Is Jeff Carter finally coming around or is he just motivated to get a ticket out of Ohio?... a hat-trick on six shots last night and he has 5+3=8 & 35 shots over his last nine games.

Giving up three goals on 11 shots (against the CBJs) and getting pulled in the 1st period may be rock bottom for Antti Niemi but he's been on a downward slope for a while going 5-7-2, 2.93 & .898 over his last 15 games.

2A last night for Derek Roy to extend his point streak to four games (2+5=7). Lining up with Jason Pominville lately has been the catalyst for him, much better than playing with stiffs like Stafford & Leino, as Pommer has 6+8=14 & 31 shots over his last nine games.

Interesting 3-way trade yesterday as the Avs added Steve Downie while Kyle Quincey ended up with Detroit (via Tampa). Not sure I like this trade from a fantasy perspective for the parties involved. Whoever Downie plays with in Colorado, it's a downgrade from lining up with Stamkos. Sure he may see more ice-time (15:30/gm this year) and quality PP opps but I think he'll be in tough to find a better situation than he had in Tampa. I think this move downright blows for Quincey as he goes from playing 22 minutes a night & on the PP to the 3rd pairing for Detroit. Maybe next year, if Brad Stuart moves on, he'll be thankful for the move but I think this really hurts his fantasy value for this season. As for residual impact, hopefully this means more quality ice-time for Brett Connolly in Tampa so we can see what he can do and Stefan Elliott has been recalled by the Avs and should see decent PP minutes going forward.

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Five straight multi-point games(!) for Jason Spezza after a pair of goals yesterday, so that's 7+7=14 in his last five. Dick Vitale wouldn't be happy with the schedule though as the Sens last five have been against NYI, FLA, TB, EDM & NSH... cupcake-city, baby!

The light sked has been kind to Craig Anderson as well as he has won three straight and two of those were shutouts.

Full credit for a sparkling game, even though it was against the Islanders, to Erik Karlsson for his 2+2=4, plus-4 & five shots. He has 17 more points then the 2nd highest scoring dman. I've said it before, it's like being able to start an extra forward in your lineup if you own him.

I grabbed Jiri Tlusty the other day after I realized that he had a single point in seven straight games and he doubled my pleasure with 2A last night... true story.

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Happy Presidents' Day to our readers below deck and happy Family Day to some of us up here... just two games today but beware that it's an early start (1ET), so get your lineups in!

Could this be the fantasy line of the night from Derek Roy of all people?... 2+1=3, SHG, plus-4, two PIMs & four shots. Roy now has points in three straight (2+3=5) and has found his way off my bench for the upcoming week for the first time in many months.

Evander Kane did a little of everything last night with 1+1=2, plus-2, four PIMs, five shots, three hits & two blocks... he has 3+3=6 over his last three games.

Andy McDonald scored on six shots yesterday and has goals in three straight games... and it's even more impressive that he's been doing it on a line with Berglund & Langenbrunner.

Max Pacioretty extended his point streak to six games (6+2=8) with a PPG yesterday. His liney, David Desharnais, has a streak just as long (1+7=8) and only has five shots during the streak so I think you understand who the setup man is and who pulls the trigger.

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Mike Smith was 30/31 last night and has given up a total of seven goals during a seven game winning streak.

28 save shutout for Miikka Kiprusoff last night and he hasn't suffered a regulation loss over his last seven games (5-0-2) and hasn't given up more than three goals in a game over his last 18.

Nothing can slow Wayne Simmonds down lately as he scored again yesterday and has 8+2=10, 20 PIMs & 33 shots over his last nine games. It looks like he could approach 30 goals, 100 PIMs & 200 shots this year.

The Flyers pulled off another trade for a bulky dman as they moved a few picks to Tampa for Pavel Kubina. I'm a fan of Kubina as he's been a solid all-around fantasy option over the years but has been stuck in a defensive role with the Lightning, so this could be a positive move for him but I'm not sure that Philly really has plans to use him any differently, maybe he sees some PP2 time but I'm not counting on much.

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Martin Brodeur stopped 36 of 38 last night and has now won six of his last seven games. In fact, he's been very steady over his last dozen appearances as he hasn't given up more than three goals in a game and is 8-3-1, 1.80 & .928. I'm pretty convinced he'll make a nice stretch drive add for teams that need help in net and should come relatively cheap.

One of the biggest surprises for me this season has been the production of Ryan O`Reilly, I really didn't think he had it in him and the kid has kept it up all season. 3A last night gives him 5+10=15 over his last 15 games. He is on pace for 62 points this season, not bad for a guy who totalled 52 over the previous two years.

Win number five in a row for Joey MacDonald as he stopped 20 of 21 last night. Jimmy Howard is expected to be ready for Sunday and no, MacDonald has not played his way into the #1 job... not happening.

The Habs flipped Hal Gill to the Predators for Blake Geoffrion and 2nd rounder. No real fantasy impact among the players involved as Geoffrion is a prospect of questionable stock, he had a strong senior year in college but I'm not sure he has a lot of scoring upside in the NHL. Otherwise, this should open up some more regular ice-time for guys like Yannick Weber & Raphael Diaz in Montreal. Not sure about Nashville but I think this could drop Roman Josi's ice-time a little and may mean that Ryan Ellis is scratched more often... keep an eye out for that.

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Claude Giroux pulled an Evgeni Malkin last night with a season high 5 points (all assists), 2 PPP, and plus-2. He's now just two points behind Malkin for the scoring lead so maybe Geno won't be running away with that race after all.

Another beneficiary of the 7-2 drubbing that the Flyers put on the Sabres was Scott Hartnell. He gets the fantasy line of the night with 1+3=4, 2 PPP, plus-2, 2 PIM, and 5 shots. He's got points in four straight with 2+6=8.

Wayne Simmonds joined the 20-goal club for the first time in his career after scoring his eighth and ninth PPGs of the season. He's been scoring a lot with 7 goals over his last 8 games.

Wild game in Tampa Bay last night as the Lightning beat the Sharks 6-5 in a game that felt like it had 10 lead changes. Steven Stamkos with 2 goals and 2 assists and the 4 point performance was a season best for him. He's just three points off the scoring lead. With 39 goals he's 7 ahead and it looks like he'll be reclaiming the Rocket Richard trophy after relinquishing it for one season to Corey Perry.

Victor Hedman with 3 assists and 4 PIM last night and he's been quietly productive with 1+6=7, plus-5 and 8 PIM over his last 8 games.

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Continuing his excellent season, Joffrey Lupul was all twos last night with 1+1=2, plus-2, 2 PIM and 2 SOG. Lupul is tied for fourth overall in league scoring with 23+38=61, plus-7, 44 PIM, 173 SOG and 17 PPP on the year. Who saw this coming? I'm going with nobody.

Scoring in the loss for Edmonton was Jordan Eberle with his 25th and Taylor Hall with his 20th. Eberle is having a huge second season and he's an eye-popping 8+4=12 in his last ten games.

Tim Connolly picked a good time for his first goal in over a month as he snagged the overtime winner in Edmonton, but he shouldn't be anywhere near your lineup so I'll just shut up about him.

Yet another big night for Jason Spezza, as he followed up his Valentines Day hat trick with the assist trick last night in the Senators' 6-2 beat down of the Panthers. Spezza has gone crazy over the last week, with 5+7=12, plus-5, 15 SOG and 3 PPP in his last four games. He now sits at second overall in NHL scoring and is on pace for his best season since 08-09, when he scored 92 points. Where did he go in your drafts this year?

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Huge night for Jason Spezza with 3+1=4, plus-3, two PIMs, four shots & nine FOWs. He has 5+5=10 during a four game point streak.

Not to be outdone by Spezza's heroics, Ilya Kovalchuk had 3+1=4 of his own to go along with a plus-2 & seven shots. Pick any stretch of games over the past three months and he'll have some nice numbers but I'm pretty fond of 6+10=16 & 31 shots over his last eight games.

Goalies were in lockdown mode last night as Henrik Lundqvist & Craig Anderson pitched shutouts and Martin Brodeur, Steve Mason, Joey MacDonald, Jonas Hiller, Evgeni Nabokov & Miikka Kiprusoff each allowed just one goal in their respective victories. Kiprusoff is now 9-3-2, 1.68 & .943 over his last 14 games and hasn't allowed more than three goals in any game during that stretch. MacDonald has now won four on the trot but his dream sequence is likely in it's final stages as Howard should return soon.

Not so hot between the pipes was Tim Thomas as he gave up three goals on 20 shots in a loss to the Rangers. He is a very pedestrian 7-6-0, 2.77 & .906 in 14 games since NYE. Recall that he has a bit of a history of this kinda behaviour.

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