Tomas Jurco is getting the opportunity he's been looking for.
Limited to 11 games due to an early back injury and several healthy scratches, the Slovakian forward is being pressed into duty for the Detroit Red Wings in light of injuries suffered by Thomas Vanek and Dylan Larkin.
Those key forwards are out for one and two games, respectively, and Jurco feels all he needs is one moment of fortune to get on track.
"All I'm waiting (on) is one lucky bounce," he said Monday, according to George Sipple of The Detroit Free Press. "Hopefully, it's going to turn around. That's what I need."
Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who's used Jurco sparingly when choosing to play him, believes the 24-year-old can step in to make a meaningful and immediate impact.
"I've made decisions that other wingers have been ahead of him, but it's not because Jurco has played poorly," Blashill said. "I think he can step in and be really, really good. I think what he's probably been waiting for is an opportunity. So for two games here, he gets a real opportunity."
The 2011 second-round draft pick has scored 15 goals in 154 career games, but he's been able to rack up points at both the junior and AHL levels.
All hands will need to be on deck to help Detroit avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990. If Jurco wants to get in on the action, he must do all he can to ensure bounces go his way as early as Tuesday's game against Boston.
Montreal Canadiens center Alex Galchenyuk will miss Tuesday's game against Calgary after re-aggravating a knee injury that sidelined him for 18 games earlier this season, head coach Michel Therrien announced.
It does not appear to be as serious this time around, however.
Therrien says Galchenyuk is "day-to-day" with the injury. #GoHabsGo
Galchenyuk recorded two goals and two assists in five games since returning from the injury, including a three-point performance in a win over New Jersey on Jan. 20.
Montreal is set to play only one game between Tuesday and the All-Star Game, meaning it's possible Galchenyuk could be shut down until after the impending break.
Here's a look at what they accomplished over the past seven days.
Sheary led the NHL with six goals and nine points in four games. His 34 points through 39 games is more than triple his output as a rookie last season (10 points in 44 games).
Greiss went 2-0-1 with a 0.98 goals-against average, .971 save percentage, and two shutouts (over Dallas and Boston). The run propelled the Islanders out of last place in the Eastern Conference and back into the playoff picture.
Oshie recorded three goals and three assists in three games for the first-place Capitals.
It should come as no surprise that a team would struggle without its captain and highest-paid player, but we're talking about a team that pushed the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games in the Eastern Conference Final largely without Stamkos, and that seemed built for sustained success even if he'd decided to sign elsewhere as a free agent this past offseason.
Now, in a season where Stamkos has missed 31 of 48 games with a knee injury, the apparent Stanley Cup hopefuls find themselves at the bottom of the conference standings with a 21-22-5 record.
General manager Steve Yzerman has assembled a wealth of talent, but there's no question the Lightning's offense has diminished since Stamkos succumbed to injury.
Pre-injury
Post-injury
Games
17
31
Goals
53
75
Goals/GP
3.1
2.4
NHL Rank
5
25
This can't all be pinned on Stamkos' absence, of course - other key players have also suffered injuries, with Ryan Callahan and Ben Bishop missing the most time.
The fact Yzerman hasn't added to the roster with Stamkos out suggests he trusts the remaining players to get to the postseason, but at least one of them believes the effort isn't quite there.
"It starts with us," said star defenseman Victor Hedman, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "We've got to lead the way out there. Obviously, the leaders on this team have to step up and play better, and that goes with everyone, from goalies to forwards. We're all in this together."
Tampa Bay has posted a record of 11-16-4 without Stamkos, and owns the conference's lowest point percentage as a result. Rebounding back into the playoff picture may be too much to ask, giving Yzerman reason to pause and consider the makeup of his team.
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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Monday, Jan. 23 (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockeyand apply to 5v5 situations):
Dynamic Duos
C Vincent Trocheck (58K) & RW Reilly Smith (44K), Panthers (at Coyotes): The Panthers first line of Trocheck, Smith and LW Jussi Jokinen own a Corsi For rating of 53.75 percent in over 150 minutes together at 5v5. Arizona ranks 29th in the NHL with 62.99 shot attempts allowed per 60 minutes. Smith has 11 shots on goal in his past three games.
C Joe Pavelski (70K) & LW Patrick Marleau (41K), Sharks (at Avalanche): Pavelski is the clear target from the Sharks' top line with he and Joe Thornton listed at the same position. With Marleau rounding out the trio, they have a Corsi For rating of 53.76 percent and average 8.18 scoring chances per 60 minutes. Marleau has gone point-less in three games, but Colorado allows a pedestrian 7.52 scoring chances per 60.
C Mark Scheifele (62K) & RW Nikolaj Ehlers (45K), Jets (vs. Ducks): While neither of the Ducks' top two lines, centered by Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, respectively, is ideal, the Jets will have the benefit of final change. If G John Gibson is forced to sit again due to a lower-body injury, Winnipeg will face Jonathan Bernier who allowed at least four goals in three of his past four starts.
Goalie Breakdown
TARGET/BARGAIN - Martin Jones (75K), Sharks (at Avalanche): Jones has allowed multiple goals in 11 consecutive starts, though he has made 30-plus saves on five occasions. The Avalanche average the fewest scoring chances per 60 minutes while at home of all teams in the league. They also have a paltry expected goals per 60 rate of just 1.76.
FADE - Jonathan Bernier (75K), Ducks (at Jets): Bernier has allowed at least three goals in four of his previous five starts, with a shutout over the Coyotes representing the lone quality start. He'll enter a hostile environment in Winnipeg, where the Jets average 8.89 scoring chances per 60 minutes, ranking 12th among all home teams.
CONTRARIAN - Peter Budaj (75K), Kings (at Rangers): Budaj has lost three consecutive starts, allowing three goals in each of his past two. The Rangers rank third in scoring chances per 60, but they drop to eighth in expected goals per 60, and they rank just 24th in shot attempts per 60 minutes. They're excellent finishers, but they don't have sustainable chances.
Bargain Plays
C Lars Eller (25K), Capitals (vs. Hurricanes): Eller is a part of a Capitals third line with a Corsi For rating of 61.86 percent. Even in the third-line role, he has played at least 13 minutes in five consecutive games, tallying a total of eight shots on goal. He also has two goals and an assist.
LW Matthew Tkachuk (26K), Flames (at Maple Leafs): Tkachuk's playing time has been highly variable through January. He hit a 10-game low of 11:46 his last time out, but he did manage to score on one of two shots. The Flames have spread out LW Johnny Gaudreau and C Sean Monahan, splitting up the defensive attention.
D Marc-Edouard Vlasic (25K), Sharks (at Avalanche): Vlasic hasn't been racking up the hits and blocked shots with the same consistency to which fantasy owners are accustomed, but he continues to log well over 20 minutes per game, including time on the second power-play unit. The matchup is too good to ignore at the minimum salary.
Top Fades
C Mathieu Perreault (50K), Jets (vs. Ducks): Perreault has one goal and seven assists in January, and he has totaled 10 SOG in his past three games. Still, at this salary he is similarly priced to teammates Scheifele and C Bryan Little, both of whom have much more appeal.
LW James van Riemsdyk (51K), Maple Leafs (vs. Kings): van Riemsdyk has three goals and 10 assists in January, totaling 25 SOG in nine games. He has twice gone without a single shot and his ice time fluctuates drastically. He played 18:08 in Saturday's shootout loss, his high for the month. He played a month-long high of 13:39 in the previous game.
RW Radim Vrbata (64K), Coyotes (vs. Panthers): Vrbata has two goals and seven assists this month, and he's in the midst of a streak of five games with at least four SOG in each. The Panthers' 53.60 opponent shot attempts faced per 60 minutes ranks seventh in the league, lowering Vrbata's floor.
Contrarian Options
C Sean Monahan (50K), Flames (at Maple Leafs): While Monahan's ceiling is lowered while playing separately from Gaudreau, he is on a five-game scoring streak with a total of 21 SOG. He's the one maintaining the higher ice time, making him the better target of the two.
LW Chris Kreider (44K), Rangers (vs. Kings): Kreider has a tough matchup against the stingy Kings, but routinely finds ways to contribute up to his floor. He has multiple shots on goal in 12 consecutive games, with as many as five hits and three blocked shots for additional production.
D Justin Faulk (41K), Hurricanes (at Capitals): No one likes to target Capitals G Braden Holtby, but Faulk's very reasonable salary makes him a contrarian option despite the tough matchup. He has at least one SOG in every game since Oct. 30, recording multiple shots in all but one of his past 14 games.
Leading scorer Thomas Vanek suffered an upper-body injury in Sunday's loss to the New York Rangers and will not travel to Boston for Tuesday's game against the Bruins.
Dylan Larkin, meanwhile, will miss the next two games with a lower-body injury, keeping him out of action until after the break.
The injuries mean Drew Miller - who has been placed on waivers - could stick with the team if he clears, while Steve Ott may be pressed into action if a shoulder injury of his own allows.
Detroit sits four points behind the Bruins in the race for third in the Atlantic, and four points back of Philadelphia, which holds the second wild-card spot.
The fact that Jake Allen has the St. Louis Blues' assistant general manager in his corner is not insignificant, because when you're struggling in net, it helps to know one of the game's greatest goalies believes in you.
Martin Brodeur has been keeping a close eye on Allen over the past few years, and was part of the braintrust that handed him the starting job and a four-year, $17.4-million contract extension last summer. Pulled from four of his past six starts, Allen's save percentage recently dipped to .897, raising questions about his ability to backstop the team moving forward.
Brodeur, who holds the NHL record with 691 career wins, has no doubt Allen - who was given the weekend off to clear his head - can rebound from a tough start to the season.
"He’s good enough, he’s talented enough, he’s got a great technique to fall back on, it’s just a matter of repetition and getting it done," Brodeur told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We’ve talked to him and we do have a lot of faith him, so I don’t think that should be a concern for him going forward. If that was a doubt that he had in his mind, well, that’s disappeared now because I think we were pretty clear about that."
Having said that, Brodeur isn't taking an active role in helping Allen figure things out.
"I just kind of told him to keep his head up, that’s it," Brodeur said. "I didn’t really sit down or have a conversation with him about what’s going on. The more people that talk to him, the tougher it gets, so I didn’t want to be too much involved. I’m in the back here watching everything going on, but you care because it’s what I used to do."
Allen is expected to practice with the Blues on Monday, and could be back in net Tuesday against Pittsburgh, the hottest team in the NHL at the moment.
Brodeur, for one, expects Allen to return refreshed and ready for the challenge.
"I believe he will be successful and this will just bring greater things in the future - I really believe that," he said. "Everybody goes through it, sometimes guys have to go through it harder than others. The move that we made with him, I think it’s really to help him get out of this. It’s difficult now, but looking back two or three months from now, this is just going to be a little blip on the radar."
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.
When general manager Pierre Dorion added the journeyman goaltender for the price of a fifth-round draft pick in October, the expectation was that he would give the club the occasional spot start while Craig Anderson was on personal leave and in relief of Andrew Hammond.
Three months later, we have tweets like this:
Another win for Mike Condon, season-saving pickup by rookie GM Pierre Dorion
This came after a shootout win over rival Toronto, and a day before Condon allowed seven goals in an overtime loss to Columbus. The latter result aside, the fact Condon was pressed into back-to-back starts is evidence of how heavily the Senators have relied on him with Anderson away and Hammond sidelined by an ankle injury.
Ottawa sits second in the Atlantic Division, a place in the standings that would be far less secure without the 13 wins and three shutouts Condon's posted in 23 starts for the Senators this season.
When Anderson returns and Hammond gets healthy, Dorion will have a big decision on his hands.
The other Conor
In need of some inspiration on a Monday? Consider the following:
Conor Sheary went from being an undrafted college free agent to riding shotgun with Sidney Crosby within two years. Anything is possible.
Over the past week, 24-year-old Conor Sheary led the NHL with six goals and three assists in four games, boosting his season totals to 17 goals and 34 points in 39 games played mostly on Sidney Crosby's left wing.
Sheary's production has surprised even Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan.
"I'm not going to sit here and suggest to you that I thought he'd have 17 goals halfway through the season, but I knew he could play in this league and I felt strongly that he could be a solid player at the NHL level," Sullivan said, according to Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "I think his game is just growing by the day."
Speaking of Sheary, his latest two goals came at the expense of the Boston Bruins, a team that has lost its past four games, leaving head coach Claude Julien to answer questions about his job security.
His response following Sunday's 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh spoke volumes about the state of the club.
Claude: "This is a team that needs all 20 guys going to win. We don't have enough talent to think we can get away with a mediocre game."
Julien is not alone in pinning Boston's struggles more on roster composition than the system being employed by the coaching staff, but the reality is that the Bruins are facing a third straight season out of the playoffs, and that could lead to a change behind the bench, at the very least.
While the Bruins sit third in the Atlantic Division, they're the only team in the NHL to have played 50 games, and in terms of point percentage, they rank 11th out of the 16 Eastern Conference teams.
Boston hosts Detroit and Pittsburgh prior to the All-Star break - two games that could determine the Bruins' short- and long-term future.
More impressively, three of Forsberg's game-winning goals in January came in one-goal decisions, with the latest recorded as the third goal in a game where the fourth was scored into an empty net.
Forsberg was acquired by the Predators from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Martin Erat and Michael Latta prior to the 2013 NHL trade deadline.
Erat was at one time a consistent scorer for the Predators, but fizzled out soon after the trade.
Forsberg, meanwhile, is coming around after a slow start to the season. He's recorded five of his 14 goals over the past six games, including the record-breaking game-winner against Minnesota on Jan. 22.
