MIKE RIBEIRO
Dallas Stars, C
Comment: Is there anyone hotter than Mike Ribeiro? Who would have thought?! The kid is leading the charge in Dallas and has found some amazing rhythm next to captain Brenden Morrow. He has 10 goals and 19 points in his last 10 games!
ALEXANDER OVECHKIN
Washington Capitals, LW
Comment: He's gunning for that Richard trophy. He can almost taste it. Ovechkin had a four goal night last Saturday and hasn't gone more than one game without a goal dating back to Nov. 8.
JAROMIR JAGR
New York Rangers, RW
Comment: I was dead wrong about the Rangers last week and it's all because of this guy. He's been on fire with 11 points in his last six games (six in his last two!) and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.
MIKE GREEN
Washington Capitals, D
Comment: You won't get a solid plus / minus out of many Washington players, so don't look for that when you're thinking of grabbing Green. If you have him already, good for you; otherwise you might get lucky and find him hanging around the waiver wire. He has four points in his last five games and is finding some solid time on the Washington powerplay unit. He's a good choice to keep in mind for keeper leagues, as he'll grow into a solid offensive blueliner with the Caps.
EVGENI NABOKOV
San Jose Sharks, G
Comment: Fantasy owners loved him last week as Nabby went in and won three games (one shut out, and no more than two goals allowed). This is a great week for him as well. He plays better on the road (which is good against Minnie) and, although he has a losing home record, the losses can't be put on his shoulders if you look at his 2.19 GAA at home. The losing record is more due to the lack of scoring but they might have a chance depending on which versions of Miikka Kiprusoff and Pascal Leclaire show up in the other two games this week.
PAUL STASTNY
Colorado Avalanche, C
Comment: Poor son of Peter. There's no Joe to guide him. He's pointless in his last three games and only has four points in his last nine. This is not the Stastny we know.
JASON BLAKE
Toronto Maple Leafs, LW
Comment: Looks like Blake is back to his old tricks again. He's gone eight games and has nothing to show except a minus-4 in that span. Oh yeah, and he caused the game-losing turnover against his old club.
MILAN HEJDUK
Colorado Avalanche, RW
Comment: Hejduk has posted zeroes since a two goal performance Dec. 21 and had no goals until a hat trick on Dec. 9. Hejduk has always been an explosive player but he is streaky as well, making it hard to sit him. He might go a week without a point and then follow it up with two or three terrific fantasy winning performances. This will be one of those weeks.
MATHIEU SCHNEIDER
Anaheim Ducks, D
Comment: The return of Scott Neidermeyer has definitely affected Schneider's performance. Sure, he's a solid blueliner and the Ducks wouldn't want to get rid of him but fantasy owners will be very frustrated. Schneider is only a plus-one with no points in his last five games. He'll pot in a few helpers and maybe even a heavy goal once and a while but the big jump we saw earlier in the season won't be the norm.
TIM THOMAS
Boston Bruins, G
Comment: Since returning from his injury on Dec. 20 Thomas hasn't won in four contests and has let in a total of 13 goals in that span. His once amazing GAA and SV% are being chipped away at a rapid pace.
ERIC STAAL
Carolina Hurricanes, C
Comment: This is the 100-point Eric Staal we met after the lockout. He's flying right now, as he's scored in each of his last four games and is on a seven game point streak. He plays his best hockey in the second half, so I wouldn't be surprised if this streak carries on well into January. Couple that with a healthy mix of good matchups (the DiPietro-less New York Islanders, and the Jekyll / Hyde performances of the Atlanta Flames and St. Louis Blues' shoddy goaltending) and you get a great fantasy week.
RYAN GETZLAF
Anaheim Ducks, C
Comment: Watch Getzlaf shine in this half. He'll really put on a show and get in the thick of things. He's in a solid groove right now with a goal and three assists in his last four games and is going into a good week. He plays solid hockey against Columbus and loves to play the Blackhawks (three points in one) and Coyotes (six points in three).
BRENDEN MORROW
Dallas Stars, LW
Comment: When you're on a line with one of the hottest centers in the NHL things have to go right for you. Morrow has six goals and 14 points in his last 10 games. If Ribeiro keeps up with his fine pace this week then Morrow will follow suit.
ILYA KOVALCHUK
Atlanta Thrashers, LW
Comment: Even though he's an obvious must-start, something must be said about Kovalchuck. He could have one hell of a week — especially since Alexander Ovechkin is scoring goals like it's nobody's business. Kovalchuk dominates on the road (30 points in 20 games) and chews up the Boston Bruins — and that was when Tim Thomas was playing well. The Boston game alone might be enough of a reason to start him, but a home-at-home against Carolina is tempting too.
JOFFREY LUPUL
Philadelphia Flyers, RW
Comment: He is clicking with Mike Richards so well that people might be forgetting that other sniper...what's his name again? Simon Gagne? Okay, so Lupul is no Gagne yet, but he has two hat tricks this month along with three goals and eight points in his last four games.
DUSTIN PENNER
Edmonton Oilers, RW
Comment: Penner is heating up, has a very busy week and plays better on the road than at home (three road games versus one against the Rangers). The Oilers aren't having much trouble scoring, especially recently; look for Penner to have a great game against St. Louis. That entire top line of Penner, Hemsky and Horcoff play well against the Blues.
MAREK ZIDLICKY
Nashville Predators, D
Comment: Want to know the secret to better fantasy production? Injure the other star players! Zidlicky is going to be getting a huge jump in ice time with fellow blueliners Shea Weber and Ryan Suter out of the lineup. Zidlicky has five points in his last four games and two points off the powerplay. He'll be racking up minutes and points and is slowly improving his plus / minus rating, so keep an eye out for him.
WADE REDDEN
Ottawa Senators, D
Comment: Redden has five assists and a goal in his last three games. He's giving owners a more than consistent plus / minus rating, and things should not change this week at all.
ROBERTO LUONGO
Vancouver Canucks, G
Comment: Normally I don't like weeks with only a few games but sometimes, for goalies, it works to their advantage. Luongo will be well rested and plays incredibly well against Calgary. New York's hot offense might cool down by the week's end but who really cares? It's Roberto Luongo!
ILYA BRYZGALOV
Phoenix Coyotes, G
Comment: Why? I'll tell you why: He's incredible. He's on such a crappy team and yet his GAA at home is a whopping 1.92! That's insane. He has a home-at-home against a struggling Colorado offense and is home for the rest of the week. Good things will happen to Bryzgalov owners this week.
NIK ANTROPOV
Toronto Maple Leafs, C
Comment: Antro's production is slowing down but I truly believe he'll keep up his solid pace as the season wears on (barring injury). However, I don't see him as a clutch performer because he has never been one. When Toronto is struggling and in need of some offensive help don't go looking for Antropov. Wait till Sundin and his crew start producing again for Antro to feel comfortable enough to score.
BRAD RICHARDS
Tampa Bay Lightning, C
Comment: A week's worth of road games for one of the worst offensive road teams in the league? Not good news, especially for the unlucky Richards who gets stuck on the second line by himself. He has three points and a brutal minus-10 rating his last seven games.
MILAN MICHALEK
San Jose Sharks, LW
Comment: Even though he's on a nice little streak and Big Joe's his linemate, don't expect big things this week. The Sharks play a poor offensive game at home and the only way Michalek has big games is if Thornton has big games...and he won't have a big one against The Wild, Flames or the Jackets.
BRIAN ROLSTON
Minnesota Wild, LW
Comment: The streaks will start all over again for Rolston. He's due for a cold spell and who better to chill him off than Evgeni Nabokov? Rolston has no points this season against either Dallas or San Jose and only one in two meetings against Nashville, so there's no reason to think things will be any different this week.
MIKE KNUBLE
Philadelphia Flyers, RW
Comment: His recent solid play won't be enough to bump him up to one of the top two lines with consistency. Don't be fooled...his time is done for quality fantasy numbers.
MARTIN ST. LOUIS
Tampa Bay Lightning, RW
Comment: That's right...I'm telling you to sit one of the best wingers in the game! Why? Because he and the rest of his teammates stink on the road! They're spending a week in Ontario and after some low-scoring performances against Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa you'll thank me and wonder why you didn't realize that out of his 44 points only 11 of them were from his 17 road games.
RYAN WHITNEY
Pittsburgh Penguins, D
Comment: Whitney hasn't scored much this season, but this is especially true in Toronto and Buffalo. He is pointless against the Sabres this season and has one assist and a minus-3 rating in three games against Toronto this season. Also, aside from a slight hiccup Saturday night, Tomas Vokoun in Florida has been playing exceptional hockey, so I don't see Whitney's second-half comeback starting this week.
JAROSLAV SPACEK
Buffalo Sabres, D
Comment: Another week of mediocre matchups for a guy who hasn't been consistent. Don't expect anything at all from Spacek this week at all. Aside from a handful of random scoring outbursts, don't expect much from Spacek for the rest of the season.
MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF
Calgary Flames, G
Comment: I'm always uneasy about sitting this guy, but the matchups just doesn't bode well for Kiprusoff this week. He has three losses against Vancouver, one against San Jose and a win against Los Angeles. L.A. has the ability to go on rapid-fire bursts of offense and New York's scorers are finding their groove. This is not a good week for Kipper — especially the Kipper we've been seeing recently.
MARTY BIRON
Philadelphia Flyers, G
Comment: There's only two matchups this week and neither seem appealing to me. Firstly, he doesn't play very well against that "other" Marty (Brodeur), posting a 1-2-0 record and a not so Biron-like GAA 3.90. Toronto may look like a good matchup, but the Buds have a habit of snapping out of bad streaks with big games and Philly isn't a prolific road team. Hopefully you have a goalie with some better matchups this week.
J.P. Del Monte is UPDATE! National Hockey League Editor.
