Allan Fabrykant Welcome back to the Friday Night WinDaily NHL Between the Benches Article! Teams are gearing up for their final playoff push, and the trade deadline is exactly one week away! Tonight, we will have a small 6-game slate, with some great teams hitting the ice! Tonight’s 2/24 NHL slate begins at 7:00 pm ET. Don’t forget to lock your lines and check the discord for any updates! Let’s get right into it!
2/24 NHL Stack Report
1. Florida Panthers 2 (Verhaeghe-Luostarinen-M. Tkachuk)
— The Panthers and the Sabres are similar teams. Both have strong offences and very weak defences, not to mention both teams struggle with inconsistency. What makes this matchup more interesting is that the Panthers currently sit outside of a playoff spot since the Red Wings have more games in hand and the Sabres are only two points behind them, meaning that a Sabres win would leave them tied in points and give the Sabres three games in hand. Needless to say, the pressure is definitely on for Florida tonight. Luckily for the Panthers, this game is at home, and the difference between their home and away records is eye-opening. Right now, they’ve won four of their last five home game with an overall record of 16-8-3 while holding an embarrassing 13-17-3 record on the road. However, what I think is more notable is the Panthers’ divisional play this season, as they are facing a divisional rival in the Sabres tonight, their 10-3-2 against Atlantic Division opponents is impressive and noteworthy, especially when contrasted to the Sabres’ 7-9-1 record against divisional opponents. Not to mention, the last time these two teams faced off, the Panthers crushed the Sabres 4-1. One final note on the matchup, the bookies see Florida as clear favorites tonight and have the over-under at an insanely high 7. With Florida holding the highest implied total of the slate at 4.2, we know where the bookies believe the goals will be coming from tonight. Florida’s second line, in particular, jumped out to me over the top line since they have been more consistent as of late, with both Tkachuk and Verhaeghe leading the Panthers in both points and goals this season. Expect a lot of goals in this one tonight!
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Brandon Montour
2. Carolina Hurricanes 1 (Svechnikov-Aho-Jarvis)
— Carolina is coming into tonight as the biggest favorites of the slate as they are welcoming the Ottawa Senators to Raleigh. Statistically, the Canes have been one of the best teams on both sides of the ice this season, and while the Senators have had some bright moments on offence, defensively, the Sens have been abysmal, allowing an average of 3.2 goals against per game along with 32.3 shots per game as well as averaging over 11 penalty minutes per game. With those kinds of numbers, it’s no surprise that Vegas is so confident in the Canes tonight, giving them the second-highest implied total of the slate at 4.1 goals, just behind Florida. The Canes have also been hammering teams as of late, along with their current four-game winning streak. They are 20-6-2 at home this season and are in first place in the Metro division with a record of 38-10-8. The Canes have simply been playing great hockey as of late, scoring over four goals in each of their last three games while not allowing more than two goals over that same time span. The Canes’ top line is truly leading the charge of the Carolina offence as over their last three games, Svechnikov, Aho and Jarvis have put together 16 points (8 goals, 8 assists), and I don’t expect much to change tonight. I would highly recommend having some shares of the Hurricanes in your DFS lineups tonight.
Ideal Defensive Partner(s): Brent Burns
Honorable Mention(s): Toronto Maple Leafs 2 (Marner-O’Reilly-Tavares), Carolina Hurricanes 2 (Teravainen-Kotkanemi-Necas)
2/24 NHL Goalie Tracker
Best (Goalies to Roster)
- Ilya Sorokin
- Frederick Andersen
Honorable Mention(s): Filip Gustavsson
Worst (Goalies to Target)
1. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Honorable Mention(s): Cam Talbot
2/24 NHL Wild Card Targets
Samuel Girard
– Girard has been very consistent as of late. He gets a crazy amount of time (anywhere from 23 to 25 minutes of ice time) and gets an assist or two while blocking a good amount of shots. This has been going on for the last five games. Over that time, Girard has averaged over 24 minutes of ice time, notched six assists and blocked 11 shots. That kind of consistent fantasy value is difficult to find, and I think the trend will continue here tonight against the Jets.
Honorable Mention(s): Ryan O’Reilly, JT Compher, Ryan Hartman, Anthony Duclair (if he plays)
Core Four: (ALWAYS BE STACKIN’)
Center – Sebastian Aho
Winger – Matthew Tkachuk (or Anthony Duclair if he plays)
Defenseman – Brandon Montour
Goalie – Ilya Sorokin
2/24 NHL Monkey Knife Fight NHL Prop Picks – Win With These Picks Here and Get a 100 Percent Bonus!
Goal Rush FLA vs BUF 7:05 pm
Honorable Mention(s): RapidFire 2/2 COL vs WIN 8:05 pm
Sign up and get started with Win Daily Sports! We have your sport and the experts to help make you money. Why lose another buck when you can win TODAY!
