ATTACKERS
Mavrik Bourque, DAL (vs SJS) – The Quebecer will finally play his first game this season after missing the Stars’ first three games due to an injury, the nature of which has not been disclosed. The injury suffered by Tyler Seguin will allow Bourque to be used on an offensive trio, alongside Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment. Bourque, who led the American Hockey League in scoring last season with 77 points in 71 games, should have the knife between his teeth, and with Dallas being visited by the San Jose Sharks, it’s not impossible that the match quickly turns in favor of the Stars. Bourque is therefore likely to have an interesting evening for poolers if this is indeed the case.
Sam Bennett, FLA (vs CBJ) – Bennett may not have put his name on the scoresheet against the Boston Bruins on Monday, but he made his presence felt in a number of ways, much to the delight of poolers in multi-class leagues. The Panthers center took six shots in addition to dishing out three hits. He ranks third in the entire NHL in shots this season with 17, behind Dougie Hamilton (19) and Timo Meier (18) of the New Jersey Devils, and Bennett still plays center for Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues on this who can be considered Florida’s top line in the absence of Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov. Bennett is also part of the first wave of the power play, and the Blue Jackets are showing a poor 57.1 percent penalty kill performance in two games this season.
