Early Hope For Parity

Devils, Red Wings, Senators big underdogs to earn split

Jan 17, 2021

Saturday, a lot of teams fought back to split their two-game series to start the season, even some underdogs that might have been expected to drop at least a couple.

There are only four teams that have lost their first two games in regulation – the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Chicago Blackhawks. The Los Angeles Kings lost both of their first two games in overtime.

Of that group, Chicago was the only team expected to really struggle this season so even with a bunch of divisional games that could be lopsided there may be a tighter gap between the good and bad teams.

Obviously, it’s early and this idea could be obsolete a week from now but, right now, it’s encouraging that some of the teams expected to have a hard time might be more competitive. New Jersey, Detroit, and Ottawa were a few of the teams that just faced a prohibitive favorite in a two-game series and came away with splits.

How does this impact your fantasy picks? Well, maybe there is value to be found on those teams that did not look so appealing before the season.

SATURDAY STARS

NYR RW Pavel Buchnevich 2 G, 1 A

TOR RW Mitch Marner 1 G, 2 A

MTL D Jeff Petry 2 G

SJ RW Timo Meier 1 G, 2 A

Boston 1 New Jersey 2 (OT)

NJ rookie LW Egor Sharangovich scored the winning goal in overtime, the first goal of his NHL career. He scored 17 goals in 34 KHL games this season.

Boston is seeking someone to fill the right wing spot on the top line, alongside Brad Marchand and David Krejci. David Krejci, Charlie Coyle, and Anders Bjork were among those rotating through that spot.

San Jose 3 Arizona 5

ARZ RW Phil Kessel 2 G

ARZ D Oliver Ekman-Larsson 3 A

ARZ C Derick Brassard 2 A

SJ RW Timo Meier 1 G, 2 A

The Sharks were outscored 3-0 during 5-on-5 play with C Tomas Hertl on the ice.

N.Y. Islanders 0 N.Y. Rangers 5

NYR RW Pavel Buchnevich 2 G, 1 A

NYR LW Artemi Panarin 2 G

NYR G Alexandar Georgiev recorded a 23-save shutout.

NYI G Ilya Sorokin, making his NHL debut, gave up five goals on 32 shots.

The Rangers defense pairing of rookie K’Andre Miller and Brendan Smith was on the ice for three goals for and none against.

The Rangers replaced Kaapo Kakko on the right wing of the line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome with rookie Alexis Lafreniere. Results were much better for the Rangers and Kakko scored a goal, too.

Carolina 2 Detroit 4

DET C Dylan Larkin 2 G

DET RW Filip Zadina 2 A

CAR RW Andrei Svechnikov 1 G, 1 A

Columbus 2 Nashville 5

NSH G Juuse Saros stopped 42 of 44 shots for the win.

CBJ RW Alexandre Texier 1 G, 1 A

CBJ D Michael Del Zotto 2 A

The Blue Jackets were outscored 3-0 during 5-on-5 play with D Zach Werenski on the ice.

Toronto 3 Ottawa 2

TOR RW Mitch Marner 1 G, 2 A

TOR C Auston Matthews and LW Joe Thornton 1 G, 1 A