RADIO
Saturday brings a dozen NHL games to the schedule, starting in the afternoon and running through late Saturday night. That means lots of opportunities to play and win with Monkey Knife Fight.
Afternoon puck starts in the East. Rangers-Devils, Sabres-Islanders, Flyers-Penguins, and Panthers-Predators all play early.
Winnipeg is still in Montreal and Toronto remains in Vancouver for the primetime games.
The Battle of Alberta will be one of the most compelling matchups, as the Flames wait for their new head coach and the Oilers try to lick their wounds after a tough three-game sweep against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here are some Star Shootout angles to look at when playing Saturday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - ALL DAY
MORE OR LESS
Auston Matthews MORE THAN 4.5 SHOTS + BLOCKS
Toronto’s sniper has been held off the scoresheet in three of the past four games but has recorded at least five shots plus blocks in five of the past six games. Facing a Vancouver Canucks team that has some defensive issues in its own right should let Matthews generate enough shots, whether he manages to score or not.
Jonathan Huberdeau MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Not only does the Florida Panthers’ playmaking winger get a favorable matchup against a Nashville team missing defenseman Ryan Ellis but Huberdeau has eight assists in nine road games this season, counting at least one in six of those nine games., including in Thursday’s game against those Predators.
Jakob Chychrun MORE THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
Arizona’s rising young defenseman struggled to get involved in Friday’s loss to Minnesota so he gets another shot at the Wild. On average, Chychrun puts up 4.1 shots plus blocks per game, which gives him a solid fantasy base, basically requiring him to just record a goal or an assist if he can maintain those average shot numbers. Considering his lack of production Friday, a bounce-back performance is in order.
RAPID FIRE
Mark Scheifele -0.5 fantasy points vs. Tyler Toffoli
Scheifele has been on a hot streak pretty much all season and has 22 points in the past 15 games. Toffoli was riding a wave earlier in the season, when he terrorized the Vancouver Canucks for a couple of weeks, but his production has tailed off. Scheifele’s will at some point, too, but it’s difficult to pick against him when he is in the middle of a run like this.
Mitch Marner +0.5 fantasy points vs. Mikko Rantanen
Marner, the Maple Leafs’ star winger has managed a single shot on goal in each of the past three games, which is a little concerning but, overall, has been very productive, scoring 34 points in 25 games this season. Rantanen has picked up his production lately after a bit of a slow start to the campaign and has 22 points in 21 games on the season. The bigger issue for Rantanen, though, is the status of center Nathan MacKinnon. If MacKinnon remains out of the lineup, that leaves Rantanen fighting uphill, particularly in this matchup against Marner who still skates alongside Auston Matthews.
STAR SHOOTOUT - NIGHT GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Mike Smith MORE THAN 25.5 SAVES
Edmonton’s goaltender has been on both sides of the Battle of Alberta and even though he got lit up for six goals in his last start against Toronto, he is still averaging 27.6 saves per 60 minutes this season. His .923 save percentage is his highest since his 2011-2012 season.
Johnny Gaudreau LESS THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Johnny Hockey has slumped recently, with no goals and five assists in the past nine games. Maybe he gets going against Edmonton but the Oilers are going to show up as a motivated bunch after a tough week getting swept by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Mark Stone MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Vegas’ captain has picked up at least one helper in four of the past five games, accumulating nine assists in those five contests. That includes a pair of assists against San Jose Friday and there is little reason to suspect that the Sharks will be able to keep him off the board Saturday.
Alex Pietrangelo MORE THAN 4.5 SHOTS + BLOCKS
The prized free agent addition for the Golden Knights has not been a huge scorer, producing nine points in 17 games but has been consistently involved. In the past dozen games, Pietrangelo has recorded at least five shots plus blocks nine times.
Max Pacioretty LESS THAN 6.5 FANTASY POINTS
Pacioretty is averaging 5.1 shots plus blocks per game which puts him in rare territory for fantasy production and that is before he starts scoring goals. He had two goals and an assist in Friday’s win over San Jose, giving him 20 points in 20 games this season so Pacioretty can put up seven fantasy points. At the same time, this is a big ask because those big fantasy point performances tend to run in streaks. He has seven or more fantasy points in three straight games but was under seven in the three before that.
Connor McDavid MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
The Maple Leafs shut McDavid out this week – no points at all in three games – and he still has 26 assists in 25 games this season so that does not seem like a trend that is likely to continue. To be fair, it was not a trend that seemed likely to occur in the first place but no one will be surprised if McDavid gets loose against Calgary Saturday night.
