Tuesday's fantasy hockey slate features a healthy 10 games, but not all the games are healthy.
Maladies abound in the Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins meeting. The Preds will be without Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen and may still be without Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg. The Bruins haven't officially said the day off Sunday for Brad Marchand.
Hampus Lindholm and Patrice Bergeron was a "we've clinched our position" day off, so it's unclear which of them will return. That leaves a lot of fantasy scraps to fight over, but also a lot of potential talent on the sidelines. Some of the younger players for the Predators are picking up the slack with Tommy Novak and Philip Tomasino of potential interest in deeper leagues, while veteran Tyson Barrie is a must-star with Josi out. Tyler Bertuzzi is the biggest beneficiary on the Bruins if any top-six forward sits out, as he slips up from the third line to cover them.
An extremely light three-game Wednesday means there are only two teams playing on the tail end of a back-to-back, with the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens (barely) winning on Monday, and back in action in Vegas and Philadelphia, respectively. Stuart Skinner will start for the Oilers and the Habs will roll with Cayden Primeau in the crease.
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All times Eastern.
Favorable scoring matchups
Columbus Blue Jackets vs. New York Rangers
7 p.m., Madison Square Garden, Watch live on ESPN+
Feast, Rangers, feast! The Blueshirts don't have a lot of softer matchups left, so they need to take advantage of the 31st team in goals against per 60 when they can (they do get one more date with the Blue Jackets later). The top six are already lineup locks, but you can consider K'Andre Miller if he's available or on your bench. Tyler Motte has also been stuffing all stats lately, with points, shots, hits and blocked shots to the tune of 2.0 fantasy points per game during the course of his past eight. With Patrik Laine out for the, what, third time this season? Anyway, with that, Boone Jenner, Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko are locked together on the top line, with all three of them meeting the fantasy-relevant threshold of late.
Los Angeles Kings vs. Calgary Flames
10 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome, Watch live on ESPN+
This is the fourth meeting between the teams this season. The previous three meetings resulted in a grand total of 28 goals. Adrian Kempe has four goals and five points in the meetings, Tyler Toffoli has three goals and five points, and Gabriel Vilardi has picked up two goals and a helper. And don't forget that Sean Durzi and Kevin Fiala returned for the Kings on Sunday and should be back in lineups again after missing seven and six games, respectively.
Mid-tier fantasy forwards
Brock Boeser, W, Vancouver Canucks (53.3%): Boeser has slowly and steadily worked his way back into the good graces of the Canucks. Sometimes on the third line this season and not always on the power play, Boeser has been in the top six and on the advantage with consistency of late. His 1.8 fantasy points per game (FPPG) for the past month is evidence of that. Certainly, 1.8 FPPG isn't something to write home about, but in matchups against goaltenders in the basement of the league for ratios (cough, Jordan Binnington), Boeser can pad that average.
Nikolaj Ehlers, W, Winnipeg Jets (38.3%): The Jets were so consistent all season (notwithstanding some injuries; looking at you, Ehlers) that the month of March has been extra painful in fantasy for them to hit a skid. A matchup here against the team that allows the most goals of late (32nd in goals against per 60 at five-on-five in past month) ought to cure what ails them. Maybe. Please.
See also:
Jamie Benn, C/W, Dallas Stars (87.9%)
Rickard Rakell, C/W, Pittsburgh Penguins (75.4%)
Boone Jenner, C/W, Columbus Blue Jackets (81.4%)
Tyler Seguin, C/W, Dallas Stars (61.0%)
Deep league/Daily Fantasy value forwards
Sammy Blais, W, St. Louis Blues (4.6%): Showtime Sammy Blais can't stop, won't stop. He's played in 62 games this season, but 12 of his 20 points this campaign have come in the past 10 games. Catch this lightning in a bottle because it's extra valuable: Blais leads the NHL in hits in the past month.
Alex Chiasson, W, Detroit Red Wings (1.2%): The Penguins rank 25th with 11 power-play goals allowed in the past month and rank 25th with an average of 3.0 power-play opportunities allowed per game in that span. Chiasson is all about that power play.
See also:
Tyler Bertuzzi, W, Boston Bruins (46.8%)
Jason Zucker, W, Pittsburgh Penguins (29.0%)
Nino Niederreiter, W, Winnipeg Jets (38.3%)
Pavel Dorofeyev, W, Vegas Golden Knights (1.7%)
Kirill Marchenko, W, Columbus Blue Jackets (2.8%)
Philip Tomasino, C/W, Nashville Predators (2.3%)
Wyatt Johnston, C, Dallas Stars (2.3%)
Mid-tier fantasy defensemen
Alec Martinez, D, Vegas Golden Knights (77.8%)
Tyson Barrie, D, Nashville Predators (77.0%)
MacKenzie Weegar, D, Calgary Flames (67.4%)
Mattias Ekholm, D, Edmonton Oilers (24.7%)
Sean Durzi, D, Los Angeles Kings (42.9%)
Evan Bouchard, D, Edmonton Oilers (66.3%)
K'Andre Miller, D, New York Rangers (28.7%)
Deep league/Daily Fantasy value defensemen
Tyler Myers, D, Vancouver Canucks (9.5%): Blocking everything coming his way, Myers only trails Alec Martinez (of course) and Andrew Peeke in blocked shots in the past month. That has helped fuel his 2.1 FPPG in that span.
See also:
Mikey Anderson, D, Los Angeles Kings (7.4%)
Ryan Suter, D, Dallas Stars (2.6%)
Goalies
Carter Hart, G, Philadelphia Flyers (47.1%): With positive fantasy results in three of his last four (and only a zero in the fourth), Hart is having a good stretch like the one he fooled us with at the start of the season. Don't let him completely hook, line and sink you, but a matchup against the Canadiens is, yes, dangerous given their recent showings and modest health (for them), but it's also a back-to-back for the Habs and home ice for the Flyers. This is not without risk though, the Habs have won two previous meetings this season while putting nine past Hart.
Thatcher Demko, G, Vancouver Canucks (48.3%): Do we have to dig deeper than pointing out the matchup is against the Chicago Blackhawks? Fine. The Canucks, on the back of Demko, rank fourth in goals against per 60 at five-on-five in the past month.
Bench 'em
Alex Killorn, W, Tampa Bay Lightning (44.8%): If you are in a medium-sized league or deeper and have some lineup decisions, there's a case to be made to leave Killorn on the bench. The power play is his best spot to attack and the Hurricanes have the best penalty kill in the league of late.