Fantasy Forecast for Thursday, October 15

WEDNESDAY'S ROUNDUP:

Thursday's Sharks-Capitals matchup is a fantasy owners dream offensive game. This contest features four of the top five current scorers in the League -- Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton -- and four of the top eight goal scorers -- Heatley, Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Patrick Marleau. The one fly in the ointment could be San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who has a career 8-0-0 record against Washington with one shutout and a 1.98 goals-against average. Furthermore, he has never surrendered a goal to Ovechkin or Semin, and the Capitals have not beaten the Sharks since Feb. 20, 1999.

The Capitals will throw a bit of a new look at San Jose with veteran center Brendan Morrison (6 games, 3-1-4, owned in 7 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) on a line with Ovechkin and Mike Knuble. "You can't ask for anything else. If you're a centerman in this league and those two guys are your wingers, it is kind of like winning the lottery," Morrison told the Washington Times. "I'm just going to enjoy it." Nicklas Backstrom centers Alexander Semin and Brooks Laich.

Thomas Vanek, 40-goal scorer and fast healer? The Buffalo star, who was said to be out for "weeks" after suffering an upper-body injury on Tuesday in a win against Detroit, may return sooner than originally expected. A lot sooner. The Sabres' team Web site reports that Vanek (4, 3-0-3, 92 percent) could be back in action in mere days.

Coach Lindy Ruff said on Wednesday that the injury isn't as bad as first thought. "They thought he would feel a lot worse (Wednesday), but he's actually feeling a lot better," Ruff said following practice. "He's doing remarkably well which is good. I wouldn't even rule him out maybe for a game on the weekend, as well as he's doing today.

"It's a stretch but it's something I won't rule out now."

The Sabres host the Islanders on Friday and Atlanta on Saturday.
While Vanek is sidelined, Adam Mair practiced in his place on a line with Drew Stafford and Derek Roy.

Despite giving the start to backup goalie Antti Niemi (3-0-0, 1.73 GAA, 23 percent) on Wednesday, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville voiced a vote of confidence for struggling starter Cristobal Huet (1-1-1, 3.69 GAA, 88 percent), who will be in goal on Thursday at Nashville (another team with goalie problems). "Huet's the guy," Quenneville told the Chicago Tribune. "He's going to play here most of the games through early on in the year. We're comfortable with the goaltending situation.
"(Huet) seems to be pretty comfortable with his game," Quenneville added. "He can play a little better. Other than that I think he's trying to work on his game in practice. He'll fight through it."
With Chicago playing back-to-back games, it was not a shocker that Quenneville gave both goalies a start. Also, Huet was coming off a horrible performance on Monday against Calgary. "I think it's understandable," Huet said. "I had a tough game (Monday night) and it gives Antti a chance."

Speaking of Nashville, coach Barry Trotz pulled his starting goalie for the second consecutive game on Wednesday, a horrific 6-0 loss in Dallas in which Dan Ellis (2-1-0, 3.16 GAA, 37 percent) allowed three goals on three shots against and was replaced by Pekka Rinne only 6:31 into the first period. "It really tears the heart out of your confidence and little bit of your energy when they score on the first three shots," Trotz told the Tennessean.

"If you look at some of the saves (Dallas goalie Marty Turco) had to make tonight, I thought they were a lot tougher than our goaltenders, unfortunately." On Monday, Rinne (0-2-0, 3.64 GAA, 73 percent) started and allowed four goals on nine shots in 20 minutes before being replaced by Ellis in a 6-1 home loss against Edmonton.

If Trotz's goalie rotation holds up as earlier announced, Rinne will start on Thursday at home against Chicago.

This might not be the fantasy breakout year for Nikita Filatov (4, 1-0-1, 17 percent) owners. The 19-year-old Blue Jackets winger has seen his ice time in four games go from 9:18 to 7:41 to 6:14 to 4:49. On Tuesday, he was a healthy scratch in a victory against the Flames, yet GM Scott Howson says Filatov is sticking with the big club. "No, we just don't think sending him to the minor leagues is the right thing to do," Howson told the Columbus Dispatch. "He spent his year there last season, and we believe it wouldn't be any good for his development to put him back there again."

Steve Bernier's stay on Vancouver's top line didn't last long. The Winnipeg Sun reports recently recalled Austrian rookie Michael Grabner will play next to Henrik Sedin and Alexandre Burrows on Friday at Calgary. With Manitoba of the AHL, Grabner was 2-4-6 in four games. At Wednesday's practice, Bernier (5, 1-2-3, 6 percent) was bumped to the third line with Kyle Wellwood and Ryan Johnson.

The latest on Toronto's woeful goalie situation is, according to the Toronto Sun…rookie Jonas Gustavsson (0-2-0, 3.09 GAA, 25 percent) still can not practice with a groin injury and the earliest he can come off injured reserve is Oct. 24. Vesa Toskala (0-2-1, 5.56 GAA, 40 percent), sidelined with a bad knee, will not be ready until Toronto's Western road trip which starts in Vancouver on Oct. 24. So Saturday's home game against the Rangers will probably be a second straight start for Joey MacDonald (0-1-0, 4.00 GAA, 2 percent). After that, the Leafs are off for a week.

As if a 3-2 loss in Anaheim wasn't bad enough, Wild coach Todd Richards offered these words about start winger Martin Havlat (5, 1-4-5, 96 percent) in his post-game report: "Pulled groin. Day-to-day." The Wild are already missing injured forwards Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Petr Sykora and Cal Clutterbuck.

The Red Wings' team Web site confirms that center Pavel Datsyuk (5, 0-2-2, 99 percent) will miss Thursday's home game against Los Angeles with an upper-body injury. He is listed as day-to-day. Without Datsyuk, coach Mike Babcock has comprised these lines to face the Kings: Dan Cleary-Henrik Zetterberg-Todd Bertuzzi; Ville Leino-Valtteri Filppula-Jason Williams; Justin Abdelkader-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves; and Kirk Maltby-Kris Draper-Tomas Holmstrom.

The Bruins are playing their first road game on Friday at Dallas, and at Wednesday's practice coach Claude Julien tried out some new lines, according to the Boston Globe. Marc Savard centered Michael Ryder and Marco Sturm, and David Krejci was between Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler. Unchanged were Mark Recchi-Patrice Bergeron-Chuck Kobasew, and Shawn Thornton-Steve Begin-Byron Bitz. "It's just a little tweak for no other reason than to see if that will help maybe shake things up a little bit and get some attention and maybe spark something," Julien said. "I don't think it's directed necessarily at anybody except for trying to get the best four lines possible."

The Devils play home games on Friday against Atlanta and Saturday against Carolina. Coach Jacques Lemaire told the Star-Ledger there's a good chance backup goalie Yann Danis will make his season debut in one of the contests, giving starter Martin Brodeur (3-2-0, 2.93 GAA, 98 percent) a breather. "He might," Lemaire said. "We said we can't look for an easier game because there are none. We don't know exactly when he'll step in, but he will."

New Rangers Marian Gaborik (7, 6-4-10, 98 percent) and Vaclav Prospal (7, 3-7-10, 56 percent) both crashed the NHL's Top 5 scoring list following Wednesday's 4-2 win against Los Angeles. Prospal scored twice and added an assist, and Gaborik added his sixth goal of the season. Interestingly, all of Gaborik's scores have come in the third period.

An update on the current lines used by the Senators, courtesy of the Ottawa Sun: Alexei Kovalev-Mike Fisher-Daniel Alfredsson; Milan Michalek-Jason Spezza-Jonathan Cheechoo; Nick Foligno-Ryan Shannon-Chris Neil; and Jarkko Ruutu-Chris Kelly-Shean Donovan.

Remember to check the Fantasy Forecaster's daily Top Picks. Here he lists the players you should have in your active lineup on Thursday.

THURSDAY'S PROJECTED GOALIES:

San Jose (Evgeni Nabokov) at Washington (Jose Theodore), 7:00 p.m. ET
Colorado (Craig Anderson) at Montreal (Carey Price), 7:30 p.m. ET
Tampa Bay (Mike Smith) at Ottawa (Pascal Leclaire), 7:30 p.m. ET
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) at Detroit (Chris Osgood), 7:30 p.m. ET
Chicago (Cristobal Huet) at Nashville (Pekka Rinne), 8:00 p.m. ET
St. Louis (Chris Mason) at Phoenix (Ilya Bryzgalov), 10:00 p.m. ET

RECENT INJURIES:

Cal Clutterbuck, RW, Minnesota: Placed on injured reserve with a sprained left ankle.
Pavel Datsyuk, C, Detroit: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
John-Michael Liles, D, Colorado: Is out two weeks with a bruised shoulder.
David Moss, LW, Calgary: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Steve Ott, LW, Dallas: Is day-to-day with a oblique injury.
Sami Salo, D, Vancouver: Will miss up to six weeks with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
Daniel Sedin, LW, Vancouver: Will miss four to six weeks with a broken left foot.
Andrej Sekera, D, Buffalo: Will miss at least two weeks with a rib injury.
Sheldon Souray, D, Edmonton: Is day-to-day with a concussion.
Petr Sykora, RW, Minnesota: Is day-to-day with a groin injury.
Thomas Vanek, LW, Buffalo: Is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Dennis Wideman, D, Boston: Is day-to-day with a shoulder injury.

TRANSACTIONS:

Chicago Blackhawks: Recalled RW Jack Skille from Rockford (AHL).
Florida Panthers: Assigned C Shawn Matthias to Rochester (AHL).
Phoenix Coyotes: Assigned F Mikkel Boedker to San Antonio (AHL).
Vancouver Canucks: Recalled RW Michael Grabner from Manitoba (AHL).
Washington Capitals: Recalled C Keith Aucoin from Hershey (AHL).

NHL.COM EXPERTS LEAGUE:

Week 2 results through Oct. 14
Rocky Trottier 5 vs. Hempstead Slowpokes 3
Skoula Hard Knocks 2 vs. The Birdcage 8
Clown Shoes 8 vs. Code Monkeys 2
Big Skillets O'BKLYN 4 vs. Philly Cheesestakes 4
Ovie's Heroes 4 vs. No Shanahan-igans 4
Hammerhead United 2 vs. Out on a Dan Hinote 5

EMAIL OF THE DAY:

Hey,
I've got Scott Clemmensen as a backup goalie right now, but he wasn't even backing up Tomas Vokoun recently. Dan Ellis is a free agent. Should I swap him for Clemmensen? Ellis' career numbers are better, but last season they weren't spectacular, although he's off to a great start this season. Clemmensen played great when taking over for Martin Brodeur last year and Vokoun doesn't look like he'll be able to hold down the job in Florida. What should I do?
-- Mike

Given that Clemmensen has yet to play, I think it's best to give him a few games before you make a rushed decision. First, I'll recap Clemmensen's situation. As it happens with players from time to time, he was granted time away from the Panthers to tend to personal matters and returned home to Iowa. While Clemmensen was away, Florida recalled prospect Alexander Salak from Rochester (AHL) to provide backup for Tomas Vokoun. Clemmensen (16 percent) is now back and practicing with the team, and according to reports, may make his first start of the season as early as Friday, but it'll be a tough assignment at Philadelphia. Tomas Vokoun (1-4-0, 3.80 GAA, 83 percent) has played every minute of every game thus far. After winning the season-opener in a shootout, Vokoun has dropped four straight.

Clemmensen, who looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate last year (that's no exaggeration at 25-13-1, 2.39 GAA) probably played way above his potential while with the Devils, providing relief while Martin Brodeur was injured. But Florida signed Clemmensen clearly with the intention of giving him a fighting chance at the No. 1 spot.

As for Ellis, frankly I'm surprised he's played this much (2-1-0, 3.16 GAA, 171 minutes, 37 percent) this soon. After a better-than-expected run to start the season, he absolutely bombed on Wednesday at Dallas, failing to stop the first three shots fired at him and was replaced by Pekka Rinne only 6:31 into the first period. Ouch! Before the game, Ellis had a 2.18 goals-against average in 165 minutes.

If not for a lackluster preseason by incumbent No. 1 Rinne (0-2-0, 3.64 GAA, 132 minutes, 73 percent), there might not even be a rotation going on in Nashville, but that's exactly what we have as announced by coach Barry Trotz at the start of this week. How long they swap starts remains to be seen. There is an ugly history going on in Nashville in regard to No. 1 goaltenders losing the grip on the spot the following season with alarming frequency, and this has been going on since -- ironically -- Vokoun was traded by Nashville to Florida in June of 2007. But I feel Rinne is good enough to overcome his early struggles. If only he was given multiple consecutive starts to work out the kinks.

My gut instinct says keep Clemmensen, and I understand that Ellis could be scooped up in your league at any point, but less likely after Wednesday's horror show. If you still want to make a change with Clemmensen down the road, another fantasy option will emerge in goal. One always does.

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