3 weeks agoNew York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin (back) will make his season debut in Monday's matchup against Colorado. Semyon Varlamov kicked off the campaign as the Islanders starter, with Sorokin recovering from offseason back surgery. However, he's good to go now, although Sorokin faces a very tough challenge on Monday night. The Avalanche have yet to win this season but boast a red-hot offense, with four goals scored in both of their two outings. Last season, Sorokin allowed four goals in his lone appearance against Colorado, suffering a 5-4 loss in overtime. He has an 0-2-2 career record in the matchup.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Ethan Sears
3 weeks agoUtah Hockey Club defenseman Sean Durzi exited Monday's 3-0 loss to New Jersey with an upper-body injury. He managed to log only 9:09 action in the contest, recording one shot on goal and two blocks. Durzi is a key cog for Utah's defense and would be a huge miss if he lands on the shelf. Entering Monday, Durzi had averaged the second-most ice time among the team's skaters with 25:33. He's notched two assists this season while blocking 13 shots. Robert Bortuzzo could replace Durzi in the lineup on Wednesday versus Anaheim.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Sportsnet
3 weeks agoOttawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub sustained an upper-body injury on Monday against the Kings. He was injured early on after logging only four shifts. Zub has accompanied Jake Sanderson on the top defensive pairing to start the season, averaging close to 20 minutes per game. Nick Jensen saw a big boost in playing time without Zub on Monday. Jensen has collected assists in back-to-back games, and a promotion to the first pairing would boost his fantasy value. Meanwhile, Jacob Bernard-Docker is poised to enter the lineup on Thursday versus New Jersey if Zub needs time off to recover.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Bruce Garrioch
3 weeks agoWashington Capitals defenseman Matt Roy (lower body) is expected to miss some time after getting hurt over the weekend. He suffered a lower-body injury as Washington opened its 2024-25 campaign on Saturday with a 5-3 loss to New Jersey. The game also marked Roy's debut for the Capitals after he inked a six-year, $34.5 million contract with the team in the offseason. Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery doesn't expect Roy to be out for long but said he will miss a "decent amount of time." Roy has started life in D.C. on the second defensive pairing. Dylan McIlrath jumped into his spot in Monday's practice and looks set to make his season debut against Vegas on Tuesday.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Tom Gulitti
3 weeks agoOttawa Senators center Ridly Greig (upper body) will not play against the Kings on Monday. He couldn't practice on Sunday due to an upper-body injury and isn't ready to play either. He will be replaced on the fourth line by Adam Gaudette. Gaudette's only previous appearance this season came last Thursday in a 3-1 win over Florida. He logged 9:23 of ice time while recording two penalty minutes and two hits. The 28-year-old, who was a point-per-game player last term in the AHL, needs to get more ice time to make an impact in fantasy hockey.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Graeme Nichols
3 weeks agoOttawa Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg will guard the crease against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. This will mark his season debut, as Forsberg has begun the campaign as Linus Ullmark's backup. However, Ullmark appears to be banged up after having a maintenance day on Sunday, giving Forsberg a chance to shine. He had a winning record last season at 15-12-0 despite producing a below-par save percentage at .890 and giving up over three goals per game (3.21). Forsberg has previously performed well against the Kings, allowing only seven goals across four career appearances, but the 31-year-old still has a losing record in the matchup with 1-2-0. Mats Sogaard will work as Forsberg's backup on Monday.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Bruce Garrioch
3 weeks agoNew Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen will take on a high-scoring Utah team on Monday. This will be Allen's second appearance of the campaign. He made a winning start to the season by beating Buffalo 3-1 with a 17-save effort in a Global Series game in Prague on Oct. 5. Allen is set to face a much more difficult task in Monday's matinee, as the Utah offense has been on fire early in the year. With three games played, Utah has already lit the lamp 16 times, with the team's power play clicking at an incredible 42.9 percent rate.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Bill Spaulding
3 weeks agoDetroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon will be in the crease for Monday's Original Six matchup against the Rangers. The Red Wings are going with a third different starter in three games after Ville Husso and Cam Talbot got the nod for the first two games of the season. Husso was waived at the weekend, and now it's Lyon's turn to show what he's capable of. The 31-year-old had a 21-18-5 record in Detroit last year, allowing 3.05 goals with a .904 save percentage. He owns a 2-3-0 career record against the Rangers, who have scored a whopping 11 goals in their first two 2024-25 outings.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Helene St. James
3 weeks agoDetroit Red Wings left wing Austin Watson will make his season debut on Monday versus the Rangers. The Red Wings lost Christian Fischer (upper body) over the weekend, giving Watson a chance to join the lineup, while defenseman Jeff Petry (upper body) continues to be unavailable. Watson has over 500 regular-season games under his belt, but he doesn't typically contribute offensively. The veteran winger notched four points (two goals, two assists) across 33 outings last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Helene St. James
3 weeks agoFlorida Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk (illness) is expected to miss at least one week of action. An illness forced him to miss Saturday's matchup against Buffalo, and Tkachuk also won't play in Monday's matinee versus Boston, needing more time to recover. The team is targeting Oct. 22 as a return date for Tkachuk. With Aleksander Barkov (lower body) also out, Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell have joined the top six. A move up the lineup gives the pair extra fantasy value.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoEdmonton Oilers left wing Jeff Skinner scored his squad's only goal as the Calgary Flames won this season's first Battle of Alberta 4-1 on Sunday. The Oilers entered the game as massive favorites and got off to a dream start when Skinner bagged his first goal for the team with only 1:16 on the clock, but the Flames crushed their neighbors with a three-goal third period. It was another disappointing result for the Oilers but a big game for Skinner from a fantasy perspective. He led all skaters with six shots on goal and delivered two hits. The veteran winger boasts two points (one goal, one assist) through his first three games as an Oiler. There should be much more to come from him after Skinner was promoted to the Connor McDavid line on Sunday.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoCalgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson was the driving force behind Sunday's 4-1 victory over Edmonton, scoring the team's first goal and dishing out two assists. He led the team in ice time with 24:58 and finished with an outstanding plus-four rating while logging two shots, three blocks, and one hit. Calgary has been an early-season surprise package, winning all three games so far and scoring goals for fun. It's helped Andersson to have a superb start to the campaign. He is tied for the scoring lead among defensemen with five points (two goals, three assists) and also tops the league with a plus-six rating, along with Vegas' Brayden McNabb.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoDallas Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith enjoyed a very successful debut with the team on Sunday, logging a 25-save shutout in a 2-0 victory over Seattle. The 33-year-old became the fourth netminder in franchise history to shut out the opposition in his first game for the team. The fantastic performance followed Jake Oettinger's 34-save shutout on Saturday against the Islanders, making Dallas the seventh team in the past 50 years to record a shutout in each of its first two home games of a season. The Stars could become the first team to have a shutout in the first three home games when the Sharks visit Texas on Tuesday. Oettinger will likely return to the crease for that one. San Jose was shut out in its first game without Macklin Celebrini (lower body) on Saturday versus Anaheim.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoMinnesota Wild center Marco Rossi capped off the weekend with one more assist in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Jets. Rossi picked up the lone helper when defenseman Jake Middleton put the Wild up early in the game. The talented centerman opened his scoring account for the season with two assists in Saturday's 5-4 shootout defeat against Seattle. Rossi is working as the top-line center and appears poised to crush his numbers from last year. Through 82 games, Rossi managed 40 points (21 goals, 19 assists) during his rookie campaign. Rossi and the Wild return to the ice on Tuesday against a St. Louis team that has allowed four goals in back-to-back games.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
3 weeks agoWinnipeg Jets left wing Kyle Connor delivered the game-winning goal in Sunday's 2-1 overtime victory against Minnesota. He struck his second goal of the year at the 0:51 mark in the extra frame after Winnipeg had opened overtime with a power play. It took eight shots on goal for Connor to finally light the lamp. The 27-year-old had twice as many shots on Sunday than he had managed in his first two outings of the season. It's been a good start to the year for Connor, who has kicked off the campaign with a three-game point streak. Both of Connor's goals have come in power-play situations, and he boasts one even-strength assist.
--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
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