Friday, February 20, 2015

Player Notes in the Draft (Feb 20)

The flu bug reared its ugly head again this season, scratching Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk from the game against the Panthers on Thursday night.  He's on the shelf on a day-to-day basis and he should be expected back for Saturday's game, when Columbus comes to town.

The 21-year old forward has been coming around nicely for Dale C. this season, picking up 16 goals and 36 points in 57 games with the Habs, which ranks him 114th overall in pool scoring.  Dale could have used him last night, however, as his team is currently flirting with the Basement Dweller of the Week designation, with only 8 points through Thursday night.

Seven moer games on the NHL schedule on Friday night and it might not be as pool-friendly in the crease, as it has been in recent days. Through Thursday night, we were in the realm of reaching some of the high points in minutes collected in a week, but it sounds like we may see a number of teams go with some non-pool goalies.

The Rangers and Sabres will go head-to-head with non-pool goalies, as Mackenzie Skapski will make his first NHL start against Anders Lindback.  Eddie Lack is the scheduled goalie to go for the Canucks in New Jersey on back-to-back nights.  John Gibson is also scheduled to go for the Ducks in Calgary tonight, due to injury.  Malcolm Subban is definitely going to get his first NHL start tonight, I know I teased it before, but now all signs are pointing to it actually happening against the Blues.  That might be something to watch for future pools.  Finally, James Reimer appears to be going for the Maple Leafs against the Hurricanes tonight, yet another dropped goalie getting a start.

We have a good race in the Mover & Shaker department this week, as Brian and Mike are racing neck-in-neck through Thursday night, both with 22 points.  Brian  has Devan Dubnyk back in the Wild net, as they take on the Oilers, while Mike has Jake Allen going for the Blues, as they host the Bruins.

An updated list of injuries can be found here.

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