Fantasy Hockey Roundup: Matthews, Nylander Stun Avalanche While Fowler Shuts Out Red Wings

Saturday is one of the best nights of the week for hockey, and this one featured a loaded 14-game slate with almost every team in action. It produced breakout games, surprising upsets and offensive outbursts nobody saw coming.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to have a tough time with the defending Presidents' Trophy winner, the Colorado Avalanche. Behind big nights from William Nylander and Auston Matthews, Toronto pulled off a shocking upset with six goals against a Colorado defense that was the league's best last season.

Elsewhere, goals were harder to come by in the Red Wings-Canadiens and Stars-Penguins games both stayed nearly scoreless for most of the night and ended in shootouts, with Detroit and Montreal not scoring until the shootout with few fantasy managers benefitting.

With offense surging in so many games, plenty of netminders held things down and hopefully delivered elite numbers for your fantasy squad. Jakub Dobeš was one of our favorite bust candidates heading into the season, and we admitted backup Jacob Fowler had the talent to slowly overtake him in the crease. 

Fowler made a solid case Saturday, stopping all 30 shots against a hungry Red Wings team for a shutout. He may be worth a look on the waiver wire if he is still available in your league. At the other end, Daniil Tarasov was also stellar, stopping 30 shots before the game went to a shootout, where Detroit couldn't help its backup earn a shutout.

Minnesota's Jesper Wallstedt also shined, making 29 saves and allowing one goal in a dominant win over the Florida Panthers. Karel Vejmelka, Carter Hart, Tristan Jarry, Jake Allen, Jeremy Swayman and Arturs Silovs each had a strong night as well, allowing just one goal.

The Maple Leafs have had their share of breakout games this season, but nobody expected another big showing against the league's best defense from a year ago. Nylander and Matthews each scored twice, helping Toronto look like a playoff contender once again. Nylander also added three assists, and Matthews finished with two.

It was a quiet night for defenseman Darren Raddysh, who is coming off a near point-per-game season but he has yet to find his footing in Toronto, with points in just two of his first six games.

Florida had five forwards who went inside the top 100 in most fantasy drafts, and none of them is currently inside the top 125 players. After a brutal season a year ago, the Panthers haven't bounced back despite major additions like Brady Tkachuk and Jacob Markstrom.

Brady, who went inside the top 25 in most leagues, is still without a point and his brother Matthew has been one of the team's few bright spots with three goals and an assist but hasn't played up to his draft stock either. 

Sam Reinhart is also pointless, and defensemen Seth Jones and Aaron Ekblad, both expected to break out, have one point each. Nearly everyone predicted a major rebound for Florida, so the hope is you didn't invest too heavily in the Cats.

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