Monday's Daily Dosage - Forsberg, Bergeron, Kovalchuk...

Peter Forsberg has made the comeback official and signed with the Avs yesterday but it's already started as he's doubtful for tonight's game and may actually sit out the next three games before (possibly) making his debut on Saturday.   If you enjoy giving yourself a headache then go for it but the rest of us will pass.  Even if you are interested, be aware that during his last few years in the NHL (back 3-4 years) he wasn't shooting more than two shots per game and barely scoring at all, so all you can really expect is assists, some PPPs & a few PIMs.

Here's the comeback we're interested in... Marc-Andre Bergeron made his season debut for Tampa yesterday and contributed right away with 2A in 17 minutes of ice time.  He was fourth on the team in PP time (5:42) joining Stamkos, St.Louis & Lecavalier on the 4-on-3 in OT and assisting on Vinny's winner... this guy is dynamite on the PP and is joining a team that is already 3rd in the league in PP goals.  I'm going to sound like a broken record here but since the lockout his per 82 game scoring rate is 16+24=40, that's likely better than a few dmen you're starting right now.  Jay & I snagged him in one league this morning (the first FA auction he was available for) but it took a pretty serious bid... we think it will be worth it.

Ilya Kovalchuk with two goals yesterday and he's up to 7+6=13 & plus-6 over his last 12 games.  He's a great buy-low candidate but at the same time I'm not thrilled that he's not shooting the puck as much he used to (2.9/gm this year vs 3.6/gm for his career) or shooting it as well (11.2% s% this year vs 14.5% career).

Time for Jordan Staal to step up as he's been getting a ton of minutes but he has two assists to show for his last seven games and through 15 games he's at his typical 40-something point pace. 

Anyone expecting Eric Tangradi to step up with all the Penguins injuries should reset your expectations as he played 5:46 yesterday and has one shot in three games during his latest call-up.

Michal Neuvirth with the 22 save shutout of the Pens yesterday, this was his first game action since Jan 18th and while he's been banged up this year and Varlamov is playing well (and a trade is always possible), I wouldn't put it past this guy to be the Caps #1 heading down the stretch as he's a solid goalie with some great playoff experience in the AHL.

1+2=3 for Travis Zajac yesterday and that's 2+3=5 over his last two games.  He'll attempt to match his longest point streak of the season next game... yes, Zajac's longest streak has been three games during his crappy season.

You'd have to be pretty desperate to be considering Dainius Zubrus but if you are then he scored again yesterday and has 3+1=4 & 11 shots over his last four games.

I mentioned Alex Steen's breakout season just a few days back so don't need to get into his 2A from yesterday... the Steen-Berglund-Oshie unit is clicking as Patrik Berglund had a goal yesterday and he now has 4+6=10 in his last nine games.

Lee Sweatt, aka the next Brian Rafalski (according to others), has been sent back to the AHL by the Canucks... hopefully you didn't buy into the hype on this guy.

Sharks goalie prospect Alex Stalock will miss the rest of the season after suffering a sliced nerve in his knee.