DOWN THE STRETCH THEY
COME…….
With only 20 or so games left in the NHL regular season, it
is now crunch time for fantasy teams.
Maybe your team is in contention for first place or perhaps your
rotisserie club is close to a money spot and needs a little push-either way,
here are a 7 players that have been as hot as Carmen Electra putting on suntan
lotion. We’re not talking Mats Sundin,
Alex Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin-but rather some players that may still be
available on the waiver wire.
Darcy Tucker-TOR: Arguably,
Tucker is not the same player he used to be.
He toiled in the first half of the season, scoring 11 points while going
minus-11. But since the All-Star Break,
Tucker has been rejuvenated, scoring nine goals and six assists with five power
play goals in 19 games.
Sergei Samsonov-CAR: The
Christmas holidays were no picnic for Samsonov as the Chicago Blackhawks sent
him to the minors on January 2nd.
Carolina saw his potential and claimed Samsonov on January 8th
and since then, he has been putting up some nice numbers. In the past 28 days, Samsonov is scoring at
a better than a point-per-game pace, with eight goals and six assists in 13
games while going +7.
Toni Lydman-BUF: With
such offensive defensemen in Buffalo as Jaro Spacek and the departed Brian Campbell,
Lydman did not get many opportunities to exhibit his offensive prowess. In the first 48 games of the season, he
tallied one goal and eight assists.
However, in the 22 games post All Star game, Lydman has picked it up,
scoring two goals and 11 assists with two power play goals. He averages 23 minutes a game now and with
Campbell gone and Spacek injured, Lydman is getting some power play time.
Brett McLean-FLA: McLean
has been the recipient of some very good luck.
In the first 36 games of the season, McLean had five goals and six
assists and was averaging 13 minutes a game.
When Ville Peltonen went down with an injury, McLean got moved up to the
Panthers first line with Olli Jokinen and since then, he has flourished. In the past 20 games, McLean has scored
eight goals and eight assists with three power play goals and has seen his ice
time increase to 20 minutes per game.
Andrei Kostitsyn-MTL:
Kostitsyn showed some offensive ability in the Russian League but got out
of the gate slowly this season. In the
first two months of the season, Kostitsyn tallied five goals and three
assists. Since then, he has 16 goals
and 21 assists. Playing with Tomas
Plekanec and Alexei Kovalev doesn’t hurt as Kostitsyn has been productive on
the power play with 10 power play goals.
Michel Ouelete-TB: Ouelete
missed some time in the first half of the season resulting in low numbers. Before the All Star break, Ouelete scored
six goals and 12 assists with one power play goal. In the past month, Ouelete has scored six goals and four assists
with three power play goals in 13 games while going +6.
David Booth-FLA: Booth
has meshed very well with Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss on Florida’s second
line. He has seen his ice time increase
to around 19 minutes a game and has seen his point totals increase as
well. In the past 13 games, Booth has
scored four goals and four assists with 55 shots on goal.
WHO’S HOT (For the past month)
Goals
Tomas Vanek-BUF: 11 goals
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 10 goals
Mats Sundin-TOR: 8 goals
Alex Ovechkin-WSH: 8 goals
Nik Antropov-TOR: 8 goals
Ryan Malone-PIT: 8 goals
Sean Avery-NYR: 8 goals
Jason Pominville-BUF: 8 goals
Zach Parise-NJ: 8 goals
Assists
Alexei Kovalev-MTL: 14 assists
Thomas Kaberle-TOR: 13 assists
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 13 assists
Marc Savard-BOS: 13 assists
Nicklas Backstrom-WSH: 12 assists
Patrik Elias-NJ: 12 assists
Plus/minus
Chris Drury-NYR: +9
Zach Parise-NJ: +9
Viktor Kozlov-NYI: +9
Michael Rozsival-NYR: +9
Johnny Oduya-NJ: +8
Joe Corvo-CAR: +8
Paul Martin-NJ: +8
Shots on goal
Olli Jokinen-FLA: 70 shots
Jeff Carter-PHI: 62 shots
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 61 shots
David Booth-FLA: 56 shots
Tomas Vanek-BUF: 54 shots
Alex Ovechkin-WSH: 51 shots
Zdeno Chara-BOS: 50 shots
PPGs
Tomas Vanek-BUF: 8 PPGs
Darcy Tucker-TOR: 5 PPGs
Evgeni Malkin-PIT: 4 PPGs
Erik Cole-CAR: 4 PPGs
Tomas Plekanec-MTL: 4 PPGs
Zdeno Chara-BOS: 4 PPGs
Goaltending
Martin Brodeur-NJ: 9 wins; 1.81 GAA;
.938 SP
Vesa Toskala-TOR: 8 wins; 2.29 GAA;
.917 SP
