Igor Shesterkin started the season opener but they will turn to Georgiev in the rematch vs. the Islanders. The 24-year-old netminder was 17-14-2 with a 3.04 GAA and .910 SV% in 34 appearances a year ago. If he doesn't improve on those numbers in 2020, Shesterkin will get a very large portion of the starts. Georgiev faced the Islanders four times last year, going 3-1-0 with a 2.81 GAA and .920 SV%.
Grubauer gave up four goals on 32 shots in Colorado's 4-1 loss to the Blues on opening night. Despite the tough season debut, the Avalanche will go right back to Grubauer in the rematch on Friday. He was 9-6-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .914 SV% on home-ice last season and should be able to get back on track despite the difficult matchup.
Grubauer gave up four goals on 32 shots in Colorado's 4-1 loss to the Blues on opening night. Despite the tough season debut, the Avalanche will go right back to Grubauer in the rematch on Friday. He was 9-6-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .914 SV% on home-ice last season and should be able to get back on-track despite the difficult matchup.
Kapanen remains in quarantine so he will not be available Friday in Philadelphia but barring any setbacks, head coach Mike Sullivan expects to have him back "fairly soon." Evan Rodrigues will remain on the Penguins' top line with Kapanen still out.
Jarry surrendered six goals on 25 shots in the Penguins loss in Philadelphia on Wednesday. It was a tough start to the season for the 25-year-old, who the Penguins are entrusting as their No.1 netminder this season. They will go right back to him in a rematch with the Flyers, who he is 4-2-0 with an .885 SV% against in his career.
Forsberg was originally claimed off of waivers by the Hurricanes as insurance before they waived Alex Nedeljkovic but with Nedeljkovic clearing, they no longer needed Forsberg. Winnipeg lost Eric Comrie on waivers last week, so Forsberg fills their No.3 goalie hole.
Frederik Andersen started the first two games of the season but the Maple Leafs will turn to Campbell in the second game of a back-to-back in Ottawa. After coming over from LOs Angeles mid-season, Campbell went 3-2-1 with a 2.63 GAA and .915 SV% in six starts. The Senators gave the Maple Leafs fits last night but Campbell is still a solid streaming option if you need help in the first week.
Andersen allowed four goals on 32 shots in the Maple Leafs 5-4 overtime win over the Canadiens on opening night. It wasn't Andersen's sharpest performance but the Maple Leafs' high-powered offence was enough to overcome it. Tonight he takes on a Senators team that is improved in 2021 but still represent a solid matchup for Andersen.
Ullmark went 17-14-3 with a 2.69 GAA and .915 SV%. His numbers improved drastically from 2019 and it appeared he would take on a larger role in 2021. However, Carter Hutton had a strong training camp and started the first game of the season, suggesting this could still be a tight timeshare. The 27-year-old Ullmark was 11-5-1 with a 2.54 GAA and .919 SV% in 17 starts on home-ice a season ago.
Staal took an elbow to the jaw from Nic Dowd on Thursday and did not return to the game. Head coach Ralph Krueger did not have an update on Staal postgame but called him day-to-day and they'll see "how he is in the morning." It seems unlikely that Staal will suit up for the second game of the season which would likely mean more minutes for Cody Eakin or rookie Dylan Cozens.
Schenn had to sit out the Lightning's season opener due to salary cap reasons but will play Friday vs. the Blackhawks. The Lightning did not announce who he will replace but it will most likely be rookie Cal Foote.
Johnson had to sit out the Lighting's season opener due to salary cap reasons but will play Friday vs. the Blackhawks. Johnson will reclaim his spot on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn, pushing Mathieu Jospeh to the fourth line and making Alexander Volkov a scratch.
Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots in the Lightning's season-opening win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday. A late, fluky goal snapped his shutout but it was still a nice start to the season for Fantasy's No.1 netminder. With another matchup with Chicago on-tap, Vasilevskiy is an obvious must-start and should move to 2-0 to start the season.
Hoffman missed the Blues' season opener due to visa issues but will play tonight vs. the Avalanche. Oskar Sundqvist thrived in Hoffman's role in the opener, so there's certainly optimism that Hoffman can produce on a line with Robert Thomas and Jaden Schwartz this season.
After five years with the Penguins, Murray was traded to the Senators this offseason and he's expected to take on a heavy workload as their No.1. Murray had a couple of terrific seasons in Pittsburgh but is coming off of an ugly 2020 campaign, where he had a 2.87 GAA and .899 SV%. Tonight he'll face a Maple Leafs team that averaged 3.67 goals per game in three games vs. the Senators a season ago.
White, who played most of last season as the Senators' No.1 centre, has plummeted down the depth chart during training camp. According to head coach DJ Smith, there are "four centres ahead of him that had good camps." Those four centres are Josh Norris, newcomer Derek Stepan, Chris Tierney and Artem Anisimov.
Quick went 16-22-4 with a 2.79 GAA and .904 SV% in 42 starts in 2020. It was a much improved effort from his .888 SV% in the previous campaign but given the talent-level in Los Angeles, it seems unlikely he'll ever return to being a reliable fantasy option. If you play the matchups right, he can be serviceable and tonight looks like one of those matchups.
Following a late-season trade to the Golden Knights, Lehner went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 GAA and .940 SV%. He didn't miss a beat in the NHL's return to play, taking over as Vegas' No.1 and going 9-7 with a 1.99 GAA and .917 SV%. Entering 2021 he's clearly the lead dog in Vegas but it remains to be seen just how large of a start share he's going to command.
