DAILY PRIME - JANUARY 24, 2013 UPDATES & IN THE SLOT

UPDATES: INJURIES GALORE - Scott Hartnell gone after foot injury, out indefinitely...D Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) out 3-4 weeks & D Ian White out 2-3 weeks after surgery to repair leg laceration, come on Brendan Smith!...Joffrey Lupul, who recently signed a 5-year extension, suffered a broken forearm in last night's contest...Mike Smith left last night's game with an LBI-lower body injury...Steve Downie underwent season-ending surgery...HATS OFF: Marian Gaborik and Steve Sullivan got their first goals of the season in grand fashion...hat tricks!  Nikolai Kulemin had the assist hat trick while team mate James van Riemsdyk had 2 goals and an assist in their game against the Penguins...FINALLY! It took three games but Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby potted their first goals of the season...HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES! Some interesting names in the top ten in scoring so far this season; Daniel Winnick, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Cory Conacher.

 

***IN THE SLOT*** A FANTASY RECAP OF THE NHL NIGHT IN ACTION

 

TORONTO 5 @ PITTSBURGH 2

James van Riemsdyk has his coming out party for Toronto, scoring two goals and an assist. Great news for the Leafs offense, considering that top LW Joffrey Lupul is out indefinitely after breaking his forearm. Riemsdyk could see a huge bump in fantasy value if he moves up to Phil Kessel's line in the interim. If not, look for him to stay on a line with Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin.  The trio showed considerable chemistry while collecting a combined 8 points ... Goalie James Reimer was impressive in his debut, saving 28 of 30 shots. Despite the stellar effort, look for Ben Scrivens to remain in the starting mix after two strong games of his own... For the Penguins, superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin finally score their first goals. The floodgates are now open. Expect the two to battle for the scoring title all season long.

 

BOSTON 3 @ NY RANGERS 4 OT 

Marian Gaborik scored three goals, including the game-winner in overtime, to help give the Rangers their much needed first win of the season. With all the hype surrounding Rick Nash coming over to the "Big Apple", we need to remember that Gaborik is coming off a 41-goal campaign. Now that he is part of a super top line with Nash and Brad Richards, his fantasy value is borderline elite. The lockout proved to be a blessing for the Slovakian sniper, who had time to recover from off-season shoulder surgery... Boston rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton picks up his first career NHL point, a power-play assist in only his third game.  He led all Boston defenseman with 4:23 minutes of PP icetime. It's happening, folks. If he is somehow available in your leagues, scoop him up ASAP.

 

CALGARY 2 @ VANCOUVER 3 (SO)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.  Who’s the fairest of them all?  These two teams were more evenly matched than you would think.  Vancouver Canuck G Cory Schneider rebounded from his horrible opening night start to stop 34/36 SOG but needed a shootout to earn his first win of the season.  Miikka Kiprusoff also stopped 34/36 SOG but did not get the shootout win.  With rumors of Roberto Luongo close to being dealt, the Canucks needed this type of outing so that they can breathe a little easier if they indeed pull the trade trigger.   The Canucks opened the scoring in the second period by scoring two goals two minutes apart.  The Calgary Flames answered with 2 goals in the latter half of the second period.  It was probably appropriate that Canuck RW Zack Kassian, who opened the scoring, earned the extra point by scoring the last goal in the shootout.   Kiprusoff will perhaps start almost all of the Flames games this season, and in Vancouver, until Luongo gets traded, you can expect more split duty between the two Canuck goalies.

 

COLUMBUS 1 @ PHOENIX 5

Even though the Blue Jackets opened the scoring with D Fedor Tyutin getting his first goal of the season,  you knew that it was going to be tough getting more behind starter G Mike Smith.  However, Smith left the game in the first period and Jason LaBarbera took over and earned the win.  Recently signed free agent Steve Sullivan potted a hat trick for the Yotes which may be sign of things to come for the aging veteran.  On the opposite end of the spectrum D Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice and added an assist in the lopsided contest.  OEL is one of our Prime Choice players in the 2012-2013 PrimePucks™ Fantasy Hockey Draft Guide and we are happy to see such a performance early in the season.  Sullivan may be available in your league and if you are looking for a 6^th forward or deeper, then maybe you take a chance on him.  Ekman-Larsson is probably long gone but you may be able to wrest him away from an unsuspecting fantasy owner.  Smith’s injury appears to be that dreaded lower body type.  For Columbus, Steve Mason got the start and stopped 37/42 SOG, not bad, not great.  He’ll still get spot starts but we believe Sergei Bobrovsky is the main man in net.