It’s never too early to panic in a shortened season, so it might be time for the New York Rangers to start panicking. The young and promising team has started 1-4-1, and they are already six points out of a playoff spot in their division. The Canucks have felt similar pressure at 2-5, but they bounced back with a 7-1 rout of the Senators on Monday.
That pressure applies to players, too. In a 56-game season, streaky players could find themselves having career highs or career lows. As the season rolls on, we’re starting to experience some of the oddities of a condensed schedule. Last night, there were only two games scheduled. Tonight, 28 teams are in action. Tomorrow, we’ll have just one game. I am not complaining, though; it’s just great to have hockey back.
Check out our NHL betting guide for today 
Center
Sean Monahan (CGY): $6,000 at MTL
After posting near career-lows in all offensive categories last season, Sean Monahan is poised for a bounce-back season. He has started the year on a five-game point streak, and he’s scored seven total points. In addition to that, he is shooting the puck over three times per game. Monahan is in his usual spot alongside Johnny Gaudreau. He is also on the top power-play unit with Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Rasmus Andersson. After dropping back-to-back games to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Calgary will be pressing to find the win column against the impressive Montreal Canadians.
Wing
Carter Verhaeghe (FLA): $3,700 at CBJ
We haven’t seen much from the Florida Panthers yet this season, but we have seen some nice play from Carter Verhaeghe. Out of camp, Verhaeghe earned the attractive spot on the left side of Aleksander Barkov and Anthony Duclair. He has made the most of his opportunity with Barkov by recording five points in three games. Over that span, he also has a +4 rating and nine shots on goal. Verhaeghe is installed on the second power-play unit. Columbus is a stingy team, but with the loss of Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Jets and no timetable for Patrik Laine’s insertion to the lineup, they’ll be a little shorthanded here.
Tyler Motte (VAN): $3,000 vs. OTT
Tonight, the Canucks will face-off with the Ottawa Senators for the third time in four days. Motte has recorded three goals in the previous two meetings. He has five goals in nine games this season. With Elias Pettersson struggling early on, the Canucks have needed to rely on depth scoring to stay in games, and Motte has done a nice job of chipping in. Despite starting on the fourth line, Travis Green has given Motte more ice time in each of the last five consecutive games. Meanwhile, the Senators have started to show their true colors as a young and inexperienced bunch. Vancouver needs to pick up another win to generate some momentum after a slow start to the season.
Defense
Justin Schultz (WSH): $3,000 vs. NYI
We knew Washington would need to switch up some of their lines after four of their players were suspended for breaking COVID protocol. More specifically, without Alex Ovechkin, we knew the power play would look a little different. Right now, it’s John Carlson in the Ovechkin one-timer spot. Justin Schultz has stepped into Carlson’s usual space. Schultz has seen his responsibility temporarily grow. He has logged almost 45 minutes in the past two games, more than any other two games this year. Over those two games, he has two goals on nine shots, two assists, and three blocks. The Islanders are a great defensive team, but I just can’t pass up a player with this opportunity that’s this cheap.
Goalie
John Gibson (ANH): $7,900 at ARI
Anaheim will face off with the Arizona Coyotes again tonight. On Tuesday, I went with Darcy Kuemper in goal. He had a nice night and stopped 23 of 24 shots. The only problem was that John Gibson stopped all 31 that he faced. Gibson is in a similar position as Kuemper — he’s clearly one of the best goaltenders in the league, but he is in an unfavorable spot with a rebuilding Ducks team. Gibson is off to a glorious start with a 1.67 GAA and .928 save percentage with two shutouts in just six games. He is in the “way too early” driver’s seat for the Vezina trophy. With Arizona on the docket, Vegas has installed a rare five goals as the betting total. This should be a low-scoring affair, and Gibson is one of the cheaper options available on FanDuel.
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Chris Genova is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @FantasyOneTimer
