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thesportssoundoff · 4 years

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Playoff Droughts And Who Can Break Theirs

Joey

Baseball season is approaching and in the interest of breaking up the monotony of what figures to be a LONG and painful spring training, I wanted to take a peek whimsically while looking backwards. There's no more enjoyable story than when a team that's been excluded from the postseason dance for quite some time gets their invite. Sometimes it's years of hard work and team building and other years its due to ownership just throwing money around and sometimes? It's just a fluke luck circumstance not to be repeated for quite some time. For the sake of doing something of a bit of a project, I decided to take a brief look at teams that have not made the playoffs in over five years. I chose five years arbitrarily I suppose because to me five years or more without a playoff run is a genuine drought whereas four or less just feels like a lull regardless of expectations. Yankees fans may consider three years without the playoffs to be a drought whereas that's if anything a lull or a break in tradition. Teams that have been out of it for five years or more are teams that are either mired in long term BAD baseball or embracing mediocrity at best and so five years just felt right. Also I wanted to do it since the invent of the two game wild card but then it would be literally just three teams and nobody wants that.

Of the eight teams who have missed the playoffs for five years straight or longer, who are most likely to break that streak and join the dance? Well...

1- Philadelphia Phillies Last Playoff Appearance: 2011

Last year's darling picks, the Phillies have been out of the playoffs since 2011. For fun facts, 2011 was also the first year of the Chromebook, snapchat and the release of Elder Scrolls: Skryim. If you read this space for MMA? 2011 was the year Jon Jones beat Shogun for the LHW title, the Strikeforce HW Grand Prix started and Alistair Overeem's UFC debut. It's been a while and to the credit of Philadelphia, they've tried a multitude of ways from riding out the final years of aging veterans to rehauling their farm system to spending and spending big. It's not for a lack of trying they haven't made it back to the playoffs! Last year they seemed armed to roll through a perceived weak NL East with big names and big money across the board. Of course little did we know the Nationals would be better without Bryce Harper and the Phillies wouldn't even crack the top two of the division. Out goes Gabe Kapler and in comes Joe Girardi who will be tasked with VETERAN MANAGING his way through this ultra talented and underachieving roster that has added the likes of Zach Wheeler, Didi Gregorious as well as Andrew McCutchen who was lost early into 2019 with a torn ACL. The Phillies boast an insane line up as if Didi and Cutch are healthy and productive then you've got a core of Jean Segura, JT Realmuto, Didi, McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper. The rotation is pretty damn spiffy (health permitting) with Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin and Jake Arrieta plus flostam as a fifth if need be. The Phillies are always going to be a team that has slumps magnified and streaks glorified (such is life with Bryce Harper) but I can't see them not cracking the playoffs in some form or fashion this year. If they don't make the playoffs, we may need to try and discuss if there's some kind of a curse out there on the Phanatic.

2- Cincinnati Reds Last Playoff Appearance: 2013

Gotta admit I had no idea the Reds had a playoff cameo back in 2013. Guess that's just one of those years lost to time. Fun facts of 2013? Grand Theft Auto 5 came out that year, Yahoo purchased this hell site and the UFC brought women into the organization for the first time ever. The Reds spoke openly about wanting to spend a bit in the offseason and so they did, flexing some financial muscle with deals for Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos to help out a lineup featuring the likes of Joey Votto, Nick Senzel and Eugenio Suarez. If the Reds are going to make a serious run of things, it'll likely be on the arms of a rejuvenated Sonny Gray, mercurial Trevor Bauer and the league's best kept secret to casual fans Luis Castillo. There's obviously going to be concerns about a team that hits a lot of dingers but strikes out a bunch and a somewhat unheralded bullpen but the Reds have power, they've gotten better and they've got a cadre of arms to flex at any time. Also? The NL Central figures to be up in the air as the Cubs seem to coast with the core they have until the rebuild comes around, the Cardinals and Brewers underwent massive changes and the Pirates figure to be flat out bad. There's never been a more clear path for the Reds to make some October noise.

3- Los Angeles Angels Last Playoff Appearance: 2014

The year is 2014. In the real world, Colorado legalizes the purchase of wacky tobacky, selfies became "a thing" in need of forever going away and the occulus rift creates a youtube grift genre. Sports wise? The MLB struggles through record rating woes, the Cowboys finally break through in the Jason Garrett tenure with a 12-4 record, the UFC is undergoing massive upheaval as stars retire or are suspended for PEDs, Bellator hosts its first PPV which in turn leads to the ousting of Bjorn Rebney for Scott Coker and LeBron James leaves Miami to go back where it all began in Cleveland. That's the last time the Angels saw a playoff game and it's been beaten to death at this point. "WHY DON'T THE ANGELS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS DURING MIKE TROUT'S PRIME?!" is tired and done to death but for those of you who feel the same way, 2020 marks the BEST chance for that to become a fad question (or perhaps just morph into "WHY CAN'T THE BEST PLAYER IN BASEBALL WIN THE WORLD SERIES ON HIS OWN?!") since the Angels are pretty damn loaded for bare. With the Astros about to endure a pretty weird season and the A's always lurking, the Angels will roll into the year with three bonafide superstars in Anthony Rendon, Shohei Otani and Mike Trout. The pieces around them aren't bad shakes either as Andrelton Simmons is a defensive whiz, David Fletcher is one of those solid under the radar types and the rotation isn't flashy but it should be competent with minor league depth to make moves if they see a big fish out there. The Angels would've been higher up had they gotten Ross Stripling and Joc Pedersen in a deal but since that fell off, I feel like 3rd behind the Reds and Phillies is a fine spot to put them in.

4- Chicago White Sox Last Playoff Appearance: 2008

2008 will probably best be known as the year of change headlined by the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. It was the year Fidel Castro stepped down in Cuba. China got the olympics in Beijing and people were TOTALLY cool about that with nary any controversy whatsoever. Beyond that? 2008 was the year I got into MMA and that was a special time, dudes. It was also the year where the White Sox saw their last real sustained succeed with its last postseason appearance. The White Sox feel like they've been in a rebuild since pretty much the end of the Ozzie Guillen tenure and despite multiple managers, multiple attempts to figure it out, rebuilds aplenty and some damn good talent coming through the organization, it's been a rough go of it for the majority of 2010 to 2019. Put it this way, the LAST time the White Sox made the playoffs, Chris Sale was a 22 year old rookie and Paul Konerko was still an active player. They've got a chance to kick off this next decade as a bit of a sleeper team in the Central. This team can hit and one can assume that another year of development for phenom talents like Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jiminez can only help. Tim Anderson for better or worse has a style and swagger that generates attention but it is fair to remember that for at least one half a season, he was a phenomenal player worthy of the acclaim. The White Sox have tried hard to secure elite free agents (Manny Machado and Zack Wheeler) but it's been a bust so at this point it's going to be up to them to draft, develop and trade for it. It would not surprise me if the White Sox are good enough in June and July to make a big deal to try and push them over the hump and chase for the second wild card.

5- San Diego Padres Last Playoff Appearance: 2006

The Padres last made the playoffs in the year of the Nintendo Wii. Floyd Mayweather hadn't even come up with his Money Mayweather gimmick yet! Lost to baseball obscurity, the Padres had at the very least an interesting team out west. The likes of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr, arguably the worst defensive outfield in the history of the universe and freakishly good young arms like Chris Paddack and Joey Luchessi at least made them fun to watch. They weren't "good" but this is a team that was still struggling to balance expensive veterans with clout (Machado, Eric Hosmer, Will Meyers) with really good young talent trying to figure things out. The Padres figure to be better with a full season of Tatis Jr, more production from guys like Hosmer and Machado plus improvements in the outfield with Tommy Pham and Trent Grisham (hold your jokes, Nats fans) figure to give this team a chance. There's a pretty good bullpen (Emilio Pagan is a sneaky nice pick up) and plenty of talent in their 26 man roster. The NL West has so much legit top talent with the D-Backs and Dodgers figuring to be really good that it's hard to make an argument for the Padres to be a playoff contender but they figure to try and trying is truly half the battle.

6- Miami Marlins Last Playoff Appearance: 2003

It's kind of a bummer that we didn't get our decennial Marlins "The fuck?" World Series win but they made up for it by giving us Jeffrey Loria and David Samson fucking things up for most of the decade leading to Derek FUCKING Jeter opting to get into the management game much to the chagrin of most folks on all sides. The Marlins are in the midst of rebuilding....again. Don't expect them to compete but they've got some good talent to at least want to see play. Brian Anderson, Caleb Smith, Jorge Alfaro and a bundle of veteran signings that will at the very least make the Marlins a fun trade partner in July will keep this team relevant. Wouldn't surprise me if the Marlins flirt with a 20 win swing from where they were last year.

7- Seattle Mariners Last Playoff Appearance: 2001

My god man. The Mariners were SO close in 2018, winning 89 games and finishing a few spots out of a Wild Card spot. As if they decided that this core couldn't do it, the Mariners went to work tearing their team apart and were rewarded with a pretty blegh squad that was once again picked apart at the deadline. To their credit they have some spiffy talent worth watching, namely the infield duo of JP Crawford and Shed Long. They’ve also got some fun young arms who might take the next step. Just don't expect them to win many games.

8- Detroit Tigers Last Playoff Appearance: 2014

The Tigers are aways away from being contenders. They're not trying to be contenders. They're in the midst of what could best be described as a multiple year rebuild after riding out the end days of the core from the start of the 2010's. They will be bad but god bless 'em for embracing it.

#MLB #playoffs #baseball

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ravensunday6-blog · 5 years

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MLB Bullets and the kids are alright

You probably heard that Athletics first-round pick Kyler Murray went to the Cardinals (of the other sport) with the first pick in the NFL draft. That almost certainly ends his baseball career and it’s probably the last time we’ll mention him in these pages, unless he does something like throw out a cool first pitch some day.

C’mon, Molly, that’s not fair. There’s the day of the NBA Draft as well.

You know this already, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going to play for the Blue Jays today.

Gregor Chisholm has what you need to know about baseball’s likely next superstar.

Jon Tayler has what to expect from Guerrero Jr.

Emma Baccellieri looks at what the projection systems say Guerrero will do this year.

R.J. Anderson notes that Guerrero Jr. looks (and has put up numbers) a lot like his dad. One difference was that when Vlad Sr. was 20, he was still in low-A. (But then, Vlad went from low-A at 20 to a cup of coffee in the majors at 21 and up for good at 22.) Another difference is that Vlad the younger doesn’t swing at as many bad pitches.

Kaitlyn McGrath speaks with Guerrero Jr.’s minor league teammates about him and their scouting report is one word: “wow.” (The Athletic sub. req.)

These photos of the two Vlads when the elder was with the Expos are making everyone go “awwwww.”

He’s not going to get as much fanfare as Vlad Jr., but the Nationals are also calling up shortstop Carter Kieboom. I’m glad I got to see him play once before he got the call.

Last year’s big shiny new thing was Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and he didn’t disappoint, either last year or this year. Jeff Passan believes that it’s just a matter of time before Acuña is the best player in baseball. Of course, Mike Trout has to retire first.

Gabe Lacques has a profile of emerging star shortstop Tim Anderson of the White Sox. Anderson has been in the news lately, but Lacques points out that he’s had to overcome some tragedy to get to where he is today.

David Schoenfield thinks that the Padres have found an ace in rookie pitcher Chris Paddack.

Schoenfield also believes that Mets rookie first baseman Pete Alonso is baseball’s next big thing, both metaphorically and literally.

Mets reliever Jacob Rhame was suspended for two games for throwing at the head of Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins in Tuesday’s game.

Hoskins got his revenge on Wednesday when Hoskins homered off Rhame and then took 34 seconds to round the bases.

Who’s the hottest hitter in baseball? I’m betting you didn’t guess Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke and his 1.845 OPS.

Who leads the Angels in home runs? Trout? Albert Pujols? Kole Calhoun? Nope, it’s Tommy La Stella, who has seven already. He hit 10 home runs total in his previous five years with the Cubs and Braves.

While we’re on the Angels, Trout and Andrelton Simmons teamed up to turn one amazing double play. Trout made an incredible catch in center field and Simmons then pulled a semi-hidden-ball trick.

I’ve written a lot about the Yankees injury issues this season and the Bronx Bombers suffered another blow as outfielder Giancarlo Stanton suffered a setback in his recovery efforts.

The Yankees added outfielder Clint Frazier to their injured list.

Dan Szymborski writes that the Yankees injury issues are a major problem, but don’t write off their 2019 season just yet, thanks mainly to the team’s depth.

The Yankees added to that depth by trading for outfielder Cameron Maybin. The Indians got someone named “cash considerations” back in the deal.

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia failed to get his 3,000th strikeout in his last start against the Angels, but he’s only three away and should get it soon. Tim Brown has a look back at Sabathia’s remarkable, hall-of-fame career which Brown calls “not perfect but close enough.”

The Brewers have signed free agent pitcher Gio Gonzalez to a one-year, $2 million deal.

Ben Clemens looks at the remarkable skill of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong to control the strike zone.

Clemens also examines how Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has found success after he changed his pitch selection mix this season. Of course, it wasn’t like he was bad last season. But now he throws almost exclusively fastballs when behind in the count.

R.J. Anderson notes that the Diamondbacks haven’t missed Paul Goldschmidt much this season because of the remarkable start by first baseman Christian Walker.

Reds broadcaster Chris Welsh has apologized to Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies after saying on the air that a poor kid from Curaçao like Albies wouldn’t know the difference between $35 and $85 million.

Meanwhile down with the minor league Salem Red Sox, Melanie Newman and Suzie Cool became the first all-woman broadcast team in baseball. (The Athletic sub. req.) Brittany Ghiroli writes about how the two women came together and the hard work that they have in front of them.

Giants broadcaster Jon Miller looks back at his Hall-of-Fame career and how much baseball has changed since he started in 1974.

MLB announced that they are going to have a “Stranger Things” promotion this summer. June 24 will be “Stranger Things” Day at Wrigley. That show is about the only thing I can get my daughter to watch with me, so I have a soft spot for it at the moment. She’s a huge Millie Bobby Brown fan.

Stephanie Apstein has the story about how the Orioles team have mostly adopted a new form of transportation to get them to and from the stadium: motorized scooters. Or as outfielder Trey Mancini said “[The Orioles] may be the lamest biker gang in the world.”

A 59-year-old grandmother and Orioles fan got tired of the way everyone was booing Orioles first baseman Chris Davis, so she got a tattoo to honor Davis. It’s her only tattoo.

Alfonso Tusa looks back at the history of the “kangaroo court” in baseball and in particular, the legendary one that Frank Robinson ran with the Orioles of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

“Tommy John surgery” has officially been added to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.

Brewers pitcher Jeremy Jeffress is going to bring his food truck to Miller Park next week. I am 100% in favor of food trucks at ballparks. Jeffess’ one serves fried seafood.

He eventually decided against it. but Reds outfielder Jesse Winker considered helping himself to some nachos from a fan in the stands after going for a foul ball.

And finally, this would be the ultimate breaking of the “unwritten rules” if it had happened in MLB. Instead, we got this cool video of Kenji Akasha of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks hitting a walkoff home run and then doing an amazing backflip as he crossed home plate.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.

Source: https://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2019/4/26/18517513/mlb-bullets-vladimir-guerrero-jr-blue-jays-ronald-acuna-angels-tommy-lastella

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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thrashermaxey · 5 years

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Ramblings: McDavid Dragging Anchors, Karlsson, Wheeler, Pirri, & What’s Up With Ghost? (Jan. 9)

A nice slate of games tonight so we won't waste any time getting into the action.

The Caps and Flyers squared off on Tuesday evening in a battle of teams on the opposite ends of the division. Despite Nicklas Backstrom being sidelined with a bug, the results were as you'd expect.

Jakub Vrana potted two goals, an assist and four shots on goal in just 14:20 of ice. The difference was that with Backstrom out he got to take a turn on the team's top power-play unit. His 3:10 on PPTOI represented 55 percent of the team's man-advantage ice. That's a season-high for the 22-year-old. He also set a career-high in goals with his 14th of the season. Vrana has witnessed his point-per-game output increase in each of his three campaigns and is on pace to break 40-points in 2018-19.

He's a player that's always had a great deal of skill. It's just a matter of receiving sustained prime ice.

Jakub Voracek scored a goal and added an assist in the loss. He has four points in his last four games. Perhaps we're seeing him warm up a tad? His current 65-point pace is a letdown for those who drafted him on the heels of an 85-point 2017-18.

Phoenix Copley stopped 37 of 40 in the 5-3 win.

Speaking of the Flyers, where have all the Shayne Gostisbehere points gone? After no points on Tuesday, he's on pace for just 32 this year. The 25-year-old led all blueliners in power-play points a season ago with 33. This year, he has eight through 43 contests. Ghost has just one power-play point (an assist on January 3rd) in the last 23 games. This, despite averaging over three minutes of power-play ice each night.

It boggles the mind.

As a team, the Flyers have witnessed their man-advantage conversion rate dip from the middle of the pack at 20.7 percent in 2017-18, to a basement-level 13.1 percent this season. That’s clearly contributing to the issue. However, the difference between a player like Claude Giroux – who is also feeling the power play crunch, and Gostisbehere, is that Giroux has improved his even-strength production.

In 82 games a season ago, Giroux produced 65 EVP or 0.76 even-strength points-per-game. In 2018-19, he’s already racked up 35 EVP in 42 games, or 0.83 even-strength points-per-game. Meanwhile, Gostisbehere produced 32 EVP in 78 games in 2017-18 (0.41) but is producing at nearly half that rate (0.21) in 43 games this season.

Yes, his metrics are below his career average, but not demonstrably so.

The good news? Gostisbehere has 40 shots on the power-play this season. That total leads the Flyers by a good margin and sits tied with Roman Josi for tops amongst blueliners in the NHL. He scored seven power-play markers on 86 PPSOG last season – or an 8.14 conversion rate. That would lead us to believe his five percent mark on the PP this season is due for a market correction. However, he clicked at just 3.18 percent in 2016-17.

At this point, any hopes of a second-half turnaround are likely built on just that – hope. He’s proven to be an elite producer in two of his four season-long career. Here’s hoping he wakes up soon.

Tuukka Rask and the Bruins shutout the Wild 4-0 in one of the early affairs. Rask has now won four straight while allowing just five goals. Jaroslav Halak has done a fine job of threatening (and stealing) the starting gig in Beantown but Rask is heating up just as the Bruins had hoped for. Halak owners can hold on for a bit longer, but the shine is likely running out on his star.

Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand each had a goal and two helpers while David Pastrnak had a rare night off the scoreboard. I can't harp on it every week, but what Patrice Bergeron is doing at 33 years old is something. He's missed time with an injury (as we expected) but the team's captain is clicking at 115-point pace through 27 games played. All the while shutting down opponents and seeing two minutes of shorthanded time a night.

He's a first ballot Hall of Famer in my books.

Dallas beat the Blues 3-1 on the back of Tyler Seguin and his two goals and an assist. Make it six goals and 10 points for Seguin in the six games since his team's CEO called him many, many insulting expletives. It appears a fire has been lit. Maybe not so much for the captain, Jamie Benn though. The 29-year-old power forward has just two goals over that span. He's on pace for his lowest statistical output since his rookie season.

Ben Bishop continues his strong year. He stopped 23 of 24 to up his save percentage to 0.922 on the year. That's good for a top-10 spot amongst regulars. Dallas will need him to be at his best if they hope to scratch and claw their way to a playoff birth.

John Klingberg helped out with a goal and an assist. That's six points in his last five games. It took four or five contests after returning from injury to get warmed up, but the 26-year-old Swede looks nice and toasty now.

Another loss for St. Louis and another pointless night for Vladimir Tarasenko. He's also on pace for his lowest output since his rookie season. However, let's not forget the shoulder injury that robbed him of his off-season training. With the Blues looking like an oil tanker down the stretch, it'll be difficult for him to put together a real second-half. However, there's little reason to believe we've seen the last of the dominating Russian's skill.

He'll be a great buy-low option for 2019-20.

In a match-up that I had circled for tonight, the Avs and Jets did not disappoint.

It was Colorado that came out gunning. They peppered the Jets and had them hemmed in their own zone for much of the first period. But it was Winnipeg who ended the frame up 2-1. The goals just kept on coming in the back 40 as the Jets ended the night with a 7-4 victory.

Blake Wheeler led the way with a shorthanded tally and three assists. That gives him 48 helpers on the season, trailing only Nikita Kucherov. There's been some concerning talk regarding the 32-year-old's mediocre five-on-five production, but he remains an animal on the man-advantage. Tonight, he was a force all over the rink.

Nate MacKinnon (0+2), Tyson Barrie (0+2), Gabe Landeskog (2+0), and Mikko Rantanen (0+1) were all buzzing on Tuesday. Who am I kidding, that group is buzzing every night. Unfortunately for the Avs, the rest of the squad isn't. Colorado has now lost 11 of their last 14 games.

The Panthers got pumped 5-1 by the Penguins on Tuesday. Apparently head coach, Bob Boughner didn't enjoy what he saw from some of his star players. He sat down Keith Yandle, Jonathan Huberdeau and Mike Hoffman for the entire third period. Message sent.

Roberto Luongo's tough season continues. He let in four goals on 16 shots before getting the hook. A sub-.900 39-year-old is not ideal for anyone.

Jake Guentzel continues to roll out on the top power-play unit ahead of Patric Hornqvist. The 24-year-old has five points on a current four-game streak and is on pace to break his career-highs set last season in a few short weeks. I've been a proponent of Guentzel's since he stepped foot in the American League. It was all about him seeing prime ice, and he's seeing it now.

Get him if you can.

Casual 1+1 for Sidney Crosby tonight. The Penguins' captain has been on quite the roll of late. He has 21 points in his last 13 games and is on pace for his best season since the concussion-shortened 2012-13 campaign where he recorded 56 points in 36 games.

31-year-old Sid is feeling it.

With a goal and an assist in Tampa Bay's shutout victory over Columbus, Nikita Kucherov is up to 71 points in 43 games. I don't even know where to begin.

We haven't seen a player click along at this pace since Jaromir Jagr posted 70 in 38 back in 1999-00. If the talented Russian maintains his pace he'll finish the season with 135 points. We haven't had a player break 130 since the mid-90's when Lemieux and Jagr were running roughshod.

Kuch is right there with Connor McDavid as the best fantasy asset in the world.

Here was the lineup for the Oilers tonight.

I can’t help but feel we’re being robbed here. Once upon a time, we witnessed Crosby’s prime years go up in smoke. That was the result of some nasty concussions and difficult to lay blame upon. What we're witnessing in Edmonton right now is a thoroughbred horse attempt to drag around two ship anchors. It’s the complete opposite of cool beans.

And there's a clear figure to point our fingers at.

The only hope (I know, more hope) is that Chiarelli is gone before long and whoever comes in has the ability to right the ship quickly. Because if they can’t, we’ll be looking back on Connor McDavid’s prime years and wondering what could have been if he were surrounded by legitimate NHL talent.

McDavid did his part as usual on Tuesday. He set up Alex Chiasson for a power play tally and was creating with his feet and hands on most shifts. And as per usual, it wasn't enough as the Sharks blew out the Oilers 7-2.

After a shutout on Sunday, Talbot was yanked after allowing four goals on 17 shots. Not exactly a momentum builder. Fortunately, Mikko Koskinen didn't fare much better.

On the brighter side of things, Erik Karlsson kept his mojo nice and warm in sunny California.

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Erik Karlsson is just the 5th blueliner in NHL history to post at least one assist in 14+ straight appearances. <br><br>The others: Paul Coffey (17 GP in 1985-86), Brian Leetch (15 GP in 1991-92), Phil Housley (14 GP in 1992-93) and Bobby Orr (14 GP in 1970-71). <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLStats?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLStats</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EDMvsSJS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EDMvsSJS</a> <a href="https://t.co/wSqyk8nJlT">pic.twitter.com/wSqyk8nJlT</a></p>— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1082847477236158464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

With three assists in the contest, Karlsson now has 25 points on a ridiculous 14-game streak. He's up to 41 points in 43 contests.

He's all the way back now.

Brent Burns tacked on a goal and an assist himself. That brings him to 49 points in 45 games to lead all blueliners in points, and assists (41). His 17 primary assists at even-strength are nearly double his next closest competitors – EK and Carlson, who each have nine.

Evander Kane had two goals and an assist. That extended his streak to six-games and 10 points.

Brandon Pirri was back up with the Golden Knights against the Rangers on Tuesday. The 27-year-old was skating next to Paul Stastny and Alex Tuch on the team's second line and skating on one of the evenly-distributed power play units. This move was facilitated by a Reilly Smith injury and an elevation of Max Pacioretty to line one.

In a surprise to literally no one, Pirri found the back of the net yet again. Seven goals and 10 points in eight games for Vegas this year. There's no reason this guy should be anywhere near the real-life waiver wire, let alone the fantasy wire. Pick him up, people, the stream is calling.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 stops in the 4-2 victory. He's been the low-key fantasy pick of the year. The 33-year-old is running away with the wins and shutouts lead and he does it all with a smile on his face.

He's an easy guy to root for.

Thanks for reading and feel free to follow me on Twitter @Hockey_Robinson

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-mcdavid-dragging-anchors-kucherov-wheeler-pirri-whats-up-with-ghost/

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