Dose: Rask Management

Eleven games happened last night, and this Dose gets pretty rambly, so let’s ditch the swimmies and dive straight into the deep end:

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PENGUINS 6, OILERS 4

-- That final score might not really move people, but the Penguins blowing a 4-0 lead is pretty startling (even if it didn't really cost them much more than style points in the end).

-- Brandon Sutter only has one fewer goal (15) than David Perron (16) this season. Perron faced some tough puck luck at times and has far more assists, yet that's still a bit surprising. Sutter is six goals from tying his career-high 21 from 2009-10, where he also easily produced a career-high in points with 40.

-- Nothing spectacular, but Derek Roy has 16 points in 32 games since joining the Oilers (after generating 10 in 26 contests with the Predators). Could that be enough for him to grab a fourth-line job in Edmonton or someone else next season?

-- Richard Bachman seems like the sort of guy teams should loan out as a mercenary for tanking.

-- I doubt he'll ever top his 22-goal, 46-point, 208 PIM season with Tampa Bay from 2009-10, but this is a nice fantasy bounce-back for Steve Downie, whose 59 games is the most he's managed to play since that season. He now has 12 goals, 26 points and 197 PIM (he could set a new best in the penalty box in 2014-15). The story remains the same for him, fantasy-wise: he'd be a great piece if he can stay healthy, which has been a huge if for quite some time.

STARS 5, HURRICANES 3

-- Look, Dallas' playoff hopes are toast. Still, this team seems beautiful (flaws and all) to tank outright, and honestly, the Stars are too far ahead of the truly repugnant teams to bother anyway.

Carolina is probably in that group, though some bad luck and periodic moments of feisty play make them a little less stinky than their absolute worst peers.

-- Victor Rask scored a goal and two assists, giving him six points in a three-game point run. The 22-year-old rookie could be a guy to watch going forward, though you'd have to be in an awfully deep league to draft him next season.

-- You know, Alex Goligoski gets a lot of guff for being unlucky enough to be in a trade where two superior players (though some may debate Matt Niskanen) went the other way. From a fantasy standpoint, he's been just fine, as he now has 30 points this season. He's pretty much been a lock to do that each season now, especially when you consider that his only time failing to do so since 2009-10 was in 2012-13, when he managed 27 points in just 47 contests.

Anyway, "Gogo" is a prime example of why it's wise to tune out certain narratives and merely judge a player by what he accomplishes on the ice. He's not a must-own in every format (he barely ever shoots or goes to the penalty box), but he's a decent fringe choice in very deep leagues. If nothing else, he's less worthy of ridicule in fantasy.

SENATORS 5, CANADIENS 2

-- Things look pretty interesting for Ottawa through March, especially if they can beat the Islanders on Friday. After that, they play five of six games in Ottawa.

While I'd still say that Boston has very high odds of holding onto its wild card spot (or one of the two), that doesn't matter as much to fantasy owners as their players merely being in competitive situations during the upcoming playoffs. Looks good for the Senators in that regard.

-- Erik Karlsson's shooting percentage has been around the 7 mark for five straight seasons. That's a positive thing since he fires the biscuit so much. He has 239 SOG in 66 games so far in 2014-15, an average of 3.6 per game. You don't see many defensemen with 1,000+ SOG in less than 400 career GP, but Karlsson is there. I expect him to set a new career-high for goals as he has 18 and set a best mark with 20 last season. Two of those came last night (and he also added an assist).

-- P.K. Subban only has three fewer points than Karlsson (50 to 53) and is more of a peripheral beast with 66 PIM. I'd like to see him shoot more often, though, as he only has 133 SOG in 68 games.

I'm not saying he has to reach Karlsson volumes - few can in NHL history, especially on defense - but I'd like to see him fall closer to 2.5 SOG per contest than his currently (just under) 2 average.

BLUE JACKETS 3, RED WINGS 1

-- The Blue Jackets stand as an especially dangerous spoiler threat if Sergei Bobrovsky stays healthy.

He really stole the show on Thursday (41 out of 42 saves, no goals allowed when Detroit generated a 13-1 shot disparity in the third period), but he's been on a tear in the last four games, stopping 111 out of 118 shots and going 3-0-0 with a non-decision.

I'm not really sure how much would be accomplished by an impressive run - this may be the last time Columbus can tank for quite a while, as they're building what seems to be a pesky, regular playoff team in the bigger picture - but perhaps the front office could nudge the team down the standings a bit merely by not playing "Bob" every night. Considering their investment in him and the injuries he's faced, I'm almost surprised they didn't try to shut him down for 2014-15.

-- Heck of a game from Justin Abdelkader: one goal, seven PIM, three SOG and one hit. With 18 goals and 36 points, he's already setting plenty of career highs and could even best his 62 PIMs from 2011-12 (he already has 52).

-- Nick Foligno keeps producing points. His numbers this season honestly seem like a different player put on No. 71. That's not meant to insult him, but really, he's just blown away his career numbers, which is odd for a guy who's 27 and now has 530 games of regular season experience.

BLUES 1, FLYERS 0 (SO)

-- Ken Hitchcock earned his 700th career coaching win in a fitting way: watching his goalie get a shutout. Brian Elliott now has four of those on the season, improving his record to 23-10-2 with a nice .922 save percentage.

-- It sure seemed like Steve Mason called his teammates out earlier this week. Regardless, he delivered from his perspective on the ice, stopping all 35 shots in a rare shutout-loss. Quite a weird season for him continues: he has a better save percentage than Elliott (.925 to .922), yet he's 13-15-10.

Mason faced 17 SOG in the third period alone, by the way.

-- Jaden Schwartz was probably the guy most frustrated by Mason, as he easily led the Blues with six SOG.

Jump for plenty of extra recap action.

PANTHERS 4, JETS 2

-- We might look at this game as the Consolation Bowl: maybe the two best teams that were unable to make the playoffs in their respective conferences. I'd say each team has problems, yet they're both pesky enough that they'd at least be a pain to deal with in a playoff series. But I also don't expect either to make it (Winnipeg has the better chance).

-- With goalies like Curtis McElhinney getting backup gigs, I'm a bit surprised that Dan Ellis was toiling away in the AHL. I'm not saying he's great by any stretch - his .905 career save percentage argues that I shouldn't have been surprised - yet he had enough moments of promise (granted, none came after the most recent lockout) that he's the kind of guy who could be worth a look.

... If you're really, really desperate. If nothing else, the 34-year-old is 2-0-1 to begin his run with Florida, even if his save percentage is fittingly weak at .900 even.

-- With two assists in this one, Jaromir Jagr now has five points in his first five games with Florida.

AVALANCHE 2, DEVILS 1 (SO)

-- Avalanche - Devils feels like it has parallels in the way Jets - Panthers did. In this case, Colorado and New Jersey seem close to the postseason on paper, yet too far to really make a run. They're both teams that seem a little bit self-destructive in some ways, whether it be a GM staying too long (New Jersey) or old faces sticking with too many old ideas (Patrick Roy and Joe Sakic in Colorado). Each team also would be in far, far more humble positions if their goalies hadn't bailed them out so often in 2014-15.

-- Cory Schneider's save percentage is impressive at .927, even better than Semyon Varlamov's .922. It's hard to deny Schneider as a legit difference-maker, as he's now at .926 for his career in 202 regular season games.

If only he could buy some on-ice luck with that hefty contract extension, though ...

-- Jarome Iginla hit 22 goals, something it seems like he could do well into his 40's/in his sleep. Interesting note about him: he has a 13.3 shooting percentage for his career (582 goals on 4,389 SOG), so his 14.3 shooting percentage isn't that out of line this season. If he could pick up the pace a bit, another 30-goal year could be in reach. Either way, he's more or less doing what Colorado hoped for.

KINGS 4, CANUCKS 0

-- How many teams would you confidently pick against the Kings in a seven-game series? The Ducks might just get lucky to wobble out of the West's first seed, although Los Angeles could conceivably catch Minnesota before this is all over with.

Interestingly, the Kings' road record is evening out, as they're now 12-14-6 in that area after posting some concerning away numbers earlier in 2014-15.

-- Really, a Canucks - Flames series would probably be the least "credible" matchup the West could muster, and the Kings could very well creep up into the Pacific's 2/3 matchup anyway. (How many top West teams would breathe a momentary sigh of relief at that thought, by the way?)

-- Jonathan Quick has won two games in a row and generated a point in five straight (4-0-1). He's also an impressive 12-2-1 in his last 15 appearances. As straightforward as his overall numbers seem, it's been remarkable to see his stats jump from one extreme to the other quite a bit this season.

-- With 33 points in 61 games (bests in plenty of areas), it looks like Jake Muzzin may be more than just a fancy stat enthusiasts' favorite going forward.

BLACKHAWKS 2, COYOTES 1

-- There are times when, if you blink or your vision is a little blurry, Teuvo Teravainen looks like a credible copy of Patrick Kane, especially since his number 86 isn't far off from 88. If Chicago sees serious cap turmoil this summer and he gets a big role boost, he might just live up to some of the hype among especially hardcore hockey fans.

-- Big goal for Brad Richards, a guy who only had three points in his past 16 games. His offense has been really hot-and-cold in general this season.

-- Mike Smith continues to put up nice numbers when all is lost. It's actually maybe the ideal tanking scenario: your expensive goalie gets to build up a little dignity while you still dig your way into the cellar. Still, the Coyotes have to wonder if his 42-save nights may eventually bite them.

-- In the past two games, Kimmo Timonen has seen very limited ice time. He had 9:21 TOI last night and 10:35 on March 8 after solid reps in his first two games. It's impressive that the 39-year-old is even playing, but on a team this talented, they can't really waste too much time on a feel-good story that can't provide much as far as results go.

SHARKS 2, PREDATORS 0

-- This outcome leaves the Blues in the top spot in the Central Division, and with two games in hand on Nashville, St. Louis is in a strong position to take that rugged group.

Nashville has bigger fish to fry at this moment, though, obviously.

-- On the bright side, the Predators seemed to drive play even on the road in this one. They generated a 35-21 shot advantage and the Sharks never generated more than eight SOG in any one period.

-- Tomas Hertl scored the "real" goal on the power play, as Tommy Wingels inflated the score with an empty-netter (which Hertl got an assist on).

-- Antti Niemi stopped all 35 shots on Thursday after making 39 out of 40 saves in a win on March 9. Of all the buffer threats, I'd probably be more concerned about San Jose overtaking a wild card spot than any other team.

BRUINS 3, LIGHTNING 2 (SO)

-- The Bruins have now won four straight games and are 6-0-1 in their last seven contests. They also really seem to have Tampa Bay's number, as they have 10 straight wins against the Lightning.

Again, I'd be really surprised if they end up missing the playoffs, and they pose a serious upset threat to pretty much any East contender.

-- Tuukka Rask looking like his dominant self again is a huge reason why the B's are scary. He's now 3-0-1 in March, boasting a .943 save percentage in that span. Really, he's been quite good since 2015 rolled around, so look out for the Bruins.

-- Steve Stamkos scored a goal and probably received his 10-minute game misconduct at the perfect time, as he wasn't that likely to score with one minute remaining in OT.

-- You could do worse than adding David Pastrnak to your mix, as he's been great the past month and a half. Boston has been hurting for young talent (since they've traded away a certain fellow who falls under that category, as you may have heard), so they have to be over the moon about an 18-year-old rookie showing this much potential already.

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