Ovechkin takes the goal-scoring lead, Carter leads the Kings, lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. He’s a little behind last season’s 51-goal pace, but this surge has put Ovechkin back at the top of the goal-scoring race. While Ovechkin’s shots on goal totals are down, a little, he has seen a massive jump in power play shot attempts. His 13 power-play goals leads the league and 16 even-strength goals is tied for seventh. OVECHKIN SHOOTING YEAR G/GP SOG/GP SH% 5-on5 SA/60 5-on4 SA/60 2007-08 0.79 5.44 14.6% 26.5 31.7 2008-09 0.71 6.68 10.6% 30.3 44.4 2009-10 0.69 5.11 13.6% 27.8 38.4 2010-11 0.41 4.65 8.7% 23.2 35.5 2011-12 0.49 3.88 12.5% 21.3 32.1 2012-13 0.67 4.58 14.5% 21.8 40.7 2013-14 0.65 4.95 13.2% 24.1 39.1 2014-15 0.60 4.79 12.6% 22.6 51.1 Ovechkin’s playmaking centre, Nicklas Backstrom assisted on both of Ovechkin’s goals. Since 2008-2009, Backstrom’s second season, the Capitals rank third and fourth in points per game, behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Jeff Carter – The Kings centre was a force in a 4-3 win over Chicago, scoring two goals and assisting on another. Even with two goals, Carter has 0.29 goals per game (14 in 48 games) this season, his lowest goal-scoring rate since 2006-2007, his second season in the league. Braden Holtby – Washington’s goaltender delivered a 27-save shutout in a 4-0 win against Pittsburgh. His .922 save percentage ranks sixth in the league, yet not good enough to be one of nine goaltenders named to the All-Star game, apparently. ZEROES Saad, Toews, Hossa – They weren’t terrible, but all Chicago’s first line of Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa were under 46% possession and were on for two goals against in a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles. For most lines, that’s not particularly notable. For one of the best two-way lines in hockey, it stands out that they got the worst of it, particularly when facing the line of Jeff Carter, Dwight King and Tyler Toffoli. Adam Henrique – The New Jersey forward failed to generate a shot attempt in 19:57 of ice time and was crushed in shot attempts (3 for, 13 against, 18.8%) at even strength in a 2-1 shootout win over Toronto. Nick Shore – The Kings rookie forward didn’t play much, 6:11 total, against Chicago, but was on for two Blackhawks goals against and not great possession stats (3 shot attempts for, 6 against, 33.3%) despite starting two-thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone; a small-sample tough night. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Sidney Crosby – Returned to the Pittsburgh lineup after missing his mandated one game after the All-Star break. He played 19:42, struggling in the faceoff circle (7 wins, 17 losses, 29.2%) in a 4-0 loss to Washington. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings winger returned to the lineup, for his first game since January 8, after a bout of mono, and scored a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win against Chicago. Adam Larsson – New Jersey’s lone regulation goal-scorer in the win over Toronto, the 22-year-old defenceman is seeing much different usage under the new regime. In January, Larsson has six points (1 G, 5 A) in nine games, while averaging 23:37 of ice time per game. He had been averaging 16:35 per game in 21 games through the end of December. Andre Burakovsky – The Capitals rookie winger had four points (2 G, 2 A) during a three-game point streak, playing on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, yet was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Jake Gardiner – The Maple Leafs defenceman logged 26:49 at New Jersey, his second straight game over 25 minutes and most in a single game since February 23, 2012. The absence of Dion Phaneuf is going to open up lots of playing time on the Toronto blueline. Petter Granberg – Speaking of Toronto defencemen getting a chance while Phaneuf is out, the 2010 fourth-round pick played his first game of the season (second of his career) for the Maple Leafs at New Jersey. Granberg had seven points (1 G, 6 A) and was even in 28 AHL games before getting called up. SHORT SHIFTS Capitals D Mike Green had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 win over Pittsburgh; he has 17 points (2 G, 15 A) in his past 18 games…Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles, giving him 27 points (11 G, 16 A) in his past 20 games…Blackhawks LW Patrick Sharp also had a goal and an assist, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past four games…Kings C Anze Kopitar had a pair of assists in the win; he has 13 points (3 G, 10 A) in the past nine games…Devils RW Martin Havlat had a strong possession game (13 shot attempts for, 2 against, 86.7%) against Toronto...Devils G Cory Schneider stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 shootout win vs. Toronto, while Maple Leafs G Jonathan Bernier had 22 saves on 23 shots. FANTASY FOCUS There are 11 games on the schedule tonight, so here are half a dozen players to consider for your lineup: Mikhail Grabovski – 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in 39 games is not a great output, despite his stellar possession stats, but getting a shot to play with John Tavares and Josh Bailey on the Isles’ top line is a good opportunity. Michael Del Zotto – Injuries have given him a better opportunity and Del Zotto has five points (2 G, 3 A) during a four-game point streak and has played more than 20 minutes in eight straight games. Riley Sheahan – While he does have five points, all assists, in the past five games, the Red Wings centre has scored one goal in the past 18 games and has just 21 shots on goal in that time. Nevertheless, he’s a two-way centre with some offensive upside. Brad Boyes – The veteran winger has five points (3 G, 2 A) in the past seven games and has a good opportunity, skating with promising young linemates Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. Seth Jones – Taking advantage of more minutes in Ryan Ellis’ absence, Jones has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past five games and has played more than 20 minutes in each of the past seven games. Mikael Backlund – He has never had a 40-point season in the NHL and probably won’t get there this year, either, due to injuries, but the Flames centre has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in his past eight games. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Cheap Air Max Air Jordan Shoes . -- Jane Kish stopped all 25 shots she faced as the Weyburn Gold Wings blanked the Sudbury Lady Wolves 3-0 on Friday to advance to the gold-medal game at the Esso Cup. Wholesale Air Max And Jordans .com) - The game was all punts and field goals before Kodi Whitfields catch. http://www.cheapairmaxandjordans.com/. The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2. Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Julia Mancuso and Tim Jitloff, respectively. Cheap Authentic Air Max And Jordans . Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. Air Max Jordan Shoes .com) - Eric Fehr and Marcus Johansson each registered a pair of goals, as Washington spoiled the head coaching debut of Peter Horachek by picking up a 6-2 victory in Toronto on Wednesday.NEW YORK -- David Villa of Spain has signed a three-year contract with New York City FC, becoming the first player on the expansion Major League Soccer team that starts play next season at Yankee Stadium. "Throughout my career, Ive always tried to keep pushing myself to achieve new targets, and this represents another important goal for me," Villa said in a statement Monday. "I want to try and help MLS continue to grow, through playing, working hard, scoring goals and at the same time try to make New York City FC become the best team in the league." NYCFC starts play in March, and the team plans to loan him to an unspecified club to keep him in shape until training starts in the third week of January. Claudio Reyna, the teams director of football, said loaning Villa to NYCFC parent Manchester City was not an option. TThe 32-year-old forward helped Spain win the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup.dddddddddddd. He is a member of his countrys roster for next months tournament. He missed the 2012 Euros, which Spain also won, after breaking his left leg while playing for Barcelona in the Club World Cup. He holds Spains record with 56 international goals. MLS said Villa was acquired on a free transfer from Spanish league champion Atletico Madrid, where he scored 15 goals in 47 games in all competitions last season. He previously played for Sporting Gijon (2001-03), Zaragoza (2003-05), Valencia (2005-10) and Barcelona (2010-13). He helped Barcelona win the 2011 Champions League title. Reyna wouldnt say whether NYCFC is interested in signing English midfielder Frank Lampard, who has been with Chelsea since the 2001-02 season. 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