On every game day this season, THN Fantasy will highlight players and goalies for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. The recommended players and goalies are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues and can be selected in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.
13 games on Saturday, March 1
* = confirmed
Juuse Saros, NSH at Ilya Sorokin, NYI (12:30 p.m. ET)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at Logan Thompson, WSH (12:30 p.m. ET)
Dan Vladar, CGY at Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (3 p.m. ET)
Joonas Korpisalo, BOS at Joel Blomqvist, PIT (3 p.m. ET)
Cam Talbot, DET* at Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ (6 p.m. ET)
Jakub Dobes, MTL* at Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, BUF (7 p.m. ET)
Vitek Vanecek, SJ at Linus Ullmark, OTT (7 p.m. ET)
Stuart Skinner, EDM at Frederik Andersen, CAR (7 p.m. ET)
Samuel Ersson, PHI at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (7 p.m. ET)
David Rittich, LA at Jordan Binnington, STL (8 p.m. ET)
Nico Daws, NJ at Karel Vejmelka, UTA* (9 p.m. ET)
Petr Mrazek, CHI at Lukas Dostal, ANA (10 p.m. ET)
Kevin Lankinen, VAN at Joey Daccord, SEA (10 p.m. ET)
Goalies
Lukas Dostal, ANA vs. CHI (40% rostered)
Yes, please. Dostal has generally been really good, and while both teams have languished near the bottom of the standings for most of the season, there’s zero question the Ducks are the better team at this point. This is a potential revenge game for Dostal, who lost to the Hawks on Nov. 3 even though the Ducks outshot them, 40-29, and only lost because Arvid Soderblom made 38 saves and stole the game.
I run the risk of being overconfident – John Gibson’s also an option if he’s recovered from illness – but I think the Ducks get the win here with a good chance that Dostal (or Gibson) provide a good save percentage. The Hawks scored five goals against the Knights in their last game but their offense has been generally ineffective all season. When you're counting on Andreas Athanasiou to jumpstart your offense, you're in big, big trouble.
Elvis Merzlikins. © Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ vs. DET (37% rostered)
Cam Talbot will get another crack at beating the Jackets while Merzlikins is tasked with keeping the Jackets’ three-game winning streak alive in this year’s Stadium Series. Sweeps in home-and-home series are so seldom these days, and the two teams are evenly matched; NHL.com’s odds has them at -110 apiece, meaning there is no favorite nor underdog.
Merzlikins definitely has a chance to win this game, but he’ll once again need the Jackets offense to thrive. There’s a good chance that happens, so I like his odds despite his pedestrian play. I suspect this will be a high-scoring game and the Wings may come out firing after Todd McLellan called out his captain publicly in their previous game.
History is on the Red Wings’ side, who are 2-0-2 in outdoor games while the Jackets play their first ever. However, the advantage is negligible; the Wings last played outdoors in 2017, and only one player on that team – captain Dylan Larkin – is still on the Wings today. The Jackets should get a big boost from their home crowd and I like Merzlikins getting the win here though I think he’ll allow at least a few goals.
Nico Daws, NJ at UTA (2% rostered)
Karel Vejmelka, UTA vs. NJ (32% rostered)
I like Vejmelka here. He’s earned his fourth straight start after allowing one goal in each of his past three starts, but this is his stiffest test. Utah has done a great job limiting shots and that will be the key to success here, and with a healthy blue line, they’ve looked good.
Daws is a wild card. Riddled with injuries over the past few seasons, he’s been excellent with just two goals allowed in two starts. Daws replaced Jake Allen late in their 5-1 loss to the Avs on Wednesday, and with a back-to-back, I think he gets this start while Allen gets the Knights on Sunday. The wrinkle is Jacob Markstrom is expected to be back soon, so this may be Daws’ last chance to get a start.
I like Vejmelka mostly due to Utah’s current hot streak but understand it’s a risk and the Devils won’t be easily shut out or defeated. I don’t mind going contrarian with Daws, and counterintuitively I would hesitate if Allen gets the start here because I think he's been worse than Daws lately.
Don’t look for a good save percentage since this is a more difficult matchup than what Vejmelka’s faced in his past three games, but I think Utah keeps rolling with the win. The Devils have alternated wins and losses in their past nine games – maybe they’re due for a win – but the takeaway is they’ve been very inconsistent.
Joel Blomqvist, PIT vs. BOS (1% rostered)
Joonas Korpisalo, BOS at PIT (11% rostered)
Blomqvist was great in relief in Thursday’s comeback win against the Flyers, and I suspect he’ll get this start. The Pens have a back-to-back but don’t read too much into this, but Blomqvist might have a chance to really eat into Alex Nedeljkovic’s playing time, who was irate after getting pulled on Thursday. Blomvqist has shown flashes of brilliance but he’s generally been unreliable.
The same could be said about Korpisalo and the struggling B’s, who have lost five straight. The Bruins have a back-to-back this weekend, too, and I think a clearly fatigued Jeremy Swayman gets a break before Sunday’s game. Note, too, that Korpisalo has been poor on the road (3-4-0, .860 SP) this season and other than a hot November (4-0-1, .933 SP) has a sub-.890 SP in all the other months.
This is a matinee and considering this game’s a toss-up between two unreliable goalies, I’m going to pass. If I had to pick, however, I’d go with the Penguins with either Nedeljkovic or Blomqvist in net. They’re far better at home (14-12-4) than on the road (10-16-5) and the Bruins are also awful on the road (9-15-3).
Jakub Dobes. © David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Jakub Dobes, MTL at BUF (12% rostered)
Since Dobes’ brilliant four-game winning streak, he ranks 47th in save percentage (.868) and 53rd in GAA (4.48) out of 54 goalies with at least three starts since Jan. 25. This start looks tempting but I’d put out a ton of caution; the Sabres are 6-2-0 in their past eight and I suspect this could be a really high-scoring game.
Even if you don’t mind the prospect of Dobes allowing a lot of goals, this is not an easy win. Despite being last in the East, the Sabres are 15-12-3 at home. There are better options than Dobes out there.
Dan Vladar, CGY at FLA (4% rostered)
What gives me a little hope is that Vladar has been very good in his past two starts, allowing just three goals in Seattle and D.C. What gives me a lot of pause, however, is the Flames’ woeful road record (11-12-4) and a matinee start where often games are even more difficult to predict than usual. The Flames don’t offer a ton of goal support, either, having scored three goals or less in 10 of their past 11 games dating back to Jan. 25. The Flames will be in Carolina on Sunday, so Vladar will either start that game or this game. Neither are good matchups for him.
Pass. Vladar’s been good lately but difficult to trust, and the Flames’ goal support is minimal.
Vitek Vanecek, SJ at OTT (3% rostered)
Who blinks first? Both teams are on losing streaks and both teams are having lots of trouble scoring. Vanecek has three wins in 18 starts and the Sharks have won just six times in 31 road games this season.
As poor as the Sens have been lately, this is the matchup that gets circled on the calendar for ending the losing streak. If Anton Forsberg gets the start for the Sens, I’m okay with him as streaming option.
David Rittich, LA at STL (10% rostered)
The second game of a back-to-back with travel and losing two straight, and now facing a Blues team on a three-game winning streak with a plus-10 goal differential? Start Rittich at your own peril.
Once in a while, Rittich will put in a good performance, but he’s also wildly unpredictable. With a surging Blues offense and expected starter Jordan Binnington carrying his strong play over from 4 Nations, I don’t think Rittich’s odds are very good here. Pass.