panoo

John Kreiser | NHL.com columnist
Feb 12, 2007, 10:22 AM EST

The Pittsburgh Penguins had a big decision to make in late October: Keep Jordan Staal or send him back to juniors. They opted to keep him -- and are they glad they did.

Staal, the No. 2 pick in last June’s Entry Draft, has given the Penguins another young gun to go along with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the NHL’s most fun-to-watch team. He enters the week with a five-game goal-scoring streak in which he has scored seven times on just 14 shots. That includes the first three-goal game of his NHL career, capped off by the game-winner in overtime as the Penguins beat the Maple Leafs 6-5 in Toronto on Saturday night.

For the season, Staal has 23 goals and is plus-14 in 54 games. He’s especially deadly when killing penalties — his league-high five shorthanded goals are a team record, and his first three career goals came while the Penguins were playing down a man. Despite not seeing nearly as much ice time as big brother Eric, he trails his sibling by just one goal — they were even tied briefly until Eric connected for No. 24 in Carolina’s 5-4 loss at Minnesota.

Five Up: Our top five fantasy players of the week:

Ray Whitney: The Carolina Hurricanes’ left wing had a career week in his career year. Whitney had eight points in three games, including a five-point showing at Boston in which he set a franchise record with three goals in 1:40. It was the first five-point game in his 14-plus NHL seasons.

Henrik Zetterberg: How hot is Zetterberg? He piled up nine points (5-4-9) last week even though he and the Detroit Red Wings were shut out in one of their four games. Zetterberg had the game-winning goals against the New York Rangers and Phoenix, then added two goals and two assists in Sunday’s 7-4 win over Calgary. He has 15 points (7-8-15) in his last six games, despite the shutout.

Martin Havlat: Part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ problems has stemmed from the inability to keep Havlat on the ice — because when he’s played, he’s been superb. Havlat had a goal and two assists in Sunday’s 5-4 win at Columbus and is 7-3-10 during a six-game goal-scoring streak, all on the road. He’s 22-22-44 in just 34 games, having missed 22 with injuries.

Kristian Huselius: The Calgary Flames finally found some scoring help for Jarome Iginla in Huselius, who was 10-11-21 during a 15-game point-scoring streak that ended in Detroit on Sunday. His 25 goals and 51 points in 55 games are both career highs.

Jaromir Jagr: He hasn’t been putting up the numbers he did last season, but Jagr appears to be warming up just when the Rangers need him the most. Jagr had a game-tying goal against New Jersey Tuesday, then added five points in weekend wins over Tampa Bay and Washington. His second of three assists against the Caps was the 1,500th point of his NHL career.

Five Down: Five fantasy players who’ve been struggling:

Alexei Kovalev: Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau sat Kovalev for most of the third period in Saturday night’s 5-3 home loss to Ottawa, but Kovalev has been a disappointment for much of the season. He’s just 13-25-38 and minus-7 in 57 games, and has just eight goals at even strength.

Jason Blake: The speedy winger is on track for the first 30-goal season of his career, but the scoring touch that has seen him come within one of his career high has disappeared during the last few games. Blake, an unrestricted free agent who’s becoming the subject of more trade rumors, was pointless in four games until getting an assist in Boston on Saturday night.

Corey Perry:

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