Dose: Leafs Due for a Fall?

At the end of every Dose I write, I plop down a link to Rotoworld’s injuries and suspensions pages. The reasoning is simple: some ailments fall through the cracks while others might slip a fantasy owner’s mind, so it’s wise to have that information one click away. It looks like this almost every time:

For a full list of injuries and suspensions, click here. Go to Rotoworld's NHL page for breaking hockey news and more.

I bring this up today because of some of the significant hits that could result in suspensions and/or injuries, especially since suspension announcements generally come around the late morning and early afternoon, making the Rotoworld NHL news page that much more important.

(Really, you’d be wise to keep tabs on that page anyway, but I’ll try not to lecture you too much in that regard. /lowers pointed finger)

Anyway, with substantial injuries to Jaden Schwartz and Damon Severson (plus an impending update for Max Pacioretty that might not be positive, although you never know with his “Wolverine” healing powers …), I figured I’d spotlight these resources. With that out of the way, let's get recapping.

Sign up for some fantasy hockey over at Yahoo and make sure to get a copy of Rotoworld's Draft Guide.

Also 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.

KINGS 6, BLUES 4

-- This was quite a game for both teams' power plays, as the Blues went 2-for-3 and the Kings went 3-for-6. Los Angeles really ran away with this one after the Blues came out to a 3-1 lead. St. Louis generated an 11-8 shot advantage, but the Kings responded with 29 shots to the Blues' 17 through the final 40 minutes. I'm guessing Darryl Sutter was more verbose in the locker room during the first intermission than he's been in his entire lifetime of press conferences.

-- As I've noted before, Anze Kopitar's one of those guys who go too high in drafts for very understandable reasons: he's easily one of the 10 best players in the NHL in reality most seasons. Still, it's not the greatest sign when a guy has a five-point night and he's still not really even in the neighborhood of a point-per-game pace, at least if that guy is expected to flirt with such work.

Then again, if the Kings keep him with Marian Gaborik (likely) and Jeff Carter (maybe not as likely) over the long haul, I'll probably eat those words.

Not literally though, because I get the impression that paper doesn't taste very good.

-- Martin Brodeur won't be making $10K or $20K with performances like these: six goals allowed on 37 shots. Jake Allen rebounded nicely and iced much of the intrigue in this situation.

-- Kevin Shattenkirk fought Justin Williams in this game. Yup, weird.

SHARKS 4, OILERS 3

-- While the Kings got some relief from their struggles, better times don't seem to be in sight for Edmonton, although the Oil at least kept pace with San Jose shots-wise (aside from a 13-7 advantage for the Sharks in the third period).

-- For a guy who frankly has a name that sounds kind of made up, Melker Karlsson's off to a nice start: three assists in four games (plus four PIM).

-- It's weird when 28 points in 33 games is borderline disappointing, but Logan Couture is just so good that it almost is. I really love the 107 SOG in 33 games, though. He's just 25 years old; let that sink in for a moment.

-- Teddy Purcell hasn't really done anything with his opportunity with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall: zero points, one measly SOG in his last three games. I was intrigued by what he could do with heightened linemates, yet the early return seems to be "nothing," at least for fantasy purposes.

DUCKS 2, CANADIENS 1

-- Is Bruce Boudreau OK? There are moments when I see him on the bench with his face mood-ring red and worry about his health. Coaching has to be a stressful job, even when you're winning as often as he is. Here's hoping that all is well in that regard.

-- Frederik Andersen has to dominate the "best value in fantasy" award, doesn't he? He's started 20 games in a row and is now 18-5-4. It's hard to be worried about John Gibson whenever he returns, though things tend to change dramatically for the Ducks when it comes to netminders.

-- Matt Beleskey has 15 goals and just three assists in 34 games this season. It's funny to see "MLB pitcher" style stats, but it's not as funny if your team is suffering from feast-or-famine results.

-- Seriously, Max Pacioretty didn't look good leaving the ice. Not ideal.

-- Alex Galchenyuk has four points in his last two games. I haven't made much of a secret about my excitement for his potential, though I think you can best take advantage of that while he's still sorely underrated in FanDuel.

HURRICANES 4, MAPLE LEAFS 1

-- Wouldjalookatthat: the Maple Leafs won't always be able to win games when they're heavily outshot. Apologies for the doom and gloom, but this would be a smart time to sell high on fringe Buds because the Leafs only play five home games through Feb. 6 (!).

-- Justin Faulk's a great find for those who are OK with punting plus/minus as he's -13. It's easier to stomach that when the trade-off is 19 points, 14 PIM and 87 SOG.

-- Regular Dose readers know that I border on Dion Phaneuf apologia because of his fantasy versatility. Thursday was a good testament: one goal, two PIM, five SOG, two hits, two blocked shots and 25:02 TOI.

Here's some more apologist behavior: it's not so much that he's a bad defenseman as it is he's being overextended. It's the equivalent to giving a good-in-small-doses character a spin-off show (let's hope that "Better Call Saul" is not the Phaneuf of television, then).

PENGUINS 1, AVALANCHE 0

-- Holy smokes did the Penguins ever dominate puck possession in this one, as they generated a 48-29 shot advantage over Colorado, including a 40-22 advantage after the first period. I was going to start off praising the Penguins for being scrappy despite the mumps - still probably worth mentioning - yet it's also an indictment of a Colorado team that hit the iceberg in a dramatic enough way to get James Cameron's attention.

-- Blake Comeau already has more points this season (19) than he had in 61 games in 2013-14 (16). The guy does have a 24-goal campaign under his belt (during a career-high 46 point season with the Islanders in 2010-11), so it's not as if he's been plagued by a total lack of skill. He's also a decent enough PIM guy, as he already has 26 in 30 games in 2014-15.

Still, if you need an Exhibit A on the impact Evgeni Malkin can have on a player's stats, you probably only need to turn to Comeau.

-- You can't blame Calvin "Creepy Eyes" Pickard for Colorado's struggles. He's 4-5-2 with a .934 save percentage and has faced 90 SOG in the last two games. It kind of reminds me of Tyler Seguin tearing it up even as Dallas struggles: an important player (Pickard for the Avs with Semyon Varlamov hurting) is excelling and it doesn't matter enough.

(Dallas seems to be showing some signs of competence lately, for what it's worth).

-- No points for Sidney Crosby in his first post(?)-mumps game, but he did win his faceoffs, fire three SOG and log more than 20 minutes.

-- Matt Duchene has been so disappointing, it’s almost kind of impressive in an abstract way.

CAPITALS 5, BLUE JACKETS 4 (OT)

-- Nick Foligno is as impressive as Duchene has been unsettling: 30 points, 20 PIM and solid peripherals overall. His 22.9 shooting percentage indicates that things will slow down, although he might make up for some of that if he just keeps firing away; Foligno has 11 SOG in his last two contests. His stat line from Thursday is just spellbinding: two goals, one assist, two PIM, six SOG and three hits. He even took a few draws.

Will he slow down in some areas? Almost certainly, though we'll find out about the exact extent. What can it hurt if you see how long this hot streak lasts, however? He's owned in just 76 percent of leagues.

-- Foligno almost seems like he's taken up the all-around mantle for Brandon Dubinsky, who only has two points through his first five games. I haven't given up on Dubinsky overall, but it's probably wise to make sure he's 100 percent before making an investment in him.

-- It's downright bizarre to see the Capitals score five goals without Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scoring at least one point.

-- Sergei Bobrovsky finally lost a game, but Bob has generated a standings point in every December start. It's almost like he transformed back into a Vezina goalie once November ended.

-- Amusingly enough, Braden Holtby has enjoyed a similar month: he's 5-0-2 in December.

PANTHERS 2, FLYERS 1 (SO)

-- It's not that Jakub Voracek's brilliant work is some fluke, it's just that the sheer scale of his achievements have been pretty stunning. With 12 goals on 93 SOG, it's not like he's just riding crazy puck luck, either.

-- Claude Giroux is awesome too, but he's a real weird dude: talk of boogers and jersey biting in a disturbingly short span of time.

-- It's weird to live in a universe in which Steve Mason's being held back by his team (not the other way around).

-- Roberto Luongo is on fire right now: three wins and four goals allowed in his last three contests. He only faced more than 30 shots once in that span (stopping 29 of 31 against Detroit on Dec. 12). I wasn't so sure he'd get many wins with Florida, yet things have been great for both sides; Luongo's now 12-6-6 with a .926 save percentage.

-- Maybe the Panthers should have traded off Brian Campbell after all; he only has eight points in 30 games and hasn't done anything peripherals-wise (zero PIM, 48 SOG).

Actually, this is the fantasy side talking, as his possession stats are actually pretty darn good, albeit with some very cozy zone starts.