Montreal Canadiens: Goalie Carey Price had a 33-save shutout in his return to the lineup against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Price is 9-3-0 with a .924 save percentage in his past 13 games and could continue his bounce-back into the second half. Forward Max Domi has five assists in the past five games and is plus-2 in 17:20 per game over the span. The Canadiens also have sneaky appeal in DFS with rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (two assists; 10 shots on goal in past three games) and wing Joel Armia seeing power-play usage.
Defenseman Jeff Petry has remained valuable after Shea Weber's return to the lineup with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 17 games. The Canadiens are one point behind the Boston Bruins for third in the Atlantic Division entering Friday and will likely remain fantasy relevant for the rest of the season.
New York Islanders: Goalie Robin Lehner leads the NHL in save percentage (.929) among those with at least 15 games. He's 6-0-0 with a .970 SV% and one shutout in his past six games and looks to have solidified the No. 1 role over Thomas Greiss, who's still worth hanging onto in a backup role. Center Mathew Barzal has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) and 23 SOG in his past six games, and his recent production spike makes his linemates (Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier) valuable in the second half and could keep the Islanders in Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
Center Brock Nelson has three points (one goal, two assists) in the past three games in 19:38 per game and is worth streaming in deeper leagues on a line with valuable left wing Anders Lee. Defenseman Nick Leddy rejoined NHL.com's top 50 defenseman rankings with four assists and a plus-6 in the past five games. Defenseman Ryan Pulock continues to trend up with eight points (one goal, seven assists) in the past eight games, including three multipoint games.
