This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Well, Christmas is over, and I hope you enjoyed a nice little break from work, as the NHL did. Does anyone else think it's funny that Christmas doesn't have the same reputation as Thanksgiving as far as face-stuffing goes? The meal is basically identical – maybe even bigger. We've got to give Christmas the credit it deserves for making us fat.
As a nice post-Christmas present, hardcore fans and prospectors get to watch the World Junior Championship, which kicked off Monday with wins by the United States, Canada, Sweden and the Czech Republic. Check out our preview article to get some background as well as an idea of players to watch in the tournament, which will have games every day (except New Year's Day) through Jan. 5. It's a great time to get a look at some prospects who may only be names to you right now.
Anyway, the NHL is back with a 10-game Tuesday slate of hockey action that should feature plenty of offense. Let's leap into it.
Featured Matchups
Penguins (PP: 5, PK: 23) at Devils (PP: 22, PK: 11), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Matt Murray (13-3-1, 2.14, .928), Cory Schneider (10-11-5, 2.86, .905)
Key Injuries:Jacob Josefson (concussion), Trevor Daley (upper body), Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body), Kris Letang (lower body), Olli Maatta (undisclosed)
Owners of the NHL's top offense thanks in no small part to Sidney Crosby's seemingly guaranteed daily presence on the scoresheet, the Penguins draw a Devils team that's lost its identity. The Devils used to make their bacon by severely limiting opponents' shots, but they're giving up the seventh-most on a per-game basis this year (31.7), and the result has been a bad year for Cory Schneider. In fact, the Pens just hung four goals on Schneider right before Christmas, and he's only beaten them three times in 10 career starts. Naturally, Crosby isn't the only red-hot Pittsburgher – most notably, Justin Schultz has a brilliant total of 16 points in his last 13 games, and he's stepped in as the Penguins' top offensive blueliner in Letang's absence. The DFS price still hasn't caught up to the production. Meanwhile, the Devils are offering fantasy owners next to nothing outside of Taylor Hall (who himself only has two points in the last seven games).
Sabres (PP: 4, PK: 30) at Red Wings (PP: 30, PK: 15), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Robin Lehner (7-10-5, 2.45, .921), Petr Mrazek (9-7-3, 3.06, .899)
Key Injuries:Tyler Ennis (groin), Ryan O'Reilly (abdomen), Justin Abdelkader (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion), Mike Green (upper body), Darren Helm (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (leg), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder)
This is an intriguing matchup, not least because we have the league's worst power play and the league's worst penalty kill facing one another. O'Reilly's out indefinitely (but probably about three or four weeks, based on prior experience) due to an appendectomy, which is a huge blow to a Sabres team that was just starting to find some flow on offense. However, the Wings are also reeling, as Howard's injury has left them with the struggling Mrazek in net – not a good thing to combine with the NHL's fourth-worst offense. Look for a big step-up game from Jack Eichel as he continues to put his stamp on the Sabres and makes up for O'Reilly's absence. Lehner makes for a great DFS value, as his price is quite low for how good this matchup looks. If there's anyone to like from the Detroit side in this game, I couldn't tell you who it might be.
Stars (PP: 20, PK: 27) at Coyotes (PP: 26, PK: 26), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Kari Lehtonen (7-10-3, 2.87, .897), Mike Smith (7-8-4, 2.74, .923)
Key Injuries:Dave Bolland (back), Jakob Chychrun (upper body), Max Domi (hand), Brad Richardson (leg), Cody Eakin (suspension), Ales Hemsky (hip), Mattias Janmark (knee), Stephen Johns (undisclosed), Antoine Roussel (upper body), Patrick Sharp (concussion)
Here we have two of the worst defenses you can ask for facing one another, which means plenty of opportunities for offense. The Coyotes are known for giving up tons of shots, which isn't a good look against a Stars offense that's underperformed, but has worlds of talent nonetheless. Blueliner John Klingberg has been warming up for Dallas, and he's got a DFS-friendly salary, but it's not a bad night to spend up for the Stars' biggest stars either – both Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have been looking good of late. The Arizona side is mostly fliers for fantasy purposes, with guys like Peter Holland and Christian Dvorak offering both upside and downside. It's well worth noting that the Stars have been a far worse defensive team on the road than at home.
Other Matchups
Capitals (PP: 14, PK: 6) at Islanders (PP: 27, PK: 24), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (15-7-3, 1.98, .929), Jaroslav Halak (5-8-5, 3.13, .907)
Key Injuries:Casey Cizikas (upper body), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Adam Pelech (upper body)
By all rights, this should be a romp for the Caps; maybe we'll even see Alex Ovechkin blow up after a pre-Christmas 13-game stretch in which he netted only a single multi-point performance. After all, the Isles have been the second-most-generous team to opposing shooters, giving up 33.2 per contest.
Senators (PP: 17, PK: 17) at Rangers (PP: 10, PK: 10), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Mike Condon (8-3-2, 2.26, .922), Antti Raanta (8-4-0, 2.17, .926)
Key Injuries:Pavel Buchnevich (back), Henrik Lundqvist (illness), Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (leg), Craig Anderson (personal), Andrew Hammond (ankle), Clarke MacArthur (concussion)
Condon has been stunningly good as the fill-in for Anderson, but the 26-year-old is due for regression, and it's quite reasonable to expect just that against a Rangers team that's looking to regain its stride on offense. Despite having given up nine goals in his last 94 minutes of play, Raanta has been excellent and should rebound in this game.
Bruins (PP: 28, PK: 3) at Blue Jackets (PP: 1, PK: 12), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Tuukka Rask (17-6-3, 1.87, .930), Sergei Bobrovsky (21-5-2, 1.88, .935)
Key Injuries:Matt Beleskey (knee), John-Michael Liles (concussion), David Clarkson (back)
It's incredible that these two goalies have such great numbers and yet are so far behind what prohibitive Vezina Trophy favorite Devan Dubnyk has done this year. This game probably won't feature a lot of offense.
Wild (PP: 18, PK: 4) at Predators (PP: 11, PK: 16), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Devan Dubnyk (17-6-3, 1.57, .948), Pekka Rinne (13-9-4, 2.49, .916)
Key Injuries:Victor Bartley (triceps), Erik Haula (lower body), Zach Parise (illness), Anthony Bitetto (upper body), Miikka Salomaki (lower body), P.K. Subban (upper body)
The Wild are looking for their 11th consecutive win, and it seems unlikely that the Preds will be the squad that stops them. Nashville's been writing the official book on falling just short of being a good team, while the Wild own the Western Conference's best goal differential – no surprise with Dubs in net.
Jets (PP: 23, PK: 28) at Blackhawks (PP: 16, PK: 29), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Connor Hellebuyck (12-11-1, 2.68, .910), Corey Crawford (12-6-3, 2.25, .927)
Key Injuries:Artem Anisimov (upper body), Marian Hossa (upper body), Tyler Myers (lower body), Brandon Tanev (undisclosed)
With these teams' horrendous penalty killing, we should be looking for some high-flying power-play action in this game. Anisimov is expected to return Tuesday after three games out of the lineup, but that's counterbalanced by the loss of Hossa for the Blackhawks. They've lost to Hellebuyck and the Jets twice already this year, with the young netminder allowing just one total goal in those outings.
Flames (PP: 15, PK: 19) at Avalanche (PP: 25, PK: 25), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Chad Johnson (13-7-1, 2.30, .922), Calvin Pickard (6-6-1, 2.72, .911)
Key Injuries:Erik Johnson (leg), Semyon Varlamov (groin)
The Avs have been the NHL's worst home team at 4-11-1, and the Flames come in with wins in seven of their last 10 games. Varlamov's status hasn't been announced yet, but either way, it's not shaping up well for Colorado. Pickard has had some stumbles in his attempt to seize playing time from the Russian veteran, though that can perhaps be attributed more to the team's struggles than his own.
Sharks (PP: 19, PK: 9) at Ducks (PP: 2, PK: 20), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (18-11-1, 2.08, .919), John Gibson (11-9-5, 2.62, .907)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Clayton Stoner (lower body), Tomas Hertl (knee)
Incredibly, Jones owns a 1.91 GAA and .925 save mark through 10 career starts against Anaheim, and yet he's lost seven of those games (all in regulation). He's beaten the Ducks once in three tries this year, and that was an overtime victory against Gibson back on Oct. 25. It's notable that San Jose has allowed the second-fewest shots per game this year (26.2), which offers some damage to Anaheim skaters' DFS upside.
Recommended Pickup
Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY – Keith's kid is having a solid rookie season, having netted 19 points in 32 games despite seeing only 14:24 of average ice time and only second-unit power-play minutes. He entered the break on a three-game point streak and has seven points in his last six contests – not to mention a plus-3 rating and 13 PIM. With his combination of offense and toughness, it's stunning that Tkatchuk isn't more widely owned; in fact, he's available in a massive number of fantasy formats. Time to change that.
