NHL Player News

Guentzel scored three times on four shots in Thursday's 8-3 win over the Flames.

Guentzel gave the Lightning their first lead in the second period and then added two more tallies in the third, including one on the power play. This was the sixth hat trick of Guentzel's career and his first for a team that isn't the Penguins. The winger is up to 16 goals, 13 assists, eight power-play points, 76 shots on net and a plus-7 rating over 27 appearances this season.

MacKinnon scored a goal on four shots, blocked two shots and added two PIM in Thursday's 4-1 loss to Utah.

MacKinnon has four goals and seven assists over six games in December. His third-period tally kept the Avalanche from getting shut out Thursday, but it took pulling Scott Wedgewood for an extra attacker to get the team on the board. MacKinnon is now at 11 goals, 47 points, 123 shots on net, 25 blocked shots, 20 PIM and a plus-3 rating over 31 outings this season. He'll likely remain among the league-leaders on offense all season.

Schmaltz logged a power-play assist in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Avalanche.

Schmaltz had gone six games without an assist, but thankfully, he scored his first four goals of the year in that span. The 28-year-old got back to his playmaking ways by setting up Dylan Guenther's second tally in this contest. Schmaltz is up to 22 points (six on the power play), 64 shots on net, 15 blocked shots and a minus-5 rating over 29 outings this season, playing mainly on Utah's top line.

Cooley notched two assists, three hits and a plus-2 rating in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Avalanche.

Cooley helped out on second-period tallies by Vladislav Kolyachonok and Dylan Guenther, with the latter's goal coming on the power play. Over the last 10 games, Cooley has four goals and eight assists, with four multi-point efforts and just two zero-point outings in that span. The second-year center is up to seven goals, 17 helpers, 58 shots on net, 23 hits and a plus-11 rating over 29 contests in 2024-25, serving in a second-line role to great success.

Stenlund scored an empty-net goal on three shots in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Avalanche.

This was Stenlund's fourth straight game with a goal, which followed a stretch of 22 contests without one. The 28-year-old center is up to five tallies, eight points, 40 shots on net, 22 hits, 20 blocked shots and a minus-4 rating through 29 outings. Stenlund will eventually cool off, but he may be worth a look as a streaming or DFS option for Saturday's game against the Sharks given his recent success.

Suzuki scored a goal on two shots and blocked two shots in Thursday's 9-2 loss to the Penguins.

Suzuki gave Montreal an early, albeit brief, lead when he finished off a 2-on-1 rush with Cole Caufield. The tally was the 11th of the season for Suzuki, who extended a point streak to eight games, during which he has four goals and seven assists.

Lindholm (upper body) won't return to Thursday's game versus the Kraken.

Lindholm got hurt in the second period. The severity of his injury is unknown, but it's not a good sign that the Bruins could be missing their top center. Their next game is Saturday in Vancouver.

Tavares picked up two assists Thursday in a 3-2 win over the Ducks.

Tavares set up both of Max Pacioretty's goals. Tavares hadn't picked up any helpers since Nov. 24, a span of seven games. That period coincided with the line shuffling that came with Auston Matthews' return from injury. Tavares benefited from having Mitch Marner beside him while Matthews was out. Now, it looks like Tavares and Pacioretty have plenty of sparks together. Tavares is a solid fantasy play, as he has 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) and 92 shots over 28 games this season.

Konecny picked up two assists Thursday in a 4-1 win over Detroit.

The points give him six points (two goals, four assists) on a four-game scoring streak. With 36 points (15 goals, 21 assists) in 30 games, Konecny has his foot on the gas as he progresses toward a new season high in goals, assists and points. He's also a little bit of everything, with 82 shots and 43 hits. Konecny is a valuable fantasy play, although he has an inflated 18.5 shooting percentage, which is higher than his career average (12.9). Everything that goes up eventually comes down.

Crosby had three assists, three shots on net and three hits in Thursday's 4-3 win over Montreal.

Crosby had a hand in three consecutive goals as part of a dominant effort by the top line, which had five goals and six assists. He's gone eight games without a tally, but the captain's nine helpers have contributed to the Penguins going 6-2 during that stretch. Crosby leads the club with 30 points (eight goals, 22 assists) through 31 outings.