This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
Around the Rink
As the Detroit Red Wings were incapable of closing out their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning at home, they have to head back down to Florida to take them on in a Game 7. It's the one remaining game of the first round. Everything else is set. We know one of these teams will be playing the Montreal Canadiens, and then we also know about matchups between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, and Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.
There's not a ton of information that can be provided from a fantasy perspective for the lone remaining game of the first round. There are the goalies that will be used, and neither is a surprise, and some injury information. Tyler Johnson seems to have gotten hot but, with so few fantasy viable players who could even be used in this game, it's not like there would be anybody doing anything fantasy related who wouldn't be using a player like Johnson at this point.
With that in mind, as we prepare for the second round of the playoffs, here's a look at the rosters of the remaining teams to point out some players who have been impressive so far, and some players who have perhaps disappointed a bit.
Anaheim Ducks:Corey Perry is, unsurprisingly, leading the way for the Ducks. However, Ryan Getzlaf only has one goal and four points, admittedly in only four games, while both Jakob Silfverberg and the
Around the Rink
As the Detroit Red Wings were incapable of closing out their series with the Tampa Bay Lightning at home, they have to head back down to Florida to take them on in a Game 7. It's the one remaining game of the first round. Everything else is set. We know one of these teams will be playing the Montreal Canadiens, and then we also know about matchups between the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, and Anaheim Ducks and Calgary Flames.
There's not a ton of information that can be provided from a fantasy perspective for the lone remaining game of the first round. There are the goalies that will be used, and neither is a surprise, and some injury information. Tyler Johnson seems to have gotten hot but, with so few fantasy viable players who could even be used in this game, it's not like there would be anybody doing anything fantasy related who wouldn't be using a player like Johnson at this point.
With that in mind, as we prepare for the second round of the playoffs, here's a look at the rosters of the remaining teams to point out some players who have been impressive so far, and some players who have perhaps disappointed a bit.
Anaheim Ducks:Corey Perry is, unsurprisingly, leading the way for the Ducks. However, Ryan Getzlaf only has one goal and four points, admittedly in only four games, while both Jakob Silfverberg and the other Ryan, Kesler, have six and five points respectively. Sami Vatanen also has five points, while Cam Fowler only has two.
Calgary Flames:Jiri Hudler and Johnny Gaudreau both have six points to lead the team. Big surprise. A player who is actually an intriguing surprise is Michael Ferland. He only has four points, but he's also a plus-5 and has 21 penalty minutes. Also, rookie Sam Bennett, who only played in one regular season game, had three points. Jonas Hiller played for the vast majority of the series in net, but was replaced by Karri Ramo in the final, series-clinching game. Hiller will likely be back in net to start their next series, but keep an eye on this.
Chicago Blackhawks: There are literally no surprises in the statistical record of Chicago's first round. It's pretty much exactly what you would expect. Then, of course, there is the goaltending situation. Corey Crawford has been the man for this team for years. He got off to a slow start this postseason, and was replaced by Scott Darling. Darling played great, and then he, in turn, got pulled in the series clinching game, a game wherein Crawford stopped every shot he faced. Crawford is usually a guy you can rely on, but will there be less patience with him now that the Blackhawks may feel they can trust Darling in a pinch?
Minnesota Wild:Marco Scandella has three points and is a plus-5. Ryan Suter has one point and is a minus-3. Also, Thomas Vanek only has two points, both assists. Otherwise, it's guys like Zach Parise and Jason Pominville atop the scoring charts, and Devan Dubnyk hasn't turned back into a pumpkin yet.
Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens of the playoffs are the Canadiens of the regular season. No player had more than four points, despite playing in a six game series, and Carey Price was top notch. Two players have more than one goal, which is to say they have two goals, and one of them is Dale Weise. This is not an offense worth being excited about, but, then again, somebody has to score for them, and there are fewer options remaining going forward. I guess the best course of action is to stick to the big guns and hope they turn it around.
New York Rangers:Derick Brassard had a nice series, leading the way with three goals, four points, and a plus-3 rating. On the flip side, Martin St. Louis had one point, an assist. Marc Staal also had a rough series, while almost every other Blueshirt blueliner had at least a decent run.
Washington Capitals: Playing a seven game series increases your scoring in bulk, if not on a per game basis. Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin, to nobody's surprise, led the team in scoring, although there is still some grousing about Ovechkin only scoring two goals. Meanwhile, Game 7 hero Evgeny Kuznetsov had three goals and one helper. However, going up against the Rangers' defense and Henrik Lundqvist, does this seem like a series that is going to benefit the Capitals' offensive weapons?
As for the Lightning and the Red Wings, while it is unclear who is going to move on at this moment, I will say that, given Montreal's paucity of offensive output in round one, both Ben Bishop and Petr Mrazek make intriguing options in net. We'll find out which one will still be around tonight.
Projected Goalie Starters (all times Eastern)
Lightning (Ben Bishop) at Red Wings (Petr Mrazek) 7:30
*Confirmed Starters
For updates on the projected goalies later in the day, check out our Projected Goalies Grid.
Injury News For Teams Playing Wednesday
Lightning
All hands on deck for this vital game.
Red Wings
Erik Cole, RW (neck) – Out for season.
Johan Franzen, RW (concussion) – Out indefinitely.
Jonas Gustavsson, G (concussion) – Out indefinitely.
