Pulock left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury after playing just 3:57 TOI in his season debut. Pulock was given a great opportunity with Nick Leddy out, but the injury forced him from the game and will force him to miss at least one month.
Schneider allowed two goals on 36 shots in the Devils loss in Boston on Thursday. Despite posting a strong 2.00 GAA and .938 SV%, Schneider is 1-2-1 in his first four starts of the season. It looks like he will face the Wild tonight—Minnesota comes in having won three in a row while outscoring their opponents 13-8.
Varlamov stopped all 27 shots that he faced in Colorado’s shutout win in Tampa Bay on Thursday. It was an excellent performance from the Russian netminder, who is now 2-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .916 SV% in three games this season. A tough matchup on Thursday didn’t seem to matter, but he draws another difficult matchup tonight in Florida. The Panthers are 2-1-1 and are averaging 2.75 goals per game.
Schneider allowed one goal on 24 shots in the Devils’ win over the Ducks on Tuesday. It was Schneider’s first win of the season, but that has been no fault of his own. Schneider is 1-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .935 SV% in three starts this season. Tonight he will face a Bruins team that has a terrible performance sandwiched in between two great games to start the year.
Reilly, 23, has not recorded a point in one game at both the NHL and AHL level. Tonight he is expected to draw back into the Wild lineup for Mathew Dumba. Reilly has a lot of offensive ability, but that has yet to translate into his NHL game.
Varlamov allowed three goals on 40 shots in Colorado’s loss in Washington on Tuesday. Varlamov has allowed a combined eight goals on 68 shots (.882 SV%) in his first two starts of the season and draws another tough matchup tonight in Tampa Bay. The Lightning are off to a 3-0-0 start to the season and are averaging an impressive 4.33 goals for per game.
Pulock has not appeared in an NHL game this season and has one assist in two games with Bridgeport. Pulock could draw into the lineup for his season debut on Friday.
Schneider allowed three goals on 34 shots in the Devils’ loss in Tampa Bay on Saturday. Schneider has started the year 0-1-1 with a 2.48 GAA and .926 SV% and will go for his first win of the year tonight vs. Anaheim. The Ducks are 0-2-1 while averaging just 2.00 goals per game, making it a nice matchup for Schneider.
Barzal played 10:10 during his NHL debut on Saturday, but he will come out of the lineup in favour of Alan Quine on Sunday.
Varlamov allowed five goals on 28 shots in Colorado’s win over the Stars on Saturday. Calvin Pickard got the nod last night, but they will come back to Varlamov tonight in Washington. The Avalanche are off to a 2-0-0 start to the season, but draw a tough matchup on the tail-end of a back-to-back. Varlamov was 13-10-0 with a 2.53 GAA and .923 SV% on the road a season ago.
Schneider allowed two goals on 34 shots in the Devils’ overtime loss in Tampa Bay on Thursday. It’s a new year but the same old story for Schneider, who never seems to get any goal-support. Schneider will post elite splits and is a good start on almost every night, but draws a tough matchup tonight against a Lightning team that scored six goals in their season opener.
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.
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.
Varlamov will start Colorado’s season opener and he is hoping their coaching change will help him. Over the last three years, Varlamov has faced a ridiculous 5,518 shots (most in the NHL), which has made things really tough on him. He has the ability to be a No.1 fantasy netminder, if the Avalanche improve in front of him. Last year he was 27-25-3 with a 2.81 GAA and .914 SV%—expect better numbers across the board this year.
Schneider has been one of the best goalies in the NHL since being traded to New Jersey, but that hasn’t always translated into fantasy success. In his first three years in New Jersey, he has is tied with the second best SV% (.924) and third in GAA (2.12) but ranks 21st in wins (69) thanks to an anemic Devils’ offence. Schneider will have a better offence in front of him this season and will post elite splits, but you should still temper your expectations on his win total.
Mayfield, 23, was the 34th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, but has yet to make a big impact at the NHL level. The 6-foot-4, 225 lbs. blueliner has appeared in just 11 NHL games, tallying just one goal. There may be a team out there that lacks depth on the blueline that claims the St. Louis native.
Palmieri 25, had the best season of his career in his first year in New Jersey. He entered 2015-16 with a career-high of 14 goals, but burst out for 30 goals along with 27 assists (57 points) in 82 games. Palmieri should benefit from the Devils adding Taylor Hall to the mix for 2016-17.
Martin, 27, has missed just 11 games in the last five years while averaging seven goals and seven assists per season. However, that’s not where his value lies. Since his first full NHL season in 2011-12, Martin leads the NHL in hits with 1714, which is 370 more than second (Cal Clutterbuck)—1714 hit equates to 4.7 hits per game.
