Hunter Skoczylas previews the Boston Bruins’ fantasy hockey matchups for the upcoming week.

The Boston Bruins won two of three matchups last week, topping the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils, while losing 5-4 to the Detroit Red Wings. Boston is tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division with a 17-13-0 record, 34 points, and a +2 goal differential. The Bruins will begin a three-game Central Division road trip this week, with the St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets, and Minnesota Wild all on tap.

David Pastrnak (11G, 18A) has been sidelined for the past five games due to an undisclosed injury, but he is expected to rejoin the team during this road trip. Morgan Geekie (22G, 10A) continues to wreak havoc on opposing defenses, ranking second in the NHL in goals and averaging 12.7 DraftKings fantasy points (DK FPTS). Pavel Zacha (7G, 14A) and Elias Lindholm (4G, 13A) have stepped up as depth pieces for the Bruins, and Charlie McAvoy (0G, 14A) also has a chance to rejoin the team this week as he has been dealing with a facial injury. Jeremy Swayman (2.70 GAA, .913 SV%) struggled last week against the Red Wings, but he is 12-7-0 and continues to improve as the season has progressed.

Top Point Getter: Morgan Geekie – 22 goals, 10 assists, 32 points

Top Goaltender: Jeremy Swayman – 12-7-0 record, 2.70 GAA, .913 SV%

Bruins’ upcoming schedule for the week of December 9

Tuesday, December 9 at St. Louis Blues

Thursday, December 11 at Winnipeg Jets

Sunday, December 14 at Minnesota Wild

Bruins’ DraftKings Fantasy Preview

Tuesday, December 9 at St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are in seventh place in the Central Division and 12th place in the Western Conference with a 11-12-7 record, 29 points, and a -27 goal differential.

The Blues enter Tuesday riding a two-game winning streak, but the club still finds itself near the bottom of the standings, thanks to underwhelming offensive play paired with poor goaltending. The club ranks 30th in goals per 60, 27th in goals against per 60, and 31st in Goals%. The special teams play is middling, too, with the club ranking 16th in PP% and 26th in PK%. Luckily, St. Louis takes the third-fewest penalties per 60, so its opponents don’t get many power-play opportunities to exploit the poor penalty kill.

Goals have been hard to come by in St. Louis, which has led to the sixth-most goals in the NHL. Not a single Blues’ skater has yet to eclipse double-digit goals, with both Robert Thomas (4G, 14A) and Dylan Holloway (8G, 9A) leading the team in points. Still, 12 different skaters have posted at least 10 points thus far, but the goaltending has canceled most of it out. Jordan Binnington (3.29 GAA, .875 SV%) is 7-7-5 across 18 starts, and Joel Hofer (3.11 GAA, .893 SV%) is 4-5-2 across 12 starts. Both goaltenders have played poorly, especially Binnington, who ranks 79th in goals saved above expected and 73rd in SV% above expected, while averaging just 7.13 DK FPTS per game.

Thursday, December 11 at Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets are in sixth place in the Central Division and 11th place in the Western Conference with a 14-13-1 record, 29 points, and a 0 goal differential.

Winnipeg enters the new week in the middle of a slump, having gone just 3-6-1 across its last 10 games. The offensive play has been viable, with the club ranking 14th in goals per 60 and 15th in Goals%, but its usual trustworthy goaltending has been missed. Connor Hellebuyck (2.51 GAA, .913 SV%) has been sidelined since late November with a knee injury, and the club has allowed over 0.5 more goals per game since his absence. Luckily, the Jets’ special teams play has been strong, ranking 12th in PP% and 14th in PK%.

While the absence of Hellebuyck hurts the team’s chances of winning games consistently, it certainly helps having both Mark Scheifele (14G, 22A) and Kyle Connor (15G, 20A) leading the offense each night. Gabriel Vilardi (13G, 12A) has also stepped up as the third option, totaling nine points in his last five games, while averaging 10.3 DK FPTS per game. Eric Comrie (3.08 GAA, .898 SV%) is 6-6-1 across 13 starts, and while he isn’t Hellebuyck, he is still playing well enough for the club to secure wins. Comrie ranks 33rd in goals saved above expected, and Winnipeg ranks 17th in goals against per 60.

Sunday, December 14 at Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild are in third place in the Central Division and fourth place in the Western Conference with a 16-9-5 record, 37 points, and a +4 goal differential.

The Wild are a very streaky team, having gone on a five-game losing streak in late October only to go 11-1-2 during the entire month of November. Now, they enter Tuesday having lost three of their last four games. While Minnesota has allowed the seventh-fewest goals against per 60, it has also averaged the seventh-fewest goals per 60. Something must give here, especially when the Wild’s roster is as deep as it is. The club’s primary issue is its lack of 5v5 production and dependency on the power play to score goals. The Wild rank second-to-last in 5v5 goals for per 60, with 23 of their 82 total goals coming while on the power play. As a result, the club ranks 11th in PP% and draws the ninth-most penalties per 60.

Despite poor goaltending to start the season, things have turned around for both Filip Gustavsson (2.67 GAA, .908 SV%) and Jesper Wallstedt (1.95 GAA, .936 SV%), who each rank inside the top 20 in goals saved above expected. That is a luxury in today’s NHL, and it is a huge reason for Minnesota’s success, even if the club is streaky. If the goaltending is above average and the offense is led by guys such as Kirill Kaprizov (18G, 15A) and Matt Boldy (16G, 16A), then things are looking good. Nine different skaters have eclipsed double-digit points, and six of them have double-digit assists, as well.