Likely without Victor Hedman, the Lightning hope to pull out of their five-game losing skid when hosting the Flyers on Tuesday. I expect a greater commitment to shooting the puck on net - an issue of late - from Jon Cooper's charges. The Maple Leafs are missing two key figures in Ryan O'Reilly and John Tavares when visiting Timo Meier and the Devils in New Jersey. While Tavares is battling an illness, O'Reilly, unfortunately, is expected to be sidelined until April with a broken finger. New Toronto forward Sam Lafferty was spotted centering a scoring line with William Nylander during Monday's practice. Vegas versus the Panthers in Florida portends to be a lively inter-conference affair.
Following a 3-2 loss to the Oilers the previous evening, life doesn't get any easier for the Sabres when they travel to face Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders. Look for Dan Vladar to start in Minnesota as the Flames play their second in as many nights. After scoring five in Dallas on Monday, Calgary will be in tough in trying to replicate that performance against the stingy Wild. The evening's 10-gamer wraps up with the Kraken attempting to extend their win streak to five against the visiting Ducks (on ESPN+).
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All times Eastern.
7 p.m., PPG Paints Arena, Watch live on ESPN+
The Penguins launch a monumental five-game homestand against a visiting Blue Jackets squad that's relying on Elvis Merzlikins nearly full-time, with backup Michael Hutchinson serving as the alternative. Columbus' No. 1 was subpar in his last outing, against the Senators, earning the hook in the second period after allowing four goals on 23 shots. In fact, the last time Merzlikins allowed fewer than three goals in any game was back on Jan. 8. He's played a dozen times since. Here's a ripe opportunity for Pittsburgh to make some scoring hay, including new center Mikael Granlund (rostered in 40.9% of ESPN.com leagues).
Nick Schmaltz, Arizona Coyotes (51.3%): The Coyotes forward has eight goals and seven assists in his past 13 contests, averaging 2.5 fantasy points/game in ESPN.com standard competition. Such a haul rivals that of some of the most prominent assets in the league. Look for Clayton Keller's linemate to maintain his impressive pace against the visiting Blues.
Jakub Vrana, St. Louis Blues (27.2%): The former Red Wing is projected to make his Blues' debut on a second line with Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen in Arizona on Tuesday.
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Anthony Duclair, Florida Panthers (15.4%): Both Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett are back after losing several games to injury, with the former now centering a top line alongside Duclair. The Panthers don't fancy themselves out of the playoff running yet - just ask Eric Staal - so let's see what they make of a five-game home stretch, beginning Tuesday against the Golden Knights. At minimum, Paul Maurice's Cats aren't expected to slip away quietly.
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Juuso Valimaki, Arizona Coyotes (3.5%): Anchoring Arizona's top power play, the young defenseman has four assists in three games, including one with the extra skater. He's up to 12 helpers altogether since the All-Star Game, spanning a stretch of 13 contests. With Jakob Chychrun (Ottawa) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Carolina) playing elsewhere, Valimaki has become one of my favorite under-radar fantasy assets in ESPN's standard game. As mentioned, the Coyotes face the porous Blues on Tuesday.
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Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild (53.5%): The Minnesota netminder pitched a 31-save shutout against these same Flames only three days ago. Plus, Calgary is playing their second in as many nights after dramatically edging the Stars 5-4 in Dallas on Monday.
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