO)
John Gibson and Kaapo Kahkonen were locked in a pretty strong goaltending duel in St. Paul. Gibson ended up on the positive side on things, stopping everything he faced in overtime and the shootout for the road win. He improved to 9-12-2 with a 2.87 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Cam Fowler posted a power-play goal for the visitors, while Ryan Hartman scored for the home side while also getting into a donnybrook, just missing the Gordie Howe hat trick by an assist.
Winnipeg Jets 5, Detroit Red Wings 1
This one stings for fantasy owners of Laurent Brossoit. He stopped all 15 of the shots he faced, but he isn’t credited with the shutout. He had to check out briefly in the second period due to an equipment malfunction. While he was being fixed up on the bench, Connor Hellebuyck came on cold and allowed a goal to Christoffer Ehn on two shots. While there was a stoppage and Brossoit would return, it was already too late.
Andrew Copp and Blake Wheeler made sure it wouldn’t also be a loss for the home side, as they each had a goal and an assist. In all, 12 players on the Jets had at least one point, as Eric Comrie allowed five goals on 30 shots and was never in this one.[[ad:athena]]
Dallas Stars 2, New Jersey Devils 0
There were no equipment malfunctions or blown shutouts in Big D. Ben Bishop made sure to end a long day in Dallas on a positive note, as he posted the shutout to give Rick Bowness his first win behind the Stars bench after the sudden and unexpected firing of Jim Montgomery.
Radek Faksa opened the scoring at 1:42 of the first period and was credited with the game-winning tally, and Joe Pavelski scored at 11:50 of the opening period. That was all the Stars could muster against Mackenzie Blackwood, who deserved a better fate. He was solid in making 33 saves to keep him team in it all the way.
Carolina Hurricanes 6, Edmonton Oilers 3
The Hurricanes flew out from Raleigh a little early to get acclimated to the time change for their Western Canada road swing, and that now appears to be very sound thinking. They jumped all over the high-octane Oilers early.
Sebastian Aho opened the scoring at 4:15 of the first period for his 100th NHL goal. He added another later in the game, too. At 22 years, 137 days he is the youngest player to reach the century mark in goals since the team moved from Hartford to Raleigh, and he is the fourth-youngest in Whalers/Hurricanes history to reach 100 goals in the NHL.
James Reimer turned back the clock for a vintage performance, allowing three goals on 36 shots. He is 6-5-0 with a 2.62 GAA and .918 save percentage overall, including a sparkling 2.41 GAA in nine starts on the road this season vs. 3.64 GAA at home.
Jordan Staal picked up his 300th assist in this one, while Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist. Connor McDavid picked up three assists for the home side, and Zack Kassian lit the lamp twice.
Calgary Flames 5, Arizona Coyotes 2
Zac Rinaldo was the unlikely hero on offense for the Flames as he posted a goal and an assist with a plus-2 rating and four hits, giving him two goals and three points in two December outings.
Cam Talbot appreciated the unlikely source of offense, as he made 46 saves while allowing two goals in the road win. Michael Frolik also had a goal and an assist to help out.
Antti Raanta was unable to get untracked all night, coughing up five goals on 29 shots to take the home loss with Darcy Kuemper getting a rest. Jakob Chychrun did score an unassisted goal, and Phil Kessel struck on the power play, but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Vancouver Canucks 1
Frederik Andersen made his sixth straight start and he was super in the Pacific Northwest. He made 38 saves, as only old friend Josh Leivo was able to score for the visitors. Captain John Tavares stepped up with two goals and an assist while adding a plus-3 rating, giving him his first points of December after getting blanked in the first three games of the month.
Mitch Marner had two assists for the second consecutive game, and Auston Matthews also got onto the board. That was enough against Jacob Markstrom, who was good, but not great. The Vancouver backstop ended up allowing three goals on 25 shots. Justin Holl also had two assists for the visitors.
Vegas Golden Knights 5, Chicago Blackhawks 1
Marc-Andre Fleury was back for the first time since Nov. 23, as he has been away from the team mourning the loss of his father. He was focused on the Blackhawks in this one, making 28 saves. It’s the last shot that fantasy owners are unhappy about, however. Dominik Kubalik scored a power-play goal with just 27 seconds remaining in regulation, down 5-0, spoiling the shutout for Fleury.
Reilly Smith scored a power-play goal, Deryk Engelland notched his first of the season and William Karlsson had a shorthanded tally in the decisive second period to make it 3-0. Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reeves also got into the act, as Corey Crawford crapped out on The Strip. It’s been known to happen.
Los Angeles Kings 3, New York Rangers 1
Another goaltender had a near-miss. Jonathan Quick was almost in the same exact boat as Fleury. The Kings were ahead just 2-0, however, so the Rangers pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker. While also on the power play, making it a 6-on-4 attack, Artemi Panarin beat Quick to make it 2-1 and ruin the shutout with just 31 seconds remaining. While Adrian Kempe added an empty-netter to preserve the win, it was a huge disappointment for Quick, his fantasy owners and any DFS players who rolled with him.
Dustin Brown and Tyler Toffoli each notched their seventh goals of the season, and Toffoli’s goal stood up as the winner. It was Toffoli’s first time lighting the lamp since he struck for a pair against the Oilers back on Nov. 21.
