Three days of no hockey suddenly felt like an eternity, but with the egg nog running low it's time to get back to NHL fantasy.

There's no wading back in either, with 11 games on tap to resume action following the holiday break. It was going to be 12, but the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets have been postponed due to the severe weather in Buffalo. The Sabres are next supposed to host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, but keep an eye on things as the airport isn't even supposed to reopen until Wednesday.

In case you missed some of the other headlines over the holidays, one player we won't see on Tuesday is John Carlson. His face stopped a slap shot on Friday, the news of which was overshadowed by Alex Ovechkin tying and breaking Gordie Howe's goal mark in the same contest. Carlson's status for the longer term is not clear, but in the short term you should have a look at Erik Gustafsson. The 30-year-old defender was already starting to play like it was 2018-19 (when he was sixth in scoring by defensemen for the Chicago Blackhawks) before Carlson was hurt. More ice time and much more power-play time is coming his way this week -- and possibly for longer.

The Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights will have one eye cast to Wednesday's slate, when they play again in their respective back-to-back sets. The Bruins, in particular, might buck expectations and start Jeremy Swayman here against the Ottawa Senators to save Linus Ullmark for a rematch with the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (he beat them last Friday before the break).

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All times Eastern.

7 p.m., PNC Arena, Watch live on ESPN+

The ice will very much be tilted in favor of the Hurricanes here, with one of the best possession and defensive teams in the NHL taking on visitors that are among the worst in the league. Look for more than a few five-on-five goals from the home side, which can mean that Jordan Staal's line might be worth a look here. Staal, Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast are a top-10 line for possession (per MoneyPuck).

9 p.m., Scotiabank Saddledome, Watch live on ESPN+

The Battle of Alberta is always good for some scoring, though it's been a touch subdued in two iterations this season that resulted in 12 goals. Jacob Markstrom hopefully regained some confidence with wins in three straight -- though the quality of competition from the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet. The Flames have been better than the Oilers in five-on-five goals per 60 in the past month, but special teams looks extra appealing for this one: Both teams are tied for the most power-play opportunities in the past month, with the Oilers leading the league in power-play tallies and the Flames in the top 10. Make sure Tyler Toffoli is in your lineup for the Flames, while the same goes for Tyson Barrie on the Oilers side.

10 p.m., Rogers Arena, Watch live on ESPN+

These West Coast games keep drawing my eye every slate. It's two evenly matched teams here, with slightly above average offense and near-cellar-dwelling defense -- and it just equals a lot of expected goals. Digging a little deeper than normal, I'd consider Alexander Barabanov (top power-play unit) and Matt Benning (1.1 minimum fantasy points every game this month) for the Sharks side. Lane Pederson (playing with Elias Pettersson) and Conor Garland (playing with Bo Horvat) draw interest from the Canucks side.

10:30 p.m., Crypto.com Arena, Watch live on ESPN+

For this one to be high scoring, I think we need the Golden Knights to get at least two of Jack Eichel, Shea Theodore and Jonathan Marchessault back from injury. The Knights have fallen to 28th in the NHL in five-on-five goals per 60 in the past month (EvolvingHockey.com). The Kings have been much more threatening (19th) and with their AHL call-up goaltender on a heater (Pheonix Copley on a personal four-game win streak), I think they have the advantage here unless we see a healthy Golden Knights lineup with Eichel at the top of the depth chart.

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Tom Wilson, W, Washington Capitals (18.9%): He's close to returning. Wilson got in a practice in a full-contact jersey before the holiday break. Maybe it's not this road game in New York, but Wilson will be back on Ovechkin's wing sooner than later and he's available in most leagues.

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Paul Stastny, C/W, Carolina Hurricanes (3.3%): It will be interesting to see if Stastny continues to get looks as a top-six forward for the Canes. He stayed in the role despite the return of Sebastian Aho before the break, bumping Jesperi Kotkaniemi to a bottom-six role. Stastny hasn't done a lot when it comes to scoring, with one assist in his past eight games, but continued playing time with Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas could change that -- especially in juicy matchups like this one against the Blackhawks.

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Hampus Lindholm, D, Boston Bruins (76.6%): He's obviously not available in most leagues, but just a reminder than Lindholm took back over the power-play unit from Charlie McAvoy before the break, so he should be back in lineups again until this flip-flops again.

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Calen Addison, D, Minnesota Wild (8.3%): The power play is the one spot the Winnipeg Jets can be attacked with confidence. The Jets are good on the penalty kill, don't get me wrong, but they are consistently a top-five defense at five-on-five, so getting an advantage is key. And that's where Addison shines.

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Pyotr Kochetkov, G, Carolina Hurricanes (52.5%): The Canes gave Kochetkov two games off before the break, so he's the best guess to start this one. The only spanner in the works here is that, by all accounts, Frederik Andersen is awfully close to returning. Use this glorious matchup against the Hawks as your chance to get Kochetkov on your roster for the stretch run -- he's played his way into a share of the workload going forward.

Pheonix Copley, G, Los Angeles Kings (4.8%): He's won four in a row and is 6-1 on the season. The Golden Knights could be shorthanded by injuries still. It's a decent spot here for Copley's success to potentially continue.