This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
The start of this season has featured a number of interesting storylines, but I'd like to take a couple paragraphs here to discuss two in particular.
Let's start with Les Habs de Montreal. The beginning of this season has offered a healthy dose of déjà vu for Canadiens fans – they're off to a red-hot start (5-0-1) thanks to excellent goaltending and an offense that's firing on all cylinders, highlighting just how crucial strong play in net can be to facilitating a potent attack on the other end. It's not quite the same as last season, though – superstar goalie Carey Price has started just three games, as his extended bout of the flu caused backup Al Montoya to take the first three. Still, Montoya has offered crucial veteran stability between the pipes that the Habs desperately needed (and didn't get) from Mike Condon last season. Remember, Montreal's offense was hot early last year too – it wasn't until Price went down that it petered out. After getting pilloried over the summer for the unpopular offseason trade of P.K. Subban to Nashville for Shea Weber, GM Marc Bergevin looks like a genius so far, as Weber leads the team with seven points and an NHL-best plus-10 rating. Returning Alexander Radulov (five points in six games) to the NHL from Russia is proving to be a pretty smooth move, too.
Montreal owns the NHL's best goal differential at plus-13; meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks, we find the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Penguins, whose minus-6 is the worst in the Eastern Conference. There's a simple answer to the Pens' early mediocrity, of course: That Sidney Crosby fellow has been missing in action due to his latest concussion, and I've heard he's pretty good. The other problem in the Steel City is that young stud goalie Matt Murray (hand), so crucial to this spring's Cup run, has been sidelined as well; in his absence, veteran Marc-Andre Fleury has been quite inconsistent while drawing the first six starts of the season. But in a positive development for Pittsburgh fans, the captain practiced in full Monday and is now in the day-to-day category – and Murray, too, has been back at practice. A Tuesday season debut seems like it'd be pushing it for either player, but Thursday's game against the Islanders appears a realistic target for Crosby; Murray's return shouldn't be far behind.
Let's get into Tuesday's matchups.
Featured Matchups
Lightning (PP:6, PK:7) at Maple Leafs (PP:5, PK:12), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Ben Bishop (2-1-0, 3.69, .861), Frederik Andersen (1-0-3, 3.63, .879)
Key Injuries:Ryan Callahan (hip), Josh Leivo (lower body), Joffrey Lupul (abdomen)
The Leafs have been just this close to winning in pretty much every game, only to be repeatedly done in by Andersen's struggles in net. Bishop, meanwhile, has been less than himself early on, but the Bolts have been winning anyway (thanks in no small part to backup Andrei Vasilevskiy, who's hot on his heels). Of course, the big storyline in this game is the return of Steven Stamkos to Toronto for his first game since he decided to sign back with Tampa rather than signing with his hometown club. Prepare for boos to rain down while Stammer steps up and hotshot Leafs rookies Auston Matthews and William Nylander (the latter of whom is still quite cheap in DFS) show they're ready to keep pace. This game could see a lot of scoring, so make sure you get a piece of those elite players (even if it's just a linemate) in your fantasy lineups.
Hurricanes (PP:4, PK:10) at Red Wings (PP:8, PK:24), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Ward (0-1-1, 3.97, .852), Petr Mrazek (2-2-0, 3.03, .912)
Key Injuries:Ryan Murphy (lower body), Jeff Skinner (undisclosed), Tomas Jurco (back), Niklas Kronwall (knee)
This is as soft an opponent as Mrazek could ask for, and after a couple ugly games early on, he enters Tuesday feeling good after posting two straight victories. The Hurricanes have never done much against the young Czech – he's 3-1-0 with a 1.51 GAA and .956 save mark in four games against them – and their lack of offseason upgrades offers little promise of changing that storyline. Carolina's defense is terrible, so I'm picking this as the night that Dylan Larkin (no goals and just one point despite 17 shots) and Tomas Tatar (one goal and one assist despite 18 shots) break through with big efforts. Gustav Nyquist has been red hot in a top-line role early on and makes for a highly appealing DFS play, as his price hasn't yet caught up to his ongoing breakout.
Flames (PP:25, PK:23) at Blues (PP:7, PK:2), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Chad Johnson (1-1-1, 2.89, .901), Carter Hutton (1-0-0, 2.00, .943)
Key Injuries:Dmitrij Jaskin (back), Jori Lehtera (upper body)
The Flames are suddenly riding high as they hit the back end of back-to-backs, with ex-Blue Brian Elliott having unexpectedly stifled the Blackhawks on Monday. Elliott won't start against his old mates, though, as Calgary's expected to instead utilize Johnson even though St. Louis slammed him for five goals over the weekend; that's not a final decision, though, so check back to confirm. Johnny Gaudreau is currently about as cheap as you'll ever see him in DFS, and with Hutton set to start rather than No. 1 netminder Jake Allen, this makes for an intriguing bust-out opportunity; same goes for T.J. Brodie. On the Blues' side of things, it's a nice night to roll out an underpriced Jaden Schwartz in daily formats, and I continue to be intrigued by the upside and opportunity of Robby Fabbri.
Other Matchups
Wild (PP:28, PK:3) at Bruins (PP:25, PK:10), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Devan Dubnyk (2-1-1, 2.51, .912), Tuukka Rask (3-0-0, 1.68, .947)
Key Injuries:Anton Khudobin (undisclosed), Kevan Miller (hand), Tuukka Rask (undisclosed), Frank Vatrano (foot), Victor Bartley (triceps), Erik Haula (lower body), Jared Spurgeon (upper body)
Brad Marchand got held off the scoresheet for the first time this season over the weekend; do you dare to bet on that happening twice in a row? David Pastrnak surprisingly still offers DFS players a major opportunity – he's fired a highly helpful (and easily team-leading) 21 shots on goal already to go with his seven points and plus-9 rating. Brandon Carlo still makes for an interesting bottom-dollar blueliner. I don't buy this early Eric Staal success.
Coyotes (PP:23, PK:17) at Devils (PP:15, PK:4), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Louis Domingue (0-4-0, 5.03, .851), Cory Schneider (2-2-1, 1.80, .943)
Key Injuries:Jamie McGinn (upper body), Mike Smith (lower body), Luke Gazdic (foot), Jon Merrill (finger)
You've heard of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object – well, this game is more like a stoppable force meeting a movable object. The Coyotes have the league's most generous defense in the early going, allowing 4.16 goals per game through their first five; maybe that means this is finally the night that Taylor Hall & Co. manage to score more than two goals in support of Schneider. If Domingue can't stop this punchless Jersey offense, Justin Peters might end up in the No. 1 netminder role by default.
Panthers (PP:23, PK:9) at Penguins (PP:10, PK:17), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:James Reimer (0-0-1, 2.77, .893), Marc-Andre Fleury (3-2-1, 3.30, .904)
Key Injuries:Nick Bjugstad (hand), Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Jussi Jokinen (knee), Sidney Crosby (concussion), Kris Letang (upper body), Matt Murray (hand), Derrick Pouliot (undisclosed), Conor Sheary (eye)
Crosby and Murray most likely won't be back for this one, and with Letang missing too, the Panthers have a golden opportunity to build on the early success they've managed despite lacking three key pieces of their own in Huberdeau, Bjugstad and now Jokinen. This is just Reimer's second start of the season.
Sabres (PP:12, PK:6) at Flyers (PP:13, PK:22), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Anders Nilsson (season debut), Michal Neuvirth (1-0-0, 4.24, .854)
Key Injuries:Jack Eichel (ankle), Evander Kane (ribs), Robin Lehner (illness), Michael Del Zotto (lower body), Scott Laughton (knee), Michael Raffl (abdomen), Dale Weise (suspension)
Nilsson has a golden opportunity to prove himself, but the Flyers aren't usually an easy draw for a goalie even though they're on the second of back-to-backs; you're better off deploying Buffalo skaters against the Philadelphia defense, which has struggled early in front of both Neuvirth and Steve Mason. Claude Giroux's got a five-game point streak going and is a good bet to build on it.
Jets (PP:25, PK:29) at Stars (PP:18, PK:19), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Michael Hutchinson (1-1-0, 4.00, .887), Antti Niemi (1-0-0, 4.83, .873)
Key Injuries:Cody Eakin (knee), Patrick Eaves (lower body), Ales Hemsky (groin), Jiri Hudler (illness), Mattias Janmark (knee), Patrick Sharp (concussion), Jason Spezza (undisclosed), Bryan Little (lower body)
If there were ever a time for the Jets to take advantage of the Stars, this is it – after Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, there's not much to see in this offense right now. In the event Spezza can't go Tuesday (and it doesn't look great), Brett Ritchie could step in as the top-line right winger alongside the Stars' two studs.
Senators (PP:29, PK:26) at Canucks (PP:21, PK:16), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Craig Anderson (3-1-0, 3.66, .886), Ryan Miller (1-1-0, 1.94, .935)
Key Injuries:Clarke MacArthur (concussion), Alex Burrows (neck), Derek Dorsett (shoulder), Chris Tanev (undisclosed)
Vancouver's Brandon Sutter looks like he's found that extra gear – at least for as long as he can stay on the ice. He's tied for the team lead in scoring. Fellow Canuck Alex Edler seems due for more rewards after firing 16 shots on net (six of those on Sunday) this year, but only notching a single point (a goal). Meanwhile, Ottawa's Mike Hoffman has ripped 23 shots without a goal; that should balance out as well. Dion Phaneuf hasn't played nearly as badly as his zero points and minus-5 rating would imply.
Ducks (PP:19, PK:14) at Sharks (PP:19, PK:19), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:John Gibson (2-2-1, 2.64, .891), Martin Jones (2-3-0, 2.86, .891)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Rickard Rakell (personal)
Neither of these teams is off to a rip-roaring start, and both can blame some of that on the inconsistencies of their goalies. I'm chasing the star skaters (especially a too-cheap Joe Thornton) and looking elsewhere in net Tuesday.
Blue Jackets (PP:2, PK:5) at Kings (PP:14, PK:25), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Sergei Bobrovsky (2-2-0, 2.28, .935), Peter Budaj (2-0-0, 2.47, .889)
Key Injuries:Ryan Murray (upper body), Marian Gaborik (foot), Jonathan Quick (groin), Jeff Zatkoff (lower body)
The Kings have a severe issue in goal with Quick and Zatkoff hurting, and though their offense has bailed them out thus far, Bobrovsky has been stunningly good early on behind a Jackets crew that's been impressive on special teams. Zach Werenski has opened the season with a four-game point streak on the top pairing and makes for an appetizing lineup option, but I'm wary of the high prices for many of the other featured Jackets.
Recommended Pickup
Artturi Lehkonen, LW, MON – If you believe, as I do, that the confluence of opportunity and shot-taking leads to fantasy value, here's your guy. Widely available across the fantasy universe, Lehkonen has ripped 19 shots on goal in six games, netting two goals, an assist and a plus-2 rating in the process. He hasn't found his way into too much in the way of power-play chances yet despite ostensibly skating on the second unit, but those minutes will be coming his way. He notched season highs in both ice time (15:49) and power-play time (1:42) in Monday's game against the Flyers, and his secure second-line assignment means steady usage moving forward. What the 21-year-old Finn lacks in size, he makes up for with offensive skill and a willingness to get his hands dirty in the corners. Get in ahead of the rush that'll come after his inevitable breakout game.
