Alex Ovechkin’s slump, big nights for Abdelkader, Datsyuk and Smith; lineup news, fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Will Richardson Jersey . Held scoreless in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Detroit, Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin has now gone a career-worst five consecutive games without a point. It’s not burying Ovechkin to point out that he’s in a slump (and I’ve already been something of an Ovechkin apologist in the past), but it’s easy to see that Ovechkin is really doing a lot well right now, even if the points haven’t been coming as expected over this short span of games. In the first nine games of the Barry Trotz era in Washington, Ovechkin has posted a career-best Corsi% (measuring even-strength shot attempts) of 59.4%. OVECHKIN POSSESSION STATS YEAR CORSI% CORSI REL% 2007-08 58.1% +4.2% 2008-09 57.4% +4.2% 2009-10 57.8% +7.2% 2010-11 53.9% +4.0% 2011-12 47.4% -2.3% 2012-13 49.2% +0.7% 2013-14 49.3% +2.5% 2014-15 59.4% +5.0% What’s encouraging about these numbers is that Ovechkin is driving play like he did earlier in his career, and a far cry from his 2011-2012 season when his offensive production hit career-low rates (65 points in 78 games). Like last season, Ovechkin is not getting much help from linemates – his lone assist this year has come on the power play – but thanks to a recent decline in shots on goal, his 4.22 shots on goal per game ranks as the second-lowest of his career. In the first four games of this dry spell, Ovechkin had mustered just seven shots on goal and that’s some reason for concern, because he’s always been a high-volume shooter, leading the league in shots on goal in eight of his nine seasons but, let’s not overreact, it was just four games. Wednesday, against Detroit, Ovechin attempted 13 shots, with seven on goal, against the Red Wings, which is a good way to get out of a scoring slump. Because Ovechkin’s underlying numbers have been so good, there’s not so much reason to worry about this slump, because those signs point to goals and points coming back at a more regular rate soon. HEROES Justin Abdelkader – Hard-hitting winger who gets to play a complementary role with some elite players in Detroit and he scored two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s 4-2 win at Washington. He scored a career-high 28 points last season, but has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in nine games this year, riding a 22.7% shooting percentage that won’t last, but he is also playing a career-high 16:30 per game and generating a career-best 2.44 shots on goal per game. Pavel Datsyuk – The Magician tallied a goal and an assist, with a team-leading eight shot attempts (4 SOG) in the win at Washington. Datsyuk has five points in four games since returning from injury, and the Red Wings have eased him in, playing 18:42 per game. The last season in which he averaged less ice time per game (than this admittedly very small sample) was 2005-2006. Craig Smith – The Predators’ leading goal-scorer, with 24, last season, Smith buried a pair of goals on nine shot attempts (5 SOG), while posting quality possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 10 against, 63.0%) in a 4-1 win at Edmonton. ZEROES Niklas Kronwall – The Red Wings’ No. 1 defenceman had a rough night, possession-wise, on for five shot attempts for and 18 against (21.7%). His worst forward matchups, head-to-head, were against Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom (2 shot attempts for, 10 against, 16.7%) and RW Joel Ward (2 for, 13 against, 13.3%). Mark Arcobello – Despite not starting an even-strength shift in the defensive zone, the Oilers’ centre had his team’s worst possession stats (9 shot attempts for, 16 against, 36.0%). SHORT SHIFTS Red Wings C Henrik Zetterberg had a pair of assists…Predators D Roman Josi had two assists and blocked seven shots…Predators G Pekka Rinne stopped 26 of 27 shots for the win in Edmonton. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Capitals RW Eric Fehr was scratched from the lineup as second-year RW Tom Wilson was inserted into the lineup for his first game of the season after suffering a broken ankle in the summer. Predators C Calle Jarnkrok, still looking for his first point of the season, was scratched from the lineup in Edmonton Wednesday. Predators D Seth Jones played a season-low 14:46 at Edmonton, though had a solid possession game (15 shot attempts for, 9 against, 62.5%) in that limited role. FIRSTS Predators C Matt Cullen played his first game of the season, picking up an assist while playing 15:18. FANTASY FOCUS A few players, available in more than half of TSN leagues, to monitor on a busy 10-game night in the NHL: Jori Lehtera – Someone in St. Louis has to get the puck to the Blues’ scoring wingers and with injuries to Paul Stastny and David Backes, Lehtera is clearly the best option down the middle. He has six points in seven games and is centering Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko heading into tonight’s matchup with Anaheim. Michael Raffl – Getting moved to the Flyers’ top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek is working well for Raffl, who has four goals and five points in the past five games. Tonight, the Flyers go to Tampa Bay, which isn’t an easy matchup, but Raffl is still available in nearly 99% of TSN leagues. Seth Griffith – The rookie winger has emerged as the Bruins’ best option on the right side with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, scoring three goals and five points in the past four games. Really, anyone on the Bruins is worth a look since they are in Buffalo to play the Sabres. 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 Taven Bryan Jaguars Jersey . -- Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer will be out three to six weeks with a stress fracture of the third finger of his right hand. Niles Paul Jaguars Jersey .com) - Lloyd Sam struck in stoppage time on Wednesday as Red Bull New York hung on for a crucial 1-0 win over Atlantic Cup rivals D. http://www.jaguarsfansclub.com/Black-Logan-Cooke-Jaguars-Jersey.html?cat=990 .Y. - The Philadelphia Eagles game at Green Bay against the Packers on Nov.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Evgeni Malkin and the Pittsburgh Penguins finally flexed their offensive muscles. And they needed every bit of scoring they could muster. Malkin had a hat trick and the Penguins almost blew a four-goal lead before holding off the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 on Monday night to clinch their first-round playoff series in six games. "Its more important that we win the game and (end) the series," Malkin said of the 10th time hes scored three times in a game in his career. "Going into the second round now, you feel so much better when you have confidence. I hope in the next round I can score more." Pittsburgh awaits the winner of the New York-Philadelphia series, with the Rangers leading 3-2 going into Tuesday nights Game 6. Its a good thing for the Penguins that Malkin -- scoreless in his past nine playoff games including the first five in the series -- finally found the net. The Blue Jackets, closer to making tee times than thinking about a Game 7, scored three times in a 4:52 span in the third period to turn up the pressure on the Penguins, an overwhelming favourite before the series got under way. "Were a proud group in here," forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "We didnt want to get embarrassed on home ice. If it was going to be our last game of the season, we didnt want to have any quit. We didnt have any quit in this locker room all season. We just kept pushing and pushing." Brandon Sutter also scored before leaving with an injury and Matt Niskanen had two assists as the Penguins became the first team in the series to score first and win -- but barely. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves and made a couple of big stops after the game turned into a squeaker. "It was a good test," he said of the wild last few minutes. Coach Dan Bylsma said the toe-to-toe matchup heralded a new level of contentious play between the teams. "Weve got a rivalry going here with the Jackets," he said. "They gave us everything we could handle and it was a nice series for them. That was an extremely tough first-round opponent." Fedor Tyutin, Artem Anisimov and Nick Foligno scored for Columbuus, Folignos redirect of a Tyutin shot cut the gap to a goal with 4:47 left. DJ Chark Jersey. A crowd of 19,189 stood and roared the rest of the way as the Blue Jackets piled up scoring chances. The Penguins were hard pressed to fight off the aggressive Blue Jackets after goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who also had 24 saves, was pulled for an extra attacker with under 2 minutes left. Matt Calvert was wide with a potential tying shot with 3:30 left. Dubinskys shot with 35 seconds left was deflected by Fleury. Columbus had overcome a 3-0 deficit at home in Game 4, scoring on a Fleury gaffe in the final seconds of regulation before Foligno won it in the overtime. "After we got the third goal, anything could happen," coach Todd Richards said. "We had done it the last time we played in the building. My thought was it was going to happen." Up until the last few minutes, it was Malkins game. He hadnt scored in the first 332:52 of the series, then scored three times in a span of 26:11. "I could see it coming in the morning skate," teammate James Neal said. "His shot was going into the back of the net." The Blue Jackets, one of the NHLs youngest teams, looked hopeless until Tyutins shot from the right dot ended Fleurys shutout streak at 97:26 -- since the Blue Jackets took a 1-0 lead in the first period of Game 5. But then Anisimov scored from the left point with 6:06 remaining to make it 4-2 and Foligno redirected a Tyutin shot to cut the lead to 4-3. "That was a big win," said Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby, who went goal-less in the series. "Obviously we didnt want to make it as close as we did. But we found a way to win." Notes: The Penguins improved to 8-4 in Game 6s when up 3-2 in the playoffs. ... Columbus was without veteran forward (and Pittsburgh native) R.J. Umberger (shoulder). ... For the second game in a row, the Penguins didnt have D Brooks Orpik, sidelined with an undisclosed injury. ... Sutter was limping as he went to the dressing room in the second period. He did not return. Joe Vitale went knee-to-knee with a Blue Jacket early in the third and was in pain as he left the ice. Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Bucks Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '