I'm back after being away from the boxscores for a bit, so bear with me here... hearty thanks to Mike & Jay for filling in over the holidays.

The Carl Hagelin top line experiment continued for the Rangers and the kid had 1+1=2 & plus-3 last night. His points have been pretty spread out but he has 4+1=5 over his last six games and is playing at a 50 point pace (per82). Yeah, but can he play outdoors?

Erik Karlsson took a few games around Christmas off but was in the giving mood last night with 1+1=2 & eight shots. He has 3+6=9 over his last six games and is running away with the fictional Art Ross for dmen as he leads the scoring race by five points.

Todd Bertuzzi has his motor running lately as he had a goal to go with seven PIMs last night and has a nice run with 4+6=10 over his last 11 games. Also impressive is that he's a plus-15 during a streak of 20 games where he hasn't recorded a minus.

At the WJCs yesterday... I wish I had Teemu Pulkkinen in my lineup since he had 4+1=5, plus-4 & 13 shots as the Wings prospect ate the Danish up. Another Wings property, Czech goalie Petr Mrazek, stole the show by stopping 52 of 54 to become the Benjamin Conz of this tournament by upsetting the US. Even with this strong showing I'd put the over/under at five years before you see this kid in Detroit, cause that's just the way they roll.

With Shea Weber out, Roman Josi has seen 22+ minutes in each of his past three games and went for an assist & four PIMs last night.

Leland Irving settled for the OTL last night but deserved better as he stopped 45 of 49 in his third NHL start. He's looked very solid and hasn't lost in regulation yet.

December blues for Nashville's Craig Smith as he hasn't scored in 12 games despite putting up 33 shots over that span.

Since scoring in six straight games back in Oct/Nov, Patric Hornqvist has two goals in his last 24 games.

Corey Crawford beat the Wings last night (26/28) to mark his fourth straight start, he's won three of said starts.

Alex Ovechkin. Two goals. Five game point streak (4+3=7). Season. Turning. Around.

Ovie's buddy, Alexander Semin had a pair of assists to give him 4+4=8 & plus-6 over his last six games.

AHL up & down: Alexander Urbom (up), Marc-Antoine Pouliot (up), Cody Eakin (up), Andy Miele (down), Kyle Palmieri (down), Jan Mursak (up), Evgeni Dadonov (down) and Erik Gustafsson has recovered from wrist surgery and was sent to the AHL by the Flyers.