Dose: Carey On

OK gang, I’m wrapping up for the week with this Friday edition of the Dose. Make sure to welcome Michael Finewax and Jimmy Hascup for the respective Saturday and Sunday volumes, why don’t you?

Don't forget, for everything NHL, check out Rotoworld's up to the minute coverage on Player News, as well as follow@Rotoworld_HK and @cyclelikesedins on Twitter.

CANADIENS 3, RANGERS 0

-- Sheesh, Carey Price isn't exactly suffering from some sort of NHL award hardware hangover so far, is he? He got his first shutout of the season last night with some scintillating saves, but he's been sharp so far, winning all four contests with a .957 save percentage.

-- While I'm not wholly convinced that Montreal is the top East contender - Tampa Bay still stands as deeper, if you ask me - they're storing valuable points right now. That could make the difference in seeding, depending upon how the rest of their season goes.

-- Last night wasn't the type of performance that will keep Dan Boyle in the lineup. He was on the ice for all three Montreal goals; even if you cut him some slack for the empty-netter, that's still a -2. Can't help but wonder if it's the end of the line for a guy who's accomplished a ton as an undrafted free agent (who also loves Faith No More, thattaboy).

-- Tomas Fleischmann has all three of his points from 2015-16 in the past two games. He's still not getting much ice time, so I'd say he's most relevant as a DFS consideration rather than a fantasy pick-up. He's too good to be a PTO guy either way, though.

-- Speaking of under-the-radar Habs, Alexander Semin is stuck on two assists in five games. He had two SOG in this one, which is nice as he hasn't been firing the biscuit much. I guess that phase of Semin's career might just be done with?

WILD 4, COYOTES 3

-- It's not too shocking that Arizona finally hit a bit of a wall, especially coming on back-to-back games. They may have been able to grab at least a pity point if they woke up earlier, though; they went down 3-0 before making a game of it, remarkably scoring on their two SOG in the second period.

Remarkably, Anthony Duclair and Max Domi were the first two goal-scorers (followed by Michael Stone).

-- Zach Parise opened the scoring, giving him a promising five goals on the season. He also generated his first assist of 2015-16.

-- You're not going to believe this, but Steve Downie received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Shocking, I agree.

-- It's strange that the Wild have only played two games so far, but they've won them, and Devan Dubnyk grabbed each W.

ISLANDERS 4, PREDATORS 3

-- Give Thomas Greiss some credit for this one, as the Predators managed 47 SOG but couldn't manage the win.

-- Nashville's interestingly underrated, especially from the perspective of top scoring. People aren't particularly interested in giving Filip Forsberg or James Neal much consideration, but they're a fine pair of first-line wingers. Neal got his first goal of the season while Forsberg generated his second (both nabbing primary assists on each others' tallies).

-- OK, maybe that doubt has to do with Mike Ribeiro. He only has one assist in four games this season, suffering a -1 rating on Thursday night.

-- John Tavares is on fire. He has five points in his past two games, generating an assist and the GWG last night.

-- Even with last night's tough outing, Pekka Rinne's still at a .944 save percentage.

-- Nick Leddy doesn't have a point yet this season. He does have a very thick beard, though, so there's that.

PENGUINS 2, SENATORS 0

-- It's easier to stomach a goose egg from Sidney Crosby when his team wins ... except in fantasy of course. (Sorry.)

He's at least getting more chances lately, as he has all seven of his SOG in the past two contests. These things happen, especially in a time in which the sport is stuck in almost-Dead Puck muck.

-- Keep an eye on Mark Stone, who seemed to hurt his shoulder during the game.

-- Pittsburgh really limited Ottawa's chances, generating a 36-22 SOG advantage. That's how you exploit a team coming off a track meet of a game like the Senators experienced with the Blue Jackets on Wednesday.

-- Penguins management had big heart eyes for Daniel Sprong for much of training camp. He scored his first NHL goal last night.

As a 2015 NHL Draft pick, I'm not sure if he'll stick with the team, but I'd also note that the Penguins have incentive to keep guys up since they want to win now.

-- Evgeni Malkin is doing his part, with his first goal coming last night. He now has a point in two straight contests. Not exciting, but functional enough.

-- Marc-Andre Fleury got his first win and shutout of the season. He hasn't really been the problem but hasn't been saving the day, either.

CAPITALS 4, BLACKHAWKS 1

-- T.J. Oshie generated his first goal and first assist as a member of the Capitals in this game. I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what to expect from the shootout dynamo in Washington.

-- Not a big surprise that Alex Ovechkin scored a goal after his snooze alarm malfunction scratch.

-- Viktor Svedberg, enormous human who looks like he should be the top henchman in an action movie, scored his first career NHL goal. Chicago has to hope that he can help them with the depth issue that plagued them even as they enjoyed postseason successes last season.

-- Nice start to the season for Matt Niskanen. He scored his second goal of 2015-16, giving him three points in as many games.

-- Great showing from Washington's young guns. Both Marcus Johansson and Evgeny Kuznetsov generated two helpers apiece while Andre Burakovsky managed one assist.

-- It sounds like Nicklas Backstrom could be back by Saturday, but obviously keep an eye out for Rotoworld updates.

STARS 5, LIGHTNING 3

-- The luxury of having a star duo like Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn is that you could probably coast some nights (or at least be sloppy) and still win. If Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky continue to be productive, Dallas will be able to blot out defensive/goaltending questions with waves of offense.

-- It wouldn't be shocking if the line of Jonathan Drouin - Steven Stamkos - Ryan Callahan tops "The Triplets" this season. Tampa Bay's breakthrough trio is going to grab more defensive attention this season, Stamkos has obvious motivation beyond winning and Drouin still wants to prove he belongs. The Lightning merely need to hope that the competition ultimately translates to wins.

-- Kari Lehtonen is two for two this season, even if he's been more solid than great. Again, that's what the Stars are paying $10.4 million for: two goalies who are quite good, but not elite. Interesting proposition.

-- Circling back, you should grab Drouin while you can, as he's only owned in 57 percent of Yahoo leagues as of this writing.

-- Nikita Nesterov may face a suspension for checking behind (and hospitalizing) Curtis McKenzie. Ugly scene.

BLUES 4, OILERS 2

-- Rough night for Connor McDavid: zero SOG, just one hit and a -3 rating in 20:17 TOI, including almost five minutes of power-play time. The best news for the kiddo might just be that Edmonton's already gotten two games vs. the Blues out of the way.

-- Imagine how many goals Vladimir Tarasenko would score in a different time? You can only contain him so much even now, and it shows with his three goals (and five points) in four games.

-- Very nice start for Jori Lehtera, who generated a goal and an assist to give himself four points in four games. He may be another solid gem (65th overall in 2008) for a team that probably doesn't get enough credit for scouting and development.

-- Troy Brouwer continues to be a great fit in St. Louis: two assists, one SOG and an impressive seven hits.

-- Alexander Steen is strangely easy to forget, yet he remains productive with five points in four games (including a goal and an assist last night).

-- Robust game for Taylor Hall: unassisted goal, four PIM, six SOG and one hit.

-- I doubt an Edmonton goalie is going to succeed until they find a way to improve defensively. Cam Talbot isn't off to a hot start: 0-3-0, .906 save percentage.

PANTHERS 3, SABRES 2

-- Are we certain Jaromir Jagr isn't Ra's al Ghul with a Lazarus Pit?

Non-nerd translation: this guy might be a vampire or at least in possession of a fountain of youth, as he keeps producing. He scored Florida's first two goals and assisted on Aleksander Barkov's game-winner.

How? Seriously, how does he do this?

-- Relatively quiet night for Jack Eichel: -1 rating, two SOG, ample TOI on the PP and at even-strength. Not really a cause for concern, of course.

-- Seems like Ryan O'Reilly is settling in with the Sabres. His three points have come in the last two games and he's generating solid SOG with plenty of ice time.

-- Meanwhile, Cody Franson has ... not settled in. Zero points with a -4 rating, although he's even the past two games (he also managed six SOG against Columbus).

-- Goalies like Roberto Luongo probably don't circle dates like these against Buffalo. They probably draw smiley faces or rainbows next to those Sabres games instead.