Find more episodes by The Hockey News at THN.com/podcast. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk1Nzk4NDg2MTc1MTMwNjUw/usatsi_19503466.jpg] It’s Super Bowl weekend, so your weekend NHL action will start early at noon eastern time. There are 14 games on Saturday and four on Sunday, which means fantasy managers who fall behind by Saturday might not have a chance to catch up. Sunday’s games will feature only four teams – Seattle, Vegas, Washington and Edmonton – currently in playoff contention. Here’s your weekend rundown. SATURDAY CANUCKS AT RED WINGS, 12 P.M. ET Elias Pettersson has carried this team on his back since Bo Horvat’s departure, and he’s looking like an elite two-way No. 1 center again. Pettersson’s play this season has elevated him from being a really good first-line scoring option to a highly-coveted asset in keeper leagues. Since Brock Boeser re-joined Pettersson on the same line, he’s also been very productive and scored a season-high four points against the Isles. On the other hand, scoring has been very difficult for the Wings, and Tyler Bertuzzi has been particularly frustrating in fantasy. He’s usually a multi-category contributor, but he’s scored only two points in his past 10 games. At least they’ve been far better defensively, led by Moritz Seider, who is looking like a fantasy gem again with 13 points in 14 games. The Wings have a chance to grind out a win against a potentially tired Canucks team, playing their fourth road game in six nights, and it’ll be a 9 a.m. local start for them. It’s the first game of a home-and-home series between the two teams. FLAMES AT SABRES, 12:30 P.M. ET Daniel Vladar is expected to get the start, his second straight despite losing 2-1 to the Wings. The Flames’ problem is scoring, making it particularly tough for them to beat the Sabres because their offense is too good, and shutting them out is unlikely. That being said, Jakob Pelletier is expected to skate on the second line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri and, against the Sabres’ goaltending, might be able to pick up a point. The third line of Mikael Backlund between Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane has been stack-worthy with 38 combined points in 14 games. Managers who have Dylan Cozens rostered should note his scoring rate has dipped a little lately. Part of it is linemates – after a great start to the season, the play of JJ Peterka and Jack Quinn has gone quiet, combining for just two goals and five points so far in 2023. OILERS AT SENATORS, 12:30 P.M. ET It’s the first meeting between the two teams this season. Any game featuring Connor McDavid is bound to have a lot of goals, but this might be a high-scoring game to target for early daily fantasy slates. The Sens have taken the previous two meetings but lost nine straight games prior to that, and in six instances, at least one team scored at least four goals. It's worth noting Mathieu Joseph is skating on the top line with Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk, making him a good streaming play, and Ridly Greig has quietly supplanted Shane Pinto as the second-line center. ISLANDERS AT CANADIENS, 12:30 P.M. ET Goal scoring has not been a problem since the Isles acquired Bo Horvat. He’s flashing signs of great chemistry with Mathew Barzal, and their speed, Barzal’s playmaking and Horvat’s finishing have formed a fine match. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them score more than usual against the Habs. The fantasy value of everyone on the Isles’ top power-play unit, including Barzal, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Noah Dobson, get a huge boost with the inclusion of Horvat. Injuries have decimated the Habs’ lineup. There’s little upside, and it’s tough to gauge where the goals will come from. Note Rafael Harvey-Pinard is the lucky duck who gets to skate alongside Nick Suzuki, and he’s scored five goals in seven games, so there’s definitely some streaming upside there. RHP was AHL Laval’s scoring leader last season and scored 15 goals in 37 games with them before joining the Habs. PREDATORS AT FLYERS, 12:30 P.M. ET The Preds are frustrating in fantasy beyond Roman Josi. Juuse Saros is fantastic, but sometimes he gets no help from his team. The center position is something David Poile has stubbornly refused to address, though it’s created opportunities for Juuso Parssinen, Cody Glass and Tomas Novak to see quality offensive opportunities. Parssinen still has the most upside, but Glass usually plays more, and in the end, it’s a bit of a crapshoot. Tony DeAngelo is back in the lineup but skating on the third pair. His ice time will continue to be limited by John Tortorella if he doesn’t play good defense, which means this is more ice time for Cam York, who is now averaging over 20 minutes per game. Rasmus Ristolainen has always been quite useful in banger leagues, and now that he’s playing well, scoring points and actually defending, his play (and fantasy value) has skyrocketed. It’s still not enough to add him, but he’s at least worth streaming now, and if he keeps this up, he could be a longer-term hold. LIGHTNING AT STARS, 1 P.M. ET The Lightning’s 5-0 win against the Avs was a statement game, that’s for sure. After coming off back-to-back losses, the Lightning bounced back in a big way. If you’re a money line picker, note they’re 21-4-2 on home ice this season. The Lightning just don’t lose at home, trailing only the Bruins by one win and leading the Leafs by one. Note Nick Paul remains day-to-day, so the Lightning have gone with an 11-7 setup with a stacked top line, a formula that’s brought them plenty of success before. In this setup, they may be overly reliant on that top line, but it’s as good as any in the league. On the road is where the Lightning falter a little bit, and the Stars are going for their third straight home win. Secondary scoring has been a problem for them, but it’s generally produced OK results thanks to Jake Oettinger in net. The Stars have five players who have scored at least 30 points, but the three top scorers all play on the same line, meaning the other two – Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn – make up the bulk of the scoring from the other nine forward spots. CAPITALS AT BRUINS, 3:30 P.M. ET Nicolas Aube-Kubel is the top-line right winger, but there’s zero upside in fantasy except for hits. Tom Wilson is not ready to rejoin the team, and there might just be too many injuries and lineup changes for the Caps to overcome this season. Nicklas Backstrom is a household name in fantasy for his assets, but in a third-line role and without Alex Ovechkin on his wing, his fantasy value isn’t particularly noteworthy. Forget about Craig Smith, who is riding shotgun on the B’s top line. He’s become a bottom-six winger with really poor finishing ability. The streaming option to target is Pavel Zacha, who has three goals in his past four games and is one point away from tying his career-high set last season. AVALANCHE AT PANTHERS, 6 P.M. ET A bit of a strange early start in Sunrise, but it’s all good vibes since the Panthers are going for their fourth straight win. Sergei Bobrovsky has limited his opponents to just one goal in each of his past two starts. Maybe we don’t fire up Bobrovsky in this game, but it looks like he’s settling in on a hot streak. This is a good chance for the Avs to bust their slump after losing to the Lightning and Pens, two recent Cup champions. We should never count out the Avs, but if it’s not this injury, it’s that one. Cale Makar is not expected to play, which means Bowen Byram is an intriguing option, though note he’s playing PP2 with Devon Toews on PP1. You figure seniority is part of the selection process because Byram’s the far better option as a power-play quarterback. BLUE JACKETS AT MAPLE LEAFS, 7 P.M. ET Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves for a shutout win last night as they finish their back-to-back home-and-home series. Not sure Sheldon Keefe is confident enough to start Joseph Woll in such a tight playoff race. Though the Leafs and Lightning are likely locked in for another first-round battle, the battle for home-ice advantage is key. Both clubs are excellent at home and see it as an advantage. Alex Kerfoot has stepped in as the No. 2 center with Auston Matthews sidelined, but Kerfoot has so little offensive upside that it’s best to just leave him on the waiver wire despite the excellent position he’s been put in. It’s hard to believe the Leafs won’t sweep this series. RANGERS AT HURRICANES, 7 P.M. ET Vladimir Tarasenko was named the first star last night in a win against the Kraken. The Rangers’ new-look top line has paid dividends right away, and depending on the outcome of this game, it might force the Canes to go big-name hunting as well. Vitali Kravtsov drew the assignment on the second line with Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck but did little with his opportunity, finishing with just zero shots in 10:46 TOI. The ‘Kid Line’ remains an excellent play and should stay together the rest of the season. Sebastian Aho has been on an absolute heater with nine goals in seven games. It’s put a little life into Teuvo Teravainen’s game as well, who’s scored six points in seven games playing on the top line. He was a hot commodity during the pre-season before everyone (rightfully) gave up on him, but now, it might be time to pick him back up. COYOTES AT BLUES, 8 P.M. ET The Blues lost a big chunk of their scoring ability with the Tarasenko trade, but this is still a game they should win. Their top six still has plenty of firepower with Ryan O’Reilly back in the lineup, and note Brayden Schenn becomes an excellent streaming option playing on a line with Jordan Kyrou and Robert Thomas. The Coyotes played last night in Chicago, and even though Karel Vejmelka is expected to start for them, they also have just six wins in 30 games on the road. Barrett Hayton notched an assist last night, and he’s been excellent as their top center between Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz. He had scored a point in three of his past four games entering Friday. DEVILS AT WILD, 8 P.M. ET Losing Jack Hughes is going to hurt a lot, but that also means Nico Hischier is going to play a bigger role than usual. He’s worth picking up and should’ve been rostered all season. Alexander Holtz will draw into the lineup, but his offensive upside is capped by his limited playing time. He’s going to play on the third line with Dawson Mercer and on PP2. Dougie Hamilton has quietly put together a point-per-game season and should be in the conversation among the best fantasy defensemen. The Wild are a wounded animal with three straight losses. They can’t score, they haven’t defended very well, and their goaltending has been shaky. The only other thing worth noting is Calen Addison has really become a top-notch streaming option for power-play points from a defenseman. He does almost nothing else otherwise in fantasy. BLACKHAWKS AT JETS, 10 P.M. ET The Jets have had a lengthy break and should be really fresh. Even if you think they’ll be a little rusty coming off a long break, this is Chicago we’re talking about. Note there’s a chance Mason Appleton returns to the lineup but will likely skate on the fourth line to start. PENGUINS AT KINGS, 10:30 P.M. ET Dustin Tokarski might get the start, so he’s a streaming option for fantasy managers who need it, though there’s a chance Casey DeSmith gets the start again after seeing so little work against the Ducks last night. DeSmith also posted a 41-save overtime win against the Avs in the game prior, and even though there’s no telling what kind of performance he’ll have, Mike Sullivan might just ride the hot hand. No matter how much the Kings play Quinton Byfield on the top line, he just hasn’t had that breakout game. His production’s far too low to be a streaming option. Also, all eyes should be on Kevin Fiala, who is notoriously good in the second half, and fantasy managers might want to target him in trades as the deadline approaches. SUNDAY OILERS AT CANADIENS, 12:30 P.M ET The first of four matinees before the Super Bowl, the Oilers should have no problems with this one. Both teams are playing the second half of a back-to-back, but the Oilers should have a distinct advantage because both of their goalies are playing well. KRAKEN AT FLYERS, 1 P.M. ET Felix Sandstrom is expected to start if Carter Hart starts on Saturday. Sandstrom returned to be the backup even though Samuel Ersson seemed to be far more effective. Over his past three starts, Sandstrom has allowed 12 goals, which means this might be an explosive night for the Kraken offense. SHARKS AT CAPITALS, 1:30 P.M. ET The Sharks are coming off a two-day break, and kudos to them – their two previous games were at least pretty close, even though they were outmatched. It’s the final game for the Sharks’ eight-game road trip, and they’ve been better in the second leg of the trip with a 2-1-0 record. I imagine they’ll want to head home on a high note while the Caps have really struggled lately. DUCKS AT GOLDEN KNIGHTS, 3 P.M. ET The Knights put on a clinic in their last game, and Paul Cotter is a good streaming option playing with Jack Eichel on the top line. Though Vegas is shorthanded without some key players, they should be able to dominate the Ducks, who are the worst defensive team in the league.
