Chris Nichols

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

Without a doubt, the most popular aspect of the nightly live NHL blogging is the ability for you to pull fresh line combos from every single team for every game, all season long.

Why? Quite simply, they're the lifeblood of fantasy hockey. Aside from a player's individual talent and desire, on which line he plays is the single most important factor in his fantasy value. And between injuries, slumps, a coach's hunches and everything else those line combos tend to change fairly regularly too.

So it's noteworthy when someone like Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau chooses to (and is able to) stick with the same set of lines for an extended period of time; especially given how often he has tended to swap up the lines in the past. Sometime he'll load up Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin on one line; others it'll be Semin off the line; he's gone through spurts of separating Ovechkin and Backstrom, or any number of other variations.

The Washington Post notes that Boudreau has kept the combinations consistent for 10 games now, dating from Jan. 5 -- a 4-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens that catapulted the Capitals on their current run. The Caps have since won nine of 10 games.

Mike Knuble took Semin's spot alongside Ovechkin and Backstrom on L1.
Tomas Fleischmann shifted to centre and has Brooks Laich and Semin on his wings on the second line.
Brendan Morrison shifted down to L3 and has Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr flanking him.
The fourth unit, with little fantasy value, is Boyd Gordon with Dave Steckel and Matt Bradley.

"Since we made the trade for Jason and since we've moved [Fleischmann] to the middle, a lot more things have fit," Boudreau said. "I like the chemistry on all four lines. I anticipate this is the way we'll go unless injuries dictate otherwise."

The Post indicates that after a few days of being back with Ovechkin and Backstrom, Knuble said he implored Boudreau to keep the lines together, explaining how playing with the same linemates in Philadelphia helped him average 28.5 goals per season over four seasons.

"It made perfect sense to me," Boudreau said of Knuble's suggestion. "So we kept them together and kept them together and then Mike started scoring."

Knuble, who has seven goals since the switch, added: "What I've learned the last few years is that it's important to have continuity with the lines and letting it go a little bit. The balance we have now is good. You learn guys' tendencies, where they like to go. You learn those little tendencies and they add up to goals at important times."

Aside from star performers Ovechkin, Backstrom and Semin up front, who are automatic starts each night for poolies, let's take a quick peek at the rest of the top nine from this time span: Fleischmann has 10 points (3-7); Knuble has eight points (7G, 1A); Fehr has seven points (5-2); Laich has six points (3-3); Chimera has six (2-4) and Morrison has four (0-4).

QUOTABLE
"He's ahead of the game, but let's not push our luck,'' coach Claude Julien told The Boston Globe when asked if he was tempted to insert Marc Savard (knee) back into the line-up, "because our luck's not going too well right now.''

BOOTH AT PRACTICE
The Miami Herald reports that David Booth is making good progress from a concussion sustained in October and could possibly return to the Panthers lineup before the Olympic break.

He went through his first full-scale practice with the Panthers on Monday since the hit.

``It was pretty cool being in practice again doing some drills,'' Booth said. ``It's been a while since I've done that so it was pretty special. It's been tough doing all these skates and doing nothing but getting in shape. That's tough. But the fun's coming. There's light at the end of the tunnel.''

Coach Pete DeBoer and the Panthers are being very cautious with their winger.

``He's doing more every day and getting closer,'' DeBoer said. ``I don't have a timeline on it exactly, but we're taking more steps and he's taking some battle and contact. We'll see how he deals with that.''

With so many injuries on fantasy rosters this year, it's possible Booth was cast aside to waivers in your league thanks to an overflowing IR. He may not produce right away, but he could still be an especially helpful standard league winger for the stretch run with decent points and a healthy SOG total.

QUOTABLE
"That sounds like a question I'm going to need two nights to ... that's a loaded question," Montreal coach Jacques Martin told The Gazette, laughing after being asked if Jaroslav Halak's stellar play made the choice of who to play in net between him and Carey Price any easier. "I don't think it changes anything. I really have confidence in both our goaltenders.

"I've said it from the beginning; I feel we have two individuals who are No. 1 and two individuals who are engaged in a good battle. I think it's good, considering their age, maturity and development. They're good for each other."

KRONWALL RETURNS
The Detroit News notes that defenceman Niklas Kronwall, out since Nov. 21 because of a sprained knee, will return tonight against the Coyotes.

"It's nice to have him back," coach Mike Babcock said. "We need a boost right now. I don't think we played very good the other night. I thought L.A. was better, harder-working and more competitive than we were and I hadn't seen that in a while.

"Getting Nik back gives us a dynamic guy on the back end, whether that be playing physical, defending, joining the rush on offense, on the power play or on the penalty kill ."

Kronwall had 13 points in 21 GP before going down, including seven PPP. He's coming off a breakout 51-point campaign in '08-9 and he'll be a sight for sore eyes on many fantasy teams starting tonight.