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NHL Skinny: Shark Attack

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GOALIE HOT SEAT

LOS ANGELES KINGS RED HOT
1st Chair: Dan Cloutier
2nd Chair: Martin Garon
Skinny: Coach Marc Crawford waiting until the last minute to name a starter for Saturday's game against Phoenix, evidence that there isn't a true No. 1 on the roster. Garon did get the nod – and why not, he entered the game leading the NHL in goals-against average – but was pulled after allowing five goals in just 26 minutes. The Kings really want Cloutier to succeed, so he'll likely get the next shot.

NEW YORK RANGERS RED HOT
1st Chair: Henrik Lundqvist
2nd Chair: Kevin Weekes
Skinny: In a surprise move, coach Tom Renney gave Weekes a third straight start Sunday against Buffalo. Later he admitted to the New York Post that the decision was as much a message to Lundqvist as a reward for Weekes' strong play of late. The Post speculates that Lundqvist will get the call Wednesday at Florida, but this is a situation worth monitoring.

BOSTON BRUINS RED HOT
1st Chair: Tim Thomas
2nd Chair: Hannu Toivonen
Skinny: Toivoven got a shot Saturday after sitting for three straight games, but his time in net was short-lived. Thomas had to bail him out in the third period of an overtime win, prompting coach Dave Lewis to utter the dreaded "he has to find his game" comment in reference to Toivonen. Neither goalie is playing as a No. 1, but for now Thomas is the man.

MONTREAL CANADIENS RED HOT
1st Chair: Cristobal Huet
2nd Chair: David Aebischer
Skinny: Coach Guy Carbonneau told the Montreal Gazette that it's probably time to start riding the hot hand in goal. Now that's a novel thought. Just who that hand belongs to is in doubt, however. Huet has been rock-solid in his two November starts while Aebischer owns the slightly better season numbers. There's no clear-cut favorite here, but be advised that Carbonneau seems inclined to end the timeshare that has resulted in the two splitting the team's 13 starts nearly evenly.

OTTAWA SENATORS HOT
1st Chair: Martin Gerber
2nd Chair: Ray Emery
Skinny: These guys have split the last eight starts evenly as it appears that coach Bryan Murray is content to rotate goalies every-other game until someone steps up. Adjust your lineup accordingly.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS WARM
1st Chair: Antero Niittymaki
2nd Chair: Robert Esche
Skinny: Esche followed up a shutout of Chicago by allowing four first-period goals on eight shots in a loss to Washington. He's simply killing fantasy owners with a 5.31 goals-against average that more resembles the ERA of a fantasy baseball castoff. Niittymaki hasn't been good, either, but he's the guy to own here if you're forced into it.

PHOENIX COYOTES WARM
1st Chair: Curtis Joseph
2nd Chair: David LeNeveu
Skinny: According to the Arizona Republic, Joseph is still the guy. LeNeveu made back-to-back starts, but according to coach Wayne Gretzky it was just a designed move to get Joseph some rest. Keeping the 39-year-old fresh will probably be a season-long mission, so expect a few more of these mini-vacations.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS LUKEWARM
1st Chair: Andrew Raycroft
2nd Chair: Jean-Sebastien Aubin
Skinny: Raycroft restored order with back-to-back solid starts in road wins at Tampa Bay and Buffalo. Aubin suffered a tough-luck loss Thursday, losing at Florida despite making 39 saves. It was his first loss in 14 starts with Toronto.

SAN JOSE SHARKS LUKEWARM
1st Chair: Evgeni Nabokov
2nd Chair: Vesa Toskala
Skinny: Same old story. In fact, this is San Jose's last week on the Hot Seat unless there is breaking news. Nabokov gets Minnesota and Phoenix this week while Toskala starts Thursday in Los Angeles.

I never understood people who traveled with the Grateful Dead, or those who would catch the U2 show in San Jose on Thursday before jumping on highway 680 for the Sacramento show two nights later. Again? Didn't you see them last night? But then Evgeni Malkin bolted Russia and Sidney Crosby came of age and the Pittsburgh Penguins began a West Coast tour that NHL officials, in their infinite wisdom, have made as rare as a full-lineup Guns N' Roses reunion. And I began to understand.

Watching Malkin and Crosby and their tape-to-tape act – yes, cassettes went out of style long ago, but trust me, you have to see this – on Thursday in Los Angeles just wasn't enough. So I booked a flight and caught a second show in San Jose. This one was historic, and not just because of the buzz in the building that comes only when collectively, everyone in attendance realizes they're onto something before mainstream America. It turned out to be the first goalless game in Malkin's career. And there was another slightly less historic first that leads our weekly roundup:

WEEKEND UPDATE: Need-to-know info from the past few days

From the moment Joe Thornton arrived in San Jose last season, he and winger Jonathan Cheechoo worked magic. Cheechoo scored two goals in their first game together, scored 48 more before the season was done and never went more than three games without a goal. But things have changed this year. Cheechoo hasn't scored in five games and Saturday, for the first time since the blockbuster trade that brought Thornton to San Jose, the two were split up. Thornton centered Milan Michalek and the instantly relevant Mike Grier while Cheechoo was shipped down to the third line to play with Marcel Goc and Pat Rissmiller.

So how did it work out? Well that's hard to say. Thornton assisted on three goals and was a season-best plus-2. Grier scored twice and didn't look at all out of his league. But Cheechoo gets an incomplete. He was ejected after a receiving a boarding major on his first shift. There's no telling where he would have fit into the power-play puzzle, though it's hard to image coach Ron Wilson messing with the league's best PP unit. This is a situation to keep an eye on Tuesday when San Jose hosts Minnesota. Wilson has messed with line pairings frequently of late, so seeing Cheechoo back with his old linemate wouldn't be a shock.

Buffalo has decided to be understandably tight-lipped about the condition of injured winger Maxim Afinogenov, but fantasy owners need to be prepped for a minimum two-week absence from the lineup. Team officials are classifying the injury – suffered Saturday against Toronto – as an upper-body injury. Very helpful. The Buffalo News believed he suffered a separated shoulder.

The short-term beneficiary is rookie Drew Stafford, who made his NHL debut on Buffalo's red-hot line with Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy. The 14th overall pick in the 2004 draft, Stafford was having his way with AHL opposition in his 11 games with Rochester. He picked up an assist in just under 13 minutes of ice time in his debut. Fantasy owners who prefer a bit more seasoning in their injury replacements may want to call on the likes of Glenn Murray or Mike Sillinger.

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  • Taylor Pyatt, LW, Van – The same formula worked last year for Vancouver: Place a journeyman winger alongside the wildly underrated Sedin twins and see what happens. In 2005-06, the result was a career-best, 33-goal season from Anson Carter, who was making his sixth NHL stop. Carter bolted to Columbus, totally sapping his fantasy value and robbing us of one of the all-time great line nicknames, the Three Brothers Line.

Now the man is Pyatt, who replaced Markus Naslund on the Sedin line a few games into the season. The results have been predictable. Playing alongside a pair of pass-first playmakers, Pyatt has a goal in six of his last nine games and at least one point in five straight. He has had an up-and-down career since joining the league in 1999, coincidentally going eighth in the same draft that saw linemates Henrik and Daniel taken in the top 5. A run at 30 goals isn't out of the question if his line assignment sticks.

MARKET MOVERS: Charting player values

Doug Weight, C, Stl – Had to figure he was due for a turnaround. Weight is still a playmaker, and even during his seven-game pointless streak was regularly logging 20-22 minutes per game. The Stanley Cup hangover now over, Weight led the entire player pool with six assists last week. Consider him a need-only add, as he'll likely pot no more than 12 goals this season.

Michel Ouellet, RW, Pit – Ouellet was begging for more top-line ice team even before Saturday's goal, assist performance against the Sharks. Already a power-play fixture alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Ouellet will start Monday's game on Pittsburgh's No. 1 line, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Joel Kwiatkowski, D, Fla – Kwiatkowski has three goals in five games dating back to Oct. 28. Not bad for a defenseman, but there's a catch. Kiwi has actually been pressed into forward duties by injuries. As long as he's a fourth-line center, he's worth a look as a No. 4 fantasy defenseman.

Mikko Koivu, C, Min – In a lineup shuffle, Koivu wound up centering a line alongside Pavol Demitra in Saturday's loss to Nashville. The result was his second straight two-point night. Remember that Koivu grabbed No. 1 center duties after training camp last season, but never really got going due to injuries. Keep an eye on him.

Johan Hedberg, G, Atl – Regular Kari Lehtonen has struggled lately. Not quite a Hot Seat battle here, but Hedberg is on the radar as a valuable fantasy No. 3. In three starts, all on the road, Atlanta's backup is 3-0 with a .921 save percentage.

Ville Peltonen, LW, Fla – Linemate and countryman Olli Jokinen projected Peltonen as a 60-point guy this season, which makes him playable in some formats. Out of the league and playing overseas since the end of the 2001 season, Peltonen has assists in back-to-back games skating on a line with Jokinen and Nathan Horton.

Colby Armstrong, RW, Pit – According to Monday's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Armstrong is off the Sidney Crosby line. So much for those points by osmosis we were all anticipating. He's a bench player at best when not skating with Crosby and Malkin.

Alexander Semin, RW, Was – The bottom dropped out on Semin Saturday as the winger found himself on Washington's fourth line along with Donald Brashear and Boyd Gordon. That point-per-game start looks like a distant memory.

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Kensik and Romig are tied atop the standings. The experts soured on Mark Bell and Kyle Wellwood among others while Bill Guerin and Jason Blake were inked to deals.