This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Sunday's games were strange. They lacked the pizzazz of Saturday's bonanza of games, including Toronto's number retirements followed by Mitch Marner's first NHL goal.Sunday, Randy Carlyle's Anaheim Ducks someone managed to stick with the New York Islanders despite not taking a single shot in the first 10 minutes and only registering three in the first period. They came back to life in the second and managed to force an overtime, but it was a dreary affair at times.
In Edmonton, Kyle Okposo scored a goal in his Sabres debut. Buffalo took the game 6-2 on a strange game-winner. It came off the stick of Ryan O'Reilly, who had a four-point night. He just lobbed the puck toward Cam Talbot from center ice. It didn't even take a funny hop, but Talbot misplayed it into the go-ahead goal and ultimately the winner.
Monday should provide a little more entertainment, with a couple of high-powered offenses hitting the ice.
Sharks (PP: N/A, PK: N/A) at Rangers (PP: N/A, PK: N/A), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (37-23-4, 2.27, .918), Henrik Lundqvist (35-21-7, 2.48, .92)
Key Injuries:Dan Girardi (hip), Kevin Klein (back), Oscar Lindberg (hip)
We're still waiting to see if the Rangers' forward youth can make a difference this season. They could be loaded with surprise fantasy players who are available in season-long formats and are currently cheap in daily formats. But it's hard at this point to predict exactly how productive players like Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich, or even Mika Zibanejad and Brandon Pirri, will be. Their roles are coalescing. It's something to keep an eye on.
However, we do know that the blue line in New York is a mess. Though no one is proposing that Dan Girardi is an All-Star, the Rangers are without him and Kevin Klein, limiting the options on an already emaciated blue line. Henrik Lundqvist is still one of the world's best goaltenders, so it's not a feeding frenzy for Sharks forwards, but there's no reason to sit guys on the Sharks just because they're facing The King.
Avalanche (PP: N/A, PK: N/A) at Penguins (PP: N/A, PK: N/A), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Calvin Pickard (7-6-1, 2.56, .922), Marc-Andre Fleury (35-17-6, 2.29, .921)
Key Injuries:John Mitchell (hip), Mikko Rantanen (ankle), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Matt Murray (hand), Bryan Rust (undisclosed)
This has the potential to be the most exciting game of the night. The Penguins are the reason everyone is talking about speed around the NHL and Colorado can play that style of game.
Things went well in coach Jared Bednar's debut Saturday. At least, they went well from a fantasy perspective as long as you didn't start Semyon Varlamov. The Avs took a 6-5 win. They're going to give up a lot of shots with a thin blue line, but their offense is going to be explosive. They've got a lot of offensive firepower with guys like Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Barrie, and Erik Johnson. That first game indicated that there might be fringe benefits of that explosiveness for deeper fantasy selections like Mikhail Grigorenko, Joe Colborne, Nikita Zadorov, Carl Soderberg, and defenders who are able to move the puck.
It could be a gong show in Pittsburgh, considering that both teams are capable of putting up great offensive numbers and neither boast the most responsible defensive units. The only players that you might consider sitting are goaltenders here, especially with Varlamov being given the night off. Calvin Pickard is promising, but it's his first start of the year against the defending champions.
Senators (PP: N/A, PK: N/A) at Red Wings (PP: N/A, PK: N/A), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Craig Anderson (31-23-5, 2.78, .916), Petr Mrazek (27-16-6, 2.33, .921)
Key Injuries:Tomas Jurco (back), Niklas Kronwall (knee), Clarke MacArthur (concussion)
On a busier night, this game might get swept aside for more exciting contests. The Red Wings defense is atrocious and recent moves haven't made the team more exciting. While the spent the summer signing guys like Steve Ott, who has never been referred to as a fantasy hockey powerhouse, they've given up players with offensive skill on waivers for nothing, with both Martin Frk and Teemu Pulkkinen getting claimed. The fantasy options are few on the Red Wings roster. Dylan Larkin and some other young pieces like Andreas Athanasiou are exciting to watch, but Detroit's lack of depth may put a cap on their production.
For the Senators, they're largely the team they are every night: The depth isn't there and you know the skaters who have the potential to tear open a game. Their names are Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman, and Mark Stone. You hope Derick Brassard, Bobby Ryan, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Kyle Turris can be there as well, but there aren't many sure things on this roster.
Bruins (PP: N/A, PK: N/A) at Jets (PP: N/A, PK: N/A), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Tuukka Rask (31-22-8, 2.56, .915), Connor Hellebuyck (13-11-1, 2.34, .918)
Key Injuries:Patrice Bergeron (lower body), Adam McQuaid (abdomen), Kevan Miller (hand), Tuukka Rask (undisclosed), Frank Vatrano (foot), Bryan Little (lower body)
The options on the Bruins are a little limited in the continued absence of Patrice Bergeron. That's too bad because that top line with Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak was outrageously good in their first outing together. For the time being, David Backes is centering that line. He's no Bergeron, but Marchand and Pastrnak aren't being given an incompetent center. Plus, Backes's career in Boston has started off with a bang. He has three points in two games. The value of those top-line wingers doesn't fall much with Backes up there. Though, the depth chart is shallow enough that it impacts the rest of the lineup. David Krejci is centering former University of Denver star Danton Heinen and Ryan Spooner. Matt Beleskey gets Austin Czarnik at center. It's not dire, but it's not pretty.
It's a similar, though less bleak situation in Winnipeg with Bryan Litle out. The top line featuring Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele isn't impacted. Everyone else kind of takes a hit due to lineup shuffling. However, that situation really isn't as bad because Winnipeg has solid defensemen capable of moving the puck out of the defensive zone. Boston, not so much.
Recommended Pickup
Carl Soderberg, C, COL — Don't sleep on Soderberg. Yes, he's a year older and has always kind of been older than you'd guess because he was a late bloomer. Right now, he's climbed the depth chart, centering the second line with Matt Duchene on the wing. If coach Bednar's systems give Duchene the space he needs, it could be a season where Duchene truly shows that he's one of the best forwards in the league. Soderberg could be a beneficiary of that. He's also getting time on the team's second power-play unit, opening up the possibility of some extra points on special teams.
