THN.com/podcast. From THN On The 'O': Matt Maggio's Goals in Windsor and Islanders Prospects Nino Niederreiter [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk2NjEwMjczNjQ4MzIyNTI3/usatsi_20230691.jpg] Nino Niederreiter It’s the weekend! With 26 teams playing on Saturday and eight of them playing back-to-back, there’s no shortage of streaming options. The fantasy hockey season is quickly coming to a close, and depending on your league settings, you’re either starting the playoffs or already in the midst of them. Note for the second straight weekend, the Bruins, Wild, Devils, Lightning, Rangers, Predators and Jets will play two games apiece. Here’s your fantasy hockey weekend primer. BOSTON BRUINS (SATURDAY AT WILD, SUNDAY AT SABRES) Hot: Dmitry Orlov’s fantasy stock has cooled a little bit but he’s still been a big contributor for the Bruins. He’s leading the team with 12 points in his past 10 games and, at times, even supplanted Charlie McAvoy on the top power-play unit. Orlov deserves to be rostered in all leagues, especially in banger leagues, given the rare combination of points, hits and blocks he can provide. Cold: Jake DeBrusk continues to skate on the top line, but he hasn’t done much with it lately, scoring just once in his past 10 games. The Bruins are an excellent team, but they’re also very experienced. Linemates Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand know that games will be a lot more important a month from now, and they can take on supporting roles with David Pastrnak leading the charge. Given the increased competition for ice time among wingers (Pavel Zacha, Tyler Bertuzzi), DeBrusk is unlikely to continue his November-December pace (11 goals in 27 games). MINNESOTA WILD (SATURDAY VS. BRUINS, SUNDAY VS. CAPITALS) Cold: It’s been a tough couple of games for Filip Gustavsson and Marc-Andre Fleury, who have allowed 10 goals. Gustavsson is expected to face the Bruins on Saturday, making him the goalie to fade if you had to pick between the two. And ironically, in Kirill Kaprizov’s absence, it's their defense that has been suspect, not their offense. Matt Boldy and Ryan Hartman’s numbers are inflated with two high-scoring games, and prior to their two outbursts, they had produced very little. Against a stingy team in the Bruins and then a back-to-back, it seems unlikely the Wild can maintain their pace of scoring. NEW JERSEY DEVILS (SATURDAY AT PANTHERS, SUNDAY AT LIGHTNING) Cold: Is it fatigue or…? Vitek Vanecek has now set career highs in games played (43) and starts (40), and other than a 32-save shutout against the Canes, he has been very shaky, allowing at least three goals in six straight games. The Panthers are coming off a nine-goal outburst against the Habs, and the Lightning already swept the two consecutive games in Jersey. With their scoring taking a little dip, this is the weekend to fade Vanecek until he faces easier competition. Dawson Mercer has also cooled off slightly, with one assist in three games after his 12-game point streak was snapped. While his play has been largely excellent all season, the point streak was definitely the anomaly, and we’re seeing Mercer regress a little bit to his usual capabilities. It was fun while it lasted, but Mercer can probably be dumped back on the waiver wire for someone else. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (SATURDAY VS. CANADIENS, SUNDAY VS. DEVILS) Hot: Continuing from last week’s column, Alex Killorn continues to pour in the goals. He’s scored two more goals and added an assist since last Saturday, averaging more than three shots per game and adding five hits. Saturday’s matchup against the Habs is enticing since they don’t defend very well, and their goalies aren’t good enough to cover up those mistakes. The Devils are also faltering with weak goaltending, giving the Lightning a chance to sweep all three games. NEW YORK RANGERS (SATURDAY VS. PENGUINS, SUNDAY VS. PREDATORS) Hot: Just about everyone in the Rangers’ top six. While Patrick Kane hasn’t been lights out individually, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Chris Kreider and Vladimir Tarasenko have all been regular contributors. Kreider, in particular, seems to have also found his scoring touch again, scoring two goals against the Pens on Thursday to give him 30 on the season. That made him just the third Ranger in the cap era to score at least 30 goals in consecutive seasons (Jaromir Jagr, 2005 to 2007 and Zibanejad, 2018 to 2020). Cold: You’d think that with the top six taking off, it would make things easier for the ‘Kid Line’ – nope. Alexis Lafreniere hasn’t scored in four games, Kaapo Kakko in nine games and Filip Chytil in 17 games. Chytil’s lack of production is a little more alarming since he’s the most steady contributor of the bunch most times, but make it easy and just fade all three for the weekend. NASHVILLE PREDATORS (SATURDAY VS. JETS, SUNDAY AT RANGERS) Hot: Tommy Novak and Philip Tomasino have been great on the top line with Matt Duchene. Novak, in particular, is tied with team captain Roman Josi as the Preds’ leading scorer since the All-Star Game. While Cody Glass usually gets more ice time, Novak’s offensive upside is far higher, and he should be rostered for the rest of the season. It’s not often you can pick off players with top-six upside off the waiver wire at this point of the season. With Igor Shesterkin likely starting against the Pens, the Preds are expected to draw the easier matchup against Jaroslav Halak on Sunday. WINNIPEG JETS (SATURDAY AT PREDATORS, SUNDAY AT BLUES) Cold: Kyle Connor has scored just once in his past 10 games, and only four other forwards – Blake Wheeler, Mason Appleton, Saku Maenalanen and David Gustafsson – have scored fewer goals. The Jets are slumping at the worst time possible, and part of that has been their anemic offense. Hot: Meanwhile, Nino Niederreiter continues to look good on the Jets. While his scoring may come and go, his hits make him a valuable asset in banger leagues. Niederreiter leads the team in goals over the past two weeks with four. The Jets might be able to break out offensively Sunday against the Blues, who will likely start backup Thomas Greiss in place of the suspended Jordan Binnington. VANCOUVER CANUCKS (SATURDAY AT KINGS, SUNDAY AT DUCKS) Hot: Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko might be the best duo in the league, and Kuzmenko should be rostered in all leagues. While much has been made about his sky-high shooting percentage, it doesn’t look like regression is coming anytime soon, especially with his high-end skill and the way his playmakers around him keep feeding him pucks. The trickle-down effect has J.T. Miller scoring at a point-per-game pace again, with zero (!) coming on the power play after being labelled as a specialist for much of this season and last. Anthony Beauvillier, who plays on a line with Pettersson and Kuzmenko, has also been excellent, and he’s scoring at a pace never seen in his career. Beauvillier’s worth a streaming start over a busy weekend, especially Sunday against the lowly Ducks.
