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Goaltending match-up: Steve Mason (20/22, .909 SV%) vs. Jonas Gustavsson (29/32, .906 SV%)

Combos: Rick Nash - Antoine Vermette - Kristian Huselius/ R.J. Umberger - Derick Brassard - Derek Dorsett/ Ethan Moreau - Samuel Pahlsson - Chris Clark/ Andrew Murray - Kyle Wilson - Jared Boll/ Marc Methot - Rostislav Klesla/ Jan Hejda - Kris Russell/ Anton Stralman - Fedor Tyutin

Scratches: Commodore, MacKenzie, Voracek

Top PP times: Vermette (1:54), Huselius (1:54), Umberger (1:54), Nash (1:45), Russell (1:45)

Trending: Kristian Huselius (2G, +2, 5 SOG) hadn’t scored since his hat trick @EDM Dec. 16, which was his second game back in the line-up. He may still be available in a lot of leagues and assuming he’s healthy, he can still be a really solid second half contributor. Rick Nash (2A, +2, 5 SOG) has points in B2B games after having one in six, while Antoine Vermette’s (2A, +2, 4 SOG) multi-point effort made sure he’d match his production from his past seven games in this one. Kris Russell (1A, +2, 1 SOG) had seven points on the season coming in, but had four of them this month. R.J. Umberger (1G, -1, 2 SOG) picked up the GWG and has three goals in four games after a long stretch with none.

Combos: Joey Crabb - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel/ Clarke MacArthur - Darryl Boyce - Nikolai Kulemin/ Kris Versteeg - John Mitchell - Colby Armstrong/ Colton Orr - Tim Brent - Fredrik Sjostrom/ Francois Beauchemin - Dion Phaneuf/ Tomas Kaberle - Luke Schenn/ Carl Gunnarsson - Mike Komisarek

Scratches: Lebda, Grabovski

Top PP times: Kaberle (1:08), Boyce (0:53), Kulemin (0:53), Versteeg (0:53), MacArthur (0:53)

Trending: This was only the second NHL start for Darryl Boyce (1A, no SOG), whose other one came back in ’07-8.Tyler Bozak (1G, -1, 0:15 PP, 2 SOG) added to his five December points, while Phil Kessel (1A, -1, 0:15 PP, 4 SOG) has been showing some signs of life for his frustrated poolies. Nikolai Kulemin (1G, 2 SOG) has picked up points in five of his past six now, while Clarke MacArthur (1A, 1 SOG) has them in six of seven and had nine in 12 this month coming in.

Goaltending match-up: Tim Thomas (30/32, .938 SV%) vs. Ondrej Pavelec (42/44, .955 SV%)

Combos: Milan Lucic - Marc Savard - Nathan Horton/ Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Mark Recchi/ Blake Wheeler - David Krejci - Michael Ryder/ Daniel Paille - Tyler Seguin - Shawn Thornton/ Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk/ Dennis Seidenberg - Steven Kampfer/ Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid

Scratches: Stuart, Campbell

Top PP times: Ryder (3:43), Seidenberg (3:16), Recchi (3:14), Krecji (3:05), Bergeron (2:51)

Trending: Patrice Bergeron (1G, +1, 3 SOG) had a pair of points the last time these teams met and had seven points in six starts coming in. David Krejci (1A, +1, 1 SOG) has played the Thrashers 13 times and has averaged a point-per-game. He began the night with 12 points in 13 December games too. Blake Wheeler (1G, +1, 2 PIM, 0:18 PP, 5 SOG) has found the back of the net in three of seven.

Combos: Andrew Ladd - Rich Peverley - Anthony Stewart/ Tim Stapleton - Alex Burmistrov - Bryan Little/ Fredrik Modin - Patrice Cormier - Niclas Bergfors/ Eric Boulton - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn/ Dustin Byfuglien - Tobias Enstrom/ Zach Bogosian - Johnny Oduya/ Ron Hainsey - Brent Sopel

Scratches: Kane, Meyer, Eager

Top PP times: Enstrom (7:51), Byfuglien (6:31), Little (5:34), Peverley (4:49), Ladd (4:54)

Trending: This was not only Tobias Enstrom’s (2G, -2, 4 SOG) second multi-goal game of the month, but it’s also the first time he’s scored vs. BOS in 15 tries. He also now officially has 30+ points in all four of his NHL campaigns and he’s well on pace to pass last year’s career high of 50 points. Dustin Byfuglien’s (1A, -2, 2 PIM, 7 SOG) point totals are still just ridiculous. This was the seventh start of December for Niclas Bergfors (1A, 0:57 PP, no SOG) and third time with a point. Bryan Little and Tim Stapleton scored in the shootout.

Goaltending match-up: Carey Price (16/20, .800 SV%) & Alex Auld (3/3) vs. Cedrick Desjardins (27/28, .964 SV%)

Combos: Michael Cammalleri - Tomas Plekanec - Andrei Kostitsyn/ Max Pacioretty - Scott Gomez - Brian Gionta/ Maxim Lapierre - Jeff Halpern - Travis Moen/ Mathieu Darche - Lars Eller - Benoit Pouliot/ P.K. Subban - Hal Gill/ Jaroslav Spacek - Roman Hamrlik/ James Wisniewski - Yannick Weber

Scratches: Gorges, Picard, Pyatt

Top PP times: Gionta (5:15), Gomez (4:58), Wisniewski (4:43), Weber (4:04), Darche (3:51)

Trending: Max Pacioretty (1G, 2:00 PP, 1 SOG) scored only 0:58 in and broke a four-game pointless skid in the process. Scott Gomez (1A, 1 SOG) had 36 points in 41 GP vs. TB coming in and had eight points in seven games overall headed into this tilt. James Wisniewski (+1, 1 SOG) made his debut with the Habs and logged first unit PP time, as expected.

Combos: Ryan Malone - Steven Stamkos - Martin St. Louis/ Simon Gagne - Vincent Lecavalier - Sean Bergenheim/ Dana Tyrell - Nate Thompson - Adam Hall/ Dominic Moore - Teddy Purcell/ Randy Jones - Pavel Kubina/ Mattias Ohlund - Mike Lundin/ Brett Clark - Victor Hedman/ Matt Smaby

Scratches: Ritola

Top PP times: Stamkos (4:42), Purcell (4:11), Kubina (4:06), Hedman (3:37), St. Louis (3:33)

Trending: Steven Stamkos (2G, 2A, +2, 4 SOG) had a two-pointer the last time these teams met and his current goal streak is at four straight with markers in eight of his past 10. The guy's a stud, pure and simple. He showed some razzle dazzle on his penalty shot goal that'll easily be on every highlight show and as far as I'm concerned, I love the imagination. I'll watch that stuff all night long. But remember back when Edmonton's Linus Omark dared to show some creativity in his shootout goal against TB? Stamkos was one of several players that took issue, saying, "I didn't think it showed a lot of respect in this game. I mean, you don't see Crosby or Ovechkin doing that and they're the two best players in the game. [Omark's] a creative player, he's got good skill. I'm not taking that away from him, but it didn't really have any implication on his moves, so I don't know why he did that." Martin St. Louis (1G, 1A, +1, 4 SOG) has seven multi-pointers this month and 15 this year. Vincent Lecavalier (1A, 3:32 PP, no SOG) has points in four straight and six of seven, while Pavel Kubina (1G, +1, 2 SOG) had six this month coming in. Ryan Malone (1A, +1, 2 PIM, 3:24 PP, 1 SOG) added his 30th point and Victor Hedman (1A, no SOG) picked up his fifth of December.

Goaltending match-up: Antti Niemi (26/29, .897 SV%) vs. Marty Turco (20/24, .833 SV%)

Combos: Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Dany Heatley/ Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Benn Ferriero/ Jamie McGinn - Scott Nichol - Devin Setoguchi/ Brandon Mashinter - Tommy Wingels - Jamal Mayers/ Douglas Murray - Dan Boyle/ Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Niclas Wallin/ Kent Huskins - Jason Demers/

Scratches: Pavelski, Mitchell, Joslin

Top PP times: Boyle (8:12), Marleau (6:31), Demers (6:13), Thornton (6:00), Heatley (5:39)

Trending: Joe Thornton (1G, +1, 3 SOG) scored a key third period goal and his career stats vs. CHI coming in were 10-29-39 in 32 GP. Dany Heatley (1G, 1A, 2 SOG) had gone six games without a goal and had one in 11 and two all of December. Dan Boyle (2A, +1, 2 PIM, 2 SOG) has points in six of seven, while Logan Couture (1A, 2 PIM, 3:38 PP, 4 SOG) added to the 13 points in 14 December GP he had coming in. Jason Demers (1A, -1, no SOG) had five points in that span coming in. Ryane Clowe (1G, +1, 3:59 PP, 1 SOG) fired home a long-range ENG, which broke a seven-game goalless stretch, but overall he's having an awesome season for his poolies.

Combos: Patrick Sharp - Jake Dowell - Patrick Kane/ Viktor Stalberg - Tomas Kopecky - Marian Hossa/ Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Troy Brouwer/ John Scott - Ryan Johnson - Jordan Hendry / Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook/ Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brian Campbell/ Jassen Cullimore - Nick Boynton

Scratches: Pisani, Toews, Skille

Top PP times: Kopecky (5:29), Hossa (5:17), Kane (5:16), Sharp (4:40), Seabrook (4:37)

Trending: We’re nearly into January and Patrick Sharp (1G, 1A, -1, 3 SOG) still has not gone more than two games in a row without a point this season. And he’s only gone two games in a row without a point twice. This was Patrick Kane’s (1A, -2, 4 SOG) second game back and first box score appearance. Brent Seabrook (1A, -1, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) had collected eight points in 11 GP prior to this tilt. Tomas Kopecky (1A, -2, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) had five points in seven tries headed in. Brian Campbell (1G, 3:31 PP, 1 SOG) hadn’t scored since coming back in early November, but has points in four of seven. Troy Brouwer (1G, -2, 3:42 PP, 1 SOG) had seven points and 43 hits in December coming into this clash, while Bryan Bickell's (1A, +1, 2:07 PP, 1 SOG) hot streak continued. He had 10 points in 11 GP coming in here.

Goaltending match-up: Craig Anderson (31/34, .912 SV%) vs. Devan Dubnyk (24/27, .889 SV%)

Combos: Tomas Fleischmann - Matt Duchene - Milan Hejduk/ T.J. Galiardi - Paul Stastny - David Jones/ Daniel Winnik - Ryan O’Reilly - Greg Mauldin/ Kevin Porter - Philippe Dupuis - David Koci/ John-Michael Liles - Ryan O'Byrne/ Kevin Shattenkirk - Matt Hunwick/ Ryan Wilson - Adam Foote

Scratches: Holos, McLeod

Top PP times: Hejduk (2:41), Liles (2:34), Shattenkirk (2:30), Duchene (2:17), Fleischmann (2:08)

Trending: Tomas Fleischmann (1G, -1, 6 SOG) only had one point in four games coming in, but had still been averaging a point-per-game over his 12 starts with the Avs. Matt Duchene (1A, -1, 2 SOG) already had 17 points in 18 road games coming in, while Paul Stastny (1G, 1A, +1, 2 PIM, 1:52 PP, 5 SOG) registered his 10th multi-pointer of the season. Five came in October. T.J. Galiardi (1G, 1A, +1, 0:32 PP, 2 SOG) has goals in four of his six starts since coming back into the line-up. Milan Hejduk was the only one from either team to score in the shootout.

Combos: Taylor Hall - Sam Gagner - Jordan Eberle/ Dustin Penner - Andrew Cogliano - Ales Hemsky/ Gilbert Brule - Ryan O'Marra - Magnus Paajarvi/ Zack Stortini - Colin Fraser - Ryan Jones/ Jason Strudwick - Jeff Petry/ Theo Peckham - Tom Gilbert/ Ladislav Smid - Kurtis Foster

Scratches: Jacques, Omark, MacIntyre

Top PP times: Foster (6:45), Gilbert (5:09), Hall (4:25), Hemsky (4:21), Gagner (3:56)

Trending: Taylor Hall (1G, -1, 3 SOG) had a couple of points the last time these teams met and he had nine points in 12 GP this month coming in as well. Ales Hemsky (1G, 1A, +1, 3 SOG) has points in each of his two games back now, while Andrew Cogliano (1G, 1A, +1, no PP, 1 SOG) has points in two of three after having only one the rest of the month. Sam Gagner (1A, -1, 2 PIM, 1 SOG) has points in five of seven and Kurtis Foster (1A, 10 SOG) broke a six-game pointless skid here. We should see more points coming too, with Ryan Whitney out. Foster and Tom Gilbert have been ramping up their PP minutes. Dustin Penner (2A, +1, 3:19 PP, 3 SOG) has points in three straight, which is the fourth time he’s done so this season. His longest is four.

Goaltending match-up: Michael Leighton (32/36, .889 SV%) vs. Jonathan Bernier (16/22, .727 SV%) & Jonathan Quick (5/6, .833 SV%)

Combos: James van Riemsdyk - Mike Richards - Danny Briere/ Andreas Nodl - Jeff Carter - Ville Leino/ Scott Hartnell - Claude Giroux - Nikolay Zherdev/ Dan Carcillo - Blair Betts - Darroll Powe/ Kimmo Timonen - Braydon Coburn/ Matt Carle - Andrej Meszaros/ Oskars Bartulis - Sean O'Donnell

Scratches: Gustafsson, Shelley, Brobovsky

Top PP times: Timonen (3:42), Giroux (3:34), Richards (3:34), Carter (3:25), Briere (2:28)

Trending: Mike Richards (2G, 2A, +2, 4 PIM, 5 SOG) has nine games this year with at least two points and we’re not even halfway through the season. He had 12 all of last season. Claude Giroux (3A, +2, 3 SOG) has points in nine of 11 and Danny Briere (1G, 1A, +1, 2 PIM, 3 SOG) added to the nine December points he had coming in. Matt Carle (1A, +1, 1:57 PP, no SOG) had six points in the first five games of the month, then one in six coming in here. In the past seven games, Scott Hartnell (1G, +1, 2:20 PP, 1 SOG) had just that two-pointer vs. PIT as his only offensive output. James van Riemsdyk (1G, 1A, +1, 1:35 PP, 3 SOG) has a point in four of his past seven and had four points in that span coming in. Ville Leino (1G, +1, 0:36 PP, 1 SOG) has points in three of his past four, while Jeff Carter (1G, 1A, 4 SOG) has goals in three of five and had 10 points in 11 GP this month coming into this game. Andreas Nodl (1A, +1, 0:09 PP, 1 SOG) had a nice run in November, but hasn't been worth it this month.

Combos: Marco Sturm - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown/ Ryan Smyth - Jarret Stoll - Justin Williams/ Kyle Clifford - Michal Handzus - Wayne Simmonds/ Brad Richardson- Trevor Lewis - Kevin Westgarth/ Jack Johnson - Drew Doughty / Alec Martinez - Davis Drewiske / Matt Greene - Rob Scuderi

Scratches: Harrold, Ponikarovsky, Mitchell

Top PP times: Doughty (5:57), Kopitar (5:30), Smyth (5:17), Brown (5:16), Stoll (4:14)

Trending: Justin Williams (1G, +1, 2 PIM, 2:34 PP, 3 SOG) has found the back of the net in five of his past eight starts. Drew Doughty (2A, -1, 1 SOG) has points in four straight and eight of his past 10. Anze Kopitar (1A, 4 SOG) has been beastly in December, adding to the 19 in 13 he already had coming in. Ryan Smyth (2G, 3 SOG) has goals in B2B games for the second time this month. Jarret Stoll (2A, 2 PIM, 6 SOG) had only four points on the month before tonight. Jack Johnson’s (1G, -1, 3:36 PP, 1 SOG) point streak has reached six games now. It took awhile for him to find his game at the NHL level on both sides of the puck, but he’s even better this year than last and it’s easy to see why he was a high draft pick in 2005.

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.