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Friday 2/18 NHL Breakdown
Welcome back for another installment of the Friday Night Forecheck here at Win Daily Sports. A nice four game slate is on tap with some interesting spots, and one game that should be fun to watch. It’s a tougher slate that you would think for four games, but we will do our best to narrow down how to attack it. Good luck!
Goalies
Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars: The Stars travel to Chicago to take on the Blackhawks, who played Thursday night. The back to back situation, and, well, the fact that it is Chicago, puts Jake in a good spot, despite having a road matchup. Frankly, this feels like the only ‘safe’ goalie on the slate tonight, but you can also consider Frederik Andersen or Juuse Saros in this spot if you don’t want to put all of your eggs in the Oettinger basket.
GPP Goalie Pick – Laurent Brossoit – Vegas Golden Knights: With Lehner on the shelf, potentially long term, Brossoit has a legitimate chance to make a name for himself in Vegas. He is arguably a slightly better goalie than Lehner and could really benefit from a stretch of good hockey. In a home matchup against the Kings, he should be able to put a decent game together. He is a risk, however, simply because he has an ability to just blow up and not save anything.
Lines to Build Around
These lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Florida Panthers Power Play – Aleksander Barkov/Anthony Duclair/Sam Reinhart/Jonathan Huberdeau/Aaron Ekblad: It is very hard to argue with the way the Panthers have been playing this year, especially over the last month or so. They have been finding scoring everywhere and have become an offensive powerhouse. Tonight, they head to Minnesota for a date with the Wild in what should be a fun game to watch. The priority in the PP unit is usually Barkov/Huberdeau/Ekblad, but feel free to mix and match as your build allows.
Dallas Stars 1 – Roope Hintz/Jason Robertson/Joe Pavelski/John Klingberg: The Stars head to Chicago tonight to take on a Blackhawks team that is playing the second game of a back to back, and they get a matchup against Fleury, who has been less than stellar all season. If Klingberg can’t go, then Heiskanen can be played in his spot. This top line for the Stars should have its way with the Hawks and make great core pieces in any lineup.
High Risk Lines
These are plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Nashville Predators 2 – Ryan Johansen/Luke Kunin/Eeli Tolvanen/Mattias Ekholm: The Preds’ second line is in a very interesting spot tonight. The Canes match the Staal line to the opposing top line, the top line to the second, and the second to the third. That matching scheme sets this line up for a date with the top Canes’ line in a very nice matchup. This line is not necessarily known for its scoring, but they have a chance to be a super low owned, sneaky upside play.
Chicago Blackhawks 2 – Kirby Dach/Mackenzie Entwistle/Alex Debrincat: The even strength matchup for this line should be against the second line for the Stars, which is a nice matchup that should provide plenty of opportunity. This is a sneaky play that carries more risk than usual, setting this play up as a deep GPP look only. Of course, don’t play this line in the same lineup where you have Oettinger as your goalie.
Minnesota Wild 1 – Ryan Hartman/Mats Zuccarello/Kirill Kaprizov/Jared Spurgeon: the MIN/FLA game should be the most exciting game on the night, showcasing Kirill the Thrill and some other Young Guns against a slightly more seasoned, but very exciting Florida team. Because this game should be high event, it is recommended to get at least a piece of it in your lineup. These guys have a nice matchup, even though FLA gets the slight edge in this game. If playing multiple lineups, be sure to get both sides of this game.
Vegas Golden Knights 2 – William Karlsson/Jonathan Marchessault/Reilly Smith/Alex Pietrangelo: Everyone is rightfully excited about Jack Eichel finally suiting up for the Knights. He is going to make a great fit out there and really make the Knights a tough team. However, this second line should still be strongly considered as the better line until Eichel can skate with Stone and Patches consistently. Against the Kings, this line should see a mix of both top lines, spending just a touch more time against the second line. This matchup is very nice for the second line for Vegas tonight. Keep in mind, it is also a very nice matchup for LAK2 here, so you can go either way in this game.
Honorable Mentions: CAR1, NSH1, LAK2
Value Options – DraftKings
Center: Ryan Johansen ($3400) – Nashville Predators
Wing: Eeli Tolvanen ($2800) – Nashville Predators
Defense: Alex Goligoski ($2900) – Minnesota Wild
Value Options – FanDuel
Center: William Karlsson ($4900) – Vegas Golden Knights
Wing: Owen Tippett ($3600) – Florida Panthers
Defense: Brayden McNabb ($3800) – Vegas Golden Knights
Cash Considerations – DraftKings
Center: Roope Hintz – Dallas Stars
Wing: Jonathan Huberdeau – Florida Panthers
Defense: Jared Spurgeon – Minnesota Wild
Goalie: Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars
Cash Considerations – FanDuel
Center: Roope Hintz – Dallas Stars
Wing: Jonathan Huberdeau – Florida Panthers
Defense: Jared Spurgeon – Minnesota Wild
Goalie: Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars
Make sure to hop in our Expert Discord Chat for FREE! Jon and the NHL team will be there answering questions right up until lock! Be sure to be on the look out for future articles at https://windailysports.com/daily-fantasy-hockey/
All line combinations are courtesy of www.dailyfaceoff.com, and the advanced rates referenced in the above article are pulled from www.naturalstattrick.com.
