Zadorov was a healthy scratch in Pittsburgh on Wednesday but will play Friday in Florida. Mark Barberio is the likely candidate to come out of the lineup to make room for Zadorov, who has one goal, one assist, a plus-3 rating, 15 PIMS and seven shots in five games this season.
Despite not losing a game this season and Zadorov scoring his first goal on Monday, he will come out of the lineup on Wednesday. Zadorov will be replaced by Mark Barberio.
Korpisalo allowed two goals on 32 shots in the Blue Jackets’ win in Carolina last Saturday. After a tough start to the season vs. Toronto, Korpisalo has played well in his last three starts, going 2-1-0 while stopping 66 of the 73 shots (.904 SV%) that he has faced. Tonight he takes on a Dallas team that ranks dead last in the NHL in goal-scoring (1.86 GF/gm).
Korpisalo stopped 15 of the 18 shots that he faced in the Blue Jackets 4-3 overtime win over the Sabres on Monday. Korpisalo wasn’t busy but he did enough to out-duel Linus Ullmark on the other end. Dating back to the start of last season, Korpisalo is 5-5-1 with a .876 SV% in his last 12 starts at Nationwide Arena. Tonight he gets a Ducks team that are winning games but are averaging just 2.25 goals per game.
Korpisalo allowed four goals on 29 shots in the Blue Jackets loss to the Maple Leafs on Friday. Elvis Merzlikins was torched in the second game of the Blue Jackets back-to-back, so head coach John Tortorella will come back to Korpisalo on Monday. The Sabres have had a nice start to the season, winning each of their first two games while outscoring their opponents 10-3.
With Sergei Bobrovsky bolting for Florida in free agency, Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins as Columbus’ goaltending tandem. In 38 starts (45 games) over the last two seasons, Korpisalo has gone 18-15-4 with an ugly 3.11 GAA and .897 SV%. It could be a tough season for Korpisalo and the Blue Jackets and an opening night matchup with Toronto should force him to your fantasy benches.
Through two seasons, McAvoy’s production has been solid, averaging 10 goals and 32 assists per 82-games—the issue is that he’s played in just 71.3 percent of the games. McAvoy is somewhat limited because of Torey Krug’s role on the top PP-unit, but he has 40-point upside if he can stay healthy in 2020.
Kolyachonok, 18, was a second-round pick of the Panthers this summer. The 6-foot-1, 184 lbs. defenseman had four goals and 25 assists (29 points) in 53 games in his first season with the Flint Firebirds (OHL).
Zacha set a new career-high in goals (13) while matching his career-high in points (25) while playing just 61 games last season. Zacha is a player that the Devils use in all situations. He was third among New Jersey forwards in SH TOI/gm (2:11), ninth in PP TOI/gm (1:41) and 11th in EV TOI/gm (12:13).
With Sergei Bobrovsky likely heading to Florida, Korpisalo becomes the No.1 netminder in Columbus with Elvis Merzilkins likely serving as his backup. Korpisalo will need to be better than he was in 2018-19, when he ranked 38th in the NHL in GAA (2.95) and tied for 48th in SV% (.897).
McAvoy was visibly in pain after blocking a shot with a few minutes left in Game 3 but head coach Bruce Cassidy said his top-pairing defenseman is “fine” and will be in the lineup for Game 4. The 21-year-old has one goal on four shots in the series and has tallied eight points (2G / 6A) in 19 postseason games.
Viel was an undrafted free-agent who spent the season with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL), where he had 11 goals and 11 assists (22 points) in 68 games. Viel spent five years in the QMJHL, where he had 115 goals and 81 assists (196 points) in 259 games.
McAvoy was suspended for Game 1 but is expected to replace Steven Kampfer in the lineup and return to the top-pair with Zdeno Chara. McAvoy has one goal and five assists (six points) while averaging 24:46 TOI/gm through 13 playoff games.
McAvoy was handed a one-game suspension for his hit to the head of Josh Anderson in Game 6 vs. the Blue Jackets. McAvoy will be replaced by Steven Kampfer in Game 1 and is eligible to return to the lineup in Game 2 vs. the Hurricanes.
