It was a low-scoring and not terribly exciting day from a fantasy perspective on Wednesday night in the National Hockey League. Hey, they all can't be a winner. If you like good fore-checking, solid goaltending and a great defensive effort than both of these games were for you. The first game of the night didn't feature any scoring in the first or third period, as the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals had all of their scoring done in the second. For the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche, they spread it out a little bit over the evening, but there was still more defense than fantasy owners would like. Let's get started!
Pittsburgh Penguins 2, Washington Capitals 1
Lars Eller kicked off the scoring with an assist from Tom Wilson, giving the defending Stanley Cup champions a short-lived lead. Eller was very busy at the offensive end, taking four shots with a blocked shot and two hits over 19:12 of ice time across 21 shifts. It wasn't all great, as he won just three of his 14 face off attempts (21.4 percent). Wilson was the only other Capitals played to record a point, which is a far cry from the Opening Night game which featured 13 points in an overtime victory by the Penguins back on Oct. 4. Wilson kicked off his evening throwing hands with Jamie Oleksiak, as each player picked up five-minute penalties. The fight occurred less than a minute into the game, obviously a resolution of a previous situation. In addition, Oleksiak sustained a facial laceration and he was unable to return after the donnybrook. Braden Holtby did a good job for the home side, turning back 28 of the 30 shots he faced, but the offense just came up short in their support.
For the Penguins, they received a power-play goal from Sidney Crosby just 2:37 after Eller's opening goal in the second period, tying the game 1-1. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang picked up helpers on the man advantage, as more of the big guns were able to contribute than for the Caps. Before the curtain came down on the second period it was Bryan Rust connecting for his seventh goal of the season, making it 2-1. That's how the game finished, so Rust was able to notch the game-winning tally. His game-winner was assisted on by Jake Guentzel and Crosby, and it was his sixth goal in the past five games. Guentzel drew a tripping penalty on Michal Kempny midway through the second period, and he was also dumped by Matt Niskanen early in the third period, while he also took a penalty for holding T.J. Oshie. Guentzel wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, getting right in the middle of all of the action. Not only did he posted the helper, he took three shots, had a blocked shot, the minor penalty and two hits in his 17:34 of ice time.
For the home side, Matt Murray was tending twine and he allowed just one goal on 32 shots for the much-deserved win, ending Washington's five-game winning streak in the process. It was just his second game back from a lower-body injury, but he looked a lot more comfortable in this one and it might have been his best performance of the season. In fact, it was the first time in 15 games which the Capitals were unable to light the lamp at least three times. Murray has won back-to-back games for the first time since rattling off victories in a three-start stretch from Oct. 18-25. He entered the night with a 3.95 goals-against average, so you still might be able to grab him on the cheap in fantasy leagues. But the bargains won't last long if he keeps locking it down.
Colorado Avalanche 2, Montreal Canadiens 1
Like the first game of the night, the eventual losing team had a short-lived lead. Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring for the visitors with a power-play goal at 5:43 of the first period to beat Philipp Grubauer. It was Gallagher's 15th goal of the season, assisted on by Jeff Petry and Jonathan Drouin. The 26-year-old from Edmonton has managed at least 15 goals in six of his first seven NHL season, and he is well on his way toward equaling or exceeding his career-high 31 goals and 54 points across 82 games last season. This was just his second marker, and fourth point, on the man advantage this season, so he is well off the pace from his eight power-play goals and 17 points set in 2017-18. As far as Petry is concerned, he and Shea Weber, the top defensive pairing, were very physical in this one. They tied for the team high with four hits, and Petry also stepped in front of a shot, too.
This season the cash line of the Colorado Avalanche featuring Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen haven't been held in check very often. Wednesday wasn't going to be one of those nights, either. The dynamic trio combined for two goals and five points, or all of the offensive production for the home side. Rantanen struck for his 16th goal early in the second period on a pass from MacKinnon, and then those two set up Landeskog just 35 seconds into the second period for the game-winning tally. Landeskog has managed seven game-winners so far this season, including two in the past three games. He is absolutely on fire, picking up at least one goal in each of his past three outings, while scoring eight goals with 14 points in nine games in the month of December.
As far as Rantanen is concerned, he recorded a multi-point effort for the third time in five games, rebounding from a rare scoreless outing against the Islanders on Monday night. The scoreless game was snapped a 14-game point streak. In the month of December he has rolled up five goals with 15 points in just nine outings. It was all Grubauer needed to pick up his eighth win in 13 decisions, moving to 8-3-2 with a 3.05 goals-against average and .904 save percentage. He is still a touch off from Semyon Varlamov's 2.79 GAA and .913 save percentage, but Grubauer's record is much better than Varlamov's 11-8-3 record.
In the other crease, Carey Price allowed just two goals on 26 shots, doing a good enough job, but he came up short yet again in his search for career win No. 300. Next up for the Habs will be a trip to the desert to tangle with the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday.
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