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Saturday brings a busy schedule of NHL action with 11 games throughout the day, starting early in the afternoon and running through the night. There are many contests to make the games even more fun on Monkey Knife Fight.
In the afternoon action, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins meet, a pair of teams in East Division playoff position. The Nashville Predators host Chicago in a battle between teams competing for the last playoff spot in the Central Division. The one other afternoon game should be a mismatch, as the Detroit Red Wings visit the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There are not that many teams in the playoff hunt right now but there are enough games on Saturday that can affect playoff races. The Dallas Stars are trying to get back into the race, and have games in hand, but they visit the Carolina Hurricanes which will be a challenge.
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The St. Louis Blues are clinging to playoff position in the West Division and they are in Colorado to take on an Avalanche team that is as dominant as any in the league while the Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights hook up in Sin City.
Even the last game of the night, the San Jose Sharks at the Los Angeles Kings, has a chance to have playoff implications. The Sharks are two points behind fourth-place St. Louis and the Kings are four points behind with a game in hand.
That there are this many teams at least on the fringe of the playoff race should make for competitive hockey.
Here are some Star Shootout angles to keep in mind when playing Tuesday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - MAIN GAMES
Sergei Bobrovsky MORE THAN 25.5 SAVES
The Panthers goaltender has averaged 28.8 save per 60 minutes on home ice this season and his former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets has generated 27.9 shots per 60 minutes on the road this season. It is still reasonable enough to expect at least 26 saves from Bobrovsky and he has surpassed that threshold eight times in 11 home contests this season.
Nathan MacKinnon MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Colorado’s star center has 16 assists in 18 home games this season, though he has accumulated those helpers in just nine games. He scored a pair of goals against the Blues Friday and it would probably feel like a victory for St. Louis if they could hold MacKinnon to a single assist.
Mika Zibanejad MORE THAN 6.5 FANTASY POINTS
Following a slow start to the season, the Rangers center has picked up his pace and is averaging nearly 6.4 fantasy points per game but with a game at Buffalo, that is a favorable enough opponent to believe that Zibanejad can cover this relatively lofty number.
Adam Fox MORE THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
Although Fox does not generate huge shot totals, he is on a nine-game point streak during which he has accumulated 16 points, 17 shots and 14 blocked shots. During this surge in production, Fox has averaged more than seven fantasy points per game and he goes against the Buffalo Sabres, a team that is not really shutting down the opposition.
Artemi Panarin MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Keeping that in mind, Panarin is also a good candidate to exceed this number. He has 10 assists in 13 road games this season, recording at least one assist in eight of those games and Panarin has put up six assists in four games against the Sabres this season.
RAPID FIRE
Mikko Rantanen -0.5 fantasy points vs. Max Pacioretty
Rantanen was held off the scoresheet in Friday’s win against St. Louis and has gone back-to-back games without a point just once before – he had a three-game stretch in mid-February, the only time this season that he has not bounced back to score in the game following a game in which he was shut out. Pacioretty has been very productive this season and has been shut out in three straight games. With usual center Chandler Stephenson suspended, that contributes to the immediate challenges facing Pacoretty.
Linus Ullmark +0.5 saves vs. Carey Price
Recently returned to the Sabres lineup from the injured list, Ullmark has averaged 28.5 saves per 60 minutes this season and takes on a charging Rangers squad that does not generate a lot of shots, averaging 28.6 per 60 minutes on the road. Price has averaged a mere 21.7 saves per 60 minutes on home ice this season. He does have to deal with an Ottawa Senators team that is not especially good but they do generate shots, to the tune of nearly 30.1 shots/60 on the road this season. That is not enough reason to think that Price will face enough shots to save more than Ullmark.
Sebastian Aho -0.5 fantasy points vs. Sean Couturier
Putting up 16 points in 15 home games, Aho is good for nearly 5.7 fantasy points per game on home ice this season. He meets the Dallas Stars on Saturday, which is not an easy matchup. Couturier has been outstanding this season, averaging 6.4 fantasy pints per road game but his opposition on Saturday is the New York Islanders, a team that is every bit as stifling defensively.
