Nico Daws and the New Jersey Devils have a good chance of winning their second straight game.
Friday, March 1. Three-game slate.
* = confirmed or probable
Karel Vejmelka, ARI* at Anton Forsberg, OTT* (7 p.m. ET)
Samuel Ersson, PHI at Charlie Lindgren, WSH* (7 p.m. ET)
Nico Daws, NJ* at Lukas Dostal, ANA* (10 p.m. ET)
Streaming Options
( < 50% rostered on Yahoo, ranked by matchup)
Nico Daws, NJ at ANA (19% rostered)
The Devils had a two-day break in California and just blew away the Sharks, 7-2. They're inconsistent but still incredibly explosive, and I don't see a way how the Ducks can keep up, unless the Devils get sidetrack and forget how to play while they reminisce about the beaches. Daws will be going for his third straight win, and in a relatively easy matchup like this, he's an easy 'yes' as a streaming option.
Anton Forsberg, OTT vs. ARI (11% rostered)
The Sens are coming off a two-day break while the Coyotes are playing their second game in as many nights while mired in one of the worst losing streaks of the season in the league. Forsberg was pulled in his previous start, but previous to that had been excellent and even displaced Joonas Korpisalo as the starter. Korpisalo lost in their most recent game, which means Forsberg will likely get the call. This is a great streaming matchup and I don't see much downside, especially with the Coyotes missing Clayton Keller with an upper-body injury.
Editor's note: Korpisalo gets the start, leaving Forsberg with the more difficult start Saturday against the Flyers. I do like Korpisalo in this matchup against the awful Coyotes.
Editor's note #2: Korpisalo will miss his schedule start due to illness, meaning Forsberg gets the start. We shall see who the Sens go with tomorrow.
Samuel Ersson, PHI at WSH (45% rostered)
The Flyers waived and demoted Cal Petersen and called up Felix Sandström, but I suspect they will give Sandström the "easier" start at home on Saturday and start Ersson while he's red-hot and coming off a 6-2 win against the Lightning. The Caps have played in some high-scoring games lately so that gives me some pause, but the Flyers are generally quite stingy and neither Charlie Lindgren nor Darcy Kuemper have played particularly well. I like Ersson's chances of getting a win, which would be his second against the Caps this season.
If Sandström gets the start, I'd rather wait and see how well he does; his AHL numbers (11-6-2, .882 SP, 3.23 GAA) have not been good this season.
Lukas Dostal, ANA vs. NJ (5% rostered)
Dostal hasn't won since Jan. 27, a span of five appearances, though he did come in relief on Feb. 15 in a win against the Sens. With the Devils' offense potentially explosive and the Ducks playing their second game in two nights, things don't bode well for Dostal. This is also a revenge game for the Devils, who lost 5-1 in their previous meeting when they started Akira Schmid. It's unlikely the Ducks sweep the season series.
Karel Vejmelka, ARI at OTT (19% rostered)
Vejmelka has not won a single game after his four-game winning streak concluded on Dec. 27, and since then he's 0-8-0 with a .880 SP and 4.76 GAA. No wonder the Coyotes have gone with Connor Ingram most of the time. With a 13-game losing streak entering Thursday, and now in the second game of a back-to-back, the odds of an upset are low, even against the struggling Sens. At this point, Vejmelka has very little, if any, streaming value.