This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
2016 has been kind to Phil Kessel. The winger picked up another goal and assist during Wednesday's win over the Rangers, and he's now tied for seventh in scoring with 20 points through 20 games. Since the calendar flipped to '16, Kessel has 30 goals, 80 points and 300 shots over 89 games, including the playoffs.
It took a few months and a coaching change, but the offensive fireworks are now on full display. Kessel is back to being an elite scorer, and as bad as 2015 was (18 goals, 41 points and 279 shots over 81 games), the past 11-plus months have been a deserved turnaround.
Shifting the focus, P.K. Subban has nine points -- three goals -- through 11 November games. Almost 20 outings into his Nashville tenure, perhaps a bounce-back run is already well underway for Subban, and maybe 2017 will prove as favorable to Subban as 2016 was to Kessel. Nashville has won six of its past eight games, after all.
Onto Thursday's two-game slate …
Featured Matchups
Hurricanes (PP: 10, PK: 1) at Canadiens (PP: 4, PK: 15), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Ward (7-4-3, 2.27, .919), Carey Price (11-1-1, 1.77, .943)
Key Injuries:Nathan Beaulieu (neck), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body)
The Canadiens will be hungry for revenge after blowing a third-period lead and losing to Ottawa on Tuesday. Carolina, on the other hand, enters with a 2-1 road win over Toronto. Interestingly, despite an underwhelming 8-6-4 record, Carolina ranks third in the league with a 53.27 Corsi for percentage and fifth with a 53.93 high-danger scoring chances for percentage at five-on-five. The Hurricanes are driving possession and offense, but they're not consistently winning games because of unreliable goaltending.
Ward is cruising through November with a 6-1-2 record, .946 save percentage and a 1.53 GAA. However, don't forget, he entered 2016-17 with a .916 save percentage at five-on-five over the previous three years. The mark ranked second last among all goalies with at least 4,000 minutes. Negative regression is ahead for Ward, and facing the Habs at the Bell Centre is a daunting matchup. Carolina will have a tough time leaving Montreal with a win Thursday.
Bruins (PP: 21, PK: 7) at Senators (PP: 29, PK: 5), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Tuukka Rask (11-3-0, 1.57, .942), Craig Anderson (9-4-1, 2.32, .928)
Key Injuries:Zdeno Chara (lower body), David Pastrnak (upper body), Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Bobby Ryan (finger)
There is a significant disparity in Boston's top-ranked 53.92 Corsi for percentage at five-on-five and Ottawa's 24th-ranked 48.36 mark. However, the two clubs sit seventh (53.64) and eighth (53.62), respectively, in high-dangers scoring chances for percentage at five-on-five. Additionally, both goaltenders have been extremely strong with Rask's third-ranked .955 save percentage at five-on-five and Anderson's .935 mark. Offensively, both clubs are in the bottom third of the league in goals per game with Boston ranking 22nd (2.42) and Ottawa sitting third last (2.16).
It all adds up to a potential low-scoring game, as even the special teams highlight strong defense and goaltending and limited offensive production. The Bruins will receive a boost with Pastrnak back in the fold, but it doesn't appear that Ryan will be ready to return for Ottawa. Hopefully, Pastrnak can help kick-start Patrice Bergeron's offense. The pivot is starting a career-high 61.0 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone and averaging 4.0 shots and 3:11 of power-play time per night, but Bergeron sits with just five points -- three goals -- through 16 games.
Recommended Pickup
Valtteri Filppula, C/LW, TAM - In the four games since Steven Stamkos went down with a knee injury, Filppula has collected four assists and seen a hefty uptick in minutes (19:42 with 2:46 on the power play). The pivot isn't going to stuff the peripheral categories or score a lot of goals, but Filppula will help in assists, points, plus-minus rating and power-play points going forward. Also with Tampa Bay's slew of talented wingers, Filppula's reliable fantasy floor also comes with added offensive upside.
