3 years agoColorado Avalanche defenseman Devon Toews (undisclosed) will be back from a four-game absence Tuesday against St. Louis. The team went on to lose all four games without Toews on the ice, so they will no doubt be very glad to have him back. The 28-year-old blue-liner has had a massive year with 57 points and a plus-52 rating across 64 appearances. He boasted just 77 points in total for his career before 2021-22, which shows you exactly how well Toews has done. The former Islander has provided a nice chunk of defensive stats as well by registering 50 hits and 82 blocks.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Peter Baugh

3 years agoWashington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (upper body) is a game-time call for Tuesday's clash with the Islanders. He missed the morning skate, which isn't a good sign, but the team hasn't officially ruled him out. Ovechkin was injured in Sunday's 4-3 shootout loss to Toronto when he tripped over the stick of Toronto's goaltender Erik Kallgren and took an awkward fall to the boards. He appeared to have hurt his left shoulder or arm and he's considered day-to-day, with Washington having two more regular-season games coming up after Tuesday. Connor McMichael skated with the top line Tuesday morning and looks set to cover for Ovi if he isn't ready to go.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Tom Gulitti

3 years agoFlorida Panthers forward Carter Verhaeghe (undisclosed) will be back in the lineup on Tuesday against Boston. He has been a bit banged up and head coach Andrew Brunette has elected to rest him for three games. Verhaeghe will replace Mason Marchment, who now gets a night off himself. The 26-year-old has gone pointless in his last three appearances, but he has enjoyed another strong campaign overall with 22 goals and 53 points in 75 games. Verhaeghe will skate with Aleksander Barkov and Claude Giroux as the Panthers try to get back on track after seeing their record-breaking 13-game winning streak end on Sunday against Tampa Bay.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jameson Olive

3 years agoToronto Maple Leafs left wing Michael Bunting (undisclosed) won't skate in the team's final two regular-season games on Tuesday and on Friday. The 26-year-old rookie is set to be re-evaluated at the weekend to determine his availability for the playoffs. Bunting has been the top-scoring rookie in the league this season with 63 points in 79 outings. Alexander Kerfoot will take over his spot on the top line Tuesday and should draw interest from a lot of fantasy managers. Ilya Mikheyev and Nicholas Robertson join the top six as well, linking up with John Tavares, who is back in the lineup after getting rested Sunday against Washington.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Terry Koshan

3 years agoMinnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon was hurt early in Sunday's 5-4 overtime victory against Nashville, logging just 5:32 of action. He left with an upper-body problem and his status for the rest of the regular season is unknown, but Wild head coach Dave Evason has said that he expects to have Spurgeon back for the playoffs. Minnesota's captain has had some bad luck regarding injuries and it's resulted in him skating in just 64 games this season. He's done well when healthy, recording 39 points with 83 blocks and a plus-30 rating.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Sarah McLellan

3 years agoWashington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin wasn't able to complete Sunday's game against Toronto due to an upper-body injury. He was hurt a couple of minutes into the third period when he wasn't able to finish off a breakaway and crashed into the boards. The severity of Ovechkin's injury is currently unknown. The Capitals have three more regular-season games to go before heading into the playoffs. At 36 years old, Ovechkin became the oldest 50-goal scorer in league history this season and he boasts 90 points in total through 77 games. It's been one of his best-ever seasons and it would be very unfortunate if Ovechkin now wasn't able to play in the playoffs, but hopefully that won't be the case.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoTampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov put together a five-point performance as the team ended Florida's winning streak at 13 on Sunday. He had two goals and three assists in an 8-4 win. All of his helpers came on the power play. Kucherov has been almost unplayable lately as he's gone for 27 points in his past 14 appearances. His great run of form includes a six-game goal streak, which is just two shy of the franchise record set by Brian Bradley in 1992-93. Health issues have limited the Russian to just 44 outings this season, but he's managed to go for 62 points, which puts him fourth in the league in points per game with 1.41.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoPhiladelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates showed off his talent against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Sunday, going for three points in a 4-1 victory. He started things off with an assist on a Morgan Frost goal and lit the lamp two times himself, once on the power play. The 23-year-old rookie fired off six shots in just 11:17 of action and had two blocks and one hit. Cates has made quite an impression in his last five games, registering seven points. He boasts nine points in total through his first 12 career appearances with 22 shots and 21 hits. The Stillwater, Minnesota native has brought some excitement to the City of Brotherly Love during a miserable campaign and he'll get three more chances to shine during the final week of the regular season.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoEdmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid recorded two assists in Sunday's 5-2 loss to Columbus to set a new career high with 118 points. He helped Evander Kane to open the scoring 3:08 into the game and combined with Tyson Barrie 5:30 into the second period to set up Leon Draisaitl for a power-play goal. McDavid's previous best was 116 points. Sunday marked his 44th multi-point game of 2021-22 and it's the most a player has had in a single season since Jaromir Jagr managed 45 such efforts in 1995-96. The Oilers captain is simply a scoring machine, and at 25 years old, he's set to be the top pick in fantasy drafts for a long time.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoCarolina Hurricanes goaltender Antti Raanta exited Sunday's 5-2 win over the Islanders with a lower-body injury. He ended up with 32:57 of ice time and played very well until getting hurt, stopping 17 of 18 shots. Pyotr Kochetkov came in and finished the job with seven saves on eight shots. Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour has said that he will know more about Raanta's injury in a couple of days. The team is already without starter Frederik Andersen (lower body), so they will be praying for some good news regarding Raanta. The injury-prone veteran has done a solid job as Andersen's backup this season, putting together a 14-54 record with a 2.43 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Walt Ruff

3 years agoDetroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic picked up his fourth shutout of the season on Sunday with 17 saves in a 3-0 victory over New Jersey. It's his second shutout in his last four starts, and Nedeljkovic became the first Red Wings rookie with at least four shutouts since Roger Crozier recorded six in 1964-65. It's been a pretty rough season for the 26-year-old, but he's had some decent results and performances lately. Nedeljkovic heads into the final two games of the season with a 20-29-9 record, and he's registered a 3.31 goals-against average with a .901 save percentage.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: ESPN

3 years agoMontreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price will sit out Sunday's game against Boston and also won't travel to New York to face the Rangers on Wednesday. He's only just made his season debut and has played a lot of games lately, so interim head coach Martin St. Louis wants to give Price a break. Price sadly hasn't yet managed to taste victory in four starts, registering a 4.04 goals-against average with a .853 save percentage. The former MVP looked pretty solid in his first couple of outings, but the last two have gone horribly for him and it's probably a smart choice to give him some time off. Price is expected to return for Montreal's season finale on Friday against Florida.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: John Lu

3 years agoVegas Golden Knights forward Mattias Janmark is set to roll with the first line Sunday against San Jose. He joined Jack Eichel and Evgenii Dadonov on the line at Saturday's practice. The Swedish forward has gained some offensive rhythm lately with five points in six games, boosting his overall tally for the season to 25 points. Janmark has mostly featured in the bottom six, so he's had a pretty decent year in limiting playing times. Health issues have also kept Janmark back and he will skate in only his 64th game of the season on Sunday. He should be a pretty attractive option for DFS managers against a team that gives up 3.13 goals per game.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Jesse Granger

3 years agoMinnesota Wild forward Nick Bjugstad will replace Mats Zuccarello (lower body) on the first line Sunday against Nashville. Minnesota also reminds without Marcus Foligno (COVID-19 protocols) and Jordan Greenway (upper body), so Bjugstad makes a jump from the third line to the first. It's a very cozy spot for him, as Kirill Kaprizov has kept Minnesota's first line red-hot all season. Bjugstad boasts just 12 points in 53 outings this term, but he has previously had a couple of very decent offensive seasons and should fit nicely on the line.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Michael Russo

3 years agoToronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares will sit out Sunday's game versus Washington for rest purposes. The team is finishing off a back-to-back set and apparently doesn't want to push Tavares too much with very little at stake in the final few games of the regular season. The Maple Leafs captain has enjoyed a solid 75-point campaign in 78 games this season and will likely be back in action Tuesday against Detroit. Toronto is also without Michael Bunting (undisclosed) on Sunday after he got injured in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Florida.--Taavi Pailk - RotoBallerSource: Stephen Whyno