Morning Briefing 10/06: Celebrini a Late Scratch, Ullmark Leaves Early, Stützle Scores Twice

TL;DR

• Macklin Celebrini was a late scratch in Dallas with a lower-body injury. San Jose managed 13 shots without him.
• Linus Ullmark left after two periods with what Travis Green called precautionary. Samuel Ersson closed out the win.
• Tim Stützle had 2G 1A in Ottawa's 4-1 win in Boston, one shorthanded off a Pastrnak giveaway.
• Boston's power play still has no goal, and Pastrnak finished the night on his third line combination of the game.
• Cole Perfetti scored the winner in Pittsburgh nine seconds after the tying goal, his second goal in two nights.
• Declan Carlile has 2G 2A in three games at 1% rostered.
• Tommy Novak took 51% of Pittsburgh's power-play time with Bryan Rust still out - but Rust practised yesterday.

Celebrini scratched late in Dallas

SJS · C

Macklin Celebrini came out of the lineup shortly before puck drop with a lower-body injury (@usatodaysports). A late scratch is not a diagnosis, so the Sharks' next morning skate decides whether this is a day or a month.

What it cost them is the useful part: San Jose put 13 shots on Jake Oettinger all night and lost 5-0. Celebrini had five assists in his first two games and is most of this team's offence.

Ullmark out after two periods, precautionary

OTT · G

Linus Ullmark stopped all 10 shots he faced and did not come out for the third after JJ Peterka crashed into him in the second (@TSN1200).

Travis Green said afterward that Ullmark tweaked something and coming out was precautionary, with further evaluation to follow (@SunGarrioch). That is the mildest version of this news, and Samuel Ersson handled the third cleanly - 8 saves on 9 shots to close out a 4-1 win.

Ullmark is 87.7% rostered and Ersson is at 0.9%. Nobody needs to act yet, but if Ottawa says anything other than "fine" today, Ersson is the cheapest handcuff on the board.

Stützle scores twice, one of them shorthanded

OTT · C

Tim Stützle put up 2G 1A on three shots in 18:56, with 1:53 on the first power-play unit. The shorthanded goal came off a Pastrnak turnover that turned into a 2-on-1 (@smclaughlin9) - one play that flattered Ottawa and buried Boston at the same time.

The Senators are 2-0 for the first time in ten years!

Yakemchuk holding up without Sanderson

OTT · D

Jake Sanderson lasted 4:29 on Saturday before the lower-body injury that sent him home for tests, so this was Ottawa's first full game without him. Carter Yakemchuk played 15:00 with 1:53 on the top power-play unit, after 4:36 of power-play time Saturday.

One shot does not look like much. He also drew the penalty that set up a 5-on-3, and @EverydaySens singled out Kleven, Matinpalo and Yakemchuk for covering the absences of both Sanderson and Zub.

At 1.9% rostered he is a deep-league power-play add for as long as Sanderson is out. Not more than that yet.

Boston's power play is still at zero, and Pastrnak keeps getting new linemates

BOS · F

Four games, no power-play goal. Two straight 4-1 losses, at Minnesota and now at home to Ottawa. David Pastrnak has 15 shots and nothing to show for them, and his two giveaways on one power play led directly to Stützle's shorthanded goal.

Marco Sturm, asked what is wrong with the unit, said he genuinely did not know (@ConorRyan_93). Pastrnak put it down largely to confidence (@smclaughlin9).

Sturm spent the night looking for an answer at even strength too. Pastrnak started with Elias Lindholm and JJ Peterka, was with Lindholm and Morgan Geekie late in the second (@smclaughlin9), and opened the third between Geekie and Pavel Zacha - 5:29 together - while Lindholm went to Casey Mittelstadt and Peterka (@smclaughlin9).

Thursday's lineup is the one to watch. Zacha is 56% rostered and a Pastrnak line that actually sticks would lift whoever is on it.

Perfetti wins it nine seconds after the tying goal

WPG · C

Cole Perfetti scored for the second night running, this time the winner in a 3-2 win in Pittsburgh, nine seconds after Winnipeg had drawn level. Four shots in 20:00, his heaviest workload of the season, and he is now at 2G 3A through three games with one of the goals on the power play.

He is 34.4% rostered, which looks low for a player on the top power-play unit producing at this rate. The usage is the thing to track - 20 minutes is a top-six forward's night, not a second-liner's.

Rantanen finally scores

DAL · R

Mikko Rantanen, rested at the morning skate, flipped the puck over a defenceman to himself, spun and beat Askarov for his first of the season in a 5-0 win (@nhl_goal_bot).

Carlile is the one nobody owns

PIT · D

Erik Karlsson and Declan Carlile both assisted and both have points in three straight. Karlsson has four points over the run and played 24:00 with 2:34 on the first power-play unit, which is exactly what you drafted him for.

Carlile is the interesting one. He put up 1G 1A with three shots and three blocks in 18:23, giving him 2G 2A in three games - and he is rostered in 1% of leagues. In a league that counts blocks he is worth a speculative claim now; in a points-only league, he's not likely to get a shot on either PP unit with Karlsson and Letang around.

Novak doubles his power-play share, but Rust is practising

PIT · C

Tommy Novak took 51% of Pittsburgh's power-play time last night, 2:10 of it, against a season share of 25%. He ran the first unit with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson.

The whole thing is on loan. Bryan Rust remains on IR with an upper-body injury but practised yesterday, and the seat is his when he is cleared. Add Novak for the week if you need power-play points; do not hold him through Rust's return.

Vilardi and Ferraro both down four minutes in Winnipeg

WPG · C / D

Gabriel Vilardi played 14:21, 4.4 below his average, skating with Viggo Björck and Isak Rosen and taking 1:23 on the first power-play unit. Mario Ferraro was down to 16:53 from 21, paired with Jack St. Ivany and off the power play entirely.

Winnipeg won, so neither is obviously a benching. Ferraro losing his power-play time is the one with fantasy consequences; check Thursday's deployment before either becomes a pattern.

Oettinger's shutout came on 13 shots

DAL · G

Jake Oettinger stopped all 13 and finished 1.7 goals above expectation in a 5-0 win. Thirteen shots is a quiet night for a goaltender, which is less a knock on him than a measure of how little San Jose generated without Celebrini.

Sherwood's hits night in a shutout loss

SJS · L

Kiefer Sherwood recorded seven hits against a 4.7 average, with one shot in 15:02 and 1:20 on the first power-play unit, skating with Alexander Wennberg and Tyler Toffoli.

Hits are the whole of it - San Jose was shut out and he finished pointless. That line controlled 20% of the shot attempts it was on the ice for, which is as bad as it sounds. In a category league he had a useful night; in points-only he had none.

Lines that changed in the third

Each team's new even-strength forward lines in the third period (2:30 or more together), beside the lines those players skated on through the first two periods.

Boston ran four new combinations in one third period, which is the clearest sign on the page of a coach without an answer.

Running past career highs

Per-game rates this season at least 1.5 times the player's best season of the last five (40 or more games). Three games is nothing, so read these as names to watch rather than new baselines - and note how many are power-play points, which is the first thing to regress.

Utah has three forwards on this list and Winnipeg two, which says more about those two power plays than about any of the five individually. Podkolzin's is the one with a reason attached: he has the first unit while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is out.

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