This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
There is no division in the NHL that has a more clear delineation between the haves and the have-nots than the Metropolitan. It's split right down the middle of the division. You have the Rangers, Capitals, Penguins, and Blue Jackets, who are all having good seasons. Three of those teams are NHL bluebloods who have been among the league's best teams for years. Then, there's Columbus, who has a plus-16 goal differential and a bunch of under-the-radar talent. On the flip side you have the Devils, Flyers, Hurricanes, and Islanders. Now, New Jersey only has one point less than Columbus, but the Devils have a minus-1 goal differential. The Flyers, and even the Hurricanes, have some talent too. Plus, admittedly, it's still fairly early in the season. However, I still look at the Metro and feel fairly confident that four of those teams are clearly going to the playoffs, and four aren't. Maybe I will look foolish in April, but I don't expect it. Well, I will almost assuredly look foolish in April, but it probably won't be because of this.
Featured Matchups
Capitals (PP: 19, PK: 17) at Maple Leafs (PP: 10, PK: 15), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Braden Holtby (10-4-1, 2.05, .923), Frederik Andersen (8-6-3, 3.03, .909)
Key Injuries:Joffrey Lupul (abdomen), T.J. Oshie (upper body)
Washington's decision to start Philipp Grubauer on Friday means the Maple Leafs have to try and score on Holtby, which will make things more difficult. Marcus Johansson scored his eighth goal of the season Friday, making him the one healthy forward outside of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom who has really done much offensively (Oshie has been good while healthy). At the moment, Matt Niskanen has more points than John Carlson, although they both have zero goals. Carlson has outshot Niskanen 46 to 37, though. It seems just as soon as people starting talking about how Auston Matthews had cooled down after his four goal debut, he picked his play back up. He now has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) and whopping 75 shots on goal. With all due respect to the talented and productive duo of Mitch Marner and William Nylander, Matthews is still the crown jewel here. If you look beyond the young guns, you may notice that Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak have 15 and 14 points respectively.
Blackhawks (PP: 15, PK: 30) at Kings (PP: 26, PK: 16), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Scott Darling (4-0-0, 2.94, .904), Peter Budaj (11-6-1, 2.10, .916)
Key Injuries:Jonathan Toews (undisclosed), Trevor van Riemsdyk (arm), Marian Gaborik (foot), Brayden McNabb (collarbone), Jonathan Quick (groin)
Combining Chicago's league-worst penalty kill combined with having backup Darling in net doesn't seem likely to work out for the Blackhawks, except for the Kings' power-play woes. Not having Toews hurts, but the Blackhawks now have three players with at least 20 points (Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov). Chicago is lacking a bit for down the lineup scoring, but Ryan Hartman does have five goals on 34 shots on net. The Kings only have two players with more than one power-play goal; Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli. Jake Muzzin is off to a slow start, but he does have three points in his last three games. The problem is that he's only got five points in total, although he's taken 51 shots on goal so at least he's staying involved in the offense.
Ducks (PP: 8, PK: 12) at Sharks (PP: 16, PK: 2), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jonathan Bernier (3-1-1, 2.02, .935), Martin Jones (10-7-1, 2.10, .919)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Clayton Stoner (lower body), Nate Thompson (achilles), Tomas Hertl (knee), Melker Karlsson (ankle), Tommy Wingels (undisclosed)
The matchup between Anaheim's power play and San Jose's penalty kill should be a good one. Interestingly, neither Corey Perry nor Ryan Getzlaf has a power-play goal yet. Getzlaf only has one goal in total, but he does have 15 assists so it hasn't exactly been a lost season. Ryan Kesler, though, has five power-play goals, and eight total. Since returning from his holdout, Hampus Lindholm has two assists and 10 shots on goal in eight games. He's getting his usual minutes, but he seems to still be rounding into form. While Brent Burns picked up two points Friday to nobody's surprise, Paul Martin also tallied two assists. That gives him seven assists, but he has no goals, and he's only taken 13 shots on net. San Jose only has four players with double-digit points, and they have no surprise performers. It's all the usual suspects.
Other Matchups
Hurricanes (PP: 12, PK: 1) at Senators (PP: 29, PK: 9), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Ward (7-5-3, 2.25, .918), Craig Anderson (10-4-1, 2.23, .929)
Key Injuries:Eddie Lack (concussion), Clarke MacArthur (concussion)
In addition to their great penalty kill, Ward has played better recently to raise his save percentage to .918. However, he still has only a .910 save percentage in his career. Then again, with Ottawa's offensive struggles, that may not matter too much.
Canadiens (PP: 5, PK: 13) at Red Wings (PP: 22, PK: 24), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Carey Price (12-1-1, 1.71, .945), Petr Mrazek (4-5-1, 3.16, .901)
Key Injuries:Andreas Athanasiou (knee), Darren Helm (upper body), Jimmy Howard (groin), Tomas Jurco (back), Alexey Marchenko (upper body), Joe Vitale (concussion), Nathan Beaulieu (neck), Artturi Lehkonen (upper body), Zach Redmond (foot)
Howard got hurt last night, leaving the Red Wings needing to rely on Mrazek, who has really struggled this season. Shea Weber and Andrei Markov both have 17 points now, with Weber notching 10 on the power play and Markov seven.
Blue Jackets (PP: 1, PK: 14) at Panthers (PP: 23, PK: 18), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Curtis McElhinney (0-0-2, 2.09, .925), Roberto Luongo (7-6-0, 2.31, .921)
Key Injuries:Matt Calvert (upper body), Jonathan Huberdeau (lower body), Alex Petrovic (ankle)
Josh Anderson picked up his sixth goal Friday, and he's taken 27 shots on goal in 19 games. It's hard to get too excited about him with Cam Atkinson and Alexander Wennberg both have 19 points and aren't exactly household names yet. Aaron Ekblad leads the Panthers in shots on goal with 58, which has yield five goals. He has yet to register an assist though.
Devils (PP: 25, PK: 21) at Penguins (PP: 6, PK: 19), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Keith Kinkaid (2-1-1, 2.24, .931), Matt Murray (6-1-0, 1.57, .945)
Key Injuries:Taylor Hall (knee), Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Chris Kunitz (undisclosed), Derrick Pouliot (undisclosed), Daniel Sprong (shoulder)
Hall may be out, but Michael Cammalleri has done his best to pick up the slack. He has nine points in his last four games. Trying to score against Murray, as opposed to Marc-Andre Fleury who really struggled Friday, won't be easy, though. Both of these teams are on the second night of a back-to-back, so there is no real advantage to be had there.
Wild (PP: 20, PK: 7) at Blues (PP: 11, PK: 3), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Darcy Kuemper (2-1-1, 2.94, .908), Jake Allen (9-3-3, 2.33, .914)
Key Injuries:Joel Edmundson (upper body), Alexander Steen (upper body)
If the Wild don't start Devan Dubnyk on the second night of a back-to-back, the Blues will likely breathe a sigh of relief. Alex Pietrangelo may feel like a bit of a disappointment this season, but he does have four goals on 52 shots on goal while playing more than 25 minutes a night.
Canucks (PP: 28, PK: 10) at Avalanche (PP: 17, PK: 26), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jacob Markstrom (5-3-2, 2.82, .897), Calvin Pickard (4-1-0, 2.07, .931)
Key Injuries:Rene Bourque (illness), Gabriel Landeskog (lower body), Semyon Varlamov (upper body), Sven Baertschi (foot), Derek Dorsett (shoulder), Jannik Hansen (ribs), Chris Tanev (lower body)
These have been two of the league's worst offenses. However, both teams are playing their backup goalies, and one of them has been good, and one of them has been bad. As such, guys like Matt Duchene should be fine.
Recommended Pickup
Oscar Klefbom, D, EDM – Despite being a top-pair defenseman for a team with a lot of offensive talent, Klefbom is still available in a lot of leagues. With an assist Friday Klefbom now has eight points, three goals and five assists. Additionally, he's taken 56 shots on goal in 22 games, and he's playing more than 22 minutes a night. The Oilers don't have an equivalent of Connor McDavid on the defense, but they don't necessarily need that. Klefbom is a solid young defenseman on an up-and-coming team, and he can definitely help our your fantasy team's defense.
