This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
I'm not going to lie to you. Wednesday's slate of games, at least from a quality standpoint, is pretty bleak. Just wait until you get to the featured matchups section. There was only one matchup that really felt like it earned featured status. However, that's the nature of sports. Somedays are better than others. No sport is immune. Just look at the upcoming wild card round of the NFL playoffs. It's the postseason, and only one of those games seems exciting on paper. Maybe Wednesday's NHL slate will surprise us, though. Or, at the very least, hopefully are fantasy teams will do great.
Featured Matchups
Canadiens (PP: 11, PK: 19) at Stars (PP: 20, PK: 26), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Al Montoya (4-4-2, 2.74, .909), Antti Niemi (7-5-4, 3.00, .908)
Key Injuries:Jamie Benn (foot), Ales Hemsky (hip), Mattias Janmark (knee), Antoine Roussel (upper body), David Desharnais (knee), Alex Galchenyuk (knee), Andrei Markov (lower body), Andrew Shaw (concussion)
Montreal has to play Tuesday against Nashville, which could leave Montoya tending the goal against the Stars. In the past, that would have been a concern, but Dallas is only averaging 2.55 goals per game. Plus, while Montoya's overall numbers don't look great, in December he had a 1.97 GAA and a .925 save percentage. Missing Benn and his 34 points will hurt the Stars offense even more. Tyler Seguin (38 points in 38 games) will have to shoulder the load. While Patrick Eaves got off to a hot start, he's only notched 22 points. Four of them have come in his last eight games, though, so perhaps another hot spell is on the offing. There was some concern about the health of Max Pacioretty, but he played Tuesday, scoring a goal and putting 10 shots on net. He seems fine. After a bit of a dry patch, Shea Weber has gotten back into the swing of things, and he has three points in his last four games.
Rangers (PP: 4, PK: 8) at Flyers (PP: 6, PK: 20), 8:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Antti Raanta (10-4-0, 2.28, .921), Steve Mason (14-12-5, 2.78, .904)
Key Injuries:Pavel Buchnevich (back), Rick Nash (groin), Mika Zibanejad (leg), Mark Streit (shoulder)
Now here's a matchup worth getting excited over. Both of these teams have excellent power plays, and both teams are in the top seven in goals scored per game. However, while the Rangers don't have to worry about the Flyers' penalty kill, Philly's power play could be in for a challenge, even though New York will be on the second night of a back-to-back. Philly has five players with at least 11 points with the extra man. Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn both have eight power-play goals and seven power-play assists. Mason picked his play up for a little while, but in his last four games, all losses, he has a 4.05 GAA and a .841 save percentage. The Rangers have four players with four power-play goals apiece; Chris Kreider, Nash, Jimmy Vesey, and Brandon Pirri. Eight of Pirri's 15 points have come with the extra man. Few Rangers can claim poor shooting luck, if any. The only forward who could think about claiming such is Mats Zuccarello, who has eight goals on 94 shots.
Red Wings (PP: 30, PK: 14) at Ducks (PP: 2, PK: 15), 10:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Petr Mrazek (9-8-3, 3.11, .896), John Gibson (13-9-7, 2.59, .911)
Key Injuries:Simon Despres (head), Ryan Getzlaf (lower body), Nicolas Kerdiles (concussion), Clayton Stoner (abdomen), Nate Thompson (achilles), Justin Abdelkader (knee), Mike Green (upper body), Darren Helm (shoulder), Jimmy Howard (leg), Alexey Marchenko (shoulder), Joe Vitale (concussion)
Well, you'd be hard pressed to find a bigger disparity in power-play performance. Injuries have plagued the Wings, which is probably partially why they are only averaging 2.38 goals per game. And yet, their goaltending is their biggest issue, at least with Howard hurt. Anaheim's offense has only been middle-of-the-pack, but Ryan Getzlaf (7.5 shooting percentage) and Corey Perry (6.3 shooting percentage) have both been unlucky. Of course, Rickard Rakell has a 21.1 shooting percentage, so perhaps he's been lucky enough for both of them. He's notched 16 goals in 28 games, a rate that isn't likely to continue. Hampus Lindholm hasn't really helped out fantasy owners since finally joining the Ducks after a brief holdout and some immigration issues. While he's playing 22:18 a night, he only has five points, and 35 shots on goal, in 26 games. Gustav Nyquist has been snakebit, as he only has a 5.1 shooting percentage. Anthony Mantha has been one silver lining in what's been a lousy season for Detroit. He's got a six-game point streak going on, and he's tallied nine total points in that time.
Other Matchups
Jets (PP: 18, PK: 27) at Panthers (PP: 21, PK: 7), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Michael Hutchinson (4-7-2, 3.18, .894), Roberto Luongo (11-9-5, 2.42, .920)
Key Injuries:Aleksander Barkov (undisclosed), Jonathan Huberdeau (achilles), Alex Petrovic (ankle), Colton Sceviour (shoulder), Marko Dano (lower body), Tyler Myers (lower body)
Winnipeg's terrible special teams won't threaten Florida, especially with Hutchinson in net. Maybe the Panthers can get their power play going on this matchup against a Jets team playing their second game in as many nights. Keith Yandle leads Florida in power-play points with nine. Second place? The ageless Jaromir Jagr.
Coyotes (PP: 25, PK: 29) at Canucks (PP: 26, PK: 21), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Mike Smith (7-10-4, 2.82, .920), Ryan Miller (10-10-1, 2.77, .910)
Key Injuries:Alex Burmistrov (not injury related), Anthony DeAngelo (suspension), Max Domi (hand), Brad Richardson (leg), Ryan White (lower body), Alex Burrows (eye), Erik Gudbranson (wrist), Jannik Hansen (knee)
These are two of the worst teams in the NHL. They are both in the bottom seven in goals allowed and bottom eight in goals for. The Coyotes are still looking for their first player to hit the double-digit goal mark. The Canucks have three such players, including Sven Baertschi, who has 10 on 73 shots on goal.
Avalanche (PP: 28, PK: 25) at Flames (PP: 13, PK: 17), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Calvin Pickard (6-10-1, 3.14, .898), Brian Elliott (7-9-1, 3.01, .893)
Key Injuries:Troy Brouwer (finger), Erik Johnson (leg), Semyon Varlamov (groin)
Elliott's playing time has really increased in the last couple of weeks. In his last five games he has four wins, a 2.09 GAA, and a .919 save percentage. Nathan MacKinnon has taken a whopping 125 shots on goal, but has only managed nine goals. He's been unlucky, beyond the fact he has to play for the Avalanche.
Recommended Pickup
Jason Zucker, LW, MIN – Zucker is a bit of an odd player, considering the fact he has a 20-goal season to his name, but has never had more than 26 points in a season. That's going to change this year, though. Through 36 games, he already has 23 points, and he already has a career-high 14 assists. He's also picked up his play recently, notching eight points in his last 10 games. Zucker has his flaws, for example he won't help you on the power play, but he's readily available in most leagues, and over the last 30 days he's averaged 16:11 of ice time per game.
