This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
I'm sick for the first time in over a decade, so anything that takes more effort than crawling into a gutter to die is pushing it for me. So I'm just going to cut the preamble and get down to brass tacks.
Featured Matchups
Flyers (PP: 10, PK: 21) at Bruins (PP: 13, PK: 2), 1:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Michal Neuvirth (10-10-1, 2.91, .888), Tuukka Rask (31-16-4, 2.25, .914)
Key Injuries:Ryan Spooner (concussion), Michael Raffl (lower body)
While Rask hasn't been his usual self, he still has a healthy GAA, thanks to the fact the Bruins have only allowed 26.4 shots on net per game. Boston's excellent penalty kill has probably played a part in that as well. However, in his last eight games Rask has a 1.87 GAA and a .930 save percentage, so he's been holding up his end of the bargain recently. Regardless, this is quite the uneven goaltending battle on paper, and the Bruins have also managed 33.8 shots on goal per game, which is second most in the NHL. Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak have both had excellent seasons. Marchand has 32 goals and 70 points, while Pastrnak has notched 27 goals and 57 points in 60 games. Plus, while Pastrnak's early season success was fueled by an unsustainably-high shooting percentage, his shooting percentage is now down to a much more reasonable 12.9. David Krejci has taken it up a notch too, as he has 12 points in his last 12 contests. Shayne Gostisbehere has had a rough season in some ways, but he does have seven points and 24 shots on goal in his last eight games. Of course, he's also a minus-23.
Predators (PP: 11, PK: 22) at Sharks (PP: 23, PK: 12), 4:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Pekka Rinne (25-16-8, 2.55, .915), Martin Jones (31-16-6, 2.27, .916)
Key Injuries:Ryan Ellis (undisclosed), P.A. Parenteau (finger), David Schlemko (lower body)
This may not be a "classic" matchup, although both these teams have been around for years now, but they are two good teams with some notable names for fantasy purposes. The Sharks have allowed 2.32 goals and 27.5 shots on net per game, which could make this a tough matchup for the Predators. Speaking of Nashville, there is a Predator down in the Recommended Pickup section. Having said that, Filip Forsberg has been the shining star for Nashville recently. He got off to a slow start, but now he's notched 27 goals on 198 shots. While the Predators may have Roman Josi and P.K. Subban, they'll miss Ellis if he can't play. He's notched six points in his last seven games, and five of those have come with the extra man. There are many amazing things about Brent Burns' season, but this is perhaps the most staggering stat of them all; Burns has tallied 260 shots on goal in 66 games. That's enough to overshadow the fact that Patrick Marleau has registered 22 goals.
Capitals (PP: 8, PK: 5) at Kings (PP: 16, PK: 3), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (34-10-5, 1.97, .928), Ben Bishop (16-12-3, 2.55, .911)
Key Injuries:Matt Greene (undisclosed), Jordan Nolan (leg), Nick Shore (upper body), Andre Burakovsky (hand)
Well, don't expect any power-play goals in this game. Not with these two penalty kills. In fact, this could be a low-scoring game in general. Washington has only allowed 2.09 goals per game, the lowest average in the league by a wide margin. The Kings have been almost as good (2.47 goals per game), thanks to the fact they've allowed a league-low 26.0 shots on goal per contest. Bishop hasn't lit the world on fire since becoming a King, as he's posted a .882 save percentage. Of course, that's only in two starts, so small sample size alert. Alex Ovechkin doesn't have a goal in his last eight games. Fortunately, T.J. Oshie has been there to pick up the slack with six goals in his last 10 contests. Marian Gaborik seems like he has been largely forgotten, and he does only have 17 points in 43 games. However, he has taken 100 shots on goal, so he's still been involved at least. Jake Muzzin is actually second on the Kings in shots on goal, as he's tallied 150 on the year.
Other Matchups
Senators (PP: 20, PK: 11) at Avalanche (PP: 29, PK: 25), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Craig Anderson (20-8-1, 2.24, .931), Calvin Pickard (12-21-2, 2.88, .909)
Key Injuries:Semyon Varlamov (groin), Nikita Zadorov (ankle), Chris Neil (finger), Bobby Ryan (finger), Kyle Turris (finger)
No team has allowed more goals than the Avalanche (3.27 per game). That bodes well for guys like Mark Stone (22 goals) and Mike Hoffman (20 goals). Dion Phaneuf has 16 power-play points. Since the beginning of February, Gabriel Landeskog has 11 points in 19 games.
Flames (PP: 14, PK: 18) at Jets (PP: 24, PK: 28), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Brian Elliott (19-13-3, 2.58, .907), Connor Hellebuyck (22-17-3, 2.83, .908)
Key Injuries:Dougie Hamilton (undisclosed), Michael Stone (shoulder), Toby Enstrom (face), Tyler Myers (lower body), Ondrej Pavelec (knee)
Johnny Gaudreau has had his ups-and-downs this season, but he does have 13 points in his last eight games. In that time, he has two four-point games and a three-point game. Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine have both been great, but they have a 21.1 and a 19.5 shooting percentage respectively. It will be nigh impossible for them to sustain that long term.
Blue Jackets (PP: 7, PK: 10) at Sabres (PP: 2, PK: 29), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Joonas Korpisalo (5-2-0, 2.65, .915), Anders Nilsson (9-9-4, 2.75, .920)
Key Injuries:William Carrier (knee), Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), Johan Larsson (wrist), Kyle Okposo (ribs), Josh Anderson (lower body), Matt Calvert (oblique), Ryan Murray (lower body), Lukas Sedlak (oblique)
Both these teams played each other Friday, so this game will be largely the same, save for the backup goalies likely being in net. The Sabres have allowed a league-worst 34.0 shots on goal per contest. Columbus had one of the top power plays in the league much of the season, but then they ranked 29th on the power play in February.
Panthers (PP: 25, PK: 1) at Lightning (PP: 4, PK: 19), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Reto Berra (0-0-0, 0.00, 1.000), Andrei Vasilevskiy (15-13-6, 2.59, .917)
Key Injuries:Roberto Luongo (lower body), Ryan Callahan (hip), Tyler Johnson (lower body), Vladislav Namestnikov (lower body), Steven Stamkos (knee)
With Luongo out, the Panthers may have to turn to Berra, considering the Panthers also had to play Friday. Berra has a career GAA of 2.80 and save percentage of .907. Nikita Kucherov has 30 goals in 59 games, including 13 power-play goals. Tyler Johnson is second on the team with 19 goals.
Maple Leafs (PP: 1, PK: 9) at Hurricanes (PP: 22, PK: 8), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Frederik Andersen (26-14-13, 2.71, .916), Cam Ward (22-20-8, 2.65, .905)
Key Injuries:Brock McGinn (upper body), Connor Carrick (upper body), Joffrey Lupul (abdomen)
The Hurricanes' overall penalty-kill ranking may seem impressive, but they ranked 20th in February, and they are 27th in March (admittedly over five games). Sebastian Aho has been overshadowed by other rookies, but he has hit the 20-goal mark. Don't overlook Nazem Kadri. He's tallied 28 goals on 201 shots, both second on Toronto behind Auston Matthews.
Devils (PP: 20, PK: 14) at Coyotes (PP: 27, PK: 26), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cory Schneider (19-22-10, 2.66, .913), Mike Smith (16-20-7, 2.98, .913)
Key Injuries:Alex Burmistrov (upper body), Kevin Connauton (upper body), Brad Richardson (leg), Michael Cammalleri (shoulder), Andy Greene (personal), Jacob Josefson (upper body), Keith Kinkaid (knee)
Not all that long ago, Radim Vrbata had a 10-game point streak, and he leads the Coyotes with 48 points. However, Vrbata still doesn't have as many goals as Martin Hanzal had as a Coyote, and Hanzal is now with Minnesota. Kyle Palmieri could take advantage of Arizona's penalty-kill issues. He's tallied 17 points with the extra man.
Islanders (PP: 26, PK: 16) at Blues (PP: 5, PK: 7), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Thomas Greiss (23-13-4, 2.54, .918), Carter Hutton (9-8-2, 2.44, .911)
Key Injuries:Johnny Boychuk (lower body), Casey Cizikas (upper body), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Shane Prince (lower body), Alan Quine (upper body), Robby Fabbri (knee)
The Blues are impressive in both aspects of special teams, and in February they only allowed 1.83 goals per game (they've been even better in March but, again, sample size). John Tavares and Anders Lee both have 25 goals. Andrew Ladd has 19 goals, but he only has six assists, and also he has a 17.0 shooting percentage.
Penguins (PP: 3, PK: 16) at Canucks (PP: 28, PK: 24), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Marc-Andre Fleury (16-8-5, 3.08, .908), Ryan Miller (17-19-6, 2.69, .915)
Key Injuries:Trevor Daley (knee), Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Kris Letang (upper body), Olli Maatta (hand), Bryan Rust (arm), Tom Sestito (suspension), Derek Dorsett (neck), Loui Eriksson (lower body), Nikolay Goldobin (illness), Erik Gudbranson (wrist), Jacob Markstrom (lower body), Anton Rodin (knee), Jack Skille (groin)
The Penguins played Friday, but they should be OK starting Fleury in this game, considering that the Canucks have only averaged 2.27 goals and 27.6 shots on net per contest. Pittsburgh is once again dealing with some injury questions. Fortunately, they still have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Daniel Sedin only has 13 goals, but he also has only a 7.5 shooting percentage. The veteran Swede is dealing with bad puck luck.
Recommended Pickup
Viktor Arvidsson, LW, NAS – Arvidsson has appeared in this section before, but apparently not everybody got the memo. He's enjoyed a quiet breakout year in Nashville, powered by a significant increase in ice time, and also in shots. Arvidsson has put 202 shots on goal in 65 games, and he's potted 23 goals on the year. He's as hot as he's been all season right now as well, as he's tallied eight goals and four assists in his last 14 games. The one quibble you could have with Arvidsson is that he's not a huge power-play weapon (he has seven power-play points), but that's just splitting hairs given how good he's been. At this point, there is no reason not to believe in Arvidsson, so if the other folks in your league haven't gotten the memo, pick up Arvidsson while you can.
