Fantasy buzz: Neuvirth injury potential blow to Flyers

All season long, NHL.com's fantasy hockey staff will have you covered with daily lineup news, production trends and injury notes from around the League. We will identify how these developments affect fantasy owners in year-long (Yahoo) and daily (DraftKings) formats.

Neuvirth leaves game for Flyers; Lyon earns first NHL win

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth sustained a lower-body injury in the first period of their game against the New York Rangers on Sunday and did not return. Neuvirth (36 percent owned in Yahoo) allowed three goals on 14 shots before being replaced by backup Alex Lyon at the start of the second period.
Lyon (fewer than 1 percent) made 25 saves in the Flyers' 7-4 win, the first of his NHL career in his fourth appearance (two starts) this season. It is potentially a big blow for the Flyers, who are already without starting goaltender Brian Elliott for the next 5-6 weeks after core muscle surgery. Neuvirth had won three of his past four appearances and was 8-7-3 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .919 save percentage in 20 games (16 starts).
Lyon will be a solid streaming option for fantasy owners who need a depth goaltender. He was 15-8-2 with a 2.83 GAA and .911 save percentage in 26 games for the Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.
READ: Fantasy 2018 NHL Trade Deadline Preview

MacKinnon returning against Oilers

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon
is expected to return to the lineup
against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; ALT, SNW, NHL TV). He has missed the past eight games after sustaining a shoulder injury against the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 30.
\[RELATED: Fantasy projected lineups, starting goalies\]
It will be a welcome sight for the Avalanche and fantasy owners alike for the stretch run to the playoffs. MacKinnon (C, 91 percent owned) remains one of the top scorers in fantasy this season with 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists). He has maintained his position as a top-20 overall fantasy asset (17th in Yahoo standard leagues) despite missing those games. 13 of Colorado's final 25 games this season are at home, where MacKinnon has 46 points (18 goals, 28 assists), 15 power-play points and 97 shots on goal in 26 games.

The Avalanche will revive one of the most productive scoring lines in the NHL this season, with MacKinnon rejoining forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. Landeskog (LW, 72 percent) has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 53 games, but only had three assists skating without MacKinnon. He had been skating with forwards Alex Kerfoot (C/RW, 9 percent) and Colin Wilson (C/LW/RW, fewer than 1 percent). Rantanen (LW/RW, 74 percent) has 53 points (18 goals, 35 assists) and had four points (one goal, three assists) in seven games without MacKinnon. He had been skating with forwards Tyson Jost (C/LW, 2 percent) and J.T. Compher (C/LW/RW, 2 percent)
In DFS contests on DraftKings, MacKinnon ($7,500), Rantanen ($5,800) and Landeskog ($5,700) will form a solid value stack, with a combined DraftKings cap hit of $19,000. They will have a favorable matchup against the Oilers on Sunday, who are allowing the 22nd most DraftKings points per game to centers and 26th most to wings.. This line trio has combined for 110 points (44 goals, 66 assists) in home games this season.

Raanta comes up big for Coyotes

Arizona Coyotes goaltender Antti Raanta had a solid game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday,
stopping all 40 shots he faced in their 1-0 win
. It was his first shutout of the season.
Raanta (28 percent owned) has been better than his record shows for the Coyotes, and could be a difference maker for fantasy owners down the stretch in all league formats. He is 12-14-6 with a 2.45 goals against average and .924 save percentage in 35 games (34 starts). His .924 SV% is tied for seventh in the NHL with Anaheim Ducks goaltender John Gibson.

Raanta has been particularly good over his past 10 games (nine starts). He is 6-2-1 with a 2.02 GAA and .938 SV% in that span. His numbers get even better when expanded out since Jan. 1 (7-3-4, 1.97 GAA, .937 SV%). Raanta is a must-own down the stretch of the season with the Coyotes' favorable schedule. Arizona has the second-most favorable schedule in the Western Conference since the All-Star break, with 10 of their final 32 games against non-playoff contending teams.
Raanta is also a potential trade target at the NHL trade deadline, and a move to a contending team could immensely boost his fantasy value even more. Fantasy owners should jump on Raanta now with his availability in more than 70 percent of Yahoo leagues.
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