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The NHL finally seems to be back on track this week with only a handful of postponed games still to be played.
Jonathan Huberdeau is having a career year with 74 points in 52 games as he leads the NHL in points heading into action on Friday Feb. 25. His career best is 92, which is not shabby at all, but this season has been special as he has caught everyone, including Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl who each have 73 points, in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.
Huberdeau has been a major reason why the Panthers have been so good this season, with a little help from his friends Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad as well as goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Panthers will be a force in the very difficult Atlantic Division as Tampa Bay, Toronto and Boston stand in their way for the Stanley Cup and that is just to get out of the division. But they have the best team at this time in the division and are superior at home and getting better on the road.
It should be interesting come playoff time.
The column will still be updated if need be, on Sunday evening before the start of a new week if there are any more postponements.
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 28-MARCH 6
4 Games – Boston, Carolina, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Vegas
3 Games – Anaheim, Buffalo, Calgary, Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Montreal, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Winnipeg
2 Games – Arizona, Florida, Nashville, Pittsburgh
Boston and Ottawa play all four games on the road.
Anaheim, Columbus, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Washington and Winnipeg play three games at home.
Los Angeles, Montreal, St. Louis and Vancouver play three games on the road.
INJURIES
Tony DeAngelo has a middle-body injury that will keep him out of action for at least a month. (Click here to see the injury list.)
ANAHEIM
Games this week
vs. Boston, vs. Vegas, vs. San Jose
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Boston (Tuesday), vs. Vegas (Friday), vs. San Jose (Sunday)
Notes
The Ducks are home for all three games for the second week in a row and they are the rested team in all three games...Adam Henrique is on a three-game points streak and has nine goals and 21 points in 32 games this season...Rickard Rakell has six goals in his last seven games after starting the season with eight goals in his first 36 contests...Trevor Zegras continues to shine with points in four of his last five games and the rookie is tied with Lucas Raymond for the scoring lead among first-year players with 39 points...Josh Manson (upper body) is still not skating after his Jan. 29 injury and has had his name bandied about in trade talks.
ARIZONA
Games this week
vs. Colorado, vs. Ottawa
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Coyotes acquired Nick Ritchie from the Maple Leafs on Sunday, giving up Ryan Dzingel and Ilya Lyubushkin. Arizona also picked up a draft pick, either a third-round pick in 2023 or a second-rounder in 2025...He has yet to play as a work visa was needed but could play as early as Feb. 25...Clayton Keller has goals in four straight games, giving him 21 this season along with 24 assists in 51 games as he has regained the scoring touch he showed as a rookie in 2017-18 when he had 23 goals and 65 points...Scott Wedgewood returned to action this week from an upper-body injury and was 1-1, giving up four goals on 68 shots...The Coyotes are in the basement of the NHL standings but their goaltending duo of Karel Vejmelka and Wedgewood has actually been good.
BOSTON
Games this week
@ Los Angeles, @ Anaheim, @ Vegas, @ Columbus
Tired: @ Anaheim (Tuesday)
Rested: @ Columbus (Saturday)
Notes
The Bruins complete their six-game road trip and play four times this week including three games in four nights...Expect to see Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark to share the net...The Bruins got Brad Marchand back on Thursday after he served a six-game suspension for, well just being his typical pesty self...He had seven shots on goal in 21:44 of action but was unable to pick up a point...Jake DeBrusk had a pair including the overtime winner, giving the winger 11 goals in 46 games as he saw first line time with Marchand and Patrice Bergeron...He could still be dealt at the deadline...Taylor Hall did not pick up a point in Seattle Thursday to halt a three-game points streak which included a three-assist game Monday in a 5-1 win over Colorado.
BUFFALO
Games this week
@ Toronto, vs. Minnesota, vs. Los Angeles
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Minnesota (Friday)
Notes
The Sabres lost defenseman Henri Jokiharju Wednesday with a lower-body injury...Consider him day-to-day for now...Rasmus Dahlin returned to action Wednesday and saw his four-game points streak come to an end...Dahlin has enjoyed a comeback season this year and has eight goals and 33 points...Brandon Biro made his NHL debut Wednesday and was held pointless as was everyone in a 4-0 loss to Montreal...Biro has some offensive upside with nine goals and 36 points in 39 AHL games this season at Rochester...The Sabres do have some nice young talent and will be helped when first-overall pick Owen Power finishes his season at Michigan as he is expected to sign with Buffalo...Toss in Peyton Krebs whom the Sabres acquired in the Jack Eichel trade and there should be some excitement in Buffalo for their future.
CALGARY
Games this week
@ Minnesota, vs. Montreal, @ Colorado
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Flames saw their 10-game winning streak come to an abrupt end in a 7-1 loss to Vancouver, the Flames first road game in eight contests...The Flames were perfect in February heading into the Canucks game and still lead the Pacific by four points over Vegas...Andrew Mangiapane scored the lone goal, giving him a team-leading 26 goals...Elias Lindholm saw his eight-game goal-scoring streak come to an end and he remains tied for the longest goal-scoring streak in club history with Kent Nilsson and Gary Roberts...Chris Tanev has two goals and eight points in his last 11 games...Jacob Markstrom was pulled on Thursday after giving up three goals on 21 shots as his seven-game winning streak came to an end.
CAROLINA
Games this week
@ Detroit, @ Washington, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Seattle
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Seattle (Sunday)
Notes
The Hurricanes play four times this week including three games in four nights...Expect to see Frederik Andersen between the pipes at least twice and probably three times with Antti Raanta playing the remainder...Tony DeAngelo suffered an injury to his midsection on Monday and will be lost to the Hurricanes for a month...The Hurricanes also lost Brendan Smith this week from their blueline and recalled Jalen Chatfield from the minors...Sebastian Aho is on a four-game point streak, giving him 22 goals and 53 points in 47 games...Teuvo Teravainen has two goals and six assists during a six-game points streak, giving him 13 goals and 40 points in 45 games.
CHICAGO
Games this week
vs. Edmonton, @ Philadelphia, vs. Tampa Bay
Tired: vs. Tampa Bay (Sunday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Blackhawks play three games in four nights...Marc-Andre Fleury will get the call twice with the recently returned Kevin Lankinen healthy and slated to play once...Arvid Soderblom was returned to Rockford of the AHL once Lankinen’s hand injury healed and allowed him to return...Tyler Johnson (neck) is expected to return this week if not earlier as he has been out of action since Oct. 29...Jujhar Khaira is out the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery on his lower back...The recovery time in 10-12 weeks so he should be okay for the start of training camp...Brandon Hagel has been having a very good season with 14 goals and 27 points in 46 games and coach Derek King does not want to see the 23-year-old dealt away despite having his name mentioned in trade rumors.
COLORADO
Games this week
vs. New York Islanders, @ Arizona, vs. Calgary
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Avalanche lost a rare game on Monday as it appears the only way to beat them is an early afternoon game in the East...Mikko Rantanen has a four-game points streak and has 26 goals and 61 points in 48 games...That is still second on the team in points, trailing Nazem Kadri by three...Do not forget about rookie Alex Newhook next season as he has gone under the radar thus far with all the firepower the Avs have...He has 11 goals and 20 points in 41 games...Pavel Francouz has given the Avs an excellent back up goaltender as he is 8-2-0 with a 2.35 GAA and a .923 save percentage...Add in starter Darcy Kuemper who is 25-6-2 with a 2.47 GAA and a .919 save percentage.
COLUMBUS
Games this week
vs. New Jersey, vs. Los Angeles, vs. Boston
Tired: vs. Boston (Saturday)
Rested: vs. New Jersey (Tuesday)
Notes
The Blue Jackets lost Daniil Tarasov for the remainder of the season as he underwent hip surgery this week...Joonas Korpisalo (lower body) was placed on injured reserve but the Blue Jackets should get Elvis Merzlikins back this week after he missed a couple of games with a lower-body injury...Jean-Francois Berube had not played in the NHL since 2018 before his recall last week and has been outstanding since his recall, going 3-0-0 with a 2.99 GAA and a .925 save percentage including a big win over Eastern leaders the Florida Panthers...Boone Jenner has 22 goals and 41 points to lead the Blue Jackets...Zach Werenski missed Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury...Patrik Laine has an 11-game points streak and has 13 goals and 21 points during the streak, giving him 19 goals and 36 points in just 32 contests.
DALLAS
Games this week
vs. Los Angeles, @ Winnipeg, @ Minnesota
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
Joel Kiviranta was a hero when he had the hat trick in Game 7 of the Western Conference semi-finals in Sept. 2020 and it was thought the Finnish forward was headed for a strong career...Well, Kiviranta has only a goal and four points in 42 games this season and his career has stalled...He has only eight goals and 16 points in 79 career games for Dallas...The Stars are only five points in arrears of Nashville for fourth place in the Central and have a game in hand...Jake Oettinger has been great in the Dallas net, going 16-6-1 with a 2.26 GAA and a .921 save percentage and has solidified the crease in Dallas...Andrej Sekera has been placed on long-term injured reserve with a non-COVID viral infection that has kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 28.
DETROIT
Games this week
vs. Carolina, @ Tampa Bay, @ Florida
Tired: @ Florida (Saturday)
Rested: @ Tampa Bay (Friday)
Notes
The Red Wings have two of the three best rookies in the NHL this season with Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider...Seider has been coming on of late as he has a five-game points streak, giving the defenseman five goals and 37 points in 52 games...He is a stud and is only going to get better...Dylan Larkin has an undisclosed injury which prevents him from practicing but not playing as he has 26 goals and 54 points in 47 games...He had a horrible season last year with 23 points in 44 games before shutting his season down but the Detroit captain has bounced right back this season...Vladislav Namestnikov returned to action on Wednesday after missing a couple of games with a lower-body injury...Gemel Smith was placed on waivers and his former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning claimed him back.
EDMONTON
Games this week
@ Philadelphia, @ Chicago, vs. Montreal
Tired:
Rested: None
Notes
The Oilers have lost two in a row after winning five straight under new head coach Jay Woodcroft...Leon Draisaitl had three assists Wednesday in a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay and he is tied with teammate Connor McDavid for second place in NHL scoring with 73, one behind Jonathan Huberdeau...Ryan Nugent-Hopkins played in his 700th career game Wednesday...Zach Hyman has goals in five straight games and six in his last seven...The former Leaf has 19 goals and 35 points in 45 games...Goaltending continues to be the bane of the Oilers as Mike Smith has been mediocre at best...He gave up four goals on 22 shots Wednesday in a loss to the Lightning and is 5-6-1 this season with a 3.65 GAA and a .891 save percentage, giving up eight goals in his last two games on only 29 shots.
FLORIDA
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Detroit
Tired: None
Rested: vs. Detroit (Saturday)
Notes
The Panthers used Jonas Johansson between the pipes on Thursday with disastrous results as he gave up five goals on 27 shots in a loss to Columbus...The Panthers had been going with Sergei Bobrovsky full-time, placing Spencer Knight in the minors to give the 20-year-old some more playing time...Jonathan Huberdeau had a goal and an assist to regain the scoring lead with 74 points...Frank Vatrano returned to the Florida lineup Thursday after being a healthy scratch the previous four games...The Panthers sent Owen Tippett to the minors...He has been talked about in trade rumors...Is there a better third line in the NHL than Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment?
LOS ANGELES
Games this week
vs. Boston, @ Dallas, @ Columbus, @ Buffalo
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Kings play four games this week, going every other night...Nevertheless, look for Cal Petersen and Jonathan Quick to share the net...Trevor Moore continues to be on fire as the former Maple Leaf has eight goals and 26 points in his last 28 games after starting the season with only two assists in his first 23 contests...Viktor Arvidsson had a pair of goals Wednesday to move him into second place with 15 goals and 34 points in Kings scoring...The Kings have won three in a row and have moved back into third in the Pacific...Adrian Kempe had four goals and five points in two games before going pointless on Wednesday.
MINNESOTA
Games this week
vs. Calgary, @ Philadelphia, @ Buffalo, vs. Dallas
Tired: @ Buffalo (Friday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Wild play four games this week including three games in four nights... Cam Talbot should get three starts with Kaapo Kahkonen getting one but the duo could share the net...Mats Zuccarello missed Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury but returned on Thursday...He did not score against Toronto, snapping a five-game points streak where he had three goals and 10 points in his previous five games...Kevin Fiala has a three-game points streak and has six points including three goals during the streak, giving him 17 goals and 43 points in 49 games...Marcus Foligno has 87 penalty minutes this season as well as 17 goals and 27 points.
MONTREAL
Games this week
@ Winnipeg, @ Calgary, @ Edmonton
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Canadiens head to the Canadian Prairies this week for all three games...Boy, has Cole Caufield come into his own since Martin St. Louis took over...He is on a four-game points streak and has six goals and 10 points in his last seven games after starting the season with a mere goal and eight points in his first 30 games...Congratulations go out to Sam Montembeault who picked up his first career shutout on Wednesday, stopping 25 Buffalo shots...Paul Byron is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury suffered Wednesday...He missed the first 43 games with a hip injury...Nick Suzuki had a pair of goals and an assist Wednesday, giving him a team leading 33 points...The Canadiens finally have players in double digit goals, the last team in the NHL to do so...Josh Anderson has 12 and Suzuki has 11.
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NASHVILLE
Games this week
@ Seattle, @ San Jose
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Predators are trying to hold off the Dallas Stars and have three points in their last two games...Juuse Saros has been having a great season with 25-15-3 with a 2.45 GAA and a .924 save percentage...Roman Josi is tied with Cale Makar for the NHL lead among defensemen in points with 53...Josi has 14 goals and 23 points on the power play as he has returned to form after a tough 2020-21 season...For some reason, Filip Forsberg’s name is being heard in trade talks and according to Andy Strickland, the Predators are actively shopping him as he can become a UFA at the end of the season...Tanner Jeannot continues to have a great fantasy season if you use the penalty minute category as he has 92 penalty minutes in addition to 17 goals and 31 points.
NEW JERSEY
Games this week
vs. Vancouver, @ Columbus, @ New York Rangers, vs. St. Louis
Tired: @ Columbus (Tuesday)
Rested: vs. St. Louis (Sunday)
Notes
The Devils play three games in four nights as part of their four-game week...Mackenzie Blackwood is unlikely to play this week as he is still recovering from a heal injury so the goaltending is in the hands of Jon Gillies and Nico Daws who should share the net...Jesper Bratt had a pair of goals Thursday and has 16 markers with 30 assists in 46 games after missing two games with an upper-body injury...The Devils got Dougie Hamilton back in the lineup Thursday after he had been out since Jan. 2 with a broken jaw...He was a plus-two with five shots on net in 19:12 of action...Dawson Mercer got off to a hot start as the rookie had six goals and 14 points in his first 19 games but slumped with three goals and six points in his next 26 games...He has picked up the pace again with three goals and six points in his last five games.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Games this week
@ Colorado, vs. Vancouver, vs. St. Louis
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Islanders continue to mosey along in the Metropolitan at a leisurely pace when they need to start a long, long winning streak as they are 19 points in arrears of the fourth-place Washington Capitals and 18 points behind Boston for the final wild card...They have six games in hand over the Caps and four over the Bruins but they are only 4-4-2 in their last 10 and 19-20-8 overall...The Islanders still have 35 games remaining in the last 63 days of the season...Josh Bailey used to be a top player on New York but he has been a healthy scratch on some occasions this season including Thursday’s game...Zdeno Chara set an NHL record for most games played by a defenseman on Thursday as he played in his 1,652nd surpassing Chris Chelios.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Games this week
vs. St. Louis, vs. New Jersey, @ Winnipeg
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Rangers continue to get great goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Thursday was no exception as he stopped 36-of-37 shots in a 4-1 win over Washington, allowing only an Alex Ovechkin goal with 62 seconds left in the game...Shesterkin is 25-5-3 with a 1.98 GAA and a .940 save percentage...Outstanding...Mika Zibanejad had a goal and an assist in the win and has 20 goals and 53 points in 51 contests...Chris Kreider scored his 34th of the season in the game and it was his first goal since Feb. 1, although the Rangers only played three times in between...Barclay Goodrow has 11 goals and 22 points in 48 games, giving the Rangers some nice secondary scoring.
OTTAWA
Games this week
@ Tampa Bay, @ Florida, @ Arizona, @ Vegas
Tired: @ Vegas (Sunday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Senators are on the road this for four games, including three games in four nights...Expect to see Matt Murray and Anton Forsberg share the net for Ottawa as Filip Gustavsson has been sent to the minors upon the return of Murray who missed a game due to the birth of his child...Colin White is hoping to make his seasonal debut on Feb. 26 as he has been out following shoulder surgery...Thomas Chabot had a pair of goals and an assist Tuesday in a win over the Wild, giving the defenseman five goals and 27 points in 46 games...Drake Batherson could start skating at any time but will likely be out for at least another month with a high-ankle sprain suffered on Jan. 25.
PHILADELPHIA
Games this week
vs. Edmonton, vs. Minnesota, vs. Chicago
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Flyers will get Joel Farabee back on Feb. 26 as has been out for five weeks with an upper-body injury...Philadelphia sent Connor Bunnaman back to the minors...Travis Konecny has a point in each of his last seven games...Carter Hart is day-to-day with a minor eye infection...He last played on Feb. 15 and the hope is that he can return on Feb. 26...Derick Brassard was placed on injured reserve with a hip injury...He has only played three times since Nov. 23 with all three games well-spaced out...Claude Giroux has a tough decision to make as the pending UFA could be traded to a contender but has to be in agreement due to his no-trade contract.
PITTSBURGH
Games this week
@ Tampa Bay, @ Carolina
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Penguins did not look good at all in their 6-1 loss to lowly New Jersey as the Devils chased Tristan Jarry from the net after giving up five goals on 19 shots...The game was an anomaly for Jarry who has been strong in the Pens cage, going 25-11-6 with a 2.38 GAA and a .919 save percentage this season...Pittsburgh are slipping a bit in the Metropolitan as they have lost three in a row...Teddy Blueger partook in practice early in the week as he is trying to return from a fractured jaw suffered on Jan. 23...Sidney Crosby has 15 goals and 48 points in 41 games and has points in nine of his last 10 games.
SAN JOSE
Games this week
@ Vegas, vs, Nashville, @ Anaheim
Tired: @ Anaheim (Sunday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Sharks picked up their first victory in February on Thursday in a 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders while James Reimer providing the heroics with 44 saves, improving his record to 14-11-5 with a 2.90 GAA and a .913 save percentage...Timo Meier leads the Sharks with 52 points including 23 goals but has only three goals and seven points in 11 games since his five-goal outburst against the Kings on Jan. 17...Rudolfs Balcers is day-to-day with an upper-body injury...San Jose coach Bob Boughner is hoping that defenseman Erik Karlsson is able to return to the lineup in a couple of weeks as he recovers from surgery to repair a small tear in his left forearm a month ago...The Sharks claimed Ryan Dzingel off waivers from Toronto.
SEATTLE
Games this week
vs. Nashville, @ Washington, @ Carolina
Tired: @ Carolina (Sunday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Kraken placed their top scorer, Jared McCann on injured reserve with an upper-body injury suffered on Tuesday...He could return this week and leads the Kraken with 21 goals and 33 points in 48 games...Philipp Grubauer has not won in his last six starts as he is 0-5-1 after Thursday’s overtime loss to Boston...Grubauer is 12-22-5 with a 3.17 GAA and a .888 save percentage, a huge difference from last season where he was 30-9-1 with a 1.95 GAA and a .922 save percentage in the same 39 starts and 40 games played...Mark Giordano has six goals and 23 points to lead all Seattle defensemen.
ST. LOUIS
Games this week
@ New York Rangers, @ New York Islanders, @ New Jersey
Tired: @ New Jersey (Sunday)
Rested: None
Notes
The Blues finally picked up a good effort from Jordan Binnington on Tuesday as he stopped 25 shots in a 4-1win over the Flyers...Binnington had given up 18 goals in his previous eight periods, on only 88 shots since the middle of January as Ville Husso has taken over the starter’s job...Perhaps the win and fine play will boost Binnington’s confidence in time for the playoffs as the Blues are sitting in second place in the Central...David Perron has a goal and three assists in his last 15 games as he has disappointed of late, as well as all season as he has just 24 points in 37 games...Pavel Buchnevich had his five-game points streak end Tuesday but he had nine points in the five games, giving him 18 goals and 45 points in 44 games.
TAMPA BAY
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Pittsburgh, vs. Detroit, @ Chicago
Tired: vs. Detroit (Friday)
Rested: @ Chicago (Sunday)
Notes
The Lightning play three games in four nights as part of their four-game week...Andrei Vasilevskiy should get three starts with Brian Elliott playing once...Corey Perry scored once and added an assist Wednesday and it was the 400th of his NHL career...Perry has been a great signing for the Lightning as he has 14 goals and 28 points in 50 games...The Lightning have only played three times in over three weeks so their stats have not changed much of late...The Lightning reclaimed Gemel Smith off waivers after the Red Wings, who had selected him from Tampa Bay in January, tried to sneak him through waivers...Darren Raddysh was sent to Syracuse of the AHL.
TORONTO
Games this week
@ Washington, vs. Buffalo, vs. Vancouver
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Maple Leafs snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday with a 3-1 win over Minnesota as Auston Matthews scored a pair to take over the NHL lead with 36 goals...Toronto finally got a good start in net as Petr Mrazek stopped 29 for his seventh win of the season...Ilya Mikheyev was forced to leave Thursday’s game with a non-COVID illness as he managed to play only 4:39 before leaving...John Tavares has gone 11 games without lighting the lamp but does have eight assists in his last nine games...The Leafs dealt Nick Ritchie and a draft pick and picked up Ilya Lyubushkin and Ryan Dzingel from Arizona...They put Dzingel on waivers and he was taken by San Jose but Lyubushkin will be a valued member of the iffy Leafs blueline.
VANCOUVER
Games this week
@ New Jersey, @ New York Islanders, @ Toronto
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Canucks are climbing up the standings and are only three points out of a wild card spot after a pair of wins this week, including Thursday’s 7-1 victory over Calgary, halting the Flames win streak at 10 games...J.T. Miller was on fire versus the Flames as he had two goals and two assists, giving him 20 goals and 57 points in 51 games...Thatcher Demko stopped 29 shots in the win as he is 22-16-2 with a 2.61 GAA and a .917 save percentage...Elias Pettersson has four straight multi-point games with three goals and 10 points in the four contests, and has 16 goals and 37 points in 53 games...Brock Boeser has only 15 goals and 30 points in 47 games this season, quite disappointing for any of his fantasy managers.
VEGAS
Games this week
vs. San Jose, vs. Boston, @ Anaheim, vs. Ottawa
Tired: @ Anaheim (Friday)
Rested: vs. Ottawa (Sunday)
Notes
The Golden Knights play four games this week including three games in four nights...Robin Lehner is injured at this time and if he is unable to play, look for Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson to share the net...Thompson picked up his first career win Sunday, stopping 25 shots in a 4-1 win over San Jose...Alec Martinez was on the ice Wednesday for practice and he could return this week...Martinez has been out since Nov. 11 with a facial laceration from a skate that caused concussion-like symptoms...Max Pacioretty has 15 goals and 27 points in just 24 injured-filled games...Jack Eichel scored his first in a Vegas uniform Sunday and added an assist giving the 25-year-old a goal and three points in three games.
WASHINGTON
Games this week
vs. Toronto, vs. Carolina, vs. Seattle
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Capitals are treading water in February as they are 4-4-0 thus far...Alex Ovechkin was leading the NHL in points a month ago but has only three goals and five points his last nine games...He has all five points in his last five, including three goals...T.J. Oshie returned to the Washington lineup on Thursday for the first time since Jan. 15 when he suffered an upper-body injury...Anthony Mantha is getting close to a return as he has been out since Nov. 4 with a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery...He has been back at practice but in a non-contact jersey...Nicklas Backstrom has only four goals and 14 points in 20 games since his return...Vitek Vanecek has not played since Feb. 1 with an upper-body injury but expect him to be back in the crease this week, if not earlier.
WINNIPEG
Games this week
vs. Montreal, vs. Dallas, vs, New York Rangers
Tired: None
Rested: None
Notes
The Jets just can’t seem to get things going as they are 0-2-1 in their last three games...They are 11 points behind Nashville for fourth in the Central with Dallas in between while Winnipeg trails the final wild card spot by six points...Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist Wednesday after going the three previous games without a point...Andrew Copp is back at practice, albeit in a non-contact jersey as he has been out of action since Feb. 16 with an upper-body injury...Brenden Dillon has only a goal and 15 points this season but has a plus-16 rating with 44 penalty minutes as well as 126 hits and 60 blocked shots...Evgeny Svechnikov is seeing action as a top-six forward alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor. If he sticks, he is worthy of a pickup in most fantasy leagues.
