This article is part of our FantasyAces NHL series.
Tuesday's slate has 10 games to choose from, and I'll be watching two of them very closely.
The league's top-scoring team, the Stars, is headed into Calgary to face the league's worst defense. Both teams feature offensive-minded approaches to the game, so we could be in for plenty of goals on both ends.
Columbus visits Montreal in a game that offers a sharp contrast in goaltending situations. While the Habs are atop the Eastern Conference, they are again with Carey Price and will lean on Mike Condon, who has shown some holes in his game of late. On the other hand, the Jackets have reversed their early tailspin and are riding the coattails of Sergei Bobrovsky, who's showing that he's ready to reclaim his status as one of the league's top goalies.
Here are my recommendations for games on December 1, 2015:
C: Evgeni Malkin, PIT at SJ ($5,650 ): While other top Penguins may be underachieving, the big guy is motoring along. In his last three games, Malkin has racked up 16 shots, four goals and added one assist. He's carried the Pens' offense thus far as their lone consistent scorer.
C: Henrik Sedin, VAN at LA ($4,750): Henrik was high among the NHL scoring leaders in November with 17 points in 14 games. He's also the key puckmover on the Canucks' power play, which should get some chances against a physical Kings club on Tuesday night.
W: Milan Lucic, LA vs. VAN ($4,800): The 27-year-old BC native always gets up for games against his hometown team and understands the importance of this divisional game. He continues to get points (three in his last three games) while playing on the Kings' top offensive unit and is attractively priced, well down the list of Tuesday's winger plays.
W: Tomas Tatar, DET vs. BUF ($4,750): One of the newest additions to the Wings' top six, Tatar's been riding a hot streak, netting three goals (one on the power play) and two assists in his last four games. He has five points on the man advantage, which has him tied for second on the club.
W: Marian Gaborik, LA vs. VAN ($4,450): Even though he only has five goals on the season, the enigmatic winger is worth a play on Tuesday because he's picked up four of those tallies in his last seven games. Gaborik has also seen a spike in his playing time in his last two outings, averaging 18 minutes. That's up almost five minutes above his previous five games, as the Kings' coaching staff has decided to ride this hot streak.
W: Anthony Duclair, ARI at NSH ($4,550): One of the top-scoring rookies in the NHL continues to be a leader on the Coyotes' attack. He has two goals and four assists in his last six games and is getting lots of power-play time. Duclair's playing with a confidence that his Tuesday night opposition, the Predators, simply do not have right now – that whole team is in a scoring slump, with only six goals in their last six starts.
D: T.J. Brodie, CGY vs. DAL, ($4.450): Brodie is playing the most minutes (25:03 per game) for a Calgary team that relies on its top defensive pairings to generate much of the offense. He should match up well against a Dallas club that likes to play a fast, offensive-minded game in which they trade scoring chances.
D: Alex Goligoski, DAL at CGY ($4,300): Goligoski is Brodie's counterpart in Dallas, playing the biggest minutes there and getting plenty of power-play time to work with high-scoring forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. This game features the top-scoring club against the league's worst in terms of goals against, which bodes well for Goligoski and the Stars.
G: Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ at MTL ($7,300): Bobrovsky has buttoned things down during his last eight starts, allowing two goals or fewer in seven of them. That has translated into a 6-2 streak for a Columbus team that's starting to show some very positive signs after a poor start. He also faces a Montreal team that does not match up well with the physical Blue Jackets lineup.
