Bergeron missed the Bruins’ season opener with a lower-body injury and will be held out of tonight’s contest as well. His absence on Thursday didn’t seem to affect the Bruins much, as David Backes stepped in seamlessly. Bergeron remains day-to-day.
John Gibson struggled in the Ducks’ season opener, allowing four goals on 20 shots, so it looks like they will turn to Bernier tonight in Pittsburgh. Bernier was acquired from the Maple Leafs this offseason and is coming off of a dreadful year—he was 12-21-3 with a 2.88 GAA and .908 SV%. The 28-year-old will look to have a bounce-back year in Anaheim, but it will be tough to get off to a good start tonight in Pittsburgh.
Despres missed the third period of Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury. There is no word how Despres suffered the injury, but it could be related to the concussion problems that he dealt with last season. Consider him day-to-day with an undisclosed upper-body injury until more information is available.
Barzal sat out of the Islanders’ season opener, but will draw into the lineup on Saturday. Barzal will centre the third line with Ryan Strome on his right wing and Anders Lee on the left. Barzal is also expected to play on the Islanders’ top power-play unit.
Fleury was outstanding in the Penguins’ season opener, stopping 39 of 41 shots in a shootout win over the Capitals. With Matt Murray sidelined, Fleury is getting a chance to re-solidify himself as the Penguins’ No.1 option. He will get another chance tonight with a sub-par Ducks team coming to town. Fleury was 12-9-2 with a 2.49 GAA and .919 SV% vs. the Western Conference last year.
Jaroslav Halak started the Islanders’ season opener in New York, but they will turn to Greiss in Game No.2 in Washington. While Halak battled injury in 2015-16, Greiss stepped up, going 23-11-4 with a 2.36 GAA and .925 SV% in 41 games. As impressive as Greiss was, his matchup tonight couldn’t be much worse. He will get his starts this year and he will make for good fantasy starts sometimes, but tonight isn’t one of those times.
Andersen surrendered five goals on 30 shots in the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Senators on opening night. Andersen has struggled to start his Maple Leafs career and his struggles cost the Maple Leafs the win on a night where rookie Auston Matthews scored four goals in front of him. He will look for a better result tonight against a Boston team that put up a six-spot on the Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Luongo turned aside 23 of the 24 shots that he faced in the Panthers’ overtime win over the Devils on Thursday. Tonight he will face the Red Wings, as he looks to notch his 438th career victory and take sole possession of sixth all-time on the wins list. Luongo was 2-1-0 with a 2.65 GAA and .918 SV% against Detroit last year.
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.
