Lineup picks, matchups, start or sit advice for Saturday

01.04.2023, 20:34 espn.com

Fantasy hockey friends, we're now forced to pay some real attention to the dreaded 'r' factor. After accomplishing all they can in capturing the President's Trophy and home-ice advantage from mid-April onward, outside of carving out fresh records for accumulated points, Boston can do no better. Which means some players - including some of your most precious fantasy faves - will start resting with greater frequency. Taking games off. Like this very weekend, when the Bruins visit the Penguins Saturday (watch on ESPN+) before heading to St. Louis for a Sunday matinee with the Blues. Prolific players like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Hampus Lindholm and others are bound to sit out one of the two (my early guess is Sunday's), meaning it's more important than ever to check Jim Montgomery's real, live lineup before setting your own.

This is just the start. As additional teams wrap up their position in the standings, for rich or for poor, coveted performers are going to take nights off more and more often. Or call is a season altogether. If you're still harboring a shot at fantasy hockey glory -- and if reading this I'm guessing you are - daily diligence in lineup monitoring is key.

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In any case, you won't be wanting for fantasy substitutes to stream this lively Saturday, with 13 games on the schedule. Highlights include a Hurricanes squad hoping to get back on winning-track against Montreal before hosting the Islanders on Sunday, while the Panthers are under immense pressure to beat up on the Blue Jackets. Tampa's Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed three total goals in his past three games, including a 31-save shutout performance in Carolina. Good luck to the visiting Isles when facing the tuned-in netminder, should the Lightning's No. 1 earn the start again Saturday. Ilya Sorokin is performing fairly stingily himself, so that may unravel into a rather low-scoring affair.

Elsewhere, Colorado and Dallas face off in a significant divisional match-up that may result in a new Central leader before the day's through. Depends on how the Wild manage against a Vegas team that's wobbled a bit this past week. Another noteworthy divisional tilt sees the Kraken face the Kings, which should -- on paper -- produce more drama than when the Oilers' meet with the fumbling Ducks.

All times Eastern.

Since mid-March, the Blackhawks are relinquishing an average of 4.43 goals/game. Beyond the Devils' more prolific scorers, top-six forwards like Dawson Mercer and Ondrej Palat - who've been quiet of late -- should find themselves in reasonable position to rediscover their respective scoring gears.

Anton Lundell, Florida Panthers (36.4%): After Matthew Tkachuk broke out of his rare three-game dormant skid by notching a hat-trick, plus an assist, in Thursday's 5-2 win over the Canadiens, you can just feel another rampant scoring run from the star forward a-brewin'. However, unless Tkachuk's already on your fantasy roster, fat chance of mining that predictable productivity. So why not give his center a go instead, who remains reasonably available in ESPN.com leagues? Lundell happened to score the other two goals, plus an assist, in that same win in Montreal.

Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Montreal Canadiens (27.3%)

Ondrej Palat, New Jersey Devils (43.8%)

Dawson Mercer, New Jersey Devils (37.5%)

Viktor Arvidsson, Los Angeles Kings (69.1%)

Jakub Vrana, St. Louis Blues (39.5%)

Jake DeBrusk, Boston Bruins (67.9%)

Jack Roslovic, Columbus Blue Jackets (42.1%)

Ryan Hartman, Minnesota Wild (55.2%)

Barrett Hayton, Arizona Coyotes (24.4%)

Owen Tippett, Philadelphia Flyers (27.3%)

Kailer Yamamoto, Edmonton Oilers (5.8%): The Oilers host the Ducks to wrap up Saturday's full slate of action. Projected Anaheim starter John Gibson has given up 11 total goals in his past two starts. This one could get messy. Skating on a scoring line with Evander Kane and Leon Draisaitl, Yamamoto has two goals and five assists in his most recent seven contests.

See also:

Calle Jarnkrok, Toronto Maple Leafs (3.6%)

Shane Pinto, Ottawa Senators (5.7%)

Daniel Sprong, Seattle Kraken (3.5%)

Ivan Barbashev, Vegas Golden Knights (16.9%)

Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Carolina Hurricanes (5.8%)

Kasperi Kapanen, St. Louis Blues (4.7%)

Casey Mittelstadt, Buffalo Sabres (2.5%)

Tommy Novak, Nashville Predators (9.7%)

JJ Peterka, Buffalo Sabres (0.8%)

Marcus Johansson, Minnesota Wild (2.5%)

Morgan Frost, Philadelphia Flyers (1.8%)

Gustav Forsling, Florida Panthers (51.0%)

Mike Matheson, Montreal Canadiens (37.5%)

Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild (13.6%)

Brady Skjei, Carolina Hurricanes (18.4%)

Jake Sanderson, Ottawa Senators (14.9%)

Juuso Valimaki, Arizona Coyotes (10.5%)

Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres (14.4%)

Alex Lyon (possible), Florida Panthers (1.0%): The Panthers' other netminder is performing fabulously while Sergei Bobrovsky battles an illness, holding the Maple Leafs and Canadiens each to two goals in consecutive wins. Chasing a Wild Card spot, this superior Florida team needs -- needs -- to escape Columbus with another valuable victory. Even if Bob's feeling better, coach Paul Maurice might run with the guy who's getting it done, with perceivable confidence, in the here and now. And if Florida's No. 1 is fit enough to start against his old squad, he's a fine fantasy option as well.