Phil Kessel Firing Away, Sean Avery Counting His Days

Ron Wilson did something the other night that I found quite questionable. He sat star defenseman Tomas Kaberle for the entirety of the first period at Phoenix.

The result? A minus-three rating.

Why didn't Wilson make Kaberle a healthy scratch? It was a successful strategy in getting Matt Stajan to step his game up. You don't dress your top player and keep him on the bench.

I'm just thinking out loud here.

HOT

His 11-game point streak is tops in the NHL as we speak. Phil Kessel is looking like a candidate for the Rocket Richard Trophy each time he hits the ice. His 14 points in those 11 games are great, but more riveting is the fact that nine of them are goals. With or without Marc Savard, this kid's the real deal.

Quite the story brewing between the pipes in Nashville. Young Pekka Rinne of Finland seems to have taken over the show—and why shouldn't he? His 6-0 record speaks wonders. This week, he won all three matches for the Predators, posting two shutouts, and allowing a combined two goals.

Dan Cleary's consecutive 20-goal season in Hockey Town gained the confidence of the Red Wings supporters. The former Chicago Blackhawk draft-pick displayed a few fine performances this week. An assist in Anaheim, followed by two goals in Vancouver, and two helpers in a comeback win over the Blackhawks.

Stats-ny? Pardon me, I meant Paul Stastny. At times the name can coincide with the numbers. The second generation star had a couple of three-point efforts get him on the right track. Keep in mind that the 22-year-old has averaged nearly a point per game throughout his early career.

Since last season, I have grown into a huge Mike Richards fan. I showed my confidence in him by drafting him as my third pick in my cash fantasy hockey league. His work level in all areas of the game ensured that this wasn't another one-time greatness. The 24th-overall pick in the 2003 Entry Draft scored three times in as many games. Two were shorthanded tallies, while the other was on the power play.

The majority of hockey fans would like to see Ilya Kovalchuk move on to a better squad sometime in the future I'm sure. Following former teammate Marian Hossa's footsteps could be on his mind. Not one to pout, the Russian scored once, and added four assists this week for Atlanta.

Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart. I reckon I'll never forget the trio that swapped places with Joe Thornton. Those 92 points (20 goals, 72 assists) in 58 games that first season with the Sharks just always amaze me. The big center had two goals, and four assists in three matches.

At last. I was seconds away from attempting to trade Jason Spezza off my fantasy squad on a number of occasions. However, I told myself to stay patient and wait for the magic that Spezza can produce. I hope this week is a good sign of things to come. The native of Toronto tallied a goal against Atlanta, followed by a hat-trick in the showdown with Pittsburgh (game-winner in both).

All about the goal scoring last week, back to assists this week. Sidney Crosby continued his red-hot streak with six assists in three matches. Paul Maurice's first game back behind the Carolina bench had to be against the Penguins. Sid the kid had four helpers that night, and flashbacks had to emerge from the Air Canada Centre for Maurice.

Once the best goaltending duo in the league was Ryan Miller/Martin Biron in Buffalo. Boston has it this year with Tim Thomas/Manny Fernandez. It doesn't seem to matter who starts in goal because they have both given their team a chance to win every night with top-class netminding.

Polls are already being taken to determine if fans like Jonathan Toews' goal last year against Colorado, or yesterday's tally in Detroit more. Both were great, but I give it to his rookie highlight reel display against the Avalanche. Chicago's captain has emerged with four goals and two assists in the last three games.

NOT

Sean Avery is giving himself great material for writing an autobiography in the future. Dallas head coach Dave Tippett has expressed his concerns about Avery's return to the lineup and insists it's not the image his team wants. What's next? Who knows.

Imagine if the Red Wings had a decent goaltender. A Roberto Luongo or Martin Brodeur would make this team unstoppable. Ty Conklin won his only start against Chicago this week, but allowed four goals on 32 shots. Meanwhile, Chris Osgood won both of his starts despite some ugly stats. One goal on 16 shots against Anaheim is one thing, but five goals allowed on 25 Vancouver shots is another.

It's not always going to be shutouts and victories. Niklas Backstrom has lost four of his last seven starts indicating that fatigue may be a concern. Josh Harding started the last Minnesota game and another may be following to give the Finn a rest.

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost another one-goal contest last night against the Buffalo Sabres. The movie, Groundhog Day has drawn plenty of comparisons to the Lightning season thus far. A second coaching change could take place before the halfway mark of the regular season.

When discussing Mike Ribeiro's year, the elevator business springs up. They both have their ups and downs. It was a down this week for the 28-year-old with nothing to cheer about in the way of statistics. Again, don't drop him from your fantasy team. You should be able to fetch something in a trade.

Who are the top 10 goalies in the NHL? I'd venture a guess that many would place Evgeni Nabokov in that list. I'm here to tell you that he's overrated. San Jose's tremendous team is the reason for his victories, and he'll continue to see regular starting duty despite Brian Boucher's better performances to date. Last night, the Edmonton Oilers won 3-2 in San Jose after being outshot 43-17. Enough said.

Maybe Henrik Lundqvist should have pulled himself out of the net once again. The king has lost three of five, allowed 12 goals in the three losses. He's still yet to pull off a shutout this season.

A healthy scratch is where Maxim Afinogenov has seen himself numerous times. The Russian has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 23 games, and two points in the last 14. The talent is still there, but a change of scenery may be the key to getting it out.

Plenty of goal scoring taking place in Boston, but Patrice Bergeron still finds himself on the empty-handed side of it. The 23-year old has one assist in the last five matches, and may be demoted by Claude Julien.

Paul Maurice needs to find a way to get Eric Staal out of the scoring slump he's in. We're 28 games in, and the Thunder Bay native has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists). A game-winner today in Washington is a step in the right direction.