Monday fantasy hockey tips: NHL picks, matchups, more
Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter welcomes some familiar faces as the core of his Stanley Cup-winning Los Angeles Kings squads — Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar and Jonathan Quick — visit Calgary. While the last two Stanley Cup champions not from Tampa Bay meet as the St. Louis Blues visit the Colorado Avalanche.
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All times Eastern.
5:30 p.m., Canadian Tire Centre, Watch live on ESPN+
What might have looked like a dud of a game for goals last season actually has some potential for firepower thanks to the converted philosophy of the Isles and loading up of the Sens. Ilya Sorokin is still a threat to turn this into a low-scoring affair, but there’s potential now. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier are tied for fourth in goals at five-on-five as a line with nine, while Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle would be second in that same rank if they hadn’t swapped out the third member of the unit: They had six goals with Drake Batherson and now have five with Claude Giroux.
8:30 p.m., United Center, Watch live on ESPN+
Corsi law suggests the Hurricanes are going to embarrass the Blackhawks. That’s usually not the case when the matchup tilts so heavily on paper, but this one is pretty tilted: Hurricanes 70.08 Corsi For per 60 (second in league) and 41.83 Corsi Against per 60 (first), Blackhawks 44.35 Corsi For per 60 (32nd) and 63.89 Corsi Against per 60 (30th). So you have arguably the best possession team in the NHL (OK, maybe it’s the Devils) taking on unquestionably the worst.
9 p.m., Ball Arena, Watch live on ESPN+
The Blues have snapped out of their funk with a couple of wins, including over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. The key is that they haven’t taken penalties. Exactly zero Blues were sent to the box in their wins over the Sharks and Knights, moving the Blues solely into first in the NHL for fewest penalties taken per 60 (just ahead of the two teams they beat, coincidentally). Since the Avs have been getting by on their 39% power play and only rank 23rd in five-on-five scoring, the number of goals in this contest may largely depend on the referees.
Ryan O’Reilly, C, St. Louis Blues (55.7%): They’ve only played two games together, but already the line of O’Reilly, Josh Leivo and Brandon Saad has the most five-on-five goals on the team — which really tells us two things: The line is pretty good, and the Blues have been pretty bad at even strength.
See also:
Evan Rodrigues, C/W, Colorado Avalanche (8.4%)
Shane Pinto, C, Ottawa Senators (16.5%)
Stefan Noesen, W, Carolina Hurricanes (0.3%): With Teuvo Teravainen on the sidelines, Noesen was getting some regular top-six looks in addition to the time he already spends on the top power-play unit.
Adam Ruzicka, C. Calgary Flames (5.6%): If Jonathan Huberdeau remains out, Ruzicka remains his direct replacement on the top line and top power play.
See also:
Josh Leivo, W, St. Louis Blues (0.0%)
Arthur Kaliyev, W, Los Angeles Kings (4.6%)
Anthony Beauvillier, W, New York Islanders (1.6%)
Philipp Kurashev, W, Chicago Blackhawks (0.2%)
Matt Roy, D, Los Angeles Kings (41.8%): Averaging 1.9 fantasy points per game, Roy has an assist in two of his past four.
See also:
Alexander Romanov, D, New York Islanders (56.6%)
Jake McCabe, D, Chicago Blackhawks (25.3%)
Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa Senators (11.9%): With Thomas Chabot sidelined for the week, keep Sanderson active for his power-play usage.
See also:
Sean Durzi, D, Los Angeles Kings (13.8%)
Scott Mayfield, D, New York Islanders (2.3%)
Jordan Binnington, G, St. Louis Blues (72.8%): If anything can quell the Avs attack it’s not giving them an advantage. That’s the Blues’ specialty this season, so Binnington might have a chance to turn aside the shots with everything else equal.
Antti Raanta or Pyotr Kochetkov, G, Carolina Hurricanes (14.4% and 0.7%): Frederik Andersen is still hurt so this just depends on whether the Canes want to give Raanta extra starts or keep rotating with Kochetkov. Either way, there’s a chance the goaltender doesn’t face a single shot based on the possession metrics of both teams.