RADIO
Saturday brings a 10-game NHL schedule and Monkey Knife Fight is there with contests for each game to add to the excitement.
It starts with afternoon hockey as the Ottawa Senators are in Winnipeg to take on the Jets and the Vegas Golden Knights visit the San Jose Sharks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens face off in a battle of the top two teams in the North Division.
The Battle of Florida continues, the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes only play each other now, Columbus continues in Chicago and Carolina tries to take another game from the Stars in Dallas.
It is a competitive slate of games that winds up with the Calgary Flames still in Vancouver, trying to keep the slumping Canucks down. There are lots of chances to play and win, so here are some Star Shootout angles to consider for Saturday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - MAIN GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Semyon Varlamov LESS THAN 28.5 SAVES
Varamov has been great early in the season for the Islanders. He is tied for the league lead with three shutouts and has a .929 save percentage in nine starts. He also has had capable defensive play in front of him because he is averaging 26.0 saves per 60 minutes. The Islanders have a tough opponent Saturday, the Boston Bruins, a team that is averaging 30.9 shots on goal per 60 minutes so it is possible that Boston just generates enough volume to force Varlamov into a higher number of saves. With this being the second game of a back-to-back for Boston, having beat the Rangers Friday night, maybe the Bruins are not going to be at their very best and that might help keep shot totals down.
Andrei Vasilevskiy LESS THAN 28.5 SAVES
The Tampa Bay netminder also has a .929 save percentage through his 11 starts this season though he managed just 24 saves on 28 shots in a 5-2 loss to Florida Thursday. Florida is generated 30.7 shots on goal per 60 minutes, which is a little above average but maybe not enough above average to expect them to put enough pucks on net against Vasilevskiy, who is averaging 26.1 saves per 60 minutes this season.
Mitchell Marner MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Marner has 15 assists in 14 games despite being held without a helper in the last game against Montreal. That snapped a streak of eight straight games with an assist. He’s a brilliant and creative offensive playmaker and happens to play with one of the top two or three goal-scorers on the planet, so it’s a pretty reasonable assumption that Marner can pick up an assist against Montreal.
Aleksander Barkov LESS THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
The Panthers’ No. 1 center has been putting 3.6 shots on goal per game this season, easily a career-high rate. He doesn’t block many shots but does have 12 points in 11 games. Tampa Bay will provide difficult opposition, though, so if Barkov doesn’t generate his average shot production it then looks like he might need multiple points or at least a goal to reach more than 5.5 fantasy points. Given the opposition, that could be tough.
RAPID FIRE
Auston Matthews -0.5 fantasy points vs. David Pastrnak
Not only is Matthews on an 11-game point streak but he is putting up 4.2 shots on goal per game, plus 1.0 blocks per game. That is an elite-level foundation for fantasy production. Pastrnak has been held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games and while he is very productive, including eight points in six games with 4.2 shots per game, he does not block shots at the same rate so Matthews is a deserving favorite in this matchup of two of the game’s premier snipers.
Patrick Kane +0.5 fantasy points vs. Patrice Bergeron
Kane is on fire for a surging Chicago team, producing 13 points and 28 shots on goal in the past seven games. Bergeron is an elite two-way player but one whose offensive production has not been quite as consistent as Kane’s.
Filip Forsberg +0.5 fantasy points vs. Tyler Toffoli
Forsberg has 13 points in 14 games, which is a fine start to the season, though he does have some peaks and valleys even in that small sample of games. His big appeal for Saturday, though, is that he is facing the Detroit Red Wings, which is one of the more favorable matchups in the league. Toffoli had nine goals in 10 games to start the season and has been held without a point in four straight games since then. He is still getting shots and creating chances but facing the Toronto Maple Leafs is not necessarily the kind of matchup that makes it easy to count on Toffoli busting out of his recent slump.
Roman Josi -0.5 shots + blocks vs. Jakob Chychrun
Although Josi has a modest eight points in 14 games this season, he is generating 3.4 shots on goal per game and has a matchup against the Detroit Red Wings which, as noted, is a great opportunity for production. Chychrun has elevated his play this season, putting up 10 points in 13 games and he is averaging 2.6 shots on goal per game. In a vacuum, he might be close in value to Josi, but with Josi facing the Red Wings and Chychrun taking on the St. Louis Blues, the opposition makes a difference in this contest.
