This article is part of our The Daily Puck series.
The Metropolitan Division is on fire. While it's early, five teams in the Metro, the Penguins, Rangers, Flyers, Blue Jackets, and Capitals, have all been really impressive recently. That's certainly foreboding to the Devils, Hurricanes, and Islanders, who are all on the precipice of being left behind. However, it also has to be a concern to the middle class of the Atlantic Division as well.
To use an old crutch, if the season ended today, five teams from the Metro would be making the playoffs, with both wildcards going to that division. In fact, only Montreal's point total competes with the top five in the Metro. There are five teams that have more points than the teams in second in the Atlantic (Boston and Ottawa). If only three teams make it from the Atlantic, a couple notable teams are going to be left out. Detroit's playoff streak might end. Both Florida teams might miss out. Or, perhaps, the Bruins or Senators fall out of a playoff spot. Teams in the Atlantic better be on top of their game. Only three of them may be en route to a playoff spot.
Featured Matchups
Sharks (PP: 14, PK: 17) at Senators (PP: 20, PK: 22), 7:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Aaron Dell (3-1-0, 2.16, .926), Mike Condon (4-3-1, 2.38, .920)
Key Injuries:Craig Anderson (personal), Tomas Hertl (knee)
The Sharks are the only team playing on Tuesday and Wednesday, which means a battle of backup goalies. However, as far as numbers go, these have been two of the league's best backups. San Jose and Ottawa are on different ends of the shooting spectrum, though. The Sharks, heading into Tuesday's game, were second in the NHL in shots allowed at 26.3. The Senators, meanwhile are allowing 31.2. That puts more pressure on Condon, who had a .903 save percentage last year in his rookie season. Kyle Turris leads the Senators with 11 goals. Meanwhile, Ryan Dzingel has seven goals and eight assists in 29 games. That's a big increase on his three goals and six assists in 30 games as a rookie last year. His minutes are way up, though, including his power-play minutes, so this may not be a total fluke. David Schlemko put seven shots on goal Tuesday, giving him 51 on the season in 25 games. He doesn't have any goals yet, but if he keeps shooting that much that will change. However, it probably won't be enough to make him interesting for fantasy players. Joe Thornton is becoming increasingly less interested to fantasy players as well. He does have 16 assists, and seven of those have come on the power play, but he only has two goals, and he's only taken 28 shots on goal in 29 games. Obviously, he's a playmaker, but he's also clearly not quite the player he used to be.
Bruins (PP: 26, PK: 2) at Penguins (PP: 12, PK: 27), 7:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Tuukka Rask (15-5-2, 1.80, .932), Marc-Andre Fleury (8-5-3, 3.42, .900)
Key Injuries:Matt Beleskey (lower body), John-Michael Liles (concussion), Frank Vatrano (foot), Daniel Sprong (shoulder)
Fleury may be listed as the expected starter, but in time it seems like the Penguins just have to give up on getting him regular playing time and just go with Matt Murray. Their numbers aren't even comparable this season (Murray has a 1.84 GAA and a .936 save percentage). Having Murray in net certainly changes things on the penalty kill as well. Pittsburgh does still allow quite a few shots, though (32.1 per game). The more interesting battle is the Penguins' offense against the Bruins' defense, including excellent netminder Rask. Pittsburgh has been getting a bit of depth scoring. Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust both have seven goals, and Justin Schultz is contributing on the blueline as well. The former Oiler has 14 points. He's also a plus-16, in leagues where that matters. Brad Marchand is still going strong. He had a five-game point streak recently, and has 25 points to lead the team. The Bruins don't have a defenseman with more than two goals, but that includes some real bad luck for Torey Krug. He has only one goal despite putting 89 shots on goal.
Lightning (PP: 7, PK: 21) at Flames (PP: 21, PK: 25), 9:30 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Ben Bishop (8-10-1, 2.86, .906), Chad Johnson (13-4-1, 1.98, .932)
Key Injuries:Kris Versteeg (upper body), Ryan Callahan (lower body), Steven Stamkos (knee)
The Flames' penalty kill has been on an uptick. They were 19th in November, and are up to seventh in December. Their numbers are a remnant of the Brian Elliott Era, which seems all but over already. You can't quibble with Johnson's numbers, as he has really helped turn this team around. Tampa is sixth in goals scored, though, so it won't be easy for him, although the loss of Stamkos hurts that obviously. Nikita Kucherov has been outstanding, though, with 30 points. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Jonathan Drouin are all contributing secondary scoring, with 15, 13, and 13 points respectively. Drouin's 13 points have come in only 21 games, though. You will find one Flame down in the recommended pickup section. Johnny Gaudreau has been on a tear since returning from his finger injury, with eight points in four games. Sean Monahan has found his form too, as he has a seven-game point streak.
Flyers (PP: 2, PK: 15) at Avalanche (PP: 15, PK: 24), 10:00 p.m.
Expected Goalies:Steve Mason (12-8-3, 2.78, .905), Semyon Varlamov (6-12-0, 3.21, .904)
Key Injuries:Erik Johnson (leg), Sean Couturier (knee), Shayne Gostisbehere (hand), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Matt Read (oblique), Mark Streit (shoulder)
This is not exactly a goaltending battle for the ages. The Flyers are allowing 2.97 goals per game, while the Avalanche are allowing 3.15. However, these teams are not equals offensively. The Flyers have been one of the best offensive teams, while the Avalanche have been one of the worst. You've got to worry about Colorado's penalty kill in this matchup as well. Philly has four players with at least 13 power-play points. Somebody will have to step into Streit's shoes on the power play. Rookie Ivan Provorov seems like a decent bet. Colorado's offense beyond Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene has largely been a disaster. Gabriel Landeskog has returned to action, but in two games he has zero points and two shots on goal. Mikko Rantanen has 12 points, but he's also only put 35 shots on goal in 22 games.
Recommended Pickup
Mikael Backlund, C, CGY – Last year, Backlund set a new career-high in goals (21) and points (47). While so far he's not on the same pace as last year (his pace would net him 13 goals and 40 points), he's on pace to do much better in one notable statistic. Backlund is on pace for 208 shots. He's in fact been a bit unlucky as he only has a shooting percentage of 6.4. Backlund also has five points in his last five games, including three power-play points. If you want to bet on Backlund getting a bit more puck luck, he's readily available in most leagues.
