With five players now in COVID protocol, the NHL has cancelled the Bruins' next two games. These include today's (Saturday's) game against Buffalo and Tuesday's game against the NY Islanders. David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, and Craig Smith have joined Sean Kuraly on the COVID protocol list.

Unless you're talking about top-tier options like Brad Marchand or Patrice Bergeron (not Pastrnak, since he's on the protocol list), you're probably better off benching any Bruins in weekly leagues next week in case further games are postponed. The Bruins will be able to reopen their facilities on Wednesday pending test results.

Keep in mind that the Bruins' next game on Thursday is also scheduled to be against the Islanders. If this game is also postponed, the Isles would be knocked down from four games to two next week. For more on the upcoming schedule, see this week's Looking Ahead.

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Alex Galchenyuk made his Leafs debut on Friday, playing on a scoring line with John Tavares and William Nylander. His results were much like those of his most recent stops, as he was held without a point to go with a minus-2 in 11 minutes. If you're looking for a positive, Galchenyuk took three shots and three hits, so it looks like he brought some energy. If he can't make it on a scoring line, then he's going to be back in the press box in short order. He's probably worth taking a flier on in a deeper league (currently 9 percent owned in Yahoo leagues), but you'll also want him on a very short leash.

Wayne Simmonds also returned to lineup on Friday, recording an assist on Jason Spezza's goal while taking six hits. He had been out of lineup since early February with a broken wrist. Simmonds was on a line with Spezza and Pierre Engvall, which doesn't make him as intriguing an option as Galchenyuk in the short term. However, Simmonds could still be useful in bangers leagues.

Frederik Andersen now has losses in five of his last six starts, along with Really Bad Starts in three of his last five starts. That includes allowing four goals on 18 shots against Calgary. Andersen admitted earlier this week he wasn't 100% and still playing through the lower-body injury that forced him to miss a bit of time earlier this season. It might be best for the Leafs to give him some rest, but as long as they're still sending him out there, he's not worth starting until he can break out of this funk. Jack Campbell returned as Andersen's backup on Friday, so I wonder if Andersen gets put back on IR and they try to manage with a Campbell/Michael Hutchinson tandem.

Frederik Andersen's season save percentage is down to .897. That is sixth last among goaltenders who have made 15 starts or more.

He had a .909 save percentage in last year's disappointing campaign.

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 20, 2021

When I went to Frozen Tools to run this stat for goalies with minimum 15 GP, I found 32 goalies on this list. Even though Andersen has handled a heavy workload for the Leafs for the past several seasons, his recent stats make me think that the Leafs will strongly consider moving on from him upon any playoff run that is viewed as disappointing. My guess is that the bar would be set at getting out of the North Division, but someone who consumes Leafs coverage morning noon and night might have a better idea.

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Tanner Pearson is expected to miss the next four weeks with an ankle injury, which makes it all the more difficult for the Canucks to trade the UFA-to-be if they wanted to. Pearson's injury meant that newly acquired Jimmy Vesey was able to make his Canucks debut on a scoring line along with J.T. Miller and Jake Virtanen. Although Vesey was held without a point on Friday, he logged a season-high 18:13 – the kind of icetime that he was nowhere close to receiving in Toronto. At one time a highly sought-after prospect, Vesey's fantasy value has instantly improved from the near rock bottom it had reached during his time as a Leaf. I don't know that there's enough there to suggest waiver-wire add, but a much-improved situation is at least worth keeping an eye on.

The Canucks also moved Elias Pettersson to LTIR with an upper-body injury that they haven't said much about. I can't tell you much about the injury except that it seems to be more serious than originally thought, as day-to-day has turned into week-to-week now that he has missed eight games. With the move to LTIR, March 31 would be the earliest he could return. Strangely enough, the Canucks have won seven of those eight games without Petey. Maybe they don't need him? I'm kidding, in case you don't pick up on my sarcasm.

Montreal entered this game 0-8 in games decided in overtime and the shootout this season. They're now 0-9 in that stat category, thanks to the below Miller overtime winner. Not surprisingly, they also lead the league in Bettman loser points. Since the coaching change, they are 4-3-5. Yes, more overtime/shootout losses than wins or losses.

Probably one of the more disgusting OT winners from J.T. Miller. 🥴

NHL x @trulyseltzer pic.twitter.com/cOSELMccLI

— NHL (@NHL) March 20, 2021

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Even as he ages, Alex Ovechkin is finding reasons that he should never be counted out. With two goals on Friday, Ovechkin now has goals in five consecutive games as well as seven goals in his last seven games. This after Ovechkin appeared due for a dropoff after scoring "just" seven goals in his first 19 games. Because of that early-season decline and the goal explosion in the North Division, Ovie still has some catching up to do in the goal race. His 14 goals has him tied for 10^th with several other players and seven goals behind Auston Matthews in the Rocket Richard race.

The Capitals have been a perfect 7-0-0 without Tom Wilson over his seven-game suspension. He is expected to return from his suspension on Saturday. Let's see if he's learned from his latest suspension.

The Rangers followed up their nine-goal outburst with… just a single goal? It was a power-play goal from Artemi Panarin, so it would have helped a lot of teams. Panarin now has goals in three consecutive games and points in all four of his games since his return. He's picking up right where he left off after his leave of absence.

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Robin Lehner started his first game since February 7, making 23 saves in picking up a 4-2 win over the Kings. Now that Lehner is back, does that make Marc-Andre Fleury a sell high? Not necessarily, as we've seen Lehner suffer his share of injuries in the past. Fleury was already due for a rest, as he had played in all but one of the Golden Knights' games from February 9 to March 17 – a span of 17 games. Because of its COVID shutdown earlier this season, the Golden Knights still have a considerable number of games to make up, including seven back-to-backs into May. Both goalies should see plenty of starts, although Fleury's magnificent season has given him the right to start the greater share in the current campaign. I wouldn't be surprised if Peter DeBoer decides to alternate starts, though.

Max Pacioretty continues to get it done. He scored a pair of first-period goals on Tuesday, giving him 16 goals on the season and a five-game point streak in which he has nine points (4 G, 5 A). With 120 shots, Patches trails only Brady Tkachuk and Connor McDavid in that category. Both North Division players have had the opportunity to play five more games than Pacioretty. So it shouldn't be a surprise that Pacioretty leads the league with 4.3 SOG/GP. All those nice passes from Mark Stone certainly help.

Remember that season when William Karlsson scored over 40 goals? Yeah, that wasn't going to happen again. Karlsson did end his eight-game goalless drought on Friday, though. He was originally placed on COVID protocol, but he was allowed to play on Friday after the test was a false positive.

With an assist on Friday, Shea Theodore now has a six-game point streak, with two goals and seven assists over that span.

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Jaden Schwartz returned to the Blues' lineup on Friday after missing the past month with a lower-body injury. The Blues didn't exactly ease him into the lineup, as he logged 22:55 in a game that went the distance (to a shootout). Schwartz didn't earn a point, but he took four shots, two hits, and four blocked shots, the latter of which is a high number for a forward. He was on a line with Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarasenko.

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Evgeni Malkin is expected to be out week-to-week for the Penguins. Unfortunate, as he was on an eight-game point streak after a slow start. If you're a Malkin owner, you're probably used to holding your breath when you look at a boxscore hoping that he hasn't suffered another injury. I usually don't have the stomach to own players like Malkin who seem guaranteed to miss a bunch of games every season, but for some reason I decided to go in that direction this season.

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After starting four consecutive games for the Senators, Joey Daccord is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a possible ankle sprain. The Sens don't play until next week, but they're in a real bind goaltending-wise with Matt Murray listed as week to week and Marcus Hogberg heading to the AHL soon for a conditioning stint from his injury. Not that you're rushing out to add Senators goalies or anything, but well-travelled recent waiver-wire add Anton Forsberg and prospect Filip Gustavsson will have to carry the mail for the Senators next week. Throw all the Senators goalie projections from the Midseason Guide out the window.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding