Squad Up Daily NHL Fantasy Dose: Fire up the Faksa machine

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Here is a look at the Squad Up daily NHL fantasy picture for Tuesday, Jan. 10 (all advanced statistics courtesy of Corsica.Hockey and apply to 5v5 situations):

Bargain Plays

  • C Radek Faksa (28K), Stars (at Ducks): The Stars will be playing their second game in as many nights, but Faksa is fresh off a three-assist performance. His 3.34 iSCF60 (individual scoring chances for per 60 minutes) are the second-most on the team among players with at least 400 5v5 minutes. At 28K, the former first-round pick is worth taking a shot on.
  • RW Anthony Mantha (33K), Red Wings (at Blackhawks): Mantha isn't blessed with a particularly great matchup, but at 6-foot-5 with great foot speed, he is a mismatch for just about every defenseman. He has seven goals and five assists in his last 12 games. His skill set is eerily similar to that of Rick Nash when he was in his heyday.
  • D Michael Del Zotto (25K), Flyers (at Sabres): Del Zotto's offense has dried up over his last 10 games, picking up just a single point. However, he still maintains value in Squad Up because he has taken 49 shots, blocked 52 and thrown 89 hits in just 25 games this season.

Dynamic Duos

  • C Ryan Kesler (56K) & Jakob Silfverberg (50K), Ducks (vs. Stars): The Stars goaltending duo of "Kari Lehtonen goals" and "Antti-saves Niemi" is frankly, terrible. Niemi will likely draw the start after Lehtonen was pulled on Monday. Kesler is having one the best offensive seasons in his career and will continue to play big minutes with Ryan Getzlaf out.
  • C Ryan O'Reilly (66K) & RW Kyle Okposo (57K), Sabres (vs. Flyers): The Flyers have struggled lately, and goaltender Steve Mason is a big reason why. His save percentage is just .860 in his last six games. O'Reilly and Okposo have combined for six points in their last two games.
  • C Ryan Johansen (68K) & LW Filip Forsberg (63K), Predators (vs. Canucks): Ryan Miller has been red-hot lately, but it is bound to wear off soon. Vancouver is one of the worst road teams in the NHL, with a record of 5-13-1. They allow the third-most SCA60 (scoring chances against per 60 minutes) away from home.

Goalie Breakdown

  • TARGET - Sergei Bobrovsky (79K), Blue Jackets (at Hurricanes): How can you not target Bobrovsky at 79K? He is playing out of his mind and Carolina's offense isn't what you would consider potent.
  • BARGAIN - Tuukka Rask (75K), Bruins (at Blues): Rask is also having a magnificent season. What is perhaps most impressive are his road numbers: 12-4-3 with a .937 SV% and a 1.77 GAA.
  • FADE - Ryan Miller (87K), Canucks (at Predators): Miller has been hot lately, but it's tough to invest 87K in him when the two previously mentioned options are cheaper and also better. Vancouver's road woes need to be factored in as well.
  • CONTRARIAN - Cam Talbot (99K), Oilers (vs. Sharks): Bobrovsky, Rask and Martin Jones will likely make up most of the goalie ownership. Talbot comes at 99K, but he has lived up to the bill over the past two weeks, posting a 1.96 GAA and a .934 SV%.

Top Fades

  • C Tyler Seguin (78K), Stars (at Ducks): One of the hottest goalies in the NHL right now is John Gibson. In the last two weeks his SV% is .936 and his GAA is 1.95. Seguin has the ability to produce every night, but on a star-studded slate it's best to avoid him on the second night of a back-to-back. Playing without his partner in crime, Jamie Benn, doesn't help either.
  • RW Vladimir Tarasenko (75K), Blues (vs. Bruins): Remember Rask's road numbers? Yeah, you're better off forking up 75K on a star who won't be facing a brick wall between the pipes.
  • LW Jeff Skinner (55K), Hurricanes (vs. Blue Jackets): Skinner has just two points in his last eight games. He and the Canes are faced with a daunting task going up against Bobrovsky and the Jackets.

Contrarian Options

  • C Leon Draisaitl (54K), Oilers (vs. Sharks): Most users will spend up for Connor McDavid if they have interest in an Oilers center. Draisaitl is listed as a center, but is actually playing the wing with McDavid right now.
  • RW Corey Perry (70K), Ducks (vs. Stars): Perry has just seven goals on the season and is playing without his longtime linemate Getzlaf, who is currently injured. Perry is still getting a healthy amount of scoring chances and is bound to start burying them. There is no better team to get it going against than the Stars.
  • D Brent Burns (71K), Sharks (at Oilers): Burns is so much more expensive than the next defenseman and has to face the red-hot Cam Talbot, so he will likely be faded. Users need to remember that Burns doesn't just look like a beast, but he is one. He leads the NHL in shots, is a point-per-game player and fills every category.

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Kuznetsov busting out of season-long slump

Evgeny Kuznetsov's turned the corner with his season - and is quickly gaining speed.

The previously snakebitten Washington Capitals center scored a goal and added a helper in Monday's 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, giving him two goals and eight points for his last four games.

Seven of his points were at even strength, but perhaps the more telling sign that the top-10 point producer from last season is reverting back to superstar status is the undeniable quality of his goal on Carey Price and the Canadiens.

For a refresher:

Kuznetsov managed just three goals and 16 assists in 35 games before the calendar flipped to 2017. He's still on pace for about half the goals, and 20 fewer points, from last season, but odds are he'll have a strong finish for the Capitals, who are surging the same.

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Watch: Brock Lesnar steps on Jets logo, hears about it from players

Brock Lesnar ought to be tried in a (kangaroo) court of law.

The WWE wrestler and former UFC titleholder, making an appearance at MTS Center in Winnipeg on Monday night, broke the cardinal rule in the Jets' locker room, marching right through the team's carpeted logo.

And the boys were quick to let him know what he had done.

Lesnar reportedly took home a $2.5-million purse for his win at UFC 200. If this world is just, a portion of those earnings will be stuffed in the Jets' kitty.

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Goaltending optional as Stars beat Kings in wild affair

LOS ANGELES - Jiri Hudler scored the tiebreaking goal with 12:16 to play, and the Dallas Stars blew a late two-goal lead before hanging on for a wild 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night.

Hudler, Tyler Seguin and Devin Shore had a goal and an assist apiece for the Stars, who snapped a three-game skid despite giving up four goals to the Kings in just over 10 minutes spanning the final two periods.

Drew Doughty scored the tying goal on the power play early in the third period, chasing Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen. But Hudler capitalized on a turnover behind the Kings' net and scored the first goal of his first season the Stars moments later.

Goalie Peter Budaj also was pulled by the Kings in the third period.

Dallas' Antti Niemi and Los Angeles' Jeff Zatkoff finished the game in net, but Dallas clinched the win on Patrick Sharp's empty-net goal with 52 seconds left.

Both teams hit the midway point of their mildly disappointing seasons with a high-scoring thriller, but the Stars survived with goals from Brett Ritchie, Jamie Oleksiak and Devin Shore. Hudler missed most of the season's first two months with an illness after signing with the Stars as a free agent, and he didn't score a goal in his first 15 games with Dallas.

Nick Shore scored a short-handed goal for the Kings, while captain Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown both broke lengthy goal-scoring droughts during the Kings' rally.

Doughty and Kopitar had a goal and an assist each for the Kings, who have lost two of three to open their seven-game homestand.

Los Angeles still got two particularly encouraging goals for one of the NHL's lowest-scoring offenses. Brown scored on an excellent wrist shot during a power play in the third period to snap his 15-game drought since Nov. 30, and Kopitar followed him two minutes later with his first goal since Dec. 13, ending his 12-game goalless skid.

NOTES: Dallas captain Jamie Benn missed his third straight game with a foot injury. ... Kopitar played his 800th NHL game, all with the Kings. He is just the sixth player to reach the mark in the Second Six franchise's 50 years of existence. ... Ritchie's goal was his eighth of the season. He is narrowly being outscored by his younger brother, Nick Ritchie, who has nine goals heading into their meeting Tuesday in Anaheim.

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Kopitar moves past Gretzky on Kings’ all-time goals list

Anze Kopitar continues to climb the Los Angeles Kings' statistical ladder.

The L.A. captain scored the 247th goal of his career Monday, all with the Kings, passing Wayne Gretzky for sixth place on the franchise's all-time goals list.

Up next: Butch Goring.

Rank Kings Player Goals
1 Luc Robitaille 557
2 Marcel Dionne 550
3 Dave Taylor 431
4 Bernie Nicholls 327
5 Butch Goring 275
6 Kopitar 247
7 Gretzky 246

The goal was only Kopitar's fourth this season and second since Oct. 25.

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Jagr not thinking about retirement: ‘I feel good so I go to 55’

Jaromir Jagr's feeling excellent, thanks for asking.

The 44-year-old's playing future is a topic of discussion wherever the Florida Panthers go on the road, especially to a place Jagr's played before as a member of the home team. That was the case Monday in New Jersey, where Jagr said he's still got 10 years to go.

"I go to 55," Jagr said, writes The Record's Andrew Gross. "I just changed. Fifty-five. I feel good so I go to 55."

Jagr has never said he'll play until a certain age, though 50 has been bandied about. The point is: he'll tell us when he's done.

No. 68 didn't register a point in his team's 3-0 shutout of the Devils, but played 18:54, third-most on the team. His 25 points are tied for second on the club.

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‘I’m old’: Ovechkin on tying Richard in goals, hitting 999 points

It was obviously going to happen in Montreal.

Alex Ovechkin went into Monday night needing one goal to tie Canadiens legend Maurice "Rocket" Richard on the NHL's all-time goal-scoring list, and after a goal and two assists in Washington's 4-1 win, he left the Bell Centre tied with No. 9 at 544.

Ovechkin's won the "Richard Trophy" as the NHL's leading goal-scorer six times, including in each of the last four seasons.

"The Great Eight" is now only one point from 1,000 in his career, and he'll look to record the milestone Wednesday at home in D.C., with Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in town (of course).

"It means I'm getting old," Ovechkin said of the career milestones after the game, according to NHL.com's Arpon Basu.

"Time moves forward and time moves quick, so you just have to enjoy every second, every moment when you have the opportunity to try to do something special," Ovechkin added, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

Only 31, Ovechkin's clearly getting philosophical with age.

The superstar scorer said head coach Barry Trotz talked to him about tying the record in Montreal. And he did.

Up next, a conversation about point number 1,000, no doubt.

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Watch: Ovechkin ties ‘Rocket’ Richard with goal No. 544, scored in Montreal

Alex Ovechkin had himself a night.

With his third-period goal on Monday, Ovechkin tied Maurice "Rocket" Richard - in Montreal, no less - for 29th on the all-time list at 544.

It was Ovechkin's third point of the night, and he's now one shy of 1,000 for his illustrious career.

The Capitals won 4-1, their sixth straight victory

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