NHL Barometer: The Dub's on a Roll

This week's article includes a young Leaf off to a strong start, a Duck quacking up a storm, the Dub on a roll and a Calder candidate slumping.

First Liners (Risers)

Cody Eakin, C, DAL - Someone has to pick up the slack in Dallas with Tyler Seguin out at least three weeks with his Achilles' tendon injury and Eakin has more than filled the bill lately. Eakin's goal Tuesday extended his point streak to a season-high five games, with four goals and three assists in that span. With Seguin out, Eakin has taken his spot on the first line between Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp and not looked out if place.

William Nylander, C, TOR - Nylander, the eighth overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, was held scoreless Thursday but has been red-hot lately. In his two prior games, Nylander scored five points, giving him seven for the season in 13 games. Nylander's production the balance of the year likely will be uneven as he adapts to the NHL but his future is tremendously bright in Toronto.

Robby Fabbri, LW, STL - Fabbri notched his 17th of the year and only goal in St. Louis' 1-0 win over San Jose on Tuesday. That goal gave Fabbri points in eight of his last 10 games, stretching to the end of February. In that stretch, he has tallied 10 points, giving Fabbri 36 in 68 games in this his rookie season.

Alex Tanguay, LW, ARI - Tanguay has settled in nicely as a Coyote after coming over from the Avalanche at the trade deadline in the Mikkel Boedker. His goal Tuesday gives him eight points in nine games with Arizona. Tanguay was held off the scoresheet Thursday but has proven to be a solid option in the Desert and should remain so the last two weeks of the season.

Jakob Silfverberg, LW, ANA - Silfverberg was held scoreless Thursday, ending his three-game point streak. Despite not tallying a point, Silfverberg has eight points in his last six games with six of those points, goals. Silfverberg tallied 39 points last season, so he hasn't taken that next step this year. But his strong defensive presence coupled with his recent process means he will be on the ice in key situations, adding to his value.

Victor Hedman, D, TB - Hedman, after going scoreless in six straight and 12 of 13 games, seems to have found his game again. He has four assists his last three games, giving him 35 for the season. Hedman won't match the 55 points he tallied two years ago, but a hot streak could allow him to exceed the 42 assists his notched that season.

Kevin Klein, D, NYR - Klein is not known as a scoring defenseman but it seems like every time New York needs to him to tally a big goal or make a play, he is there. He posted two assists Monday against the Florida and then added one more Wednesday at Boston, giving him two goals and six assists his last eight games. That hot streak has Klein at eight goals and 13 assists for the year. Klein has two years left on the five-year, $14.5 million extension he signed with Nashville in September 2012.

Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN - The Wild's late-season run has been spurred by a coaching change and stellar netminding from Dubnyk. His 31 saves helped the Wild to a 6-2 win and gave Dubnyk four straight wins. Dubnyk is now 30-22-6 while his goals-against average continues to fall and save percentage slides upward again. Minnesotais now three points up on Colorado for the last playoff spot with the Avalanche holding a game in hand.

Brian Elliott, G, STL - Elliott missed 10 games with a lower-body injury but he has returned to action with a bang. He notched shutouts against Vancouver his first game back on March 19 and followed that up with one Tuesday against San Jose. Elliott is now 19-7-6 with a 2.01 goals-against average and .933 save percentage as he looks to wrest the starting job from Jake Allen.

Others include Connor McDavid, Mika Zibanejad, Derek Stepan, Vincent Trocheck, Joe Thornton, Joe Colborne, Jamie Benn, Anze Kopitar, Steven Stamkos, Ryan Johansen, Claude Giroux, Mark Scheifele, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Adam Henrique, Mikko Koivu, Alex Galchenyuk, Vladimir Tarasenko, Filip Forsberg, Nikita Kucherov, Blake Wheeler, Corey Perry, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Mats Zuccarello, Milan Michalek, Jamie McGinn, P.A. Parenteau, Justin Abdelkader, Jussi Jokinen, Ryan White, Devante Smith-Pelly, Erik Haula, Ondrej Palat, Radko Gudas, Tyson Barrie, Erik Karlsson, Mark Giordano, Keith Yandle, Roman Josi, Brent Burns, Shayne Gostisbehere, Alec Martinez, Michael Stone, Kris Letang, Steve Mason, Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, James Reimer, Kari Lehtonen, Braden Holtby, Jimmy Howard, Martin Jones and Jacob Markstrom.

Training Room (Injuries)

Justin Faulk, D, CAR - Faulk, who missed 18 of the Hurricanes' last 19 games with a nagging lower-body injury, returned Thursday. Carolina didn't ease him into action, playing him 20:46 in the team's 3-2 win over the Blue Jackets. Faulk didn't score but he did have 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists) in 55 games prior to being injured after tallying 49 last season.

Others include Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene (knee, out rest of the week), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (concussion, DTD), Tyler Bozak (head, returned to action this week), Tyler Seguin (Achilles', out 3-4 weeks), Michael Cammalleri (hand, out for year), Nikolaj Ehlers (eye, returned to action Thursday), David Perron (shoulder, needs MRI), Radim Vrbata (knee, out for year), John Carlson (LBI, skated at practice Thursday), Tyler Myers (hip/knee, out for season), Oscar Klefbom (infection, out for year), P.K. Subban (neck, close to returning), Corey Crawford (UBI, unknown when he will skate) and Cory Schneider (knee, could be back Tuesday).

Fourth Liners/Press Boxers (Fallers)

David Krejci, C, BOS - Krejci is having a solid season overall with 54 points in 65 games. But Boston is free-falling in the standings and Krejci has done little to help stem the tide. Krejci is scoreless his last four games, all of which have been Bruins' losses. The B's and his fantasy owners need Krejci to re-find his game.

Dylan Larkin, RW, DET - Larkin is having a magical rookie seasom with 21 goals, 22 assists and a plus-17 rating in 72 games, but he may be limping to the finish. He has just three goals and two assists along with a minus-11 rating in his last 20 games. It's possible that Larkin, Detroit's first-round pick in 2014, has hit a major wall, as he is trying to help carry the Red Wings as a 19-year old.

Zdeno Chara, D, BOS - As you know, I dislike using two players from the same team on the Risers side of the ledger. That is especially true on the Fallers side, given the number of names listed here. But Chara, who has an excellent career, warrants a mention as his struggles have gone on a lot longer than Krejci. Chara has 33 points in 73 games but just one of those points have come his last 16 games, which evidences how well he had played before this rough patch.

Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CLM - Bobrovsky has had a rough overall campaign, missing 19 games with a groin injury and suffering through a difficult campaign. Since returning to action, Bob has lost four of his six starts, leaving him 13-17-1 on the season. His goals-against average and save percentage are the second worst of his career and worst when he plays at least 30 games.

Others include Rickard Rakell, Artem Anisimov, Tyler Johnson, Tomas Plekanec, Thomas Vanek, Brett Connolly, Valeri Nichushkin, Rasmus Ristolainen, Duncan Keith, Aaron Ekblad, Mike Condon, Craig Anderson, Antti Niemi and Jonathan Quick.