This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Every year for the NHL's Winter Classic, they have an alumni game between the two teams playing. It's a chance for fans to see some of their old favorites in action at half speed, but the Winter Classic is such a production they need to make use of the ice. This year, the Chicago Blackhawks are taking on the St. Louis Blues, and the Blues announced their roster for their alumni team. There's a lot of great names on there. Brett Hull. Al MacInnis. Keith Tkachuk. Chris Pronger. Oh, and also Wayne Gretzky and Martin Brodeur.
Yes, Gretzky and Brodeur will be playing for a St. Louis Blues alumni team. Gretzky, the guy who played 31 total games for the Blues. Brodeur, who played seven games for the Blues at the very end of his career. To consider these guys notable Blues alumni is a major stretch. Now, I get it. They are both legendary players, even if they aren't legendary Blues. They are trying to sell tickets to a not terribly exciting event. It would be silly to be angry about it. However, it is amusing. The transparency, and lack of concern for logic, involved in getting Gretzky to suit up for a St. Louis Blues alumni team is quite delightful.
Featured Matchups
Red Wings (PP: 19, PK: 18) at Canadiens (PP: 14, PK: 23), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jimmy Howard (4-2-0, 1.22, .961), Carey Price (9-0-0, 1.56, .953)
Key Injuries:Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Tomas Jurco (back), Thomas Vanek (hip), Joe Vitale (concussion), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body)
What a goaltending matchup. We're looking at the two goalies who have been the best in the league so far. One of them is a former Hart winner. The other has a career save percentage of .916. Obviously, one of these two is a little more trustworthy. That being said, Howard has said he's changed the way he's playing, and that he's staying deeper in net and being less aggressive. That's not enough to make him a goalie who is going to hold onto a .961 save percentage, though. After a slow start, Henrik Zetterberg is tied for the team lead in points with 10. Only two of them are goals, though, but he's taken 31 shots on goal so that should change. The injury to Athanasiou has led to Anthony Mantha being called up. He has been a highly thought of prospect in the past. After a hot start, Brendan Gallagher has cooled down a bit. He has zero points in his last four games. Max Pacioretty only has two goals, but his 5.3 shooting percentage is bound to improve.
Sharks (PP: 17, PK: 5) at Lightning (PP: 3, PK: 7), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Martin Jones (7-6-0, 2.30, .909), Ben Bishop (5-4-0, 2.91, .907)
Key Injuries:Jonathan Drouin (head)
Both of these goalies have struggled so far, but there is reason to believe in both of them. This is especially true of Bishop, who has a career save percentage of .920. However, with how Andrei Vasilevskiy is playing (.932 save percentage), he could find himself on a short leash. While Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov have been what we expected, Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson have gotten off to slow starts. Johnson is slightly more concerning. While he has five goals in 14 games, it's been on 21 shots. That's an unusually high shooting percentage, and not a lot of shots for a high level forward. On the flipside, Logan Couture only has three goals, but he's taken 46 shots on goal. Brent Burns has, unsurprisingly, cooled off a bit after a red hot start. You can't complain, though, considering he has 13 points and 73 shots on goal. He only has three power-play points, which feels unusually low. That should improve.
Maple Leafs (PP: 7, PK: 9) at Penguins (PP: 4, PK: 16), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jhonas Enroth (0-2-0, 4.40, .866), Matt Murray (3-0-0, 1.33, .957)
Key Injuries:Derrick Pouliot (undisclosed), Daniel Sprong (shoulder), Joffrey Lupul (abdomen)
The Maple Leafs feel kind of reminiscent of the Penguins several seasons ago. Sure, they don't have anybody likely to be as good as Sidney Crosby, but they have a lot of young talent. Last night, they scored six goals against Philadelphia. Sure, the Flyers are bad at goal prevention, but this is an offense with real firepower. Morgan Rielly was the star against Philly, notching his first goal of the season and also three assists. Despite all the names that get us excited, it's actually Nazem Kadri who is leading Toronto in goals right now with seven. Of course, if they actually start Enroth, or even if Frederik Andersen plays the second night of a back-to-back, Toronto may need to score to keep pace with the Penguins in this one. Phil Kessel will be taking on his old team. While Kessel only has three goals so far, he's supplemented that with 10 assists. He's primarily known as a goal scorer though, and that's likely where most of his value is going to come from. The Penguins could use secondary scoring, so they are probably happy that Conor Sheary has notched four points in his three games since returning from injury.
Other Matchups
Islanders (PP: 27, PK: 26) at Panthers (PP: 15, PK: 14), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Thomas Greiss (2-3-0, 2.71, .909), Roberto Luongo (4-5-0, 2.36, .917)
Key Injuries:Nick Bjugstad (hand), Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion), Travis Hamonic (arm)
The Islanders have, clearly, really struggled on special teams. Their penalty-kill struggles, combined with Greiss' save percentage, bodes well for Florida's power play. Aaron Ekblad only has two goals this season, but both have come with the extra man. He can take advantage of an opportunity.
Sabres (PP: 11, PK: 18) at Devils (PP: 16, PK: 17), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Robin Lehner (4-4-2, 2.19, .929), Cory Schneider (5-3-2, 2.27, .928)
Key Injuries:Zach Bogosian (knee), Jack Eichel (ankle), Tyler Ennis (groin), Dmitry Kulikov (undisclosed), Luke Gazdic (foot)
These two teams played last night, with the Devils winning 2-1 in overtime. That was with both teams using their backup goalies, too. Scoring is going to be even harder with these two netminders in goal. With so many teams playing Saturday, a lot of fantasy owners are going to end up leaving their Buffalo and New Jersey players on their bench, or off their daily fantasy rosters.
Wild (PP: 20, PK: 5) at Flyers (PP: 2, PK: 22), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Devan Dubnyk (6-3-1, 1.51, .951), Steve Mason (2-4-2, 3.23, .888)
Key Injuries:Zach Parise (foot), Marco Scandella (ankle), Boyd Gordon (upper body), Andrew MacDonald (lower body)
As mentioned earlier, the Flyers gave up six goals Friday night. Mason played last night, and really struggled, so it would not be surprising if it was actually Michal Neuvirth in net. Not that it matters. Philly is the inverse of the Minnesota, who have been great at goal prevention recently. Eric Staal is taking to his new team. He leads the Wild in goals (five) and is tied with Ryan Suter in points (11).
Capitals (PP: 24, PK: 15) at Hurricanes (PP: 9, PK: 4), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Philipp Grubauer (2-0-0, 1.00, .953), Cam Ward (2-4-3, 2.96, .897)
Key Injuries:Bryan Bickell (illness), Justin Faulk (upper body)
First, shout out to Bickell, who was just diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Washington will be playing their second game in as many nights, but they can't be too concerned about going against Ward. It's odd to see Carolina's penalty kill doing so well given their goaltending. The Hurricanes may miss Braden Holtby, but Grubauer won't make thing too easy on them. Two talented young players, Sebastian Aho and Noah Hanifin, are racking up assists, but neither of them have a goal yet.
Blues (PP: 21, PK: 1) at Blue Jackets (PP: 1, PK: 2), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jake Allen (5-3-3, 2.35, .907), Sergei Bobrovsky (6-4-1, 2.16, .935)
Key Injuries:Brandon Dubinsky (lower body), Seth Jones (foot)
Well, good luck to both of these teams scoring with the extra man. However, when you look at Allen's save percentage, you have to at least be somewhat intrigued by Columbus' offense. If you haven't gotten on the Alexander Wennberg bandwagon, there's still time. He leads the Jackets with 14 points in 12 games.
Bruins (PP: 23, PK: 13) at Coyotes (PP: 28, PK: 28), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Tuukka Rask (8-1-0, 1.76, .938), Louis Domingue (4-7-0, 3.57, .895)
Key Injuries:Martin Hanzal (lower body), Mike Smith (lower body), Michael Stone (upper body), Anton Khudobin (upper body), Kevan Miller (hand), Frank Vatrano (foot)
You won't find many bigger goaltending disparities in a matchup. However, while the Coyotes struggle to prevent goals, they don't struggle to score them. Jordan Martinook is tied for the team lead in goals for Arizona with five. While he doesn't have a long track record, he only scored nine goals in 81 games last season, so this is probably a bit of a fluke. David Pastrnak picked up where he left off when returning from injury. He has nine goals and 13 points in 12 games.
Ducks (PP: 5, PK: 10) at Predators (PP: 6, PK: 25), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:John Gibson (5-4-3, 2.47, .909), Pekka Rinne (4-4-3, 2.33, .924)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Nate Thompson (achilles)
Rinne has been up-and-down this season, but that's somewhat the nature of goaltending. It's still a little too early for numbers to completely stabilize. Filip Forsberg leads the Predators in points, despite having zero goals. Ryan Kesler got some stick for the deal Anaheim signed him to, but he has six goals to lead the team. There's still talent here.
Rangers (PP: 8, PK: 12) at Flames (PP: 30, PK: 29), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Henrik Lundqvist (7-4-0, 2.39, .908), Brian Elliott (3-7-0, 3.30, .885)
Key Injuries:Matthew Tkachuk (wrist), Kris Versteeg (groin), Josh Jooris (upper body), Antti Raanta (concussion)
It's a matchup between one of the league's best offenses and one of its worst defense/goaltending combos. There are no guarantees in the NHL, but the Rangers are probably salivating over this one. New York has two players with seven goals. Rick Nash isn't a big surprise, but Michael Grabner also has seven. Dougie Hamilton is starting to turn it around. He only has two goals, but he's leading the Flames with 41 shots on goal. He'll be fine.
Recommended Pickup
Tomas Tatar, LW, DET – You might look at Tatar and see a guy with two goals and four assists and wonder why he's worth a pickup. Here's why: He's taken 41 shots on goal in 15 games. His shooting percentage is 4.9. His career shooting percentage is 12.4. Tatar is a 25-year-old who has scored over 20 goals in his last two seasons, including 29 two years ago. He's bound to see an uptick in performance. You just need to exercise a little patience.
