Yesterday's Notable Pre-Season Players (Oct 2)

The NHL's dominance over Europe continued on Thursday, as the Penguins visited Helsinki, Finland to take on Jokerit. Sidney Crosby had three assists, leading the Penguins in the 4-1 win over their European hosts. Crosby is said to be in fine form and ready to lead the Penguins all the way back to the Cup Finals, where they lost this past summer to Detroit.

The Ottawa Senators kept the perfect European record intact with a 4-1 win over Swedish club, Frolunda. Daniel Alfredsson had a bit of a homecoming, scoring a goal and adding an assist for the Senators and reportedly played a good all around game. Alfredsson has a lot of fantasy potential again this year and the Sens hope he can stay healthy all year to tap that potential.

The Sabres went to town on the Blue Jackets on Thursday night, scoring five goals and winning 5-2. Leading the way for Buffalo was Ales Kotalik and Jochen Hecht, each potting a goal and adding an assist. Both players should be good to hit the 45-point mark or better this season, which is a nice bright spot for the team. As depth scoring players, these two are nice compliments to a good scoring team, possibly in the middle-to-late rounds of your draft.

A Sherpa favourite reared his scoring touch towards the Predators in a Hurricanes 4-2 win last night. Eric Staal scored a pair of goals for Carolina and could very well be ready for another productive season. Anton Babchuk, who returned from Europe for this pre-season, added a pair of assists for Carolina in the game as well. Babchuk never realised his potential in the NHL, but he looks to be getting a shot at that with Carolina this season. He could be a very good late-round defenseman in your draft, as a sleeper.

A penalty-filled affair in Dallas saw the Blackhawks come away with a 4-3 shootout victory against the Stars. Five Blackhawk players reached the double-digits in penalty minutes last night in the game, including rookie Jack Skille, who finished with 14 minutes. On the scoring side, depth players Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland and Jordan Hendry all finished with 2 points a piece. Andrew Ladd was credited with the shootout winner.

The Canucks continued their pre-season winning ways with a 3-2 win over San Jose at home last night. The Sedin twins were on full display as Daniel Sedin finished with a goal and two assists and Henrik Sedin finished with a goal and an assist. Kevin Bieksa also had a pair of assists for the Canucks in the win.