Trend Down: Kevin Fiala
As good as the past two games were for Brandt Clarke, they were equally as bad for Kevin Fiala. He started the year off well with four goals through the first six games but has only had one point in the past three games.
The reason that Fiala is trending down is because of penalties as he has been called for three in the past two games. Against the Anaheim Ducks, he would go to the penalty box in the closing minutes of the third and the Ducks would convert the man advantage into a goal and cut the lead down to 3-2.
Against the Utah Hockey Club, Fiala would be called for a penalty midway through the second period and Hiller saw enough. He would decide to bench Fiala for the rest of the game.
When Fiala is playing well, he is a great goal scorer for this team but he has to cut down on these penalties if he wants to stay on the ice.
Trend Down: Akil Thomas
The final player is unfortunately on here because he can't get on the ice. It is surprising that Jim Hiller has not gotten Akil Thomas more ice time at this point as he has the talent to contribute to their offense.
He has seemingly been passed by Trevor Lewis and Andre Lee and it will be interesting if Kevin Fiala being benched opens the door for Akil Thomas to play Tuesday night against the San Jose Sharks. If he doesn't play then, it is tough to see when Hiller will get him on the ice.