Backes From The Dead

Somebody in St. Louis has been playing some inspired hockey as of late.  After frustrating fantasy owners and Blues fans for the first couple months of the season, David Backes has been scoring in bunches to help put an underachieving St. Louis team back into contention.

Backes potted two goals in Sunday’s gritty 3-1 victory over Vancouver, one of which would be the game winner.  After scoring just once in his first 21 games, Backes has found the back of the net eight times in his last 13 games including two two-goal games.

Horton and Erat Destroying December

Florida’s Nathan Horton saw his personal five-game point streak snapped on Saturday in a 3-2 loss to Carolina.  Horton has been making good on that big breakout we’ve been waiting on for about three years now.  In the month of December alone Horton has registered 13 points in 11 games, not to mention elevated his overall play that has led him to a +/- rating of 7.  It’s about time.

Martin Erat has been showing signs of earning some of that seven-year $31.5 million deal he signed last May.  The Nashville Predators winger piled up three points on Saturday’s 5-3 win over Calgary to give himself 15 in just ten games on the month.  Erat has most noticeably stepped up his offensive zone awareness and shown both highlight reel passing and scoring over that strectch.

Nashville has been hot, and when you can make a team look this lost then you’re probably going to win a few more: