Giroux-Voracek a dynamic duo

Twelve games on this Saturday's slate. Pretty weird that of the five games that went past regulation, four of them ended with a 3-2 score.

Also, Jannik Hansen briefly collapsed at the Canucks bench in the second period against the Flames after a hit. Coach Willie Desjardins said after the game that Hansen has been checked out and "everything looks good." To see him slump over and the Canucks frantically call over the doctor was a very scary sight. Glad that he is OK.

Happy holidays.

KINGS 4, COYOTES 2

— The Kings seem to have this switch they turn on when they need to kick their game into gear. Sure, they dominated possession-wise for the duration, against a bad team, mind you, but entered the third period 2-2. It doesn’t seem like a recipe for success, but they get the benefit of the doubt because of those rings.

— Four different players got goals for the Kings — Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, Alec Martinez and Trevor Lewis. I’ll spotlight Gaborik because he’s been on quite a tear lately. The Slovak has eight points over a four-game points streak, with six of his 10 goals. Gaborik has always been a very streaky player.

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— Even more promising for the Kings: three more points (all assists) from captain Anze Kopitar. He’s got nine of his 22 points over his last three contests. He’s definitely underperformed with regards to his draft position, but I think we can still expect a point-per-game pace from here on out.

— It’s easy to blame the Coyotes goalies for such troubling start to the season. But Devan Dubnyk (31 saves on 35 shots) has actually been pretty good when you boil it down. He was the reason Phoenix had a chance to win this game. The penalty kill has struggled, and it gave up two more goals Saturday. Coach Dave Tippett needs to stick with him, though: Dubnyk entered the game with a .936 save percentage at five-on-five, which is borderline elite.

AVALANCHE 5, SABRES 1

— This game pitted two in the bottom third of the league in possession numbers. Despite the score, it was actually a pretty even game with regards to those metrics. And that probably isn’t a good thing for the Avalanche.

— Calvin Pickard continues to show he’s unfazed in the big leagues, stopping 28 shots. The 22-year-old entered the season as the AHL starter, and now he’s showing he’s certainly capable in the NHL. Enjoy it while it lasts as Semyon Varlamov will eventually be back.

— For all the talk about the players struggling to live up to expectations, Alex Tanguay has surpassed them. The grizzled veteran scored twice and added an assist, and now leads the team with 22 points. Jarome Iginla also showed some life with three helpers. We’re probably looking at a 20-plus-goal, 50-plus-point season from him.

— It’s kind of disappointing that against the Sabres, Matt Duchene is held to just one shot on goal. He’s struggled to get it going this year (20 points).

— Pretty cool: Johan Larsson was called up because Matt Moulson was sick. It wasn’t even known if he’d make the game in time. Then he scores his first career goal.

— This is what happens when Sabres goalies aren’t playing out of their minds. Jhonas Enroth gave up four on 22 shots, and has allowed 14 over his last four games.

FLYERS 7, LEAFS 4

— Can’t say we didn’t see this coming with the Maple Leafs, who have now given up 11 goals over their last two games, both losses. There is just no way to win consistently when you’re getting outshot every night: 42 to 25 on Saturday. Unless Jonathan Bernier can do it all on his own, I see more games like this in the future. (OK, not seven goals against, but you get the point …)

— I’ve never questioned the Flyers' forward group. The defense and goaltending (Ray Emery made 21 saves on 25 shots) were always going to be the problem. Rob Zepp will make his NHL debut tomorrow, against the Winnipeg Jets, at age 33. With Steven Mason out, would it be surprising, if Zepp fares well, to see him get another one?

— Claude Giroux, man. It’s hard to say, with 39 points, that a bigger breakout is coming, but things could continue to get better for him. Even after the two-goal, two-assist effort, he’s scoring at an 8 percent clip, still just under 4 percent worse than his career rate. Ten goals now could still turn into 25-30 by season’s end. His 126 shots are second in the NHL. He's on pace for over 300.

— The Flyers also got goals from Michael Raffl (goal, assist), Sean Couturier (goal, assist), Scott Laughton and Nicklas Grossmann.

— There are very few duos in the league as dangerous as Jakub Voracek (four assists) and Giroux. Voracek now leads the league with 42 points. Giroux is second. They are one-two in assists (30, 29), too.

— David Clarkson now has nine goals, which are four more than he had all of last season. This one ended a five-game drought. He’s recaptured a bit of fantasy value this year.

CANADIENS 4, SENATORS 1

— Alex Galchenyuk is going to be a star in this league, I have little doubt about that. He’s riding a three-game points streak now, after a goal and an assist Saturday. With 10 goals and 24 points, he’s well on his way to topping his career-best of 13 and 31. If there’s any chance to get him in dynasty leagues, now might be one of the last times to do it.

— Brendan Gallagher (goal) could be quite the valuable fantasy forward if he had a little more finish to his game. He has 96 shots on goal, with nine goals and 18 points. Love the energy he plays with, but kind of disappointed his feistiness hasn’t translated into penalty minutes (12).

— After giving up the game’s first goal shorthanded, Carey Price settled down to make 24 saves. Price’s save percentage has steadily increased in each month: .920, .924, .928.

— This is an outing that might force Dave Cameron to stray from the goalie share. Robin Lehner gave up four goals on 29 shots, and he’s now given up four in two straight. Craig Anderson clearly gives the Sens the best chance to win.

CAPITALS 4, DEVILS 0

— Washington has been playing some very good hockey lately. It is starting to take the next step in the East because of steadier goaltending from Braden Holtby, who made 21 saves, and has helped the Caps earn a point in eight straight outings. He’s up to a 2.29 goals-against average and .917 save percentage now.

— The Capitals got help from three of their stalwarts: Nicklas Backstrom (two goals, assist), Alex Ovechkin (goal) and Mike Green (goal). An interesting tidbit on Backstrom: he has seven goals and 14 points in 11 Saturday games.

— The Devils really have no offensive spark. Who do you call on to change the course of a game? Jaromir Jagr is a great player, but he’s not a game breaker anymore. Jagr (five goals, 15 assists) is barely going to get to 50 points this season, and that’s partly due to the lack of offensive weapons.

— I was hesitant from the start on automatically assuming Cory Schneider (17 saves) would be a frontline goalie. Sort of like a “prove it, then I’ll believe it” kind of thing. The Devils’ futile offense doesn’t help, either.

ISLANDERS 3, LIGHTNING 1

— The Islanders outshot the Lightning 47-21 in this game, yet found themselves down 1-0 midway through the third. They stuck with it, though, and scored three straight (two within 12 seconds, the last via the empty net).

— John Tavares tied the game at one, Anders Lee won it and Nikolay Kulemin got the empty-netter. In the midst of a great season in New York, Tavares hasn’t truly lived up to expectations with 13 goals and 28 points in 33 games. There’s no reason to sell low on him, though, as he’s a hot streak away from getting into the point-per-game range.

— Jaroslav Halak has now won four straight. Crazy what a reliable goalie can do for a team.

— Ben Bishop will probably return very soon, but Andrei Vasilevskiy is turning heads with his stellar play. He made 45 saves Saturday, and has now given up three goals on 71 shots in two games. If he was a bit older, I would feel confident in saying he’d replace Evgeni Nabokov later this season, should the veteran continue to struggle. The problem, of course, is that it’s tough to give a backup job to someone who’s just 20 because he needs to play.

PENGUINS 3, PANTHERS 1

— How many times during his career has anyone said that Marc-Andre Fleury needed to singlehandedly carry the Penguins to a win? Not often, right? The Penguins normally have offense in spades and control the game territorially, too. That hasn’t necessarily been the case recently with the amount of injuries they’re dealing with. Fleury was huge, though making 45 saves. He has a 19-4-2 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and .933 save percentage.

— Sidney Crosby scored his first goal in nine games, and he also got seven shots on goal, too. We all expect more than 10 goals (46th in the league) and 36 points (seventh).

— The Penguins are going to have to lean on some inexperienced blueliners for a little bit, so it’s nice to see Derrick Pouliot score a goal in his first career NHL game. The 2012 first-round pick should eventually be a very good player, though it’s tough to expect immediate success at age 20.

— Even in a loss, the Panthers continue to surprise this season. Forty shot attempts to 21 for the Penguins. Vincent Trocheck got the only goal, on six shots.

RANGERS 3, HURRICANES 2 (shootout)

— Carolina was very lucky to get a point in his one, thanks to 32 saves from Cam Ward. I’d still be leery on counting on him the rest of the way; this team really isn’t that good and he’s been below average, too.

— The Rangers are beginning to round into form ever so slightly, with five consecutive wins. They controlled this one with 46 unblocked shot attempts to 25.

— Kevin Klein has more goals this year (seven) than he had the last two seasons (five). I still see no reason to own him … that 22.6 percent scoring rate will not last. He does have a pretty heavy shot, though.

— J.T. Miller is looking like he belongs. He has three goals in five games, and he’s played all three forward positions over the past week. Miller slotted in at right wing Saturday.

— Henrik Lundqvist has also won five in a row. The rates still aren’t King-like, though: 2.46 goals-against average, .912 save percentage.

— I’m beyond happy to see Jeff Skinner making an impact on the score sheet. Eight goals and eight assists are not exciting on paper, but they are when you consider the injuries he’s had to deal with in his career. Can’t believe he’s still only 22 years old.

BLUE JACKETS 3, BLACKHAWKS 2 (shootout)

— Columbus really had no business winning this game. Thankfully for the Blue Jackets, they employ Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 39 saves. He really seems to relish a heavy workload, both in terms of starts and shot output. The Blue Jackets are 8-0-1 over his last nine starts.

— Good on Jack Skille and Kevin Connauton for scoring, but neither warrants even a second look in fantasy leagues.

— Luckily, Corey Crawford has the excuse that he hadn’t played since Nov. 29 because of a lower-body injury. Basically cost them the game by allowing two goals on 19 shots.

— Patrick Sharp’s overall numbers aren’t Sharp-like (five goals, 12 points in 19 games), but he’d be someone I’d target if an owner is willing to discount him. Twenty-one shots on goal over the last four games, too.

PREDATORS 6, WILD 5 (overtime)

— These are not Barry Trotz’s Predators, that’s for sure. These guys still know how to defend, but Peter Laviolette has opened up the offense, too.

— Goal scoring throughout the lineup in this one. Matt Cullen, Craig Smith and Roman Josi all had a goal and an assist. Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Mattias Ekholm (winner) all got one apiece, too.

— Josi has four goals and 17 points this year, so he’s well on his way to eclipsing his career-high in points set last year, which was 40. He’s really starting to come into his own.

— You know things are going well when you give up five goals and still win. We’ll let this one slide for Pekka Rinne, who made 22 saves. Rinne had allowed a combined five goals over his last five games.

— Thomas Vanek scored and assisted. Five goals and 15 assists aren’t what anyone signed up in drafting him, but he does have four points in his last four games, so perhaps he’s starting to feel more comfortable in Minnesota. The shot totals are key: 54 on the year is not even two per game, though he has gotten at least three in three of his last four contests.

— Zach Parise scored twice and also assisted. He’s setting himself up for a very big year.

— The Wild could be a pretty good team, but I’m pretty certain it’s not going to come as long as Darcy Kuemper and Niklas Backstrom are in net. They’re going to have to look for help on the trade market. Kuemper gave up three on 14 shots before being yanked for the start of the second, while Backstrom gave up three on 30.

CANUCKS 3, FLAMES 2 (overtime)

— Chris Tanev scored on his birthday to help the Canucks end a five-game losing streak. Other than that, Tanev and his five points don’t offer much in fantasy leagues.

— Ryan Miller (26 saves) needed a performance like this. He had lost three straight, but overall, he really hasn’t been that great this season, despite the 17 wins. He has a 2.65 goals-against average and .901 save percentage and has seen his SV% decrease in each month of the season.

— Twelve of Radim Vrbata’s 24 points have come on the power play, and that’s not really a new thing for him. Six of his 12 goals have come with the man advantage, too. There aren’t many guys who score 30 in this league.

— Johnny Gaudreau is putting together a fine rookie season with seven goals and 24 points. He's still enduring the ups and downs of a young player, though; he has just three shots over his last four games.

— Jonas Hiller (30 saves) should get an extended look as the primary guy in net.

SHARKS 3, BLUES 2 (overtime)

— Brent Burns scored the winner with 37.5 seconds left in overtime, on the power play. He has 10 goals and 26 points this season, good for third among defenseman. Burns is the perfect fantasy player because his defensive shortcomings don’t really matter much.

— Antti Niemi (18 saves) has won seven consecutive games. He’s had a good bounce-back December after an average November.

— Still don’t really get why the Blues wanted Steve Ott in a trade, then why they extended him for two years. He scored his first goal in 59 games. It's just his seventh point of the year. #Toughness, I guess?

— What has happened to Patrik Berglund’s once-promising fantasy career? He has just four goals and 11 points this year.

— I was a little worried for Jake Allen when Martin Brodeur came in just because of the pressure to perform with a future Hall of Famer behind him, but that’s been quelled for now. Allen made 27 saves, and though he hasn’t been amazing, he’s been a lot better than Brodeur.