This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
It's Tuesday, and you know what that means: Tomorrow is Wednesday and yesterday was Monday. That's not a fun fact, but these might be, depending on your definition of "fun":
- Only one team in the Atlantic Division has a positive goal differential – Montreal's plus-29, which is second in the NHL.
- After another brilliant goal Monday night that saw him bat a puck out of the air and into the net, Sidney Crosby has 21 goals in 23 games. Too bad he's missed some time to injury, as Crosby's on an 82-game pace for 74 goals – that'd be the highest single-season total since Alexander Mogilny and Teemu Selanne potted 76 each in 1992-93.
- Wild netminder Devan Dubnyk owns a .946 save percentage; if he can maintain that, it'll be the best mark ever posted in an NHL season. Only twice have we seen anyone exceed the .940 mark – Craig Anderson in 2012-13 and Brian Elliott the year before that. This year, though, four goalies who qualify for the league lead have save percentages of at least .940.
- Despite how those incredible (and still early) results may seem to alter the goal-scoring landscape, goalie stats league-wide are incredibly stable – the NHL save percentage this year is .915, which is what it was the last two seasons, and the league's GAA has risen just barely, to 2.54 from 2.51 last year and 2.52 the year before.
Let's check out Tuesday's games, shall we?
Featured Matchups
Coyotes (PP: 28, PK: 22) at Red Wings (PP: 25, PK: 5), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Louis Domingue (4-9-1, 3.37, .898), Jimmy Howard (5-5-1, 1.68, .945)
Key Injuries:Max Domi (upper body), Connor Murphy (upper body), Brad Richardson (leg), Justin Abdelkader (knee), Tyler Bertuzzi (ankle), Jonathan Ericsson (back), Darren Helm (upper body), Brendan Smith (knee), Henrik Zetterberg (undisclosed)
It's still unclear whether it'll indeed be Domingue drawing the start after he relieved Mike Smith in the front end of this back-to-back set Monday night against the Penguins, with neither goalie showing well in a 7-0 loss. Either way, this matchup bodes well for Howard, who hasn't skipped a beat since returning from IR last week, and the Wings. Zetterberg missed morning skate and will be a game-time call, with my guess being that he won't play; his absence could prove beneficial to Andreas Athanasiou, who's shown good things in limited opportunities. The Wings have struggled to score and played poorly at home, but the Coyotes are known for giving up plenty of high-quality scoring chances (and goals), and they've also lost seven of their last eight games.
Ducks (PP: 3, PK: 20) at Stars (PP: 16, PK: 28), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:John Gibson (10-7-4, 2.50, .912), Antti Niemi (5-3-0, 3.20, .902)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Clayton Stoner (lower body), Ales Hemsky (hip), Julius Honka (arm), Mattias Janmark (knee), Jamie Oleksiak (suspension), Patrick Sharp (concussion)
I've been projecting the Stars to end up in offense-driven battles in several recent issues of this article, and I don't see why I should change that just because they keep disappointing. After all, Dallas has given up the most goals in the league and also features two of the NHL's most talented scorers in Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Benn in particular has underwhelmed, but he's been better and the Stars as a team have been much better at home this year. DFS players, though, may be content to simply target Ducks like Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Jakub Silfverberg in a cake matchup against Antti Niemi, who's earned the start by virtue of not being the somehow even worse Kari Lehtonen.
Blue Jackets (PP: 1, PK: 17) at Oilers (PP: 6, PK: 7), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Sergei Bobrovsky (16-5-2, 1.98, .932), Cam Talbot (14-9-4, 2.55, .916)
Key Injuries:David Clarkson (back), Dalton Prout (back), Brandon Davidson (shoulder), Mark Fayne (undisclosed), Eric Gryba (undisclosed), Darnell Nurse (ankle)
Although the Jackets have the league's best power play by percentage, it's well worth noting that they've also had the fewest power-play opportunities in the league. Some small part of that is because they've only played 26 games (the fewest in the NHL), but they also simply don't draw a lot of penalties; as a result, 11 teams actually have more power-play goals than Columbus. The Oilers are one of those squads, with their much-improved special-teams play a big part of the reason they sit second in the Pacific Division. Unfortunately, they've also won only three of their last 10 games, but four of those defeats came in overtime. Even though Bobrovsky's been awesome, it's never a bad night to get a piece of Connor McDavid, and it's worth noting that Jordan Eberle has torched the Jackets in the past (18 points in 16 games). Meanwhile, Cam Atkinson is scoring at more than a point-per-game pace for Columbus and Brandon Saad's been a consistent scoresheet presence of late; they and other Jackets are credible plays against Talbot, who's been less than reliable in net since getting off to a white-hot start in October.
Other Matchups
Kings (PP: 19, PK: 19) at Sabres (PP: 4, PK: 29), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Peter Budaj (13-7-2, 2.18, .910), Robin Lehner (5-9-4, 2.45, .920)
Key Injuries:Zach Bogosian (knee), Tyler Ennis (groin), Taylor Fedun (shoulder), Kyle Okposo (illness), Brayden McNabb (collarbone), Jonathan Quick (groin)
The Sabres have been climbing the power-play rankings over the last couple weeks in no small part thanks to the return of Jack Eichel, who's collected four of his five points while skating with the man advantage. But let's not sell short the role played by Kyle Okposo and Rasmus Ristolainen here – they both have a dozen power-play points.
Capitals (PP: 17, PK: 11) at Islanders (PP: 30, PK: 13), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (13-6-2, 2.08, .925), Jaroslav Halak (5-7-5, 3.07, .908)
Key Injuries:Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Adam Pelech (upper body)
Holtby's coming off a low-degree-of-difficulty shutout of Vancouver on Sunday, extending Washington's winning streak to four. The Isles don't offer a much stiffer opponent – they sit last in the Metropolitan Division – but they've at least been warm lately, going 6-3-1 over their last 10 contests. Part of that has been improved play by Halak, but he got raked over the coals for six goals by Columbus over the weekend.
Blackhawks (PP: 18, PK: 30) at Rangers (PP: 5, PK: 4), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Scott Darling (6-2-2, 2.12, .929), Antti Raanta (8-1-0, 1.65, .943)
Key Injuries:Corey Crawford (illness), Brent Seabrook (upper body), Jonathan Toews (back), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Rick Nash (groin), Matt Puempel (concussion), Mika Zibanejad (leg)
After giving up exactly one goal over his last three outings, Raanta's making his fourth straight start while a healthy Henrik Lundqvist watches from the bench. One of those games was in Chicago against these same Blackhawks, and the Finn shut his old mates out; he'll try to replicate the feat at Madison Square Garden, but he'll have to deal with Toews returning to the ice after a nine-game absence. Yes, there's a real controversy brewing in the Rangers' net now, especially if Raanta keeps it going Tuesday.
Canucks (PP: 26, PK: 6) at Hurricanes (PP: 9, PK: 1), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Ryan Miller (6-9-0, 2.63, .916), Cam Ward (9-8-5, 2.25, .917)
Key Injuries:Bryan Bickell (illness), Eddie Lack (concussion), Elias Lindholm (lower body), Derek Dorsett (neck), Alexander Edler (finger), Philip Larsen (upper body), Ryan Miller (undisclosed), Chris Tanev (ankle)
With these two teams ranked among the NHL's bottom third offensively, it's unlikely that any big fantasy performances will emerge from this matchup, but if they do, they'll probably be the work of Jeff Skinner and/or Victor Rask. Miller's making his first start in five days due to a lower-body ailment he suffered in last week's win against Tampa, which was only his second road victory in eight outings this year.
Sharks (PP: 14, PK: 17) at Maple Leafs (PP: 13, PK: 9), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (13-10-1, 2.08, .920), Frederik Andersen (11-7-4, 2.79, .914)
Key Injuries:Tomas Hertl (knee), David Schlemko (ankle), Joffrey Lupul (abdomen), Martin Marincin (undisclosed)
The Leafs are mired in a slump, with their latest disappointment coming against Colorado on Sunday – they unleashed 52 shots on net, but scored just once. They've now lost seven of 10, but they can take solace in facing a Sharks team that's been less than impressive on the road and had to travel quite far for this contest. Still, Jones has been hard to get pucks by this year. Take a long look at San Jose rookie Kevin Labanc, who's scored goals in consecutive games and could see his role continue to increase for a team that's struggled to get much offense from the wing.
Blues (PP: 8, PK: 3) at Predators (PP: 11, PK: 16), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jake Allen (14-5-3, 2.39, .910), Pekka Rinne (11-7-4, 2.45, .920)
Key Injuries:Anthony Bitetto (upper body), Ryan Ellis (upper body), Miikka Salomaki (hand), Colton Sissons (upper body), Robert Bortuzzo (lower body), Carl Gunnarsson (lower body)
Allen's had a bit of a tough time in spots, but this is still shaping up to be a defensive duel between a Blues squad that has allowed the sixth-fewest shots in the league and a Preds team that isn't far behind at eighth in that category. Special teams may be the key in this one, and St. Louis has an edge on that front thanks to the glorious man-advantage production of Vladimir Tarasenko and Kevin Shattenkirk.
Panthers (PP: 29, PK: 8) at Wild (PP: 22, PK: 10), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Roberto Luongo (10-8-2, 2.24, .924), Devan Dubnyk (13-6-3, 1.63, .946)
Key Injuries:Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), Alex Petrovic (ankle),Victor Bartley (triceps), Zac Dalpe (knee)
As mentioned above, Dubnyk is your NHL leader in save percentage and GAA, which is bad news for a Florida squad that's suffered seven losses in its last 10 games. For whatever it's worth, Luongo has rather poor career numbers against the Wild – 17-18-5 with a 2.62 GAA and .907 save mark. It's the opposite for Dubnyk against the Panthers – 5-1-0 with a 1.48 GAA and .940 save percentage.
Recommended Pickup
Marian Gaborik, RW, LOS – Well, that's a big name to have here, now isn't it? Yes, Gaborik is far removed from his heyday and has had more than his share of injuries, but he's back to full health now and enjoying a hearty helping of power-play minutes for the Kings. The result has been four points and 18 shots in his last five games – numbers that certainly play in a wide variety of fantasy formats, and numbers that you can pick up off the waiver wire in a whole lot of leagues. I don't need to sell you Gabby's three 40-goal seasons; you know who this guy is. Maybe he can help you out on the wing.
