Dose: Stepan up for Rangers

The NHL’s holiday break concluded Saturday night with a full 13-game slate. I tend to think the mini vacation is a boon to players as an 82-game season takes a toll on the body. It's also nice that the league totally shuts down so everyone involved can enjoy time with family and friends.

With that being said, I hope everyone had a great holiday and I wish you all a happy new year.

SABRES 4, ISLANDERS 3 (shootout)

— OK, so this isn’t how it’s supposed to go for one of the East’s best teams. Enter the third period with a 3-0 lead and lose? I bet there were a lot who turned off the game, especially against the Sabres. Buffalo scored three straight — on six shots — to tie it up and force extra time.

— You have to think things would’ve ended differently with Jaroslav Halak — or Chad Johnson — in net. Halak is dealing with a lower-body injury and Jack Capuano elected to go with the recently recalled Kevin Poulin in net over Johnson. Poulin made 23 saves in all. Keep an eye on Halak on Sunday and early Monday to see whether he’s worth starting this week.

Don’t forget, for everything NHL, check out Rotoworld's Player News, or follow @Rotoworld_ HK or @jhascup22 on Twitter.

It's not too late to join a Yahoo Hockey pool.

— Chris Stewart scored again for the Sabres, which bodes well for his trade value. He now has goals in two straight and points in four straight. Notable because four of his nine points have come in those four games.

— John Tavares scored twice. I’m a bit surprised to see him below the point-per-game (31 in 35) level, but the 15 goals are very nice. I do think he finishes with at least 80 points this season.

— Jhonas Enroth (33 saves) was back to his old tricks again after going down 3-0. He made a combined 17 saves in the third and overtime.

RED WINGS 3, SENATORS 2 (overtime)

— If there’s one thing to take away from today’s dose, it’s to watch and appreciate the beauty of Gustav Nyquist’s game-winning goal. He had the puck for close to 30 seconds, swirled around the offensive zone two times, hardly being touched, and sniped the winner past Craig Anderson. The way he controlled the puck was Pavel Datsyuk-esque. Nyquist has 15 goals now.

— Jimmy Howard started for the first time since suffering a groin injury Dec. 19, and he was sharp, making 31 saves. Howard is an underrated goalie and makes a very solid and consistent play in fantasy leagues.

— It looks like the Senators have something in Mike Hoffman, that’s for sure. He has 11 goals and 17 points this season, nothing amazing … but he’s certainly taking the next step from last year’s 25 games. As is always the case, I look at the shot total to see how “real” this performance is. Seventy-nine is a little light.

— Craig Anderson has been far and away the best goalie in Ottawa, so much so that I expected him to get a nice run of starts over Robin Lehner. We’ll see if that’s the case after he gave up three goals on 27 shots Saturday night.

LIGHTNING 2, HURRICANES 1

— Nikita Kucherov should not be unowned in any league at this point. His goal gave him 15 and 34 points this season. It’s nice to see him produce like this, even with Steven Stamkos centering him. Quite a start to the season for the 21-year-old.

— Alex Killorn is another promising player. though he’s been mired in a major rut, tallying just two assists in 12 games. He had five shots on goal, so perhaps he’s feeling rejuvenated. He had just two shots over four games prior.

— Andrej Sekera will not finish the season with the Hurricanes. He’s affordable and in the last season of his contract. No team is going to acquire him expecting offense, but he does provide a reliable, steady presence on the back end.

— Not that surprised Cam Ward (36 saves) was so sharp in this one. He hadn’t played in a week, so he had a lot of time to rest and refocus. Still don’t think he finishes much better than his 2.42 goals-against average and .913 save percentage, though.

RANGERS 3, DEVILS 1

— Whether it’s one or three coaches, the Devils’ problem is roster construction. There’s just not much a coach can do with a forward group as old as theirs. They need Jaromir Jagr in his prime to carry them. Ultimately, I think Lou Lamoriello’s time has come and he needs to be replaced this offseason.

— The Rangers have now won eight straight games, the third-best win streak in franchise history. Limiting the opposition's chances has been paramount.

— Derek Stepan scored three times for his third career hat trick. Rick Nash recorded a hat trick in the Rangers' last game. Stepan got one on the power play, one shorthanded and one on the empty net. Stepan and Derick Brassard have become solid 1A and 1B centers this season in New York. Stepan has six goals and 22 points in 21 games, with points in five straight. I’d feel comfortable starting him regularly. Known more for his vision, he's the type of player who makes others around him better.

— Henrik Lundqvist (19 saves) appeared to have a wonderful holiday break, and he also announced that he and his wife are expecting their second child. His on-ice play has been stellar, too. He now has seven consecutive wins and ratios that are continuing to improve.

BLUE JACKETS 6, BRUINS 2

— So much for getting Tuukka Rask an extended break. Niklas Svedberg received the start and didn’t get out of the second period as he made 12 saves on 15 shots. Rask came in to play the rest of the game and was just as successful (or unsuccessful, if that’s how you see it.) Expect Rask to be between the pipes Sunday against the Red Wings.

— The Blue Jackets aren’t completely healthy but they are certainly starting to round into form, or at least into the team many expected them to be entering the season.

— Scott Hartnell made his return to the lineup after missing over two weeks with a broken finger. Hartnell scored twice, so he now has eight goals and 19 points in 29 games this season.

— Kevin Connauton enjoyed a career night with a goal and two helpers. It increased his offensive output to nine points on the season. He’s still young, but there’s nothing in his resume that suggests he can be a factor offensively, at least in fantasy leagues.

— The Jeremy Morin trade is going to end up a win for the Blue Jackets. He scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket on Saturday. He was pushed out of Chicago because of the glut of forwards, so he never got to really just play without any worry of sitting. He scored 30 as recently as the 2012-13 season in the AHL. The talent is there.

— Patrice Bergeron remains one of the best two-way players in the game, even if the Bruins appear to be only average. He has seven goals and 27 points this season. His 26 penalty minutes also make him more valuable, too.

JETS 4, WILD 3 (overtime)

— The Jets needs to thank the stanchions at the Xcel Energy Center for this one. Andrew Ladd scored the winner, but it was only after it hit off the back glass, bounced off the top of the net and banked off of John Curry’s back and into the net. Ladd has 12 goals and 27 points this season.

— Bryan Little has 14 goals this season, but he’s shooting 21.5 percent, so I’m not a believer this continues unless he starts firing more on net. He has just 65 shots.

— Michael Hutchinson effectively made back-to-back starts for the first time this year. Important to note because he and Ondrej Pavelec have shared the goaltending duties. Hutchinson wasn’t that great, though making just 22 of 25 saves. I still think he finishes with the most starts from this point forward.

— Speaking of goalies. Curry made the unexpected start after Darcy Kuemper went down with an illness. Curry stopped only 19 of 23. Goaltending continues to be the Wild’s downfall.

— Now might be the last time to acquire Jason Pominville. He’s not a fancy name, but he is due to explode here very soon. Twenty-six points in 33 games is excellent. Add that he has just eight goals on 117 shots and that makes him even more intriguing moving forward.

CAPITALS 3, PENGUINS 0

— The Capitals are looking more and more like the real deal this season and it starts in net. Braden Holtby used to worry me because he was inconsistent and was plagued by mental lapses. That hasn’t been the case in December (and most of this year), where he’s posted a .933 save percentage and won eight games. He made 31 saves for his third shutout.

— There is nothing appealing about Eric Fehr (two goals), though he does have four game-winners, good for second in the league, this season. Nine goals and 14 points prove he’s not worth a look.

— The Penguins are already playing shorthanded, and on Saturday they lost Patric Hornqvist and Kris Letang to foot/leg injuries, both of which occurred blocking shots.

— Sidney Crosby has averaged below 20 minutes of ice time this season, and that has actually made him a more effective player and speaks to the depth the Penguins once had. He played 23:14 on Saturday and will probably log around that much for a while because of the amount of injuries this team is dealing with. Crosby was a minus-three.

— Marc-Andre Fleury (31 saves) will be counted on more than usual because of this patchwork lineup. I think he’ll be OK.

STARS 4, BLUES 3

— The Stars got goals from four different players, none of whom are expected to carry the load offensively. That’s a good sign. Jason Demers and Travis Moen got their firsts. Ryan Garbutt and Trevor Daley picked up the others.

— The biggest concern for this team remains sustaining offensive pressure and defending in their own zone. They just are not good at it. Therefore, they’ll need Kari Lehtonen (30 saves) to pick up the slack.

— David Backes scored and had nine penalty minutes. He’s been incredibly disappointing this season. You draft him expecting scoring punch and penalty minutes. Nine goals and 16 points? Gross. I still think he’s worth sticking with.

— Jake Allen (20 saves) did not have a good night, but he gets the win regardless. In fact, he hasn’t been good in three straight, really … giving up four, five and three goals in each of those games. Martin Brodeur will likely get the start Sunday. A good performance could mean more in the short-term, too.

PREDATORS 4, FLYERS 1

— The Predators were 2 for 48 at home on the power play, by far the worst in the league, according to NHL.com. Then they scored three on five chances against the Flyers. Filip Forsberg, Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson got the markers.

— Forsberg also got an assist to give him 14 goals and 34 points this season. We’re running out of superlatives to give the 20-year-old at this point.

— Pekka Rinne has won four straight games, giving up one goal in each of the last two. He made 26 saves Saturday. There is no goalie I’d want more in fantasy leagues.

— Claude Giroux scored the goal for the Flyers. I’ve been touting the coming breakout, and it has started already, with four of his 12 goals over the last four games. He has 42 points this season, too.

COYOTES 2, DUCKS 1 (shootout)

— The Ducks aren’t supposed to lose games to the lowly Coyotes, but this underscores just how average they are possession-wise. Rene Bourque and Zbynek Michalek got the regulation goals, so there’s next to no fantasy value between those two.

— What is worth watching, though, is how Shane Doan won this in a shootout. His stick broke and the blade went flying over Frederik Andersen, who got distracted, as the puck slid into the net.

— Andersen made 28 saves in the overtime loss.

— The story of the game, to me at least, goes to Devan Dubnyk, who made 35 saves. Dubnyk is clearly the best goalie on this roster. If Mike Smith gets a start, it should only be when Dubnyk needs a breather. If Dave Tippett goes to him more than he should, it would be clear to me that the organization is operating based on Smith’s paycheck and not on performance. Dubnyk has a 2.52 goals-against average and .924 save percentage this year.

BLACKHAWKS 5, AVALANCHE 2

— Patrick Kane is one of the most offensively gifted players in the NHL. Yet it surprises me that he’s scored 30 just once. Kane potted two Saturday and now has 18 goals and 39 points this season. He’s made a mark on the scoresheet in seven of his last eight games.

— Brandon Saad now has eight goals and 23 points this season. He’s going to be such a tremendous player in this league. At 22 years old, this is just the start.

— Nathan MacKinnon is proving that the NHL beast is not an easy one to tame. He put up 24 goals and 63 points last season, but has “disappointed” in his second season with just six goals and 16 assists. Now is the time to try to get him on the cheap, though, as the game-breaking talent is still there. He’s also just scoring at a 5.6 percent clip.

— All things considered, Calvin Pickard (28 saves) has done a great job between the pipes in Colorado. This one figured to be lopsided unless the rookie stole one because the Avs struggle to sustain an attack and the Blackhawks are one of the best teams at holding onto pucks. Those who own Pickard should look elsewhere, though, as he’s likely getting sent to the AHL soon so he continues to get playing time.

FLAMES 4, OILERS 1

— We’re being treated to a quite the rookie class. Forsberg, Aaron Ekblad, Michael Hutchinson. And, oh yeah, that that little guy Johnny Gaudreau. The Flames winger scored twice Saturday, and he now has goals in three straight games and six altogether.

— Jonas Hiller was sharp in net, making 26 saves. These are the kinds of efforts Calgary signed him for. Karri Ramo should be nothing but a backup moving forward as long as Hiller keeps doing this.

— It’s a shame that the Oilers are said to be willing to trade anyone on the roster. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins looks like he has the makings of a legitimate first-line center, and those are incredibly hard to come by. He should be a player the team withholds in discussions. But dysfunction often breeds desperation.

KINGS 3, SHARKS 1

— Some players just end up with “their numbers” year after year when the season comes to a close, and Anze Kopitar is one of those guys. He endured an underwhelming 10 points in 21 games during the season’s first two months. After Saturday’s goal-assist effort, he now has 13 points in December. He also has 12 points during a five-game points streak.

— Jake Muzzin is one of the best all-around defensemen in the game. He can defend with the best and consistently pushes the pace. He has four goals and 17 assists this season. Even nicer is the 75 shots on goal.

— Joe Pavelski has made himself into one of the premiere players in this game. He was always a very good one, but the past two seasons he’s reached another level. A goal Saturday gave him 17 — sixth-best in the NHL — and 30 points. A second consecutive 40-goal season is within reach.

— Antti Niemi (26 saves) had helped the Sharks earn at least a point in his last eight starts.