RADIO
There are five games Saturday in the National Hockey League and Monkey Knife Fight has contests to make those games even more exciting.
There is one afternoon game, with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Columbus to take on the troubled Blue Jackets. Not only is Columbus 1-2-2 in its first five games but just traded their No. 1 center, Pierre-Luc Dubois, which leaves the Blue Jackets fighting uphill early in this season.
Among the four games Saturday night, the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers play for a second straight game after the Bruins took the first one in a shootout. The Montreal Canadiens are playing the Vancouver Canucks for the third straight time this week. Covid scheduling is wild, folks.
The Los Angeles Kings are in St. Louis to take on the Blues and the Ottawa Senators, who hosted the Jets for a pair of games this week, are in Winnipeg for another game against the Jets.
Here are some Star Shootout angles to consider for Saturday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight:
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STAR SHOOTOUT - MAIN GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Tristan Jarry LESS THAN 28.5 SAVES
It has not been an easy start to the season for the Penguins goaltender who has an .868 save percentage in five starts and the defense in front of him is depleted by injuries. While Jarry may not be playing well right now the second point may be more instrumental in determining his outcome for this game as the depleted defense allowed 36 shots in an overtime loss against the Bruins Tuesday in which Jarry stopped 33 shots, the second time in five starts this season that he had more than 28 saves.
Darcy Kuemper LESS THAN 27.5 SAVES
Kuemper had a couple of tough starts to open the season but has been strong in three straight and plays behind a Coyotes team that is allowing 29.4 shots against per 60 minutes. Even better, they face a Ducks team that has a hard time generating offense, creating just 24.5 shots per 60 minutes.
Dougie Hamilton LESS THAN 4.5 SHOTS + BLOCKS
How much should be read into Hamilton’s three-game sample this season. He has a total of five shots on goal in three games after averaging 3.62 shots and 1.34 blocked shots per game last season. Might be worth taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to Hamilton’s production in the new season.
Mikko Rantanen LESS THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Although Rantanen has eight points in seven games this season, he has just two assists, so it is a little difficult to simply expect him to pick up a helper against San Jose today.
STAR SHOOTOUT - LATE GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Frederik Andersen LESS THAN 29.5 SAVES
The Maple Leafs goaltender is averaging 24.4 saves per 60 minutes early in this season and has faced 53 shots on two games against the Edmonton Oilers already this season. The Maple Leafs are giving up 26.9 shots against per 60 minutes which is much better defensively than they are typically given credit for.
Connor McDavid MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
The Oilers superstar is off to a great start with 12 points in eight games, including seven assists. In those eight games, he has at least one assist in five games and zero assists in three so it’s still more likely than not that he gets at least one helper.
RAPID FIRE
Mitch Marner +0.5 fantasy points vs. Leon Draisaitl
Marner, like McDavid, also has 12 points this season but he’s not quite as dangerous for fantasy purposes because he does not shoot the puck as much. Draisaitl has 11 points in eight games and generates more shots but Marner’s scoring production gives him a fair opportunity as the underdog getting an extra half fantasy point.
Brady Tkachuk -0.5 fantasy points vs. William Nylander
Even with some struggles to score, Tkachuk is an elite shot generator, with 30 shots on goal in seven games and that makes him a more reliable option than Nylander who has strangely struggled to produce shots on goal, with just 13 in eight games.
