RADIO
Tuesday brings an eight-game NHL schedule and Monkey Knife Fight has contests for each and every one of them.
The theme of the night might as well be desperation as there are not real premier matchups.
The Philadelphia Flyers are in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins and, normally, that would be a spotlight game but the Penguins are at risk of fading out of the playoff race and won’t have Sidney Crosby because he is now on the league’s Covid-19 protocol list.
The Montreal Canadiens have yet to win under their new coach and will host the Ottawa Senators, who prompted the Habs to fire their old coach.
With rumors swirling about a potential trade of franchise center Jack Eichel, the Buffalo Sabres limp into Manhattan to take on a New York Rangers team missing star winger Artemi Panarin.
Losers of five straight, the Columbus Blue Jackets are at home against the Detroit Red Wings, which might be the way to snap out of a slump.
The Carolina Hurricanes are in Nashville, taking on a Predators team that has been reeling and could be poised for an overhaul before the trade deadline.
Continuing a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup Final, the Dallas Stars host the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Stars have a lot of games to make up but they have two wins in the past 10 games.
The New Jersey Devils have a bunch of games to make up, too, but they will be in tough against the grind-it-out New York Islanders.
After winning at Winnipeg Monday, the Vancouver Canucks try to build upon that success against the Jets but the Canucks, who are three points behind Montreal despite playing five more games, have little room for error at this point.
So there will be some desperate teams on the ice tonight, here are some Star Shootout angles to consider for Tuesday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - MAIN GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Tristan Jarry MORE THAN 25.5 SAVES
For the season, the Penguins goaltender has stumbled his way to a .894 save percentage and has still managed 26.5 saves per 60 minutes. He has also been better over the past couple of weeks, posting a .927 save percentage in six starts. There are a couple more factors to consider. One, Sidney Crosby has landed on the Covid-19 protocol list which removes a dominant two-way center from the lineup and, two, the Philadelphia Flyers are averaging a league-low 25.4 shots per 60 minutes. Jarry’s improved play ought to help him get over this number.
Cam Atkinson MORE THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
The Blue Jackets winger has made the most of his opportunity, skating alongside the former Jets duo of Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic and Atkinson has produced 12 points and 34 shots on goal in the past 10 games. A home game against the Detroit Red Wings should keep Atkinson’s production moving in the right direction and if he starts with three-plus shots on goal, he is well on his way.
Roman Josi MORE THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
The foundation is there for Josi, who has 104 hits plus blocks in 21 games, so he’s almost at five per game without scoring any points whatsoever. He has not been as productive as last season but does have five assists in the past four games and even against a strong Carlina team, it’s not unreasonable to think that Josi can get on the board with at least another assist.
Victor Hedman MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Tampa Bay’s star defenseman has 15 assists in 19 games this season, including eight assists in nine road games, getting at least one assist in six of those nine games. That’s enough reason to like his chances against a struggling Dallas Stars team.
Steven Stamkos LESS THAN 0.5 GOALS
At the same time, it’s more difficult to score goals and Stamkos has produced four goals in seven road games this season, scoring at least one in three of those seven games.
RAPID FIRE
Nikolaj Ehlers +0.5 fantasy points vs. James van Riemsdyk
James van Riemsdyk is having an incredible season, scoring at rates that he never has before, but his production is also based on insanely high percentages, including a 23.8% shooting percentage, and that ride is due to end at some point but that could have been said two weeks ago and it’s still going, so we don’t exactly know when JvR could finally cool down. On the other hand, Ehlers is having his best season, too, and while his percentages are up, he is also generating more shots than ever before and should have a favorable enough matchup, at home against Vancouver, to be a lively underdog in this scenario.
Mark Scheifele +0.5 fantasy points vs. Joel Farabee
Scheifele is not a huge volume shooter so that brings a little more risk to his fantasy production but he was held off the scoresheet in back-to-back games for the first time all season so it’s rare for him not to get involved offensively. Farabee has been a wonderful surprise and is playing a big role with the Flyers but he is also in the same boat as van Riemsdyk, riding high percentages that are due to come down. Given those percentages and Scheifele’s longer track record as a high-end scorer, the Jets center is the choice.
Vincent Trocheck +0.5 fantasy points vs. Filip Forsberg
Trocheck has been awesome for the Hurricanes, producing 18 points in 20 games but also generating more than three shots on goal per game blocking 0.7 shots per game, which is plenty from a center. Forsberg has 19 points in 21 games and has nearly 3.8 shots on goal per game but doesn’t block as many shots which brings Trocheck close enough to like him getting an extra half fantasy point.
Adam Fox +0.5 shots + blocks vs. Shea Weber
No trading on reputations here. Weber is averaging 3.5 shots plus blocks per game this season, which is fine, but not nearly where his production has been in recent seasons. Fox, the second-year Rangers blueliner, is over 4.6 shots plus blocks per game this season so as an underdog, take his production over Weber’s name-brand recognition.
