an Palmer backing up Jay Cutler at quarterback, with Josh McC

Tampa Bay¡¯s defence gets better with Hedman¡¯s return, a rookie burns the Oilers and the Habs¡¯ number one defenceman plays like it; lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen¡¯s Statistically Speaking. Shawn Matthias Maple Leafs Jersey . HEROES Victor Hedman ¨C Accumulated three assists in Tampa Bay¡¯s 6-3 win over the New York Rangers. He¡¯s missed more than five weeks with a broken hand, but Hedman now has 10 points (3 G, 7 A) in seven games. Since the start of last season, Erik Karlsson and Mark Giordano are the only defencemen with a better points-per-game rate than Hedman. DEFENCE SCORING DEFENCEMAN TEAM GP G A PTS PTS/GP Erik Karlsson Ottawa 105 26 65 91 0.87 Mark Giordano Calgary 89 20 52 72 0.81 Victor Hedman Tampa Bay 82 16 49 65 0.79 Duncan Keith Chicago 103 11 65 76 0.74 Shea Weber Nashville 102 29 42 71 0.70 In his limited playing time this season, Hedman is also putting up career-best possession numbers (58.3% Corsi) though, in this very small sample, he¡¯s had the ice tilted in his favour (63.9% of shifts starting in the offensive zone). Tobias Rieder ¨C Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers, in the fourth round in 2011, the Coyotes rookie winger scored a pair of shorthanded goals, 58 seconds apart, to lead Arizona past Edmonton, 5-2, Monday. Rieder has nine points (6 G, 3 A) in the first 16 games of his NHL career and while his on-ice shooting percentage is high (12.8%), he¡¯s doing a nice job generating shots on goal (2.69 per game after five against the Oilers) while skating on a line with Sam Gagner and Shane Doan. P.K. Subban ¨C Montreal¡¯s stalwart defenceman played 28:09 at Colorado Monday, registered a goal and an assist, along with team-best possession (28 shot attempts for, 14 against, 66.7%) while starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone. ZEROES Henrik Lundqvist ¨C The Rangers¡¯ star goaltender allowed five goals on 15 shots against Tampa Bay in a 6-3 Lightining win Monday. It¡¯s the sixth time this season that Lundqvist has given up at least four goals in a game and his save percentage sits at what would be a career-low .905. Viktor Fasth ¨C It was looking like the Oilers goaltender might be making some progress with his recent play before he surrendered five goals on 24 shots against Arizona, dropping his season save percentage to .891 which, for the Oilers, isn¡¯t much of an alternative to Ben Scrivens (.88. Couldn¡¯t one of them put up decent numbers? Dominic Moore ¨C The Rangers¡¯ checking centre was locked into the defensive zone (5 shot attempts for, 17 against, 22.7%) in Monday¡¯s 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay, really pinned in when matched up against Tampa Bay¡¯s line of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov, with Kucherov and Johnson on for 11 shot attempts for and one against (91.7%) when matched up with Moore. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Sami Vatanen ¨C The third-leading defence scorer left Monday¡¯s win over Boston after Simon Gagne¡¯s goal cut the Anaheim lead to 3-2. His 20:55 ice time for the game was his lowest in nearly a month. Eric Brewer ¨C Left Monday¡¯s win over Boston with a suspected lower-body injury. If the Ducks, already missing Francois Beauchemin, Clayton Stoner, Mark Fistric and Ben Lovejoy on defence, are suddenly without Vatanen and Brewer, they¡¯re going to be digging deep for reinforcements. They already have rookies Josh Manson and Mat Clark taking regular shifts. Jesse Blacker is an option and Stoner should be nearing a return from mumps. Connor Murphy ¨C Played 37 seconds against the Oilers before leaving with an upper-body injury after a big hit by Oilers forward Tyler Pitlick. Michael Sgarbossa ¨C An undrafted free agent acquired from San Jose in 2012, Sgarbossa played six games for the Avalanche in 2012-13 and made his season debut, playing 10:51 in Monday¡¯s 4-3 loss to Montreal. He had 12 points (3 G, 9 A) in 18 AHL games before getting called up. SHORT SHIFTS Tampa Bay C Tyler Johnson had two goals and an assist in the Lightning¡¯s 6-3 win at the Rangers and is now tied for eighth in the league with 26 points (8 G, 18 A) in 25 games¡­LW Ondrej Palat contributed a goal and an assist and has 19 points (7 G, 12 A) in 26 games. Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 25 shots faced in a 2-1 win over Florida¡­Panthers LW Sean Bergenheim had stellar possession (19 shot attempts for, 5 against, 79.2%) in the 2-1 loss at Columbus. FIRSTS David Pastrnak ¨C Boston¡¯s rookie winger, skating with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, registered an assist, in his third NHL game, for his first career point. In the first three games of his career, the 18-year-old has been on the ice for 47 shot attempts for and 29 against (61.8% Corsi). Colin Smith ¨C The Avalanche centre played 6:06 his NHL debut, a 4-3 loss to Montreal Monday. Smith had 12 points (4 G, 8 A) in 18 AHL games before his promotion. Kerby Rychel ¨C In his second NHL game, registered an assist for his first NHL point and, incidentally, had nice possession stats (13 shot attempts for, 8 against, 61.9%) despite starting one-third of his shifts in the offensive zone. FANTASY FOCUS It¡¯s a busy night on the ice, with 10 games, so here are a handful of players that you may want to get into your lineup, or at least monitor ¨C we¡¯re digging deeper here: Tom Wilson ¨C Anyone playing with Alex Ovechkin and NIcklas Backstrom has value, but the second-year winger also has points in each of the last two games (and fights in the last three). Nathan Gerbe ¨C The mighty mite has been effective, skating with Riley Nash and a variety of wingers, putting up five points (2 G, 3 A) in the past six games and he¡¯s ben rocking better than 56% possession for the season. Zemgus Girgensons ¨C As the Sabres enjoy a dose of respectability, Girgensons is taking on a bigger role and has seven points (4 G, 3 A) in the past seven games. Matt Nieto ¨C Scored his first goal in 23 games last game and has been putting up great possession stats (a team-best 60.5%). Nick Spaling ¨C Getting a chance to play on Sidney Crosby¡¯s wing, Spaling has three points (1 G, 2 A) in the past six games, playing more than 16 minutes in each. 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 Nazem Kadri Jersey .Y. -- Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff had an opportunity to experience an entire range of emotions in his first trip back to Buffalo to face his former team. Michael Grabner Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. http://www.hockeymapleleafsproshop.com/M...thentic-Jersey/ . "Uuufff," was all shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria could come up with after Stantons latest mammoth shot.LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery has a short list of candidates he expects to be available with the 14th pick in next weeks draft. Six players, to be precise. "Id be happy that two out of the six were on the board at our pick, and Id be ecstatic if three out of the six were on the board at our pick," Emery said Thursday. The Bears went 8-8 last season and missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years, hurt by a defence that ranked among the leagues worst. Emery has spent the off-season overhauling that group, bringing in Jared Allen and parting ways with Julius Peppers. The makeover figures to continue in the draft even though Emery would not rule out going with an offensive player at No. 14. The most obvious holes, though, are on defence. The Bears still could use help on the defensive line, at linebacker and in the secondary. Assuming they go with a defensive player ¡ª and assuming they keep the pick ¡ª the options at 14 could include Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Alabama free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Oklahoma State cornerback Justin Gilbert. Dropping back a few spots could give the Bears more selections, and Emery said he has been fielding calls from teams looking to move up. "Just say in theory you go down six picks," Emery said. "That means you have to count your pick youre giving up is one, and if youre going to pick six picks later, you have to have six players on the board that have that graded value that youre comfortable taking. ... So if you dont have that number of players you feel good about you shouldnt trade." Emery also indicated that trading up is unlikely. "Trade ups are expensive, obviously, and you just have to feel like that that player youre trading up for makes a dynamic difference in your team," he said. The Bears have already made plenty of noise this season. They made a huge splash when they signed Allen, hoping the five-time Pro Bowl defensive end energizes a defence thaat ranked 30th overall and last against the run. Mike Santorelli Maple Leafs Jersey. He had 11 1/2 sacks last season, his seventh straight in double figures, and is a solid run defender. The Bears also added defensive ends Lamarr Houston and Willie Young along with safeties Ryan Mundy and M.D. Jennings. They brought back cornerback Charles Tillman on a one-year deal, re-signed defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff to a two-year contract and split with safety Major Wright. There have been some big moves. But there are still some big questions. The starting safety spots are up for grabs after Wright and Chris Conte struggled last season. Emery called it "a wide-open competition, best player wins." Wright signed with Tampa Bay in the off-season. Conte had shoulder surgery in late March and could start training camp on the physically unable to perform list, although Emery expects him to be ready for the first preseason game. Emery also said hes "absolutely" comfortable with Jordan Palmer backing up Jay Cutler at quarterback, with Josh McCown now in Tampa Bay. And he made that clear when the team started off-season workouts last month. "Same thing I told Josh: Glad youre here, looking forward to your contributions and were counting on you," Emery said. "And Jordan, since the time that he came last year has been nothing but a positive." Emery also reiterated the teams long-held desire not to be documented on HBOs "Hard Knocks," although he acknowledged the decision is not the organizations. He cited the franchises history, fan base and interest as reasons to look elsewhere. "I think theres a number of teams that dont have as much attraction, have as big a base for whatever reasons ¡ª their population or their history," he said. "Obviously, this is a tremendous, historic franchise. I think there will probably be other places that could benefit from it other than the Chicago Bears. Hows that for an answer?" Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '