Welcome back to the Friday Night WinDaily NHL Between the Benches Article! After another crazy week of hockey, we are greeted with a small three-game slate to start the weekend and continue the playoff push! Tonight’s 3/24 NHL slate begins at 7:00 pm ET. Don’t forget to lock your lines and check the discord for any updates! Let’s get right into it!
3/24 NHL Stack Report
1. New York Islanders 3 (Parise-Pageau-Fasching)
— The Islanders have been red hot as of late. They won their last three games including a 7-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs last Tuesday. They are playing great hockey and all of the Islanders top lines are getting involved in the scoring. I don’t expect much to change tonight. For starters, the Blue Jackets will be turning to veteran goaltender Michael Hutchinson who has not had the best of seasons for the Blue Jackets, giving up an average of five goals in each of his last three starts. On top of that, the Jackets have given up an average of around 7 goals over their last three games. The Islanders third line was impressive over the last few games with two goals and two assists in their last game against the Leafs. Usually the Islanders are not known as a high scoring team but they have been pouring it on as of late and if they can put up 7 goals against the Leafs, I would be shocked if they can’t do the same to the last placed Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Noah Dobson
2. Colorado Avalanche 1 (Malgin-MacKinnon-Rantanen)
— Arizona has been rather surprising as of late but they were brought back down to earth in their last game against the Oilers giving up a lead with 8 minutes left, then succumbing to a masterclass from Connor McDavid in OT. Prior to their last game, the Avalanche were on a six game winning streak which included a 3-2 win over the Avalanche. Every goal the Avalanche scored involved a member of the top line and amongst themselves they registered two goals and two assists. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, they will be without a few top players (such as Makar, Landeskog and Rodrigues) but that gives an opportunity to players such as Malgin and Byram to make a case for themselves as the playoffs are fast approaching. The Avalanche are heavy favorites in this matchup for good reason and I would highly recommend having the Avalanche’s top players in your daily fantasy lineups tonight.
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Bowen Byram
Honorable Mention(s): New York Islanders 2 (Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri), Buffalo Sabres 1 (Skinner-Thompson-Tuch)
3/24 NHL Goalie Tracker
Best (Goalies to Roster)
- Ilya Sorokin
- Alex Georgiev
Honorable Mention(s): Craig Anderson
Worst (Goalies to Target)
1. Michael Hutchinson
Honorable Mention(s): Karel Vejmelka
3/24 NHL Wild Card Targets
Denis Malgin
– I know that he is in the second line of the article but I felt as though he was worth an extra mention in particular. As noted, he is getting a chance on Colorado’s top line due to injuries on the Avalanche roster and he has been impressive as of late with four points over his last three games. He has been seeing over 15 minutes of ice-time per game since the move up to the top line and I expect that to increase tonight as he has proven so far that he deserves a higher role in the Avalanche lineup. Malgin will also see time on Colorado’s second power play unit.
Honorable Mention(s): Timo Meier, JJ Moser, Cal Clutterbuck, Zach Parise
Core Four: (ALWAYS BE STACKIN’)
Center – Nathan MacKinnon
Winger – Denis Malgin
Defenseman – Noah Dobson
Goalie – Ilya Sorokin
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