-- The Tampa Bay Lightning line of Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov was reunited by coach Jon Cooper on Oct. 13, and they hit the ground running like they were never broken up in the first place. Kucherov (one goal, four assists) and Palat (four assists) each have at least a point in all four games since the reunion, and Johnson had his fourth career hat trick against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. A lack of line continuity kept the Lightning out of last week's rankings, but this line's track record and current success make it an instant top-25 unit when together. If the recent production isn't enough, the numbers tell us to expect even more from this group: the "Triplets" line has produced 29.6 scoring chances per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 (about three better than NHL average of 26.8), according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
LINE CHANGES
-- Two seasons ago, the Chicago Blackhawks line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Patrick Kane was one of the most steadily used and productive in the NHL. Anisimov and Kane were reunited Saturday with Nick Schmaltz as the third member against Panarin and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The revised line had instant success, with all three members having at least one point in a 4-1 win. Kane had two goals and one assist in the win and is off to one of the best starts of his NHL career with seven goals & four assists through seven games entering Sunday. Kane has at least four shots on goal in six of his first seven games and ranks third in the category (38) behind Tyler Seguin and Nathan MacKinnon. Like in 2016-17, Anisimov (3 percent owned in Yahoo) becomes immediately fantasy relevant with exposure to Kane.
