This article is part of our Crashing the Net series.
Forward Focus
Corey Perry's iron man streak ended at 272 games on Monday due to a shoulder issue. The injury shouldn't keep him out for long, but it comes at a bad time given the Ducks state of desperation. It also comes at a bad time for Perry's fantasy owners as he has recorded four goals in his last five games and 12 goals in 18 contests.
Daniel Briere has gone 23 games without a goal. That's a criminal lack of production for a guy who is looked at as a near point-per-game scorer. He only has six assists in his last 16 games as the point production has just dried up.
Tyler Ennis has 18 points in 36 games with the Sabres this year in a somewhat disappointing follow up to the 49 points he recorded last year with the club. Ennis is doing his best to end the current season on a high note though as he's scored three goals in his last two contests. He's also produced 11 points in his last 14 games. The mighty mite is worth adding for an offensive boost off the wing.
Curtis Glencross is like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going, and going, and going. Where has Curtis gone of late? How about the back of the net. In each of his last seven games for the Flames he's recorded a goal to give him an impressive total of 25 in just 54 games this season (it's also one
Forward Focus
Corey Perry's iron man streak ended at 272 games on Monday due to a shoulder issue. The injury shouldn't keep him out for long, but it comes at a bad time given the Ducks state of desperation. It also comes at a bad time for Perry's fantasy owners as he has recorded four goals in his last five games and 12 goals in 18 contests.
Daniel Briere has gone 23 games without a goal. That's a criminal lack of production for a guy who is looked at as a near point-per-game scorer. He only has six assists in his last 16 games as the point production has just dried up.
Tyler Ennis has 18 points in 36 games with the Sabres this year in a somewhat disappointing follow up to the 49 points he recorded last year with the club. Ennis is doing his best to end the current season on a high note though as he's scored three goals in his last two contests. He's also produced 11 points in his last 14 games. The mighty mite is worth adding for an offensive boost off the wing.
Curtis Glencross is like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps going, and going, and going. Where has Curtis gone of late? How about the back of the net. In each of his last seven games for the Flames he's recorded a goal to give him an impressive total of 25 in just 54 games this season (it's also one better than his career best). How long can he keep up his insanely high shooting percentage of .269?
Jamie McGinn scored a rather unexpected 12 goals in 61 games with the Sharks this year before he was dealt to the Avalanche. Obviously Jamie likes maroon and blue as he has made it happen offensively with the Av's recording five goals and two helpers in seven games with his new club. All five of the goals have come in the last five games.
Alexander Radulov could play for the Predators this season. Not just that, but he could also dress for them in the playoffs. Radulov, who has been playing in the KHL in Russia, has one year remaining on his NHL deal with the Preds. Therefore, he could return to the States and not have to pass through waivers. Since he's also under contract, it doesn't matter that he will be joining the team after the trade deadline – he will still be eligible to participate in the playoffs since he is technically a member of the organization already. Radulov's return may not have a huge effect in the fantasy game since there isn't much time left in the season, but it could have major implications in the NHL Playoffs. It should be pointed out that Radulov scored 26 times in his last season in the NHL (2007-08) before recording 301 points in 210 games in the KHL. The guy can light up a scoreboard.
Michael Ryder recorded his 30th goal of the season over the weekend, the first time he has hit that mark since 2006. Moreover, the Stars forward is up to 53 points, this after failing to record even 42 points the last two years. But the most amazing aspect of Ryder's work of late is his massive run of effectiveness of late. Ryder has a point in 9-straight games, a career best streak in which he has seven goals and four assists. In addition to that run, Ryder has actually produced a point in 15 of his last 16 games. That's truly amazing production from a complimentary player.
The Sharks might be struggling, but Joe Thornton isn't. Over his last 19 games the Sharks' top pivot has five goals and 18 helpers, with eight of the points coming with the man advantage.
Blue Line Business
Brooks Orpik is a willing hitter, everyone knows that, an over his last six games he has racked up a pretty darn impressive total of 29 hits. He's also chipped in four assists making him a viable addition off the waiver-wire if you need a boost, just don't expect the offensive contributions to continue much longer (he has 28 points in his last 122 games).
Dimitry Orlov has done a little bit of everything the past week. In his last four games he's handed out four assists, is a +4 skater, has 12 penalty minutes and has recorded eight hits for the Caps from the blue line.
Kevin Shattenkirk has awoken of late with an impressive total of nine points the past two weeks for the Blues, the most points of any blue liner in that time. Two other blue liners have eight points the past two weeks in Niklas Kronwall and another Blues' blue liner – Alex Pietrangelo.
Slava Voynov has only 15 points and 10 penalty minutes on the year for the Kings but he's been effective offensively of late with a goal and three assists in his last six games.
Marek Zidlicky underperformed all season with the Wild (14 points in 41 games including zero goals) leading to his trade to New Jersey. Marek has only one goal in nine games with the Devils but he has been hot of late with a goal and four helpers in his last three games for the club.
Crease Cops
Someone has found the magic elixir of success yet again. Ilya Bryzgalov, a massive under-performer virtually the entire first half, has remembered just how good he is an can be. After posting a 2.99 GAA in his first 33 games Ilya has done his best Bernie Parent impersonation with a 1.75 GAA over his last 16 games. Ride the big fella the rest of the way as he's gone 9-3-2 in his last 14 decisions.
Jimmy Howard is set to return to action Tuesday from his groin injury (he last skated on March 4th). As great as he has been this year – 33 victories with a 2.05 GAA and .920 save percentage – the Wings have actually gotten exactly the same production out of his backup Joey MacDonald (8-4-1, 2.01 GAA, .920 save percentage). How is that for a duo in net? Make no mistake though, this is Howard's team when he's healthy enough to play.
Evgeni Nabokov, what happened? In four games in March Nabby has a pathetic GAA of 3.94. What, is his hero Dwayne Roloson (who owns a season long mark of 3.82(in 29 games)? As for Nabby, expect him to right the ship quickly as he hasn't posted a GAA above 2.28 in any of the past three months.
Mike Smith allowed four shots in a shootout loss Monday night. That was the third time in 10 outings that he has permitted four goals. It's amazing to think that despite a few blowups here and there that Smith has a 2.00 GAA in his last 18 forays onto the ice.
Semyon Varlamov has reclaimed the starting spot in Colorado. After losing the #1 role to J-S Giguere, Varlamov has pulled himself up by his bootstraps and is stopping virtually everything that is being thrown at him. Semyon has allowed just 25 goals in his last 14 games leading to a 1.81 GAA thanks to his uber-impressive .939 save percentage.
