This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Christmas comes early for NHL fans Friday, with all but six of the league's teams in action. Plenty of backup goaltenders are scheduled to man the crease on a second straight busy day heading into a weekend off, so scoring should be up as well. This is your last chance to enjoy hockey prior to the Christmas break, and there's no better way to liven your holiday spirits than tasting fantasy victory. Below you'll find the players best positioned to help you do just that in both daily and season-long formats. One such player is Chicago's Jonathan Toews, who should see an uptick in scoring while he centers Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane in Artem Anisimov's stead.
Featured Matchups
Wild (PP:20, PK:4) at Rangers (PP:10, PK:6), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Darcy Kuemper (3-2-1, 2.97, .907), Henrik Lundqvist (15-8-1, 2.34, .920)
Key Injuries:Erik Haula (lower body), Zach Parise (illness), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (leg)
Minnesota is a much less daunting opponent with otherworldly netminder Devan Dubnyk on the bench, so expect New York's third-ranked offense to do some damage against Kuemper. Both teams are missing key contributors, but the Rangers are better equipped to overcome their losses thanks to excellent scoring depth. Oscar Lindberg is a bigger scoring threat on the third line than his slow start would indicate, and skating alongside slumping-but-gifted rookie Jimmy Vesey and plus-minus maven Jesper Fast is bound to start paying off for the young Swede soon. On the
Christmas comes early for NHL fans Friday, with all but six of the league's teams in action. Plenty of backup goaltenders are scheduled to man the crease on a second straight busy day heading into a weekend off, so scoring should be up as well. This is your last chance to enjoy hockey prior to the Christmas break, and there's no better way to liven your holiday spirits than tasting fantasy victory. Below you'll find the players best positioned to help you do just that in both daily and season-long formats. One such player is Chicago's Jonathan Toews, who should see an uptick in scoring while he centers Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane in Artem Anisimov's stead.
Featured Matchups
Wild (PP:20, PK:4) at Rangers (PP:10, PK:6), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Darcy Kuemper (3-2-1, 2.97, .907), Henrik Lundqvist (15-8-1, 2.34, .920)
Key Injuries:Erik Haula (lower body), Zach Parise (illness), Pavel Buchnevich (back), Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (leg)
Minnesota is a much less daunting opponent with otherworldly netminder Devan Dubnyk on the bench, so expect New York's third-ranked offense to do some damage against Kuemper. Both teams are missing key contributors, but the Rangers are better equipped to overcome their losses thanks to excellent scoring depth. Oscar Lindberg is a bigger scoring threat on the third line than his slow start would indicate, and skating alongside slumping-but-gifted rookie Jimmy Vesey and plus-minus maven Jesper Fast is bound to start paying off for the young Swede soon. On the other hand, Lundqvist's recent return to form should limit the enthusiasm about any Wild players in daily formats.
Canadiens (PP:12, PK:17) at Blue Jackets (PP:1, PK:14), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Al Montoya (3-3-2, 2.91, .905), Curtis McElhinney (2-0-2, 1.99, .938)
Key Injuries:Alexei Emelin (personal), Alex Galchenyuk (knee), Andrei Markov (lower body), Andrew Shaw (concussion)
Montoya allowed 10 goals the last time he faced Columbus, and could be in for a similar fate with the Blue Jackets brimming with confidence after beating the Penguins 7-1 on Thursday. Scott Hartnell will be feeling good after leading the way with a hat trick against Pittsburgh, but Brandon Dubinsky, Sam Gagner, Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg will all be carrying over the momentum of multi-point nights as well. The Canadiens shouldn't lack for scoring themselves in this battle of the backups, though McElhinney has vastly outperformed his career 2.95 GAA and .905 save percentage to date.
Avalanche (PP:25, PK:23) at Blackhawks (PP:16, PK:30), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Calvin Pickard (5-6-1, 2.90, .903), Corey Crawford (12-6-2, 2.27, .927)
Key Injuries:Artem Anisimov (upper body), Marian Hossa (upper body), Erik Johnson (leg)
Crawford will be returning from an appendectomy that has kept him out since Dec. 1. While it's unlikely Chicago's starter will be at his best after the long layoff, he still has an excellent chance of extending his winning streak to four against the struggling Pickard. Jonathan Toews is taking Anisimov's spot between Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane, which should lead to increased offensive production from the captain. While Anisimov is due back soon, Toews should see a substantial bump in value until then. The Ryan Hartman-Vince Hinostroza-Tyler Motte line consists of virtual unknowns, but top six minutes against a struggling goaltender often lead to good things. Matt Duchene, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are tied for the Avalanche lead with six power-play points apiece, and all three have an excellent opportunity to grow those totals against the league's most generous penalty kill.
Other Matchups
Sabres (PP:4, PK:29) at Islanders (PP:28, PK:25), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Anders Nilsson (5-2-3, 2.22, .933), Jaroslav Halak (5-8-5, 3.13, .907)
Key Injuries:Tyler Ennis (groin), Mikhail Grabovski (concussion)
Buffalo's power play stands out as the only strong special teams unit in this battle of underwhelming opponents. Sabres center Jack Eichel in particular seems ready to break out after firing seven shots in vain Thursday against Carolina.
Devils (PP:21, PK:10) at Penguins (PP:7, PK:24), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Keith Kinkaid (3-3-2, 2.70, .922), Marc-Andre Fleury (8-5-4, 3.36, .904)
Key Injuries:Jacob Josefson (concussion), Trevor Daley (upper body), Kris Letang (lower body)
Fleury will be back in net after playing nearly a full period in relief of an ineffective Matt Murray on Thursday. He draws a Devils team that convincingly shut out Philadelphia 4-0 Thursday, but had been struggling prior to that win.
Lightning (PP:3, PK:22) at Capitals (PP:13, PK:7), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Andrei Vasilevskiy (7-4-1, 2.41, .923), Braden Holtby (14-7-3, 2.07, .926)
Key Injuries:Ben Bishop (lower body), Ryan Callahan (lower body), Nikita Kucherov (lower body), Vladislav Namestnikov (undisclosed), Ondrej Palat (undisclosed), Steven Stamkos (knee)
Expect a low-scoring affair as Vasilevskiy tries to keep the injury-riddled Lightning close against Holtby's Capitals.
Red Wings (PP:30, PK:16) at Panthers (PP:26, PK:5), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Petr Mrazek (9-7-3, 3.06, .899), Roberto Luongo (11-9-3, 2.42, .918)
Key Injuries:Justin Abdelkader (knee), Johan Franzen (concussion), Mike Green (lower body), Darren Helm (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (leg), Brendan Smith (knee), Joe Vitale (concussion), Jonathan Huberdeau (achilles), Alex Petrovic (ankle)
Don't expect much power-play success in this battle of bottom-five units.
Bruins (PP:29, PK:3) at Hurricanes (PP:9, PK:1), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Anton Khudobin (1-5-0, 3.09, .887), Michael Leighton (2-1-0, 3.53, .875)
Key Injuries:Matt Beleskey (knee), John-Michael Liles (concussion), Bryan Bickell (illness), Eddie Lack (concussion)
The penalty killing should be excellent both ways, though it's impossible to rule out an implosion from either of these two underwhelming backup netminders.
Kings (PP:22, PK:8) at Stars (PP:18, PK:27), 8:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jeff Zatkoff (2-5-0, 2.82, .890), Antti Niemi (7-4-4, 2.85, .911)
Key Injuries:Cody Eakin (suspension), Ales Hemsky (hip), Mattias Janmark (knee), Antoine Roussel (undisclosed), Patrick Sharp (concussion), Kyle Clifford (undisclosed), Brayden McNabb (collarbone), Jonathan Quick (groin), Tyler Toffoli (lower body)
The surging Niemi will look to stay hot, while Zatkoff could make the middling Stars power play look like last season's fearsome top-tier unit.
Canucks (PP:27, PK:21) at Flames (PP:15, PK:20), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Jacob Markstrom (7-7-2, 2.63, .908), Chad Johnson (13-7-1, 2.30, .922)
Key Injuries:Ladislav Smid (neck), Alexander Edler (finger)
Johnson gets an excellent chance to end his three-game losing streak, as his Flames host a Canucks team that has dropped five of its last seven games.
Maple Leafs (PP:14, PK:9) at Coyotes (PP:24, PK:26), 9:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Frederik Andersen (12-8-6, 2.65, .918), Mike Smith (7-7-4, 2.67, .926)
Key Injuries:Dave Bolland (back), Max Domi (hand), Brad Richardson (leg), Tyler Bozak (lower body), Joffrey Lupul (abdomen)
There's only so much Smith can do to keep the Coyotes afloat, and containing the Auston Matthews-led seventh-ranked Leafs offense will likely prove to be too tall a task for the veteran.
Oilers (PP:5, PK:12) at Sharks (PP:19, PK:11), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Cam Talbot (17-10-4, 2.50, .918), Martin Jones (17-11-1, 2.09, .920)
Key Injuries:Andrew Ference (hip), Darnell Nurse (ankle), Iiro Pakarinen (leg), Tomas Hertl (knee)
These two teams are tied atop the Pacific Division, so it's no surprise both are projected to start their respective No. 1 goaltenders in this battle for first place.
Recommended Pickup
Mike Condon, G, OTT - Craig Anderson could return soon, but Condon is worth hanging onto until that point and possibly well beyond. The second-year pro is currently riding a four-game winning streak, and has earned himself a larger share of starts moving forward by excelling under the rigors of a starter's workload. His 2.20 GAA and .924 save percentage in 15 appearances are both just outside the top 10, so Condon could be an asset even for teams that aren't particularly in need of goaltending help. Scoop him up if he's still available in your league.
