Tuesday fantasy hockey tips: NHL picks, matchups, more
The Capitals and Canucks renew acquaintances, this time in Vancouver, after combining for 10 goals in D.C. back on Oct. 17. Two Central Division teams on the upswing do battle when the Avalanche visit the Jets in Winnipeg. I’m not sure we should expect too much scoring in what presents as a fierce goaltending battle between Alexandar Georgiev and Connor Hellebuyck, assuming both sides run with their best in net. Plus, the well-rested Predators finally get to play again – hosting the Ducks – now that the flooded mess in Bridgestone Arena is all cleaned up.
But Tuesday’s headliner, without question, features the return of a former favorite to his old scoring (and antagonizing) grounds. Even without Aleksandar Barkov (illness) in the lineup, former Flame Matthew Tkachuk is bound to make a bunch of noise in Calgary, productively and otherwise. Using the expected boos as fuel, the revenge-seeking feisty forward is probably going to score. Just like he did 10 days ago in Florida, in tying up the game ahead of an eventual 5-4 shootout loss. Fantasy managers might not bother trying to predict the outcome of this one – not the way the Panthers are blowing leads these days – just sit back and enjoy the scoring. From both Tkachuk’s and his former team’s side of the puck.
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All times Eastern.
7 p.m., Centre Bell, Watch live on ESPN+
One television pundit recently labelled the Sharks as “pesky” to play against, despite the team’s losing record. Perhaps most weeks. But in the here and now, I’d side with “porous”, if sticking with adjectives that start with the same letter. San Jose surrendered 17 total goals in their three most recent contests – all losses – including two empty-netters. That’s a lot. With James Reimer on IR, Tuesday’s starting gig either belongs to Kaapo Kahkonen, who gave up 11 of those aforementioned goals over two games, or AHL call-up Aaron Dell, who, yet to play with the Sharks, hasn’t exactly sparkled with the Barracuda to date. Either/or, since David Quinn also needs to think ahead to Wednesday’s scheduled tilt in Toronto. The Canadiens could score a few in this one. As could the visitors, for that matter.
10:30 p.m., Crypto.com Arena, Watch live on ESPN+
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Sure, the Kraken’s offense is going to tumble back to earth at some point, but Tuesday? Against the Kings? I’m not so certain. Seattle has 17 goals overall to show for their past three games, including road matches in Anaheim and Vegas. Again, that’s a lot. The Kraken scored three on Cal Petersen when the two sides last met on Nov. 19, including goals from Jared McCann and Daniel Sprong. Matty Beniers, Jordan Eberle, and defenseman Justin Schultz each collected a pair of points in the OT win. That gaggle – plus a red-hot Andre Burakovsky – hasn’t looked back since. Again, I could also see the Kings do a little offensive damage in their home arena.
7:30 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, Watch live on ESPN+
The Flyers can’t keep the puck out of their own net. The most generous team in the league since Nov. 10, they’ve allowed 4.40/game through a reasonable sample size of 10 contests. That includes the five surrendered to these same Islanders only 70-ish hours ago on Saturday. Against Felix Sandstrom, sure, but No. 1 Carter Hart hasn’t been any stingier of late. Play your favorite fantasy Islanders.
Andrei Kuzmenko, Vancouver Canucks (57.8%): Skating on a scoring line and top power play with Elias Pettersson, the KHL export is riding a five-game point streak with four goals and six assists (plus-eight). A little rudimentary division tells us that works out to two points/game. I’ll be more surprised if Kuzmenko doesn’t extend his current stretch of success against Darcy Kuemper and the visiting Capitals.
See also:
Viktor Arvidsson, Los Angeles Kings (51.1%)
T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals (39.4%)
Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia Flyers (32.7%)
Nicholas Paul, Tampa Bay Lightning (26.8%)
David Krejci, Boston Bruins (63.3%)
Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers (43.6%)
Adam Henrique, Anaheim Ducks (6.7%): On a top scoring line with Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras, the 32-year-old veteran has seven goals and four assists in a dozen contests this November. After nearly a week off, Juuse Saros and the rest of the Predators defense could feel a little rusty in this one. At least to start.
See also:
Sean Monahan, Montreal Canadiens (2.5%)
Alexander Barabanov, San Jose Sharks (2.4%)
Cole Perfetti, Winnipeg Jets (10.7%)
Blake Coleman, Calgary Flames (4.8)
David Savard, Montreal Canadiens (48.0%)
Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers (39.2%)
Sean Durzi, Los Angeles Kings (20.0%): Since returning from a brief injury break, Durzi has three assists in two games, including two with the extra skater. The 24-year-old Sophomore was already starting to warm up just before suffering the minor lower-body issue.
See also:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Vancouver Canucks (10.4%)
Cam Fowler, Anaheim Ducks (17.6%)
Tristan Jarry (projected), Pittsburgh Penguins (91.4%): Pittsburgh’s No.1 has been pretty super of late, allowing only two total goals in his three most recent games and winning his past four. Rolling along impressively the second half of this month, the Penguins altogether have only lost to the Maple Leafs (twice) since Nov. 15. The same can’t be said for the Hurricanes, who are 1-2-3 over that same period. While they’ll undoubtedly get a boost when Teuvo Teravainen returns from injury, the dynamite forward isn’t expected back as early as this Tuesday.
See also:
Ilya Sorokin (projected), New York Islanders (98.9%)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning (99.8%): Without context, this “bench ’em” suggestion feels rather ridiculous. But, unless you smell an upset of significant proportion brewing, not playing the perennial Vezina candidate for another option against the still-perfect-at-home Bruins might make most sense.
See also:
Sergei Bobrovsky (projected), Florida Panthers (66.0%)