Fantasy buzz: Bishop returns for Stars; Golden Knights get Neal back

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.

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Bishop returning for Stars on Friday

Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop is expected to start against the Ottawa Senators on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN5, FS-SW+, NHL.TV). Bishop, NHL.com's
eighth-ranked fantasy goalie
, has missed the past five games because of a knee injury. DFS owners should be wary of spending up for Bishop ($8,400 in DraftKings) on the road against the Senators, who combined for 12 goals in wins against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning this week. Bishop is 6-9-2 with an .890 save percentage in 18 road games. But even with a difficult matchup, Bishop's return is great news for fantasy owners who have benefited from his five shutouts on the season.
READ:
Fantasy projected lineups, starting goaltenders

Neal back in Golden Knights lineup Friday

Vegas Golden Knights forward James Neal is expected back in their lineup against the Minnesota Wild on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, FS-N, NHL.TV). Neal (LW/RW, 74 percent, 181st in Yahoo) missed eight games because of an upper-body injury, but will rejoin Vegas' top six, either on a line with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson or usual linemates David Perron and Erik Haula. Either way, Neal (W, $5,400 in DraftKings) is worth targeting in DFS considering he's $500 cheaper than Feb. 26 with significant power-play usage (2:30 per game). With forward Reilly Smith (upper body) still sidelined, Tomas Tatar (W, $4,300) should remain on one of the Golden Knights' first two lines.

McElhinney helps Maple Leafs win without Andersen

Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Curtis McElhinney stopped 38 of 40 shots faced in a 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. He started in place of Frederik Andersen, who's day to day with an upper-body injury. McElhinney (23 percent owned) would be a viable streaming option if he starts again at home against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Fantasy owners should only consider dropping Andersen if they are in a non-keeper league without an available IR/IR+ spot and in danger of losing their head-to-head playoff round. In most cases, Andersen (92nd in Yahoo) is worth your patience.
READ:
Panthers' Reimer joins list of top 25 goalie rankings

Trouba provides strong coverage for Jets after lengthy absence

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba returned to their lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday and had two assists, a plus-4, four shots on goal and two hits. Trouba (44 percent owned), who had missed the previous 21 games because of a lower-body injury, was eased back into the rotation (14:47) on the third pair and without any power-play time but delivered an immediate fantasy impact. He's averaging 22:01 on the season and is valuable in deep/hits leagues and DFS formats (22 points, 133 SOG, 94 blocks in 51 games).

Second line breaks out for Capitals; Holtby starting Friday

Wings Andre Burakovsky and T.J. Oshie benefited from exposure to center Nicklas Backstrom with each of the three scoring multiple points in a 7-3 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday. Burakovsky (LW/RW, 23 percent owned) had one goal and one assist, Oshie (76 percent, 196th in Yahoo) had two goals, and Backstrom (96th) had one goal and two assists, including one power-play point. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer (42 percent) won his third-straight game, stopping 35 of 38 shots faced, and has passed Braden Holtby in NHL.com's goalie rankings.

The Capitals have another ripe matchup in the second of their home-and-home against the Islanders, so Backstrom ($5,500), Oshie ($4,700) and/or Burakovsky ($3,300) are worth stacking again in DFS. Holtby, who has taken a back seat during Grubauer's streak, will start against the Islanders on Friday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, SN1, NBCSWA, MSG+, NHL.TV). It will be the first start in five games for Holtby ($8,100), who's in a bounce-back spot given his home (18-6-2, .924 save percentage) and career splits against the Islanders (13-4-3, .921 SV%).
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