This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Monday night's electric affair between the Penguins and the Senators featured 13 total goals, and it should serve as a reminder of just how fragile goalie stats can be in this league. Our test case here is Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson, who's been having an insanely good season despite the unimaginable difficulty of dealing with his wife's cancer diagnosis and treatments – or, well, he was until his last two outings, in which he's been slashed for a ridiculous 12 goals on 71 shots. Anderson owned some of the best numbers in the league until these last two appearances, but now his (admittedly still shiny) .924 save percentage is 13th in the NHL and his 2.46 GAA is 18th – that's quite the transition from king of the mountain to middle of the pack.
But that's the volatility of goalie stats for you; that leaderboard is subject to constant change, so unless you're talking about the likes of Carey Price or Tuukka Rask (or, dare I say, Devan Dubnyk), it's not always very instructive to cite netminder stat ranks. They can turn on a dime.
Speaking of Anderson, he's left the team to be with his wife again, and I'd like to once again extend my best wishes to him and Nicholle as she continues her fight.
By the way, hockey fans nationwide can turn in early Tuesday night, as there are no games on the West Coast and thus no games starting later than 8:30 p.m. Let's check out the action.
Featured Matchups
Oilers (PP: 11, PK: 4) at Sabres (PP: 9, PK: 28), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Talbot (13-9-2, 2.55, .916), Anders Nilsson (4-2-2, 2.30, .934)
Key Injuries:Zach Bogosian (knee), Nicolas Deslauriers (knee), Tyler Ennis (groin), Taylor Fedun (shoulder), Josh Gorges (foot), Dmitry Kulikov (back), Brandon Davidson (shoulder), Eric Gryba (undisclosed), Darnell Nurse (lower body), Iiro Pakarinen (leg)
We've seen the Connor McDavid vs. Auston Matthews battle play out twice this year, but this will be our first look at a more classic McDavid matchup – one against Jack Eichel, who went second to him in last year's draft. Eichel returned in a blaze of glory with four points in two games, but has delivered two scoreless efforts since. McDavid's fortunate to have escaped unharmed from a head-on collision with the ice surface this weekend, and he continues to comfortably lead the league in points. With the Sabres on the second of back-to-backs after Monday's OT loss to the Caps, they'll roll Nilsson out against the team that brought him back from the KHL last season. He's given up three goals in three straight games, while Talbot hasn't been spectacular himself, so there should be some offense to enjoy in this one.
Panthers (PP: 28, PK: 10) at Flyers (PP: 2, PK: 21), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:James Reimer (3-4-1, 3.05, .896), Steve Mason (9-8-3, 2.76, .904)
Key Injuries:Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Jonathan Marchessault (undisclosed), Alex Petrovic (ankle), Keith Yandle (lower body), Sean Couturier (knee), Boyd Gordon (upper body), Radko Gudas (illness), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Matt Read (upper body)
Mason enters on a hot streak, having won four in a row with a .945 save mark in that span, but he's had a lot of trouble sustaining these impressive stretches. Fortunately, he seems to match up well against a Florida team that doesn't score on the power play and is deploying its backup goalie. Better still, the 28-year-old minder sports a career 8-3-2 record with a 1.95 GAA and .939 save mark against the Panthers in his career. With this game taking place in Philly and the already injury-ravaged Panthers having seen Yandle get hurt Monday, Mason's my goalie value of the day. There could also be a good amount of penalties in this game, as the Flyers always love to mix it up and pugilistic ex-Ranger Dylan McIlrath is slotting into the lineup as Yandle's replacement. As it stands, the Flyers have generated the second-most power-play opportunities in the league.
Flames (PP: 29, PK: 27) at Stars (PP: 14, PK: 26), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Chad Johnson (10-4-1, 2.11, .928), Antti Niemi (5-3-3, 3.20, .902)
Key Injuries:Lance Bouma (shoulder), Ales Hemsky (hip), Jiri Hudler (illness), Mattias Janmark (knee), Johnny Oduya (lower body), Patrick Sharp (concussion)
Calgary's coming off an eight-goal explosion against the Ducks over the weekend, but the Flames' offense has generally sputtered in the absence (and even the presence) of Johnny Gaudreau; however, their star winger returned with two points Sunday. Dallas has struggled on the defensive side, so there could be plenty of scoring on both ends here – it's just a matter of who you trust to do that scoring, as it could be widely distributed among the Flames' group of non-stars. Johnson's been a revelation in net for Calgary, but he'll need his mates to stay out of the box because the Stars' power play is still dangerous; Niemi's porousness makes it smart to bet on some cheap and talented Flames like Matthew Tkatchuk and T.J. Brodie paying off. Look for Patrick Eaves, John Klingberg and other power-play-oriented Stars to make an impact as well – in addition to having one of the league's worst PK units, the Flames have found themselves shorthanded a league-high 104 times.
Other Matchups
Canucks (PP: 26, PK: 8) at Devils (PP: 20, PK: 5), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Ryan Miller (5-9-0, 2.73, .911), Cory Schneider (8-6-4, 2.63, .912)
Key Injuries:Pavel Zacha (face), Alexander Edler (finger), Jannik Hansen (ribs), Anton Rodin (knee), Chris Tanev (ankle)
With his slump now at six games, Schneider takes the ice against an opponent that should help him reverse the trend – after all, Vancouver still owns one of the league's worst offenses, and Schneider has had good success against the club that took him in the first round of the 2004 draft and then never gave him a chance to become its No. 1 netminder.
Rangers (PP: 6, PK: 9) at Islanders (PP: 30, PK: 17), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Henrik Lundqvist (12-7-1, 2.47, .914), Jaroslav Halak (4-6-5, 2.93, .909)
Key Injuries:Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Adam Pelech (upper body), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Michael Grabner (personal), Mika Zibanejad (leg)
The Isles are the only NHL team that's yet to crack double-digit power-play goals, and they're 24 games deep into the season. In this matchup of last place vs. first place, they do at least benefit from avoiding Grabner, a former (long-time) Islander who has stunned the league with 13 goals in 26 games; he's back in Austria for his grandmother's funeral. However, Chris Kreider looks like he's heating up for the Blueshirts after injuries derailed his red-hot start to the season.
Canadiens (PP: 5, PK: 20) at Blues (PP: 7, PK: 2), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Carey Price (14-3-1, 1.82, .942), Jake Allen (12-3-3, 2.47, .907)
Key Injuries:Nathan Beaulieu (neck), Alex Galchenyuk (lower body), Charles Hudon (chest), Zach Redmond (foot), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body), Dmitrij Jaskin (illness)
Allen enters on a seven-game winning streak, but he'll need to raise his game if the Blues want any hopes of keeping that going against Price and the Habs; he's given up 10 goals in the last three games. The 26-year-old certainly can't count on St. Louis to win by virtue of its offense this time around. The loss of Galchenyuk (who's out indefinitely) could hit Montreal's offense hard, though – I'd bet the under on this one.
Avalanche (PP: 21, PK: 25) at Predators (PP: 8, PK: 15), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Semyon Varlamov (5-11-0, 3.02, .907), Pekka Rinne (10-5-4, 2.18, .928)
Key Injuries:Erik Johnson (leg), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Fedor Tyutin (lower body), Ryan Ellis (upper body), James Neal (upper body), Miikka Salomaki (hand), Colton Sissons (upper body)
These two teams are both struggling and both have key injuries, and they need their remaining stars to step up. For Nashville, that's Rinne as well as Ryan Johansen and P.K. Subban (whose minus-7 rating takes the wind out of the sails of his solid point production); for Colorado, it's Nathan MacKinnon, who has just five goals on 84 shots (the eighth-highest total in the league).
Red Wings (PP: 24, PK: 12) at Jets (PP: 18, PK: 24), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Petr Mrazek (7-5-3, 2.84, .907), Connor Hellebuyck (10-9-0, 2.67, .911)
Key Injuries:Justin Abdelkader (knee), Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Darren Helm (upper body), Jimmy Howard (groin), Alexey Marchenko (upper body), Brendan Smith (knee), Joe Vitale (concussion), Joel Armia (undisclosed), Shawn Matthias (lower body), Tyler Myers (lower body), Nicolas Petan (lower body), Mark Scheifele (undisclosed)
Scheifele's missed two games, but the Jets won both of them, which should give them confidence against Detroit even if their star center has to sit out again. Mrazek got three goals hung on him by Winnipeg in the third period the last time these teams met, but he's been hot lately (2-0-2 with a 1.95 GAA and .935 save mark over his last four). Hellebuyck has been wildly inconsistent, kind of like a box of chocolates – you never know what you'll get, but sometimes it's going to b coconut. PSA: Coconut is terrible.
Coyotes (PP: 21, PK: 21) at Blackhawks (PP: 19, PK: 30), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Mike Smith (4-2-3, 2.64, .930), Scott Darling (4-2-1, 2.71, .912)
Key Injuries:Brad Richardson (leg), Corey Crawford (illness), Jonathan Toews (back)
Darling's taken a pair of losses since stepping in for Corey Crawford (appendicitis), but he hasn't played badly for all that. However, with their top goalie and top center both hurting, the 'Hawks are vulnerable against a Coyotes squad that's gotten surprisingly good netminding out of Smith, who previously seemed to be well on his way to fading out of the league.
Recommended Pickup
Justin Schultz, D, PIT – Is it finally happening for Schultz? I don't know for sure. But when you see a guy with his background go on the kind of bender we're seeing right now – three goals and three assists to go with a plus-7 rating in his last four games – it's definitely time to check in on his availability. Schultz's NHL numbers can best be described as mediocre for an offensive blueliner, but his track record at the University of Wisconsin (two point-per-game seasons from the blue line) and the AHL (a fully absurd 48 points in 34 games back in 2012-13) strongly suggest there's more lurking beneath the surface. Still just 26 years old, Schultz is in a good situation with the Penguins; he isn't asked to be The Guy, allowing him to play unhurried hockey on the third pairing and second power-play unit, and he gets to hang out with uber-blueliner Kris Letang, who can certainly teach a developing defenseman a thing or two. Despite averaging a modest 17:01 of ice time, Schultz is putting up nearly two shots per game (easily a career-best mark), and an injury to Letang (which, y'know… tends to happen) could land him on the top power-play unit with two pretty good players you may have heard of, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
