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Fantasy Hockey Friday #18 (3/20/15)

FHF Key

Flash Sale = Players that are on strong hot streaks that you will need to add immediately before they are claimed by another team.

Bargain Bin = Similar to the Flash Sale category, except these players will not be as highly demanded. They will be claimed relatively quickly, but are not completely known to all teams.

Line Scorers = Players that are currently very low in ownership percentage and includes less-skilled players who are currently playing on productive lines, and have proved/might prove worthy of adding. As every studious fantasy owner knows, line combinations are everything.

FHF

Flash Sale

Cam Talbot – G, 58% owned (LW: 54%) – New York Rangers

Talbot continues to shine for the New York Rangers in Henrik Lundqvist’s absence. He has recorded seven consecutive quality starts, winning five of them, including a shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks, and allowing a total of seven goals in that span. This adds to his amazing 2.15 GAA and .928 SP to go along with his 17 wins. He should be owned in every league until King Henrik returns.

Andrew Hammond – G, 57% owned (LW: 43%; PW: 40%, 20%) – Ottawa Senators

The ‘Hamburglar’ continues to roll for the red-hot Sens. He is now 12-0-1 and recently helped defeat the Boston Bruins, the team they’re chasing for the final wild card spot, bringing Ottawa to within two points of said spot. He allowed a career-high four goals against in this contest, but has not allowed more than two goals in any other game. Given Craig Anderson’s recent setback, Hammond will start every game and should be owned in all leagues.

Johnny Gaudreau – LW, 59% owned (LW: 54%) – Calgary Flames

‘Johnny Hockey’ has been red-hot for the Flames. The month of March has been his most productive yet, as he has five goals and twelve points in just nine games, with one-third of the month to go. His five power play points this month are a season high, as is his plus-six rating (tied with his October plus-minus). He now has 20 goals and 56 points in 70 games, an outstanding total for the rookie.

Sean Monahan – C, 54% owned (LW: 47%) – Calgary Flames

Like Gaudreau, March has also been Monahan’s most productive month of the season. He currently has seven goals and ten points in just nine games, with one-third of the month to go. He also has four power goals (and one power play assist), which is one fewer than he has scored in the previous five months combined.

Mark Stone – RW, 21% owned (LW: 16%) – Ottawa Senators

In his last five games, Stone has recorded two goals and six points (including a power play goal) while earning a plus-four rating. This gives him 18 goals and 49 points on the season as he has scored at a point-per-game pace all month long. Pre-All-Star break he had just 26 points in 44 games, but since has scored 23 in 24.

Eddie Lack – G, 43% owned (LW: 39%) – Vancouver Canucks

Aside from the five-goal affair in the Canucks’ most recent game, Lack has been lights-out for Vancouver. He has won four of his last six games, giving him a total of 12 wins. His stats have improved to 2.48 and .918.

Justin Abdelkader – LW/RW, 38% owned (LW: 29%) – Detroit Red Wings

The 2014-15 campaign has been his most productive year to date. He has already scored six goals in eight games this month. This adds to his career-high totals of 19 goals, 18 assists, 37 points, 7 power play goals, and 5 power play assists. In addition, he has 56 penalty minutes.

Bargain Bin

Marek Zidlicky – D, 51% owned (LW: 37%) – Detroit Red Wings

Zidlicky has had great success in his short time with the Red Wings. Since his trade deadline acquisition, he has scored three goals and seven points in his new home. Five of those seven points came on the power play, his specialty. He now has seven goals and 30 points this season, including 17 power play points and 115 shots.

Ryan O’Reilly – C/LW, 48% owned – Colorado Avalanche

O’Reilly is riding a 15-game hot streak of which he has scored two goals and 14 points. He is producing at a point-per-game pace this month.

Nail Yakupov – RW, 31% owned – Edmonton Oilers

Yakupov is finally starting to find his stride this season. In his past five games he has scored three goals and three assists, including three power play points. In that span he also recorded 17 shots. He has 28 points and 158 shots in total, but a sickly minus-33 rating.

Brandon Pirri – C, 4% owned – Florida Panthers

Pirri has been a goal-scoring machine in March. He has scored six goals (one power play goal) and his past eight games, giving him 17 goals and 19 points in total. He has been shooting the puck a lot more recently, including a ten-shot game three days ago.

Alexandre Burrows – LW/RW, 6% owned – Vancouver Canucks

With the recent injury to Zack Kassian, Burrows has slotted into the top line alongside the Sedin twins. In a short two-game sample, he has two goals and one assist. If he is able to retain the coveted Sedin line right-wing slot, he should prove very valuable in all fantasy leagues.

Line Scorer

Patrick Maroon – LW, 6% owned

Team: Anaheim Ducks

Line: 1st

Linemates: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry

Power play unit: N/A

Rene Bourque – LW/RW, 0% owned

Team: Columbus Blue Jackets

Line: 1st

Linemates: Ryan Johansen, Cam Atkinson

Power play unit: 2nd (Anisimov, Atkinson, Johnson, Savard)

Cody Eakin – C, 4% owned

Team: Dallas Stars

Line: 1st

Linemates: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn

Power play unit: N/A

Benoit Pouliot – LW, 2% owned

Team: Edmonton Oilers

Line: 1st

Linemates: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle

Power play unit: 2nd (Roy, Hendricks, Yakupov, Nikitin)

Michael Raffl – LW, 2% owned

Team: Philadelphia Flyers

Line: 1st

Linemates: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek

Power play unit: 2nd (Couturier, Lecavalier, Colaiacovo, MacDonald)

Melker Karlsson – C/LW, 1% owned

Team: San Jose Sharks

Line: 1st

Linemates: Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski

Power play unit: N/A

Alex Killorn – C/LW, 10% owned

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

Line: 1st

Linemates: Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan

Line combinations courtesy of DailyFaceoff. Stats courtesy of Yahoo!, Hockeydb, and Hockey-Reference.

Follow me on Twitter @KevinSporkaHOHM

 

Kevin Sporka

Kevin Sporka

Kevin Sporka is the Senior Media Analyst and Detroit Red Wings beat writer at HOHM. He is also the author of the Fantasy Hockey Fridays, In Retrospect, Milestone Monday, and Legends By the Number segments.
Kevin Sporka

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