Cullen's hat trick leads Canes past Avalanche

The last time the Carolina Hurricanes franchise beat the Colorado Avalanche, they were known as the Hartford Whalers, and only three of the team's current players were even in the NHL then. On Sunday, the Whalers, er, Hurricanes broke that losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Avalanche. Center Matt Cullen led the way with a hat trick, giving him 19 goals on the season, a feat largely underappreciated in the fantasy world because of a relatively low ownership percentage. To be fair, the Hurricanes have not exactly been a trove of fantasy talent this season; even the steady Rod Brind'Amour has been a bust, and, to an extent, so has Eric Staal. But while their biggest names might not be producing at their normally superb levels, the Canes have some valuable cogs that can help a fantasy owner at the back end of the roster. Unfortunately, there's no cute nickname for the Cullen-Chad LaRose-Ray Whitney line -- if you have one, leave it in the Conversation below -- but the trio has been pretty efficient through the team's past 12 games. Cullen led the way Sunday, recording his first NHL hat trick in his 786th game, and he has led the trio in scoring over the past dozen contests, with 14 points overall and a plus-6 rating. Cullen is owned in 13.7 percent of ESPN leagues as of this morning, and while some folks would advise the "wait-and-see" strategy, what more do you need to see? The guy has averaged more than a point per game through the past 12 games, and that's likely better than at least one player on your roster. LaRose, meanwhile, is a "grinder," and I'm not talking the sandwich here. He doesn't produce much in the fantasy-relevant categories. Although he has registered seven points and 11 penalty minutes through the past 12 games as part of the "line with no snappy name," he has just 21 points and 21 penalty minutes over the course of the 60 games he has played this season, and just 94 hits, which is quite mediocre. Although his plus-6 rating over the past dozen games is nice, in this case you really do have to "wait and see" if LaRose can put up anything resembling roster-worthy stats, and, frankly, you might be waiting awhile. Finally, there's the veteran Whitney, one of the three players (Brind'Amour is another) who was in the league before the Whalers left Hartford. Whitney was drafted in most every fantasy league based on the 144 points he had scored in 147 games played during the past two seasons. His fantasy owners didn't expect him to make or break their fantasy team, but he was a solid option at left wing. Well, he has struggled to provide the same value this season, but his performance over the aforementioned 12-game sample size has been encouraging. An even 12 points and a plus-4 rating have indicated a nice turnaround. Of the three players, Cullen is the best option to pick up at this point. Whitney is owned in 88.2 percent of ESPN leagues already, so he's likely unavailable, and LaRose is not worthy of ownership in even deep leagues right now. It's important to remember as we enter the final quarter of the season that the playoff-contending teams will rely even more on productive players, and this line has shown it can be quite productive for the Hurricanes, who are a single point out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Ice Chips Sergei Gonchar continues to produce for the Penguins. He scored his second goal of the season (in his fifth game), and three of the veteran's four points so far have come on the power play. He's still available in 16.3 percent of ESPN leagues, and he's worth a check to see if yours is one of them. … The Minnesota Wild, who have a tenuous hold on the No. 8 slot in the Western Conference, have two goaltenders who will be unrestricted free agents this upcoming offseason if the team is unable to re-sign them. On Sunday, it was Josh Harding's turn in net, and he turned aside 44 shots to record a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks and earned just his second win of the season. Harding has very sharp ratios (2.14 goals-against average, .933 save percentage), but unless the team decides to trade their starter, Nicklas Backstrom, Harding won't be too relevant this season. … Toronto's Niklas Hagman scored a game-winning power-play goal in overtime to beat the Rangers, but the real star of the game for the Leafs was goaltender Vesa Toskala, who turned aside all but two of the Rangers' 41 shots to earn win No. 20 of the 2008-09 season. Toskala's ratios are quite a bit off from his career average, but he has given up just two goals in each of his past three starts, earning two wins and a shootout loss in the process. He could be a fantasy factor down the stretch if he can keep this up. … The Boston Bruins have struggled mightily of late, and Phil Kessel has had issues of his own, failing to score in 14 games prior to Sunday's tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning. On Sunday, though, playing like a man possessed, Kessel put five shots on goal, had four others miss the net and had yet another four get blocked by Lightning defenders. He was rewarded for his persistence with his first goal (No. 25 of 2008-09) since Jan. 3. The Bruins took the loss, however, and now have lost six of their past seven games. Aside from a five-goal outburst against the Hurricanes on Feb. 17, the team's offense has been short-circuited, and even in that game, the big guns were not the ones registering the points. Many a fantasy team is currently in a free fall because of the Bruins' lack of production, but maybe Kessel's fiery performance can jump-start the team. Tim Kavanagh is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com.

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