The Capitals and Rangers game was a little different than your average regular season matchup. Using some newfangled technology, they animated the game.

The Big City Greens Classic uses puck and player tracking to animate the action at the Capitals-Rangers game in real time!😮

🎥: @BR_OpenIce
pic.twitter.com/Rok3xM5Igx

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 14, 2023

For the fantasy relevant numbers, the Rangers showed why they're in the playoffs and the Capitals aren't. Mika Zibanejad scored twice, Patrick Kane and Vincent Trocheck each added two points, and even Igor Shesterkin got in on the action with a secondary assist. He also added 30 saves, his second-highest total since January. He has been average over the last stretch, and it's in part due to the Rangers giving up a lot more defensively. Over his last twelve games: eight wins, GAA of 3.20, and sv% of .883. At least the wins are coming.

*

A lot of us are starting H2H playoffs this week or next, and are fighting for our lives there. Or maybe you're in a points or Roto league and need to mine some games played. Well, the rest of this week is pretty standard with your typical number of games on the light and heavy days, but from the 20^th to the 26^th of March, there is a huge discrepancy between the on and off days. Thirty teams play on the Saturday, with 13 and 12 on the Tues/Thurs respectively. Conversely, only two games on the Wednesday and three on the Friday. Getting in some off-day games could be huge.

In one league where I have a bye this week, I've already added two Coyotes in Jack McBain and J.J. Moser. I've talked about both of them a couple times over the last number of weeks, and there isn't too much new to add at the moment, just the advantage of multiple off-day games. Connor Mackey who I mentioned last week doesn't have any points since then, but has been racking up the hits. On the off-chance Barrett Hayton is still available, snatch him up now.

Sticking with the Coyotes, they called up Ivan Prosvetov last week, and got him his first start of the year. Connor Ingram got the first game of the weekend back-to-back, and Karel Vejmelka picked up the final game of the week. All three put up solid starts, and suddenly the Coyotes are winning games and not looking like a bottom-five team. They won't be evenly cycling the three goalies though, as Ingram got the next start last night,

Jumping back to the Avalanche who also have an exceptional Mon/Wed/Fri/Sun slate with two games against the Coyotes and one against the Blackhawks, there are a couple players you may be able to target here too. They put up eight against Montreal on Monday, and they certainly can do so again, regardless of Artturi Lehkonen and Gabe Landeskog's injury timetables.

J.T. Compher has done a fantastic job of filling in up in the lineup, and has already shown he can play with the top guns for the Avalanche. If any one of their depth players is going to go on a hot streak, odds are it will be Compher. That being said, from Tuesday's lines it looks like Dennis Malgin is getting the first crack up the lineup.

Alex Newhook is another other option for Colorado, and maybe more of a longer play. As the Avalanche lock down a playoff spot the young guys will play more, and more offensive minutes for Newhook is exactly what he needs. The Lehkonen injury should also really help Newhook who has been playing between Malgin and Matt Nieto lately. He stands to move up the lineup behind Compher, and may shift over to a more offensive role on the wing in the process once Malgin likely gets shuffled back down the lineup.

With no back to backs, there is no guarantee that we get a start from Jonas Johansson, but with a heavy schedule and weak opponents, if you're going to try to get two games from a Colorado goalie, then this is a good chance.

*

Zach Hyman was surprisingly absent from warmups last night, and it was later noted that he wouldn't play last night. This time of year for a team jockeying for position but also with a playoff spot fairly secure, it could just be some load management, or it could also be something bigger. Knowing Hyman's playing style and attitude, it might be more likely the latter to get him to actually sit for a game.

Without Hyman in the lineup, Kailer Yamamoto and Warren Foegele got regular time in the top-six, though only Foegele had something to show for it. It was only Foegele's third point in the month of March, so he's not someone to rush out and grab unless you're in a much deeper league.

*

After leaving Tuesday morning's practice early, Thomas Chabot was not a part of last night's game against the Oilers. Jake Sanderson took advantage with a power play assist, and is up to eight points in his last 15 games. More notably though, he's already up to 13 power play points – a mark that Chabot has only topped twice in his career. It would not be surprising to see Chabot shifted into a more defensive role to close out the year, and moving forward from here with Jakub Chychrun and Sanderson each manning a power play unit.

Other late injury news included Steven Stamkos, and Ryan McDonagh not playing last night. Check in for the Inury Ward later today for an update on all of these players.

*

Sticking with the injuries, the Pittsburgh Old-Guys lost Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta to injury. I'm surprised there haven't been more injuries to the Penguins the year with their overall age and how much they have had to rely on those top players. Jeff Petry and his 27 hits over the last five games will be very tough for fantasy GMs to replace, but the offense should be filled in well by P.O. Joseph.

*

One guy on most waiver wires will be Caleb Jones. He's likely to be a drag in the plus-minus column, but after a hot start to the year with nine points in 18 games, his luck did a full 180 flip, and he put up one point in his next 20 games. More recently, he has two points in the last three games, and is playing heavy top-pairing minutes with his brother Seth Jones. The volume of the peripherals has jumped up too with the ice time, and his luck metrics leave a little to be desired, meaning that if anything he's due a couple good bounces the rest of the way.

*

The Nashville Predators seem to have called up about half of their Milwaukee Admirals AHL team, and the injection of youth is pushing them right back into the middle of a playoff race. This is excellent news for Juuse Saros owners who may have been worried about him being rested down the stretch, and losing more games as the team dropped farther out. Instead, Tommy Novak scored again, bringing him up to 28 points in 34 games, and Kiefer Sherwood added two points, bringing him up to five points in his last seven games. Nashville has a dense H2H playoff schedule too, so you could do worse than sifting through their available players at the moment.

*

Kyle Dubas says he expects Ryan O'Reilly to return to the #leafs lineup before the playoffs. Adds that they were fortunate because of the type of break ROR suffered to his finger.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 14, 2023

With the Leafs' dense schedule the rest of the way, it's worth seeing if he's been dropped in any of your leagues.

*

Quick note that Ivan Barbashev now has eight points in nine games for the Golden Knights while averaging two shots and hits per game – he's also plus-three since joining the team after going minus-10 with the Blues. Linemate Jonathan Marchessault has ten points and 2.5 shots per game in that same span. They're working well as a pair centring Jack Eichel at the moment.

*

After the Islanders acquired Horvat there was some hope that they might be starting to turn a corner to a team where it's not a negative to have your fantasy players playing. Unfortunately, with the injury to Mat Barzal, that notion has stalled, but the fact they continue to churn out Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas, and Cal Clutterbuck in regular minutes doesn't help matters. Having them on line-three while J.G. Pageau and Pierre Engvall toil on line four doesn't seem to be helping anyone.

*

Our DFS subscription is now on sale for $74.99 until the playoffs. That’s right: 25% off! Order it here!

*

From the files of "this probably helped absolutely no one's fantasy team":

NICK SEELER 😱 pic.twitter.com/BCb7q3rEEb

— NHL (@NHL) March 15, 2023

*

See you on Monday as I'm filling in for Dobber. In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you have any fantasy hockey questions or comments.