Holtby allowed two goals on 30 shots in the Capitals’ shootout loss to the Penguins on Thursday. Holtby played very well in his first start of the season, but gave up three shootout goals on four attempts. Holtby is one of fantasy’s best goalies and should be active whenever he starts. Tonight he gets the nod against an Islanders team that he was 3-0-1 with a 2.19 GAA and .918 SV% against a season ago.
Despite Ben Bishop practicing in the "starter's crease" this morning, head coach Jon Cooper said Vasilevskiy will start tonight vs. the Devils.Bishop had a rough night vs. the Red Wings on Thursday, so they will turn to Vasilevskiy, who draws a great matchup tonight vs. the Devils. Vasilevskiy comes in with an 18-15-1 record while posting a 2.60 GAA and .913 SV% in 40 career NHL games.
Bishop surrendered four goals on 32 shots in the Lightning’s 6-4 win over the Red Wings on Thursday. Bishop wasn’t at his best on Thursday, but did enough to earn his first win of the season. One of the goals was a bizarre dump-in that took a weird bounce off of the glass on-net and subsequently by Bishop. The Lightning netminder will have better nights and Saturday might be one of those nights with the Devils in town.
Folin was a healthy scratch in the Wild’s season opener but will draw in for Mike Reilly tonight. Folin was highly sought after coming-out of college a few years ago, but has yet to carve out a permeant role on the Wild blueline. Olin had four assists in 26 games a season ago.
Reilly played 14:09 and was a minus-1 in the Wild’s season opening loss in St. Louis and tonight he will come out of the lineup in favour of Christian Folin. It may be more of a reaction to their opponent than a knock on Reilly. The Jets are a heavy, physical team and it should be a game more suitable for Folin’s game.
Bobrovsky allowed five goals on 36 shots in the Blue Jackets’ opening night loss to the Bruins. Bobrovsky was peppered after the Blue Jackets took an early 2-0 lead and was unable to hold onto the lead. His teammates did not play well in front of him, so this can’t all be pinned on Bobrovsky, but it was an unsettling start to the season for his fantasy investors. Things won’t get any easier tonight with the Sharks in town.
The Sabres have been hit hard by injuries to start the season, losing both Jack Eichel and Evander Kane to week-to-week injuries and Baptiste is the first call-up from Rochester. Baptiste has never appeared in an NHL game, but had 28 points (13G / 15A) in 62 AHL games last year and one goal and one assist in Rochester’s season opener.
McGinn missed Friday’s practice, which makes him a question mark for the Coyotes’ season opener on Saturday. Monitor his status during the morning skate, but all signs are pointing towards him sitting this one out.
Price is battling with a severe case of the flu, accompanied by a fever. He has already been ruled out of Saturday’s game so the Canadiens put him on IR to enable them to recall someone from St. John’s (AHL). Price isn’t eligible to play before Monday, which is fine because the Canadiens’ next game after Saturday isn’t until Tuesday, Monitor Price’s status leading into next week.
Schwartz, who hyperextended his left elbow in practice back on September 29th, was originally expected to be re-evaluated in four weeks (end of October), skated today for the first time since suffering the injury. However, Schwartz remains on his original timetable, but it is still encouraging to see that he is making progress.
Quick was injured in Wednesday’s season opener and Zatkoff played the final two periods, stopping 15 of 16 shots (.938 SV%) in a 2-1 loss to the Sharks. Zatkoff will be a busy man with Quick expected to miss an extended period of time. The 29-year-old comes in with a career 2.64 GAA and .915 SV% in 36 NHL games.
Talbot allowed four goals on 41 shots in the Oilers win over the Flames on Wednesday. It wasn’t Talbot’s best showing or an ideal start to the season, but it was enough for him to secure his first victory of the year. The Flames were extremely sloppy defensively which led to seven Oilers’ goals. He will see Calgary again tonight, this time on the road. He was 9-11-5 with a 2.55 GAA and .919 SV% on the road a season ago.
Mrazek allowed five goals on 35 shots in the Red Wings’ 6-4 loss to the Lightning on Thursday. That stat line is no an accurate representation of how Mrazek played though. The 24-year-old made a number of highlight reel saves and if it weren’t for him, Detroit would have given up eight goals. Three of the five goals also came on the man advantage. Tonight he will face the Panthers, who he was 1-0-1 with a 0.99 GAA and .964 SV% against last season.
Rantanen battled an ankle injury throughout the preseason and is expected to go back to the AHL, as basically a conditioning stint, before he will likely return to the Avalanche when he’s back up to speed. The 19-year-old had 60 points (24G / 36A) in 52 games with San Antonio last season.
Burmistrov was a healthy scratch in the Jets’ season opener on Thursday, but it looks like he will draw in on Saturday after it was announced that fellow centre, Bryan Little is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. Burmistrov centred the third line with Shawn Matthias and Nikolaj Ehlers on his wing in Friday’s session. The 24-year-old had just 21 points (7G / 14A) in 81 games last year.
Sergachev made his NHL debut on Thursday, blocking two shots in 11:48 of ice time. With Jeff Petry (knee) expected to return to the lineup on Saturday, it looks like it will be the rookie Sergachev who will sit. If he can’t work his way back into the lineup, look for the Canadiens to send him back to the Windsor Spitfires (OHL).
Petry travelled with the team but didn’t play on Thursday, but he was back at practice on Friday and should be in the lineup on Saturday. Petry was practicing with Andrei Markov and will bump rookie Mikhail Sergachev from the lineup. Petry had 16 points (5G / 11A) in 51 games a season ago.
Rakell missed the first game of the season because of a contract holdout, but the Ducks were able to sign him to a six-year deal this afternoon. Rakell is imperative to the Ducks success as their second/third line centre. He is coming off of a career-year, having scored 20 goals with 23 assists (43 points) in 72 games.
Michal Neuvirth started the Flyers’ season opener on Friday, leaving Mason for tonight’s game in Arizona. A season ago, Mason was 23-19-10 with a 2.51 GAA and .918 SV% and is a solid start more often than not. Tonight he faces an Arizona team that he lost to last year. They are an extremely young team, so it’s hard to know what to expect from them. However you can do worse than Mason tonight.
