RADIO
The National Hockey League offers up seven games on the Tuesday night schedule and Monkey Knife Fight has contests for every one of them to add to the excitement.
On this night, the East is where it’s at, with the New York Islanders at the Washington Capitals, in a battle of the top two teams in the division, as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins hosting the Boston Bruins, as the third-and-fourth-place teams in the division face off.
Don’t sleep on the Covid battle between Buffalo and New Jersey, two teams that had mediocre starts to the season, had Covid spread through their teams and they have been in a tailspin ever since. The Sabres are 2-13-2 in 17 games since their Covid hiatus and two wins and an overtime loss have come against New Jersey. Buffalo’s only other point since the pause in their season was a shootout loss to Philadelphia.
The Devils aren’t much better, either, with a 4-10-2 record since their hiatus, so the game might not be an instant classic but it should be competitive.
There are mismatches. The Carolina are at the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche are at home against Anaheim. Those could be lopsided.
The Tampa Bay Lightning at the Dallas Stars might fit into that category, too, even if it is last year’s Stanley Cup Final matchup.
That leaves the Arizona Coyotes at the Minnesota Wild. The Coyotes are struggling to stay in the playoff race while the Wild are comfortably among the top teams in the West.
Here are some Star Shootout angles to consider when playing Tuesday’s NHL action on Monkey Knife Fight.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - ALL DAY
MORE OR LESS
Ilya Samsonov MORE THAN 27.5 SAVES
Making his first appearance at home this season, Samsonov has averaged 25.4 saves per 60 minutes of play this season and is facing a New York Islanders team that is averaging 29.3 shots per 60 minutes, a little below league average. Samsonov does have at least 28 saves in each of his past three starts so maybe the recent trend will have some influence.
Jonathan Bernier MORE THAN 26.5 SAVES
There may be some risk that Bernier doesn’t finish the game against an impressive Carolina team but he is averaging 30.5 save per 60 minutes this season and is going against a Carolina team that is averaging 29.9 shots per 60 minutes on the road this season. He has recorded 27 or more saves in six of eight home starts this season.
Sidney Crosby MORE THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
Riding a seven-game point streak, during which he has 11 points, Crosby is starting to play more like vintage Sid and he has recorded at least six fantasy points in each of those seven games. The matchup against Boston is not necessarily easy but they are running with goaltending prospect Daniel Vladar who is making his first NHL start in this game and going against a Sidney Crosby streak under those circumstances does not seem like a wise approach.
Victor Hedman LESS THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
Tampa Bay’s star defenseman is having a great season but is going against a Dallas Stars team that is allowing a league-low 23.3 shots against per 60 minutes. If he has trouble generating shots that does not mean that Hedman can’t get to six fantasy points because he also contributes more than 1.5 blocked shots per game so that does give him a chance but the stingy Stars approach could be a challenge.
RAPID FIRE
Alex Ovechkin +1.5 fantasy points vs. David Pastrnak
After a relatively slow start to the season, Ovechkin is heating up a bit, with goals in three straight games and 43 shots on goal in the past eight games. That does give him a solid foundation for fantasy production but he also faces an Islanders team with a steady defensive presence. Pastrnak is having an impressive season though he has a modest three points in the past five games. With Ovechkin firing more shots recently that could mean less of an edge for Pastrnak.
Mikko Rantanen -0.5 fantasy points vs. Ondrej Palat
Palat has emerged as more of a scoring threat on the top line and the power play this season, contributing 10 points and 20 shots on goal in the past six games. Rantanen has 14 points and 33 shots on goal in the past 10 games, continuing his productive ways even when Nathan MacKinnon was injured. He does have a more favorable matchup, at home against Anaheim, compared to Palat, who matches up with a defensive Dallas team.
Mikko Rantanen +0.5 points vs. Brad Marchand
Marchand is great and consistently productive, if entirely annoying if you catch him on the wrong day. He has scored 32 points in 26 games but he is more dangerous on home ice. On the road, Marchand has 16 points in 15 games, which is excellent, but not enough to like him by an extra half point over Rantanen, who has 12 points in 14 home games.
