Fun times for the Blues against the Sabres, Johansson a goal-scoring threat for the Capitals, the Habs-Stars trade, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Jori Lehtera – The first-year Blues centre recorded a natural hat trick in a 6-1 win against Buffalo. Linemates Jaden Schwartz (3 A) and Vladimir Tarasenko (2 A) got in on the act as the trio, led by Schwartz (20 shot attempts for, 7 against, 74.1%) controlled better than two-thirds of the even-strength shot attempts when they were on the ice. Lehtera, a third-round pick in 2008, has been a great addition to the St. Louis lineup, putting up 14 points in 16 games, falling behind only his emerging star wingers Schwartz (15 points in 15 games) and Tarasenko (19 points in 15 games). Shutouts – Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, who has been off to a so-so start this season, turned aside all 33 shots sent his way by Pittsburgh and Canadiens G Carey Price stopped all 29 shots against Winnipeg. Marcus Johansson – The Capitals left winger scored two goals and had eight shots on goal, in a 4-2 win against Columbus. The pair of goals leaves Johansson with eight goals in 15 games this season, matching his 80-game total from last season, and he has seven even-strength goals this year, which is more than he’s scored in the previous two seasons (five even-strength goals in 114 games). ZEROES Viktor Fasth – The Oilers goaltender isn’t exactly pushing Ben Scrivens for the starting job. He gave up three goals on 17 shots, getting pulled after the first period at Nashville, and through six games has an .885 save percentage. Michal Neuvirth - It’s not an easy life goaltending for Buffalo, and for 90% of the game against the Blues, Neuvirth held his own, but after allowing three power play goals in a two-minute span in the third period, the night ended with six goals against on 29 shots. Even after that, Neuvirth still has a respectable .915 save percentage in eight games this year. Shotless – Wild RW Charlie Coyle recorded no shot attempts in 16:52 of ice time at New Jersey, while Coyotes RW Martin Erat failed to generate a shot attempt in 18:38 vs. Dallas. A single shot attempt shouldn’t be too much for forwards playing big minutes on a scoring line, especially in games that their teams ultimately lost. HABS-STARS TRADE There was a minor deal between Montreal and Dallas Tuesday, but there are some ramifications for others on those rosters. A quick look at the deal: Sergei Gonchar – A 40-year-old defenceman who was injured at the start of the year, Gonchar has played very little (13:02) in three games since returning to action. He was, at one time, an elite power play defenceman, but his role has decreased significantly since arriving in Dallas last season. He’s a third-pair defenceman who can help the second power play unit, which doesn’t seem like much contribution for a player who comes with a $4.6-million cap hit. Travis Moen – A fourth-line winger who has no points while playing a career-low 10:30 per game in 10 games for Montreal this season. There’s little reason to expect him to be anything more than a fourth or fifth-line winger for Dallas. The trade-off for Dallas is that they gain more flexibility this year, by taking on Moen’s contract, which comes with a $1.85-million cap hit, but runs through next season. John Klingberg – Called up to the Stars from the AHL, where he scored 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 10 games, the 2010 fifth-round pick made his NHL debut at Arizona, playing 18:32 with team-best possession stats (21 shot attempts for, 13 against, 61.8%) alongside partner Alex Goligoski. Nathan Beaulieu – This is where the deal gets dicey for Montreal. They’ve already sent Jarred Tinordi to the AHL to make room for Gonchar, but if Gonchar’s going to get into the Montreal lineup, it’s likely at the expense of 21-year-old Beaulieu who has played sheltered minutes on the Habs’ third pair, but has been stellar in that role. POSSESSION STATS - MONTREAL DEFENCE Player Corsi% CorsiRel% Nathan Beaulieu 54.4% +4.9% P.K. Subban 52.3% +3.6% Andrei Markov 51.5% +2.1% Jarred Tinordi 50.5% -2.4% Mike Weaver 47.9% -2.1% Tom Gilbert 47.6% -3.9% Alexei Emelin 47.2% -2.5% Maybe Gonchar will get into the lineup in place of Weaver, but if it’s Beaulieu that gets bumped, there’s a decent chance that the Canadiens are going to suffer during 5-on-5 play. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Mikael Granlund – The Wild centre, who has no points in four games and only five points in 14 games this season, despite excellent possession (56.2%) stats, played a season-low 12:53 at New Jersey. Ales Hemsky – Off to a miserable start in Dallas, with no goals and one assist in 15 games, Hemsky played less at even strength (8:40) than any other Stars at Arizona. Brandon Prust – Played 19:02 to lead all Canadiens forwards against Winnipeg, and didn’t register a shot attempt. Jannik Hansen – With Radim Vrbata out with a leg injury, Hansen got a chance to play with the Sedins against Ottawa, and had a strong night possession-wise (19 shot attempts for, 8 against, 70.4%). Leon Draisaitl – The Oilers rookie was held to a career-low 7:25 ice time at Nashville. He has one point in the past eight games, and four points in 16 games this season, but does have favourable possession (53.8%) stats. Beau Bennett – After suffering a knee injury in the preseason, the 22-year-old Penguins winger was eased into the NHL lineup after racking up five assists in a couple of AHL games. Bennett played 9:35 against the Rangers, mostly on the fourth line with Marcel Goc and Craig Adams. John Moore – Returned from suspension to play 21:49 for the Rangers against Pittsburgh. Josh Gorges – Played 10:10 at St. Louis and left with a lower-body injury. Johnny Oduya – Left Tuesday’s game against Tampa Bay with a lower-body injury after blocking a shot. Tyler Johnson – Left Tuesday’s game against Chicago with an upper-body injury after a crosscheck in the ribs from Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook. Sharks resting – Trailing 4-0 early in the third period at Florida, the San Jose Sharks limited the ice time of C Joe Thornton, RW Joe Pavelski and LW Tomas Hertl, keeping all three under 14 minutes. Jesper Fast – Called up to the Rangers, to play on the fourth line with Tanner Glass and Dominic Moore, after scoring nine points (1 G,8 A) in 11 games with Hartford of the AHL. Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch as a result. Drayson Bowman – Called up to the Canadiens, the left winger played 6:39 against Winnipeg, but was buried in his own end (1 shot attempt for, 9 against, 10.0%) Jonathon Blum – Inserted into the Minnesota lineup after five points (1 G, 4 A) in seven AHL games, the 2007 first-rounder played 8:35 in his first NHL game of the season. SHORT SHIFTS Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin scored a pair of goals, on a dozen shot attempts (8 SOG) against Columbus, giving him 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in the past six games… Islanders RW Ryan Strome (who also had 70% possession) had a goal and an assist in a 6-0 win over Colorado…Blue Jackets C Boone Jenner had a pair of assists and strong possession (26 shot attempts for, 8 against, 76.5%) at Washington, giving him four points in three games since joining the Columbus lineup. Capitals C Andre Burakovsky picked up a couple assists in a 4-2 win over Columbus. Burakovsky now has 12 points in 15 games, tied for second among rookies…Panthers rookie D Aaron Ekblad had a couple of assists in a 4-1 win over San Jose, giving him six points (1 G, 5 A) in the past five games…Predators rookie LW Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist, running his point streak (6 G, 4 A) to six games. Predators C Mike Ribeiro notched a goal and an assist, giving him 13 points (4 G, 9 A) in the past 13 games…Predators RW James Neal had an assist and 15 shot attempts (10 SOG) and dominated the shot share (26 for, 5 against, 83.9%) against Edmonton…Blues RW Joakim Lindstrom scored a pair of goals, his first points since the second game of the season…Blues LW Alex Steen recorded three assists and had the first fight of his career, against Buffalo’s Tyler Ennis…Score effects reign in a 5-0 loss, but Penguins LW Blake Comeau had a strong possession night (18 shot attempts for, 3 against, 85.7%). Jets RW Dustin Byfuglien is on a 10-game goalless drought, but had 11 shot attempts (7 SOG) at Montreal…Panthers RW Shawn Thornton had the best possession stats (11 for, 5 against, 68.8%) against San Jose…Stars C Tyler Seguin scored a pair of goals, giving him 12 goals in 15 games…Arizona’s fourth line – Kyle Chipchura, B.J. Crombeen and Joe Vitale – had better than 70% of the shot share, led by Chipchura (17 for, 5 against, 77.3%) when they were on the ice. FIRSTS John Klingberg – Made his NHL debut, had Dallas’ best possession stats (21 for, 13 against, 61.8%) at Arizona. 12 points in 10 AHL games. Seth Helgeson – The Devils defenceman, a fourth-round pick in 2009, played all of 6:14 in his first NHL game and recorded his first point, an assist, on Tuomo Ruutu’s goal. He did have a rough time (3 shot attempts for, 10 against, 23.1%) possession-wise. FANTASY FOCUS Two games on the NHL schedule tonight, two players to keep an eye on: Leo Komarov – The Leafs’ agitator is something of a surprise with four points in the past five games, and 10 points in 16 games this season, but he’s not completely lost offensively, putting up 14 goals and 44 points in 65 KHL games over the previous couple seasons. Devante Smith-Pelly – With no Corey Perry, the Ducks have Patrick Maroon and Smith-Pelly skating on the wings with Ryan Getzlaf. It’s a good opportunity for Smith-Pelly, who has played nearly 39 minutes, generating nine shots on goal, in the past couple 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 Wayne Ellington Jersey . Rajon Rondo had 18 of Bostons season-high 38 assists and the Celtics committed just seven turnovers in a 118-111 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Tyler Herro Jersey . -- Manchester United thrilled a record crowd with a brilliant opening goal -- and even Cristiano Ronaldos unexpected entrance proved futile for Real Madrid. https://www.heatlockerroom.com/Dwyane-Wa...ion-Jersey/.com) - Rakeem Christmas scored 21 points, B. Kyle Alexander Jersey . Matt Carkner got back into the Ottawa lineup, and made his presence felt right away by settling his clubs score in a one-sided fight with Rangers forward Brian Boyle. Edrice Adebayo Heat Jersey . The veteran NFL receiver received his work permit and is in Montreal for the start of the Alouettes rookie camp. Johnson even took in the Montreal Canadiens Game 5 win over the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre Tuesday night. ST. JOHNS, N.L. -- A three-goal first period started things off right for the St. Johns IceCaps Friday night as they downed the Binghamton Senators 6-2 in American Hockey League action. "I really liked our start," IceCaps head coach Keith McCambridge said. "I thought we came out and set the tone. We were able to get on the board first and then build off that. It was a strong game against an excellent team." John Albert and Kael Mouillierat each scored two goals to lead St. Johns. McCambridge was happy to get star performances from both forwards, and said he has been impressed with their play of late. "Mouillierat has been a really good offensive piece for us all season long," he said. "Hes a cornerstone on the power play and 5-on-5 hes a solid two-way player that can create offence. And, John Albert has really taken his game to the next level. The speed he comes through the neutral zone with is hard to contain." Mouillierat enjoyed scoring two in front of the home crowd and setting the tone early for the IceCaps. "Its awesome," Mouillierat said. "You always want to contribute. Ive been trying to focus on shooting the puck a little more, lucky enough, a few went in for me tonight." The forward wasnt surprised by the style of game, which featured a lot of quick breaks and a few breakaways. "Last time we played them it was a high-flying game too," he said. "t;They have a lot of firepower over there.dddddddddddd We tried to limit their chances and take advantage of ours. Adam Lowry and Eric ODell also scored for the IceCaps (33-19-4). Buddy Robinson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau replied for Binghamton (33-18-4). IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson made 26 saves, while his Binghamton counterpart, Nathan Lawson, stopped 28 shots. Lowry opened the scoring, putting the IceCaps ahead on a backhander five-hole in front of the net at the 5:09 mark of the first period. Albert added to the lead 12:21 into the first, cleaning up a Jason Jaffray rebound on the power play. Thirty seconds later, Mouillierat put the IceCaps up 3-0, finishing off a pass out front, beating Lawson high. Mouillierat added his second of the game with a high wrister 10:18 into the second, from the right faceoff dot on the power play. Albert added his second of the game, stripping a defender of the puck and scoring on a breakaway after a quick backhand-to-forehand move with 31 seconds left in the second period. ODell added insult to injury, scoring a penalty shot with a quick shot to fool Lawson 2:38 into the third. Robinson put the Senators on the scoreboard with a high blocker wristshot at the 7:53 mark of the third. Pageau added another for the Senators, finishing a cross-crease tap-in 10:14 into the third. St. Johns went 2-for-9 on the power play, while the Senators were 1-for-5 with the man advantage. ' ' '