Joel Dorcas | February 25th, 2020
Tuesday is setting up to be a very interesting slate. Unless you play multiple lineups, chances are you will have to pass on a few high-powered teams. The Bruins, Lightning, and Rangers are being passed up in this write-up for the Flyers, Blues and Predators. Either way, a case can certainly be made for all of the mentioned teams. Let’ go over the selected matchups and make some Ice Picks!
San Jose Sharks (26-32-4) at Philadelphia Flyers (35-20-7)
The Philadelphia Flyers are making serious headway in the Metro Division as they are just three points back of second-place Pittsburgh with 77 points. They head into this one having won three straight and eight of 11 games this month all while averaging an impressive 4.09 goals per contest. The flyers are also extra dangerous at home having compiled a 21-5-4 record.
The Sharks have lost four straight and will be without three of their best players. Centers Logan Couture and Tomas Hertl, as well as defensemen Erik Karlsson, will all sit this one with injuries.
The Flyers’ complete starting lineup is very affordable which makes them so intriguing. Two key contributors, who log heavy powerplay minutes, Center Sean Couturier and Wing Claude Giroux are leading the team in scoring this month. Couturier has 6G and 6A and a team-leading 32 shots on goal in 11 games. Giroux, in the same amount of games, has 4G, 8A, 5PPPTS and is averaging 3.14 minutes of PP time per game.
Defensemen Travis Sanheim can be considered as a value fill in for your defense. He has registered 18 blocks 23 shots and a goal and four assists in 11 games this month.
Chicago Blackhawks (27-27-8) at St.Louis Blues (36-17-10)
From one dominant team at home to the next. The Blues are 20-6-5 when hosting this season. They have put together four straight victories after going through a bit of a rough stretch recently. The Blues and Hawks have met twice this season with St.Louis winning both to a combined score of 8-3.
As for the Blackhawks, they are hanging on to very slim chances of reaching the playoffs. They have won just two of their last 10 while allowing 3.40 goals per game. In their previous five, they are allowing an average of 39.4 shots on goal.
The Blues tend to spread around the scoring but a mid-tiered defenseman that is fully in play is Colton Parayko. In 12 games this month Parayko has 5G, 5A, 34 shots, and 15 blocks.
Ottawa Senators (21-30-11) at Nashville Predators (30-23-8)
This will be the second of back-to-back games for the Sens and the second consecutive game without their now former best player Jean-Gabriel Pageau who was traded on deadline day to the New York Islanders. The Sens have just three wins in their previous 10 games. They will carry an abysmal 6-17-5 road record(before Monday’s game) and a hefty 3.68 GA/GM(road) into Smashvile.
The Preds are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and are all of the sudden in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race.
Much like St.Louis, Nashville has a balanced scoring attack. Mikael Granlund can be had for a very reasonable price. He has 5G, 3A, 24 shots, and an average of 3:00 minutes on the PP in 11 games this month.
If you can afford him, defensemen Roman Josi is the Preds’ most dangerous weapon. He is averaging 25:45 minutes as well as 3:28 minutes per game on the PP along with 6A, 45 shots and 14 blocks in 11 February games.
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