Fantasy Weekend Rundown: Mitch Marner Aims for Leafs Record – The Hockey News

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It’s a jam-packed Saturday with 13 games and another five games on Sunday to give your fantasy team a late boost if you need it. The Red Wings, Sharks, Ducks, Wild and Blackhawks will be playing back-to-back, so the focus will be on these teams if you’re looking for quantity. Note James Reimer may return to the lineup. He has not played since Nov. 25 due to a lower-body injury, but he is travelling with the team on their road trip.
The Ducks are looking to avoid their fifth straight defeat and their 11th loss in 14 games. This will be Sam Steel’s second game against his former team but his first as the top-line center for the Wild, and he also has a chance to extend his goal streak to three games. Note, however, that Joel Eriksson Ek is still their preferred pivot on PP1 and is currently on a four-game point streak.
John Gibson is expected to start for the Ducks, and no other goalie has made more saves, faced more shots and lost more games. Meanwhile, Filip Gustavsson is projected to start for the Wild coming off wins against the Jets and Canes, and he allowed just one goal in both contests – he’s a very good streaming option.
Stuart Skinner is expected to start for the Oil, and it’ll be his third start in four games. He’ll face a Habs offense that is suddenly coming up empty, having scored three goals or less in their past five games. Kirby Dach’s hot hand has cooled off considerably with only one assist in his past five games and has not scored a goal since Nov. 12, although he remains on the top line. The Oilers have won four of their past six meetings, and note they have recently elected to stack Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid on one line.
Linus Ullmark returned from his injury, and he’s expected to start in a potential preview of the Stanley Cup final. The Bruins are arguably the best team in the league with two straight wins against the Lightning, and they should have a significant advantage facing a really banged-up Avalanche. J.T. Compher is a sneaky value play as the second-line center and scored four points against the Sabres in his most recent game, including two power-play points and 21 (!) faceoff wins.
The Devils can avenge their season-opening loss against the Flyers, who have lost 11 of their past 12. John Tortorella’s early-season magic has worn off, and Carter Hart is struggling yet again, allowing at least four goals in five of his past seven games. The Flyers lineup is a bit of a mess, but note rookie Noah Cates is centering the top line and averaging close to 18 minutes per game this season.
Devils rookie Alexander Holtz has played sparingly but scored his second goal of the season in his previous game – perhaps he’ll get a chance to build on that against a vulnerable opponent. He’s playing on the fourth line with Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Boqvist, who both have some offense.
The Sens are on an upswing with three wins in their past four, the most recent buoyed by a Gordie Howe hat trick from captain Brady Tkachuk. It’s the second game of their back-to-back, so look for Anton Forsberg to start despite his struggles this season. Kaapo Kahkonen is coming off a 28-save shutout against the Habs in his previous start but also sports a .884 SP and 3.43 GAA. Erik Karlsson has scored four assists in his past three games against his former team. Captain Logan Couture is coming off an excellent November with 16 points in 15 games, and he’s been a road warrior with 12 points in 12 games.
The Pens will try to craft together another winning streak following two losses to Eastern Conference heavyweights (Canes, Leafs) after a five-game winning streak. Jeff Petry and Marcus Pettersson both played roughly 26 minutes in their previous game in Kris Letang’s absence – note Petry is now the quarterback on PP1, though it continues to struggle – and there is still no timetable for Letang’s return.
The Blues, meanwhile, have lost four of their past five games, and Jordan Binnington is up to his temper-tantrum antics again. He’s allowed 17 goals in his past four games and most recently tried to deck Jordan Staal but ended up taking the brunt of his ill-advised hit. Binnington allowed five goals on 41 shots in his previous start against the Pens this season, and it’s probably best to leave him on the bench until he gets hot again.
This is a big heavyweight matchup, a rematch of last season’s opening round and the first of their three meetings this season. Taking the headlines is Mitch Marner’s points streak, which he can extend to a franchise-record 19 games. Despite a depleted defense, the Leafs were once again excellent in November, just like last season. Matt Murray is expected to start, but his track record against the Lightning isn’t particularly good with a career 3-4-1/.893/3.13 line.
Steven Stamkos is on a nine-game point streak and loves playing against his hometown Leafs, scoring 22 goals and 58 points in 45 career games. Linemate Nick Paul has quietly amassed 13 points in his past 14 games and with his C/LW eligibility and hits is also becoming quite the roto league asset.
The Wings will try to snap a two-game skid, and the Knights are also reeling with three losses in their past four games. Special teams might be the key to this game with Filip Hronek (14 points in 13 games in November) and Shea Theodore (11 points in his past 15 games) piling up the points, and also don’t forget about Jonatan Berggren, who is playing on the fourth line but adds a dangerous attack element on PP2. The talented Swedish rookie has scored half of his points with the man advantage.
The Rangers look like a shell of their former selves with four losses in their past five, and Igor Shesterkin is nowhere close to playing like a Vezina-caliber goalie. A matchup against the lowly Hawks, who have lost eight in a row, might get them back on track, since the Rangers have won four straight against them scoring a total of 19 goals. There might be an issue with Jaroslav Halak, however, who is projected to start but owns a .897 SP this season. He has only one win in seven starts this season and five wins in 21 starts dating back to last season.
It’s Spencer Martin’s net now with Thatcher Demko out approximately six weeks due to a knee injury, and Martin gets a fairly easy test against the Coyotes, who have lost seven of their past eight. This will be the Coyotes’ 12th straight game on the road, and they’ve been surprisingly effective on offense, in small part due to rookie Matias Maccelli’s three-game point streak.
The Canucks are coming off consecutive 5-1 losses, but they’ve historically been quite good against them at home. The Canucks have won their past three meetings by a combined score of 17-3, and they’ve only lost twice in regulation at home over the past five years.
Aleksander Barkov’s status is uncertain for this matchup, and if he doesn’t play, look for Sam Bennett to play on the top line again. Considering both teams have considerable scoring talent and thin defenses, this is potentially a high-scoring affair. Philipp Grubauer is expected to start, and he’s been surprisingly effective with only two goals allowed in his two starts since returning from injury, though note he saw very little action with only 45 total shots against.
It’s a matchup between two struggling teams, and although Jacob Markstrom is expected to start, don’t be surprised if it ends up being Dan Vladar against Darcy Kuemper. Markstrom allowed only two goals against the Habs but was tagged with the loss, dropping his record to a pedestrian 8-6-2. Jonathan Huberdeau is on a three-game points streak while Nazem Kadri has gone seven games without a point, reversing their fortunes from earlier this season.
Hopefully, the Canes’ six-goal outburst against the Blues means the floodgates are opening. Despite excellent possession metrics and being in the top 10 expected goals at 5-on-5, according to naturalstattrick.com, the Canes have had trouble scoring a bunch of goals recently. They may not have the same issue facing the Kings, however, who have arguably the worst goalies in the league, having recently waived Cal Petersen.
The Jets should have the advantage in this one with the Ducks playing back-to-back with travel, even with the early start in Minnesota on Saturday. Connor Hellebuyck will be looking for his fourth straight win coming off an impressive 40-save shutout against the Avs, and note his excellent career record against the Ducks: 10-2-1/.924/2.29.
Marc-Andre Fleury is expected to start, and no goalie is safe when Jason Robertson is shooting at you. Fleury’s won two of his past three games but did not post a save percentage higher than .870 in those three games. The Stars have outscored their opponents 9-1 in their past two games, and despite Jake Oettinger’s poor career numbers against the Wild (.879/3.34) has also never lost to his hometown team (2-0-0 in three appearances).
Having Patrik Laine back in the lineup has added a goal-scoring element that the Jackets severely lacked. He’s a danger from anywhere on the ice and will likely face Alex Nedeljkovic, who has struggled this season with a 2-3-2/.880/3.97 line. Elvis Merzlikins is back with the club, but they may elect to go with Joonas Korpisalo, who allowed just one goal on 38 shots in his previous start, though he did allow six goals in a loss to the Wings on Nov. 19.
It’s possible James Reimer returns from injury and starts this game, but it’s not an enviable matchup against the Sabres, who have an explosive offense. They’ve lost three of their past four, but they’ve also scored at least four goals in each of those games. It’s a back-to-back for the Sharks with travel, and they won’t have the scoring power to keep up.
Ilya Sorokin has allowed just two goals in two career starts against the Hawks, one at even strength and one on the power play. It’s a back-to-back for the Hawks while the Isles play the second game of their three-game homestand, and they’ve been one of the best teams at home with an 8-4-0 record. Mathew Barzal has been excellent, and despite scoring all three of his goals this season over the past couple of weeks, he should still continue to see the goals pile up given his shooting percentage is still well below his career average. 
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