Boston Bruins DraftKings NHL Fantasy Hockey Preview: February 23 to February 28

Following a tough five-game stretch and walking away with just one win, the Boston Bruins took care of business last week by topping the Nashville Predators, New York Islanders and Ottawa Senators. Boston improved its record to 43-8-5 and is now 11 points ahead of the next closest squad with 91 points. They have now won four straight games, scoring an average of 4.25 goals per game.

Boston started its week off with a road matchup against the Predators and dominated from first puck drop. The Bruins won 5-0 thanks to strong playmaking from Nick Foligno (2A) while Jeremy Swayman stopped all 28 of Nashville’s shots, recording his second shutout of the season in the process.

The Bruins took on the Islanders two days later at home and won easily yet again, 6-2. Boston got the scoring going early, netting three first-period goals which was led by Jake DeBrusk (1G, 1A). It was DeBrusk’s first game back from a lower body injury and he made an immediate offensive impact. New York registered more shots than Boston but failed to capitalize on its opportunities when it mattered.

To end the week, Boston took on Ottawa, a rather hot squad as of late. The Bruins won 3-1 thanks to two goals from David Pastrnak, bringing his total to 41 on the season, good for second-most in the league. Ottawa was able to generate consistent offensive pressure but Linus Ullmark stood on his head, saving 30-of-31 shots, good for a save percentage of .968.

Top Goal Scorer: David Pastrnak — 41 goals (Patrice Bergeron is second with 20 goals)

Top Point Getter: David Pastrnak — 77 points (Brad Marchand is second with 49 points)

Top Goaltender: Linus Ullmark — 29-4-1 record, 1.88 goals against on average (GAA), .937 save percentage

(All stats as of Feb. 21)

Bruins upcoming schedule for the week of February 23:

• Thursday, February 23 @ Seattle Kraken
• Saturday, February 25 @ Vancouver Canucks
• Monday, February 27 @ Edmonton Oilers
• Tuesday, February 28 @ Calgary Flames

Bruins DraftKings Fantasy Preview for Upcoming Games

Injury Update: Jake DeBrusk (lower body) returned from a 16-game absence on Saturday vs. the Islanders.

Thursday, February 23 @ Seattle Kraken

• The Seattle Kraken have a 32-19-6 record, are in third place in the Pacific Division and are third overall in the Western Conference with 70 points and a +19 goal differential.
• These two teams last met in the second week of January, where the Kraken shut out the Bruins, 3-0. It was Boston’s first and only scoreless game of the season and it would not be surprising to see the team playing with some extra fire this time around to correct prior mistakes.
• Seattle doesn’t excel in one specific area but rather shows consistency in all aspects. The Kraken have 11 skaters with double-digit goals with four already topping 40 points on the season. Jordan Eberle (13G, 32A) and Jared McCann (26G, 14A) lead the way for Seattle and have been a powerful duo all season long thanks to their chemistry and skill sets meshing well together.
• The Kraken average 3.5 goals per game, good for fifth-most in the league but also allow 3.1 goals per game. Martin Jones (23-10-3 record) has been consistent enough to secure wins but only posts a .892 save percentage and has allowed nearly 3.0 goals per game himself. Boston struggled in its last meeting but scoring goals shouldn’t be an issue, especially with the first meetings’ outcome heavy on players’ minds.
• Although they tend to play clean hockey most of the time posting bottom-10 total penalty minutes (467), the Kraken have the second-worst penalty kill in the league (72.5%), an area the Bruins will look to take advantage of. Boston’s power play unit has taken a step back over the last two months but deploys enough goal-scorers that it shouldn’t matter too much.

Saturday, February 25 @ Vancouver Canucks

• The Vancouver Canucks have a 22-30-4 record, are in sixth place in the Pacific Division and are eleventh overall in the Western Conference with 48 points and a -35 goal differential.
• These two teams last met in November where the Bruins won easily, 5-2. Boston is 5-5 across the last ten meetings versus Vancouver but given the polar opposite team situations currently, this matchup should feel and end one-sided.
• Vancouver has had some serious goaltending issues this season, dressing and starting four different goaltenders thus far. Whether it’s Spencer Martin (11-15-1 record) or most-recent starter Arturs Silovs (1-1 record), the Bruins should have zero issues getting the puck in the back of the net. Every Canucks goaltender that has started at least one game allows an average of at least 3.48 goals per game and has failed to eclipse a .900 save percentage.
• If things don’t go right for Boston when even-strength, the power play opportunities will come as easy as they get with Vancouver posting the worst penalty kill unit in the league (65.4%). Combine the Bruins’ top-10 power play and second-highest goals per-game total (3.7) with the Canucks’ poor goaltending situation and this game could get out of hand quickly.

Monday, February 27 @ Edmonton Oilers

• The Edmonton Oilers have a 30-19-8 record, are in fourth place in the Pacific Division and are fourth overall in the Western Conference with 68 points and a +23 goal differential.
• This matchup features the league’s top goal-scorers in Connor McDavid (42G) and Pastrnak (41G). The majority of Edmonton’s goals normally come from either McDavid or Leon Draisaitl (33G, 49A) but both Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (27G, 42A) and Zach Hyman (27G, 40A) have impressed this season. It’s easy for the stats to look good when McDavid is sharing the ice but Boston will need to limit multiple playmakers to find success.
• These two teams have not met yet this season but the Bruins are 4-6 across the last ten meetings against the Oilers. Over the last four seasons, these two have gone 1-1 in the season series so to say this will be competitive from start to finish is an understatement.
• Not only is this already a clash of the top goal-scorers but it’s also the top power play unit versus the top penalty kill unit. Primarily thanks to McDavid and Draisaitl, the Oilers have been incredibly efficient with the man advantage, scoring on a whopping 31.3% of their power plays. The main test will be how they deal with the Bruins’ top penalty kill unit which is successful 86.5% of the time.

Tuesday, February 28 @ Calgary Flames

• The Calgary Flames have a 26-20-11 record, are in fifth place in the Pacific Division and are sixth overall in the Western Conference with 63 points and a +4 goal differential.
• These two teams last met in November when the Bruins won 3-1. The Flames have won just three of their last ten games against the Bruins and have allowed an average of 4.25 goals per game in losses during that span.
• Although there isn’t a superstar in Calgary, the offensive attack led by both Tyler Toffoli (23G, 26A) and Elias Lindholm (16G, 33A) still generates consistent pressure and registers the second-most shots per game (35.4). The consistency may be there but the efficiency has been lackluster, translating into just 3.1 goals per game.
• Calgary has been impressive when on defense too, allowing the second-fewest shots per game (27.3). One would think this would translate into success for the Flames but the goaltending has severely hindered the process thus far. Jacob Markstrom (15-14-7 record) has started 38 games but posts just a .889 save percentage while Dan Vladar (11-6-4 record) has looked a bit more efficient in half the amount of starts. Either way, if Boston can get the puck on the net often, this could turn into a scoring frenzy.

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