Week 13 fantasy hockey winners and losers: Jason Zucker stays hot

Victoria Beaver
Special to Yahoo Sports

The world of fantasy hockey is a busy place, so we’ll review the best and worst performers each week to help you see what you might have missed and learn about emerging trends.

Winners

Left Wing: Jason Zucker, Minnesota Wild
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 2 goals, 1 assist

Jason Zucker is having a strong January, with five points in six games and 16 points in his last 19 games overall. He seems to be trying to prove something to the Wild considering after getting a short-term deal coming off a lackluster 2015-16 season. With the expansion draft around the corner, rumors have been circling that the left winger may soon return to his hometown of Las Vegas.

Zucker would prefer to stay with Minnesota and is putting up the points to earn that spot. He started the season on the fourth line with limited ice time and has worked his way up to a spot in the top six. He added a goal and an assist to his season total Saturday against the Stars.

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Center: John Tavares, New York Islanders
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 5 goals (1 hat-trick), 0 assists

Tavares had back-to-back multi-goal games with two earned in Saturday’s loss to Carolina and a hat trick in Friday’s win over Florida, which was his first of the season. Entering last week, the Isles shooter had only 11 goals, which means in two games he increased his total by 31 percent. He will try to ride this momentum entering into their last road game of a three-game trip. The Isles face Boston on Tuesday.

Goalie: Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 3 goals allowed, 1 shutout, .962 save percentage

Holtby added sixth shutout of the season on Friday against Chicago to pass Tuukka Rask for the league lead. Since being pulled against the Maple Leafs after giving up three quick goals on January 3, Holtby has three shut outs and is riding a five-game winning streak.

Defenseman: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 2 goals, 3 assists

Burns is one of those unique players who can reliably score from the defensive position, which makes him just as valuable to fantasy players as any other shooter. He currently leads NHL defensemen in points and goals with 44 and 17 respectively. At 31, Burns is on track to have his most productive season, so keep riding that wave.

Losers

Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins
Last week’s stats: 2 games, 2 losses, 10 goals against, .863 save percentage

Fleury had a tough time keeping pucks out of the net as soon as the Penguins took to the road. Pittsburgh has dropped the last three games, all high-scoring affairs. Fleury was in the net for two of losses with backup Matt Murray playing in Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Ottawa. Murray’s performance is significant because it was his first game back since suffering a lower-body injury on December 28.

The Penguins return home Monday to face the Capitals, who are riding an eight-game winning streak including a 5-2 victory over the Penguins last Wednesday. Now that Murray is healthy, expect the goaltenders to start splitting time between the pipes, which will make predicting Fleury’s good games increasingly difficult for fantasy owners.

Center: Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 0 goals, 1 assist, shortened ice time

Larkin is having growing pains in his transition to center. As a result he is not getting the same scoring opportunities he had as a winger. The Larkin of 2015-16 is a far cry from this week’s player, who is suffering a sophomore slump. His lone point of the week came from an assist in the 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago. Disappointingly, this was only Larkin’s second point in the month. The switch to center might eventually strengthen the young player, but with limited ice time and a -17 rating, it is time to put Larkin on the bench until further notice.

Left Wing: Jimmy Vesey, New York Rangers
Last week’s stats: 2 games, 0 points, -3 rating

It is not that Vesey has been weak as a freshman, but he is overworked and not currently netting the points to justify his starts. Vesey has only missed one game and that came at the beginning of the season. This amount of ice time was defensible at the time considering Vesey scored seven goals in his first month but he has cooled since, adding only four since. His last point came on December 31.

Defenseman: Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Last week’s stats: 3 games, 1 goal, 0 assists

Chara added only his third goal of the season in 6-3 win over the Flyers on Saturday. The 39-year-old defenseman seems to have stepped back this season to assume a strategic role and help develop the remainder of the Bruins defense. The embattled squad was ridiculed at the start of the season, but is now the main reason Boston has a shot at a playoff run.

One big reason Chara has not been getting the scoring chances he had in the past is moving from the power-play to the penalty kill this season. Regardless of the reasoning behind the move, it limits his attractiveness.