With a nearly a third of the season already in the books, Detroit finds itself just outside of a playoff spot. The club has dropped 14 of its last 22 games, but remains just two points behind the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division, thanks in large part to the extra frame.
Over this 22-game span, the Red Wings have managed just two regulation wins, as pointed out by Sportsnet's Jonathan Willis. They have gone past regulation 10 times and despite this, still cling to the hopes of a 26th straight playoff appearance.
The club is 8-10-4 in this stretch, collecting 20 points, with 16 of those earned in post-regulation activities, and has claimed just seven of its 13 wins in regulation this season - five of them coming in the first seven games. All this comes despite the team averaging just 2.28 goals per game this season - the fifth-lowest mark in the NHL.
Detroit's other saving grace: the shootout, in which the team has managed a league-best 4-0-0 this season.
The Eastern Conference standings have become quite a logjam, with just four points separating all eight teams currently outside the playoff picture. Points could be tough to come by, but as long as the Red Wings can continue to guarantee themselves points by sending games past regulation, they should remain in the thick of it.
Making an All-Star team is one thing, but making Santa's Super Team? Well, that's something to truly cherish.
Wayne Gretzky made his long-awaited debut on "The Simpsons" on Sunday night, appearing for just a few seconds - long enough to utter one line as a member of the "super team" alongside Jack Frost and the Abominable Snowman.
As legendary as the squad is, we're just not sure it measures up to the Edmonton Oilers teams of the '80s.
The Toronto Maple Leafs would be having a much better 2016-17 campaign if they could just get their legs under them in back-to-back contests.
The club dropped its game against the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 on Sunday night despite massively outshooting the opposition, marking the sixth time this season the Maple Leafs failed to earn a victory in the second game when playing on back-to-back nights.
Sunday's loss makes the club 0-5-1 in those games, and if this trend continues, Toronto will squander its fair share of points.
The Maple Leafs face another 12 situations this season where they play on back-to-back nights, meaning nearly one in five games the rest of the way will come after playing the previous night.
At their current pace, the Maple Leafs would manage the equivalent of a single win in those 12 games - or two of a possible 24 points.
Had the Maple Leafs managed to win just half of their latter games on back-to-back nights so far, they'd be tied with the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.
It was the first real blemish on an outstanding rookie campaign.
Winnipeg Jets rookie sensation Patrik Laine put another puck in the net Sunday night; unfortunately it was into his own, proving to be the game-winner for the opposing Edmonton Oilers.
The goal left the 18-year-old visibly distraught, but luckily for the youngster, his captain has his back.
"He's 18 years old, he feels terrible," Blake Wheeler said, according to NHL.com's Derek Van Diest. "These things happen. I've done it many times. It's just a bad bounce. He's done a (heck) of a job for us this year. You just hate to see a guy feel that way after a game."
Following the game, Laine admitted he was simply trying to clear the puck from in front of the net, which one could argue he succeeded in doing.
"I kind of tried to get rid of the puck right away," Laine said. "It was just a bad position for me. An unfortunate goal."
Laine shouldn't lose too much sleep over the mistake. A simple look at the NHL goal-scoring race should make him feel better.
It was the first real blemish on an outstanding rookie campaign.
Winnipeg Jets rookie sensation Patrik Laine put another puck in the net Sunday night; unfortunately it was into his own, proving to be the game-winner for the opposing Edmonton Oilers.
The goal left the 18-year-old visibly distraught, but luckily for the youngster, his captain has his back.
"He's 18 years old, he feels terrible," Blake Wheeler said, according to NHL.com's Derek Van Diest. "These things happen. I've done it many times. It's just a bad bounce. He's done a (heck) of a job for us this year. You just hate to see a guy feel that way after a game."
Following the game, Laine admitted he was simply trying to clear the puck from in front of the net, which one could argue he succeeded in doing.
"I kind of tried to get rid of the puck right away," Laine said. "It was just a bad position for me. An unfortunate goal."
Laine shouldn't lose too much sleep over the mistake. A simple look at the NHL goal-scoring race should make him feel better.
theScore's new series, "The Noise," is published every Monday. It kicks off each week with a quick look at three teams or players making headlines, good or bad.
With a 1-0 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, the club pushed their win streak to nine games. The team's usual suspects of Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Wayne Simmonds have been sensational, but look out as Brayden Schenn is getting in on the action and in a big way.
The 25-year-old had himself quite the weekend, doubling this season's goal total in just two games thanks to a hat trick against the Dallas Stars and the game-winner on Sunday.
Schenn had been riding a fairly quiet season up until this weekend, coasting on just four goals and 16 points in 26 games. Those totals are now up to eight and 20, respectively, and Schenn now has six points over his last six games.
His continued production is the last thing teams hoping to knock off the Flyers need.
Nashville Predators
Just when it looked like Nashville had ironed out all its wrinkles, December hits, and boy has winter been cruel to the Predators.
After constructing a ridiculous 9-3-2 record in November, the Predators have gotten off on the wrong foot in December having now gone 1-3-1 after the club's latest blemish - a 4-1 loss to the league's basement-dwelling Arizona Coyotes.
The most glaring difference in the team's sudden drop has been Pekka Rinne. After recording nine wins in 11 games, while giving up just 18 goals in November, Rinne has been dismal this month.
In four contests, Rinne has just one win, allowing more than three goals in each, conceding a total of 16. If the club is to inch back into a playoff spot, Rinne is going to have to be better - simple as that.
Scott Darling
No Crawford, no problem.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been forced to weather the storm without their No. 1 netminder after Corey Crawford was sidelined due to an appendectomy early this month.
However, the Blackhawks haven't missed a beat thanks to Scott Darling.
This week Darling went 2-1-1 in four games, picking up his second shutout of the year while allowing just four goals and managing a ridiculous .967 save percentage.
Doing his part has helped the Blackhawks take their usual perch atop the Western Conference standings. Meanwhile his solid play means Crawford won't be needing to hurry back anytime soon.
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To be a fantasy hockey lover is to be selfish. We draft players based on the hope their coaches put them in the best opportunities to succeed. In some ways it is antithetical to the real thing. Fantasy hockey celebrates the individual far more often and it will enrage Sidney Crosby owners if the Pittsburgh Penguins score four goals and he doesn't get one of them.
We're going to look at five depth chart situations currently suppressing upside of certain players. Perhaps coaches have good reason (likely) for assigning their lines the way they do, but this hardly matters to fantasy owners.
Boston Bruins PP Unit
The Bruins sit in the bottom six in terms of power-play percentage. Part of this is the infrequency of their power plays (3.04 per game), but it might also have something to do with the lack of LW Brad Marchand. Marchand's relatively recent offensive prowess may still be a surprise, but he hasn't gained much time with the man advantage. Only six of his 37 goals last season were of the PP variety.
This year, despite Marchand leading the Bruins in points (and PPP), the likes of C Ryan Spooner and RW David Backes have seen much more time with the man advantage. It hasn't worked. Together, Spooner and Backes have a combined six power-play points compared to Marchand's five in much less time.
Bumping Marchand to the top PP unit would be music to his owner's ears, but could potentially jump start floundering C Patrice Bergeron, who owns only eight points in 25 games. Keep breakout RW David Pastrnak with the group to take advantage of his scoring (23.1 shooting percentage) and Marchand's improved playmaking (17 assists in 28 games).
Buffalo Sabres' Infatuation with Brian Gionta
Out of necessity, perhaps, due to injuries rippling throughout the Sabres' roster, Gionta has skated a surprising 17 minutes per game. He's a better defensive player than offensive, so his minutes are not helping him provide much in the way of fantasy numbers, despite opportunity. Once upon a time, Gionta scored 48 goals in a season, but he hasn't been near point-per-game production since.
Since joining the Sabres, his time on the power play has also diminished. He doesn't have a point with the man advantage this season, as he's rarely been used in such situations. LW Matt Moulson, on the other hand, is having something of a rebound and is almost worthy of fantasy consideration. Six of his seven goals (he had eight goals in 81 games last season) are power-play goals.
Moulson has one fewer point than Gionta despite playing only 13.5 minutes per game. If Moulson were, theoretically, to get more time at a top line position, it would at least clarify if he is more than a PP specialist. That, or consider calling up Alexander Nylander for his first taste and toss him on the top line. The Sabres are better with C Jack Eichel, but they've still scored fewer goals than anyone else, limiting the team's fantasy appeal.
Save Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen
Corsica.Hockey has Duchene and Rantanen paired most often together alongside C Nathan MacKinnon - also known as the way it should be. Change and tinkering is always expected, and distributing scoring opportunity up and down a roster is largely ideal. Recently, however, MacKinnon has been skating with Ws Blake Comeau and Rene Bourque, and succeeding in spite of it.
Rantanen's overall playing time has increased, and Duchene has been touching 20 minutes per game of late. Sliding them onto the top scoring line once again would boost their already surging value. Maybe this scheme works better in reality, but no one is getting value from Bourque and it'd be a lot more appealing seeing MacKinnon score knowing it could mean collateral assists.
Give James Neal Stability
Solace can be slightly found in Neal's constant presence on the Predators' top power-play unit. Beyond this, he has mostly been skating with C Mike Fisher and W Colin Wilson at 5v5. For the most part, he has played on a line with C Ryan Johansen and LW Viktor Arvidsson, occasionally seeing LW Filip Forsberg substituted in for the latter.
As long as he's with Fisher and Wilson, he's boosting their fantasy value while they're pushing his down. The Predators offer a more balanced attack this way, but by splitting up their strongest talent, no line comes off looking elite. C Mike Ribeiro leads the team with 18 points, after all. Ideally, Neal lands back on a line with Forsberg, dropping LW Kevin Fiala to the third line.
Put Auston Matthews on the Leafs' Top Line
Usage and scoring show Matthews is easily one of the team's top three forwards. Only LW James van Riemsdyk has more points, though C Mitch Marner has just as many. Take away Matthews' opening night onslaught, his numbers have been good/not great. He has eight goals and eight assists in the 25 games since the debut.
His most common partners of late have been Ws Zach Hyman and Connor Brown, neither of whom have as many points as Matthews has goals. In a situation similar to the Predators' Neal, Matthews will elevate Hyman and Brown to be worthy of daily fantasy selection (on sparing occasion), but it does little to inspire confidence in Matthews proper.
Six of Matthews' points have come on the power play, where he is not hindered by Hyman nor Brown. Saturday also had him skating with RW William Nylander again, a common pairing separate from Hyman and Brown, resulting in a goal for Matthews and an assist for Nylander. If this becomes the norm, fantasy upside should rise for both.
His typical brilliance, tonight, replaced with blunder.
Patrik Laine scored an egregious - and truly costly - own goal Sunday night in Edmonton, firing a puck back into his own net after it rebounded into the slot off the pad of Connor Hellebuyck.
The repentant rookie's own goal was officially scored as a Mark Letestu game-winner.
Blake Wheeler immediately consoled Laine, likely saying something to the effect of his rookie season being a long one.
