Fantasy Forecast for Friday, October 23

THURSDAY'S ROUNDUP:

Who saw this coming? Edmonton's top line of Dustin Penner (2-3-5, plus-3, 11 shots), Ales Hemsky (1-4-5, plus-3) and Sam Gagner (1-2-3, plus-1) fueled a 6-4 home win against Columbus on Thursday. "We're trying to find lines that we like," coach Pat Quinn told the Edmonton Journal before the game. "We're still looking for that balance. You don't always want to load up. The other night I put Penner, (Shawn) Horcoff and Hemsky together, but I don't want to stay with that as a regular line. We may have to go back to it.

"We're still trying to figure out who we are and who can play with who. How can we best be a team."

Penner (9 games, 7-7-14, owned in 32 percent of all Yahoo! leagues) now has five multi-point games this season, and four in his last five outings.

According to the Edmonton Journal, it was the first time two Oilers had five-point efforts in the same game since Nov. 19, 1988, when Jimmy Carson and Glenn Anderson went wild in a 9-1 win against Toronto. I don't remember drafting those guys in what was my freshman year of college.

An amazing eight of 11 goals were scored by defensemen in Nashville's 6-5 overtime win at Ottawa on Thursday. That total broke the NHL single-game record for goals by blueliners. Ryan Suter and Shea Weber had 2 goals and an assist apiece for the Predators, who also received a goal from rookie Cody Franson, the first of his career. For Ottawa, Chris Campoli and defensive stalwarts Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips found the score sheet. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the old standard of seven goals came in a Rangers-Capitals game Dec. 4, 1992.

"It feels great because it's been a long time since we won a game," Predators goalie Pekka Rinne said. "But I'm also a little bit in shock." Nashville had scored only six goals in its previous six games.

Justin Williams, the right wing on the Kings' No. 1 line, sat out Thursday's 5-4 overtime victory against Dallas with a lower-body injury. Coach Terry Murray told LA Kings Insider he doesn't expect Williams (9, 3-6-9, 40 percent) to be out for long, and that the injury is not serious. But Williams' red-hot linemates didn't skip a beat, as Anze Kopitar scored a hat trick and Ryan Smyth picked up an assist against the Stars.

A great statistical note from the Los Angeles Times on Kopitar's first goal -- Dustin Brown earned an assist on the even-strength tally but not a plus because before Kopitar had put the puck in the net, Brown was on the bench after completing a change on the fly. If your head-to-head or rotisserie league season comes down to that one tiny detail, I can't imagine a worse fate.

Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews did not practice Thursday due to an upper-body injury, one day after being knocked out of a loss against Vancouver with a hard open-ice check. Also missing from the session was defenseman Brent Seabrook, injured in the same contest. Coach Joel Quenneville said Toews (9, 1-4-5, 96 percent) and Seabrook (9, 1-6-7, 76 percent) were feeling better and both may return Saturday against Nashville.

''Both presented well (Thursday) and progressed well overnight, so that was encouraging,'' Quenneville told the Chicago Sun-Times.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Penguins will start backup goaltender Brent Johnson (0-1-0, 2.03 GAA, 2 percent) at home Friday against Florida. His only other appearance this season came Oct. 7, a loss against Phoenix. Top goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (8-0-0, 1.96 GAA, 98 percent) will return for Saturday's home clash against New Jersey.

Colorado's Peter Budaj (4 percent) was scheduled to get his first start of the season at home against Carolina, but he's been scratched because of the flu. Starter Craig Anderson (6-1-2, 2.06 GAA, 76 percent) likely will get the nod. He is one of three goalies in the League to have played every minute for his team thus far, joining Martin Brodeur of New Jersey and Ray Emery of Philadelphia. The Avs recalled goaltender Tyler Weiman from the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League to replace Budaj on the roster.

In Thursday's 5-4 home loss against Washington, Thrashers coach John Anderson gave his top two lines a minor shakeup. Bryan Little was moved from the top line to the second line, with Todd White and Slava Kozlov, and Maxim Afinogenov replaced Little on the No. 1 line, with Ilya Kovalchuk and Nik Antropov. "We are just trying to get everybody going," Anderson told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "A couple guys (Antropov, Little, Kozlov) don't have any goals yet, guys that can score. We've been scoring enough goals but you want to have all your assets running at the same time. Maybe a little switch will be a breath of fresh air. Lines aren't set in stone. If we have to change them back, we'll change them back."

Are Thursday's line changes from Blues' practice a preview of what will be used Friday against Minnesota? The Belleville News-Democrat reported these pairings from coach Andy Murray -- David Perron-Jay McClement-B.J. Crombeen, David Backes-Andy McDonald-T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund-Paul Kariya-Brad Boyes.

FRIDAY'S PROJECTED GOALIES:

Florida (Tomas Vokoun) at Pittsburgh (Brent Johnson), 7:30 p.m. ET (NHLN-CA, RIS)
Minnesota (Niklas Backstrom) at St. Louis (Chris Mason), 8 p.m. ET
Carolina (Cam Ward) at Colorado (Craig Anderson), 9 p.m. ET

RECENT INJURIES:

Jason Arnott, C, Nashville: Placed on injured reserve with a left arm injury.
Sergei Gonchar, D, Pittsburgh: Placed on injured reserve with a broken wrist.
Dan Hamhuis, D, Nashville: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Jere Lehtinen, RW, Dallas: Is day-to-day with a chest injury.
Milan Lucic, LW, Boston: Placed on long-term injured reserve with a broken finger.
Matt Niskanen, D, Dallas: Is day-to-day with a head injury.
Marc Savard, C, Boston: Placed on long-term injured reserve with a broken left foot.
Brent Seabrook, D, Chicago: Is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Jonathan Toews, C, Chicago: Is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Justin Williams, RW, Los Angeles: Is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

TRANSACTIONS:

NHL: Suspended Anaheim Ducks RW Evgeny Artyukhin for three games.
Anaheim Ducks: Reassigned G Justin Pogge to Bakersfield (ECHL).
Boston Bruins: Recalled F Guillaume Lefebvre from Providence (AHL).
Colorado Avalanche: Recalled F Chris Stewart from Lake Erie (AHL).
Columbus Blue Jackets: Activated D Mike Commodore off injured reserve.
Dallas Stars: Reassigned LW Luke Gazdic to Texas (AHL).
New York Rangers: Reassigned LW Patrick Rissmiller from Hartford (AHL) to Grand Rapids (AHL).
St. Louis Blues: Recalled LW D.J. King from Peoria (AHL).
Washington Capitals: Recalled C Keith Aucoin and LW Alexandre Giroux from Hershey (AHL).

NHL.COM EXPERTS LEAGUE:

Week 3 results through Oct. 22
Hammerhead United 5, Rocky Trottier 3 (3 ties)
Skoula Hard Knocks 7, Code Monkeys 2 (2 ties)
Out on a Dan Hinote 9, Clown Shoes 1 (1 tie)
Hempstead Slowpokes 5, No Shanahan-igans 3 (3 ties)
The Birdcage 6, Big Skillets O'BKLYN 4 (1 tie)
Philly Cheesestakes 5, Ovi's Heroes 3 (3 ties)

E-MAIL OF THE DAY:

Hey there,
I've been trying to make a trade to shake up my struggling team. Here's my team by position.
C - Vincent Lecavalier, Henrik Zetterberg, Patrick Sharp
RW - Patrick Kane, Devin Setoguchi, Milan Hejduk
LW - Wojtek Wolski, Chris Kunitz, David Booth
D - Dion Phaneuf, Kevin Bieksa, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mattias Ohlund (terrible I know)
G - Ilya Bryzgalov, Chris Osgood, Jimmy Howard
I'm offering another manager Lecavalier, Setoguchi and Howard for Jason Spezza, David Backes and Pascal Leclaire. I think Ottawa's going to have a big year and Spezza will start producing and Leclaire will pick up lots of wins. On the other hand, I think Tampa Bay will struggle. I know Setoguchi will put up way more points than Backes but I think it's worth it to solidify my goaltending.
Stats that count are goals, assists, power-play points, plus/minus, shots, wins, save percentage, goals-against average and shutouts.
What do you think?
-- Adam

You sure you want to offer this three-for-three? I don't have the rose-colored glasses you do, so let's break this down.

With Bryzgalov (6-1-0, 1.26 GAA) and Osgood (3-2-2, 3.17 GAA), you're competent in goal, but by no means overly confident. Bryzgalov is playing better than I imagined, and Osgood is underperforming. If both change fortunes at hopefully the same point of the season, you wouldn't be gaining or losing effectiveness. I agree that adding Leclaire (4-2-0, 2.71 GAA) would be an upgrade, but not so much so that you should trade Setoguchi (10, 7-2-9), among the League leaders in goals and points, and a sleeping giant in Lecavalier (8, 0-7-7). Speaking of Lecavalier, the same can be said of Spezza (8, 0-7-7), another superstar inexplicably without a goal. You're trading one slump for another. It comes down to whom you have the most confidence in. I give my vote to Lecavalier. I am a Backes (7, 1-1-2) fan, too, but I don't see where he fits in here. Howard (0-1-0, 4.19 GAA) is worthless at this point. Would the other guy even want to take him on?

Setoguchi is a keeper. If traded, he's worthy of an elite goaltender, and Leclaire is Tier II at best. It's early in the season, so don't panic. Let this play out a little longer.

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