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Saturday brings a busy day on the ice in the National Hockey League and, starting in the afternoon, Monkey Knife Fight is there with contests to make the games even more fun.
The premier game of the day has the Vegas Golden Knights in Colorado to take on the Avalanche. Colorado dominated their matchup on Thursday night but they should be two of the best teams in the entire league.
There are quite a few playoff matchups this evening – games that involve two teams in playoff position. The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers meet the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins host the New York Islanders, and while the Nashville Predators are not in a playoff spot, they have an important game against Chicago, as Nashville sits four points out of the last playoff spot in the Central Division.
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STAR SHOOTOUT - MAIN GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Andrei Vasilevskiy MORE THAN 25.5 SAVES
The Lightning goaltender looks like he is probably the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender. He has a .923 save percentage on the road this season and is averaging nearly 27 saves per 60 minutes on the road this season. The Lightning face off against the Carolina Hurricanes a team averaging 31.7 shots per 60 on home ice and that leaves more than enough room for Vasilevskiy to record at least 26 saves.
Tristan Jarry MORE THAN 24.5 SAVES
There has been a dramatic difference between home and road performance for the Penguins netminder. On home ice, Jarry has a .932 save percentage, compared to .871 on the road this season, leading to an average of 31.4 saves per 60 minutes on home ice. He takes on an Islanders team that does not generate a lot of shots (28.1 shots per 60 minutes on the road ranks 25th) but that still leaves enough room for Jarry to record enough saves provided that he plays up to his previous level.
Patrick Kane MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
Chicago’s superstar winger has had incredible production on home ice this season, including 21 assists in 15 home games. He has been held without an assist in just two of those 15 games. Saturday’s opposition, the Nashville Predators, do not have a great defensive record overall but it is worth noting that Predators goaltender Juuse Saros is on a hot streak right now so that does at least offer some challenge to Kane’s attempt to put up an assist in this game.
Darnell Nurse LESS THAN 5.5 FANTASY POINTS
This has been an excellent and productive season for the Oilers defenseman and on the road he has averaged 5.6 fantasy points per game but facing a Toronto Maple Leafs team that has a better-than-average defensive record makes it challenging to expect more fantasy points in this game.
RAPID FIRE
Leon Draisaitl +0.5 fantasy points vs. Auston Matthews
Draisaitl has been held without a point in just two of 14 road games this season and is averaging 6.9 fantasy points per road game. Matthews has ridiculous numbers on home ice, averaging 8.8 fantasy points per game but is also in a bit of a slump right now being held without a point in four of his past seven games on home ice.
Mitch Marner +0.5 fantasy points vs. Sidney Crosby
On home ice this season, Marner is putting up 6.4 fantasy points per game, and does have a reasonably favorable matchup at home against Edmonton. Crosby is averaging 7.1 fantasy points per home game but facing the New York Islanders is a more challenging matchup. Also, while there is some narrative building about Crosby raising his game while Evgeni Malkin is out of the Penguins lineup, it is worth noting that Crosby has averaged 1.22 points per game while Malkin is out and 1.28 points per game overall so that is not great evidence of his elevated production in those circumstances.
STAR SHOOTOUT - NIGHT GAMES
MORE OR LESS
Mark Scheifele MORE THAN 0.5 ASSISTS
The Jets center has produced 14 assists in 18 road games this season, recording at least one in 11 of those 18 games. Matched up against a Flames team that is still not great defensively is a positive enough matchup to count on Scheifele for an assist in this game.
Mark Giordano LESS THAN 4.5 FANTASY POINTS
The Flames captain has not been as productive this season and maybe that is to be expected from a 37-year-old defenseman but he is averaging 4.3 fantasy points per home game and has had less than 4.5 fantasy points in four straight home games.
RAPID FIRE
Evander Kane -0.5 fantasy points vs. Jakob Chychrun
Kane is having a terrific season, improving his production after a slow start to the season and his ability to generate shots gives him a sound foundation for fantasy production. His average road game has been good for nearly 6.4 fantasy points. Chychrun is averaging nearly 5.2 fantasy points per home game so Kane holds a clear advantage in this matchup.
Nikolaj Ehlers -0.5 fantasy points vs. Brent Burns
Two players on different trajectories. Ehlers is a 25-year-old winger having a breakthrough season while Burns is a 36-year-old defenseman who is not as productive as he once was.
