NHL Player News

Carlson scored an empty-net goal and went plus-2 in Monday's 4-1 win over the Islanders.

Carlson was able to find the empty cage from his own zone to seal the Capitals' win. The 36-year-old blueliner was excellent in January with a goal and 14 assists over 16 outings, and it looks like his momentum has carried over to February. For the season, he has produced 10 goals, 45 points, 109 shots on net, 78 blocked shots and a plus-13 rating through 54 appearances.

Ovechkin picked up an assist Monday in a 4-1 win over the Islanders.

It was Ovechkin's 1,670th point with the Capitals. With it, he passed Wayne Gretzky (1,669 points with the Oilers) for the fifth-most points with a single franchise in NHL history. Ovie has points in three of his last four games (one goal, two assists) and seven, including two goals, in his last 11 games. At this point of the season, Ovechkin is on pace for another 30-goal season. If he gets there, he will have put up that total in every season, except the pandemic-shortened year, that he has played (21 campaigns).

Beauvillier scored a goal Monday in a 4-1 win over the Islanders.

Beauvillier has 11 goals, seven assists and 120 shots in 57 games this season. He has just three goals and two assists in his last 17 games. That's while he's still getting opportunities on the Capitals' top line. There are better fantasy options.

Dowd had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over the Islanders on Monday.

His goal was a fluke, but they all count. Dowd wired a pass intended for Alex Ovechkin that hit Ondrej Palat's stick and then Tony DeAngelo's skate before bouncing past David Rittich. Dowd has three points, including two goals, in his last three games (four shots). Dowd had two hits Monday to bring his season total to 90 -- that's by far his best fantasy category. He has four goals, 12 assists, 44 shots and 39 blocks in 49 games.

Stevenson made 29 saves on 30 shots in a 4-1 win over the Islanders on Monday.

It was his second consecutive start and win while filling in for Logan Thompson (upper body) and Charlie Lindgren (lower body). Stevenson was great -- he made several sharp saves, including a sprawling pad save in the third while shorthanded that preserved a 2-1 lead, and his mates were outstanding, blocking 23 shots. Stevenson will remain in the blue paint until Lindgren and Thompson are back from the IR.

Rittich made 20 saves Monday in a 4-1 loss to Washington. He allowed three goals.

Rittich and Islanders weren't bad; they just couldn't score on Clay Stevenson, who earned the game's first star for his effort. Rittich is 1-3-1 in his last five games; he has allowed 14 goals in that span. Overall, he's 12-8-3 with a 2.57 GAA and .900 save percentage in 23 starts.

Barzal scored a goal in a 4-1 loss to Washington on Monday.

It was his fourth goal in his past five games. Barzal stole the puck on a bad giveaway in front of the Caps net and ripped it glove side on Clay Stevenson. The winger has put up two assists in the five-game span, and he fired 11 shots. Barzal leads the Isles scorers by a 10-point margin (15 goals, 32 assists; 55 games).

Chytil (undisclosed) has been ruled out for the remainder of Monday's game in Utah.

Chytil didn't come out for the start of the third period, and it's unclear what caused him to exit the game. The 26-year-old went minus-3 in 7:36 of ice time prior to departing. Considering his lengthy injury history, it would be surprising to see Chytil suit up in Vancouver's final game before the Olympic break, which will be in Vegas on Wednesday.

Bobrovsky made 15 saves on 20 shots in a 5-3 loss to Buffalo on Monday.

Florida is in trouble right now -- it's 10 points behind Buffalo for the first wild-card spot, and nine points behind Boston for the second one. Bobrovsky has lost three straight, five of his last six, and eight of his last 11 starts (3-8-0). He can use some rest and fast -- the Olympic break will hopefully give him the R&R he needs.

Malkin dished out an assist in Monday's 3-2 loss to Ottawa.

Malkin recorded the primary assist on Yegor Chinakhov's opening goal in the first period. With the helper, the 39-year-old Malkin reached the 30-assist mark for the season, which secured his fourth consecutive campaign above that total. Overall, the veteran forward is up to 43 points across 39 games this season, which ranks him in a tie for 20th in the NHL with 1.10 points per game. Since his return from an upper-body injury in early January, he has at least one point in 11 of 13 games and has 14 points in that span. He should continue to elevate the team's top six and play a large role in Pittsburgh's playoff push in the Metropolitan Division, giving him strong value across most fantasy formats.