allenjesse24@yahoo.com 
This article will focus on NHL Daily Fantasy picks for both FanDuel and DraftKings. Using advanced hockey metrics, slate analysis, and line by line evaluation, this article will point you towards what we think are the best plays for the night! Good luck!
Friday 11/26 NHL Breakdown
Hey everyone, and welcome back to another Friday Forecheck! The NHL returns back to action tonight after the Thanksgiving holiday. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and were able to enjoy some time with loved ones. There are multiple slates on this Black Friday NHL day, but this article will focus on the Main Slate, starting at 7pm Eastern.
Goalies
Tristan Jarry – Pittsburgh Penguins: Jarry has been playing absolutely lights out for Pittsburgh over the last few games, and he has a great matchup tonight against the New York Islanders, who are still battling some COVID issues throughout their lineup. He should be in line for a win, with some decent shot upside tonight.
Elvis Merzlikins – Columbus Blue Jackets: Elvis has not been playing too great as of late, but this game is a chance for him to rebound. He has a slightly inflated 2.91 GAA over his last five games, but tonight has a chance to right the ship against a Vancouver team who has been struggling to score on the road, putting up just 2.2 goals per game over their last five road games. The Canucks are also surrendering a whopping 5 goals against per game over that same stretch.
Bonus GPP Goalie Pick – Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars: Oettinger is another goalie who has been playing really well, and that is exactly what the Stars needed. Over their last five home games, the Stars have given up just 2 goals against per game, and in that stretch, handled the Edmonton Oilers, which is a feat in itself. Tonight, they get the Colorado Avalanche, who have been good on the road, scoring 4 goals per game. This is the shot upside, maybe get a win at low ownership, play tonight.
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).
Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – Auston Matthews/Michael Bunting/Mitch Marner/Morgan Rielly: The Leafs have been playing well on this road trip, and everything points to that continuing tonight. They get a matchup tonight against the San Jose Sharks, and this top line should see a bunch of the Logan Couture line. This sets up nicely for AM and his crew.
Columbus Blue Jackets 1 – Boone Jenner/Oliver Bjorkstrand/Gustav Nyquist/Zach Werenski: The Blue Jackets have arguably the best upside on the board tonight. As mentioned above, the Canucks have been very bad on the road of late, and they have been giving up goals left and right. The Jackets play well at home, scoring 3.6 goals per game on the season thus far.
Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Steven Stamkos/Ondrej Palat/Alex Barre-Boulet/Victor Hedman: The Lightning are in a fantastic spot as well, at home against the Seattle Kraken, who have been almost as bad as the Canucks on the road. Grubauer, the Kraken goalie, has been terrible so far this year, and even if he doesn’t go and the Lightning face Driedger, well that’s nice too! This top line will see a lot of the depth of Seattle tonight, and that is a fantastic plus matchup. You can also consider a TBL3 look of Ross Colton/Boris Katchouck/Taylor Raddysh. They are extreme value, but also extremely volatile. They did match up against the top line in their last home game, so there is a possibility of some upside there, if you want access to a high Vegas total for a discount. The TBL3 look is considered VERY high risk.
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).
Pittsburgh Penguins 2 – Jeff Carter/Jason Zucker/Kasperi Kapanen/John Marino: The Pens are a team that should do well tonight against a depleted Islanders team. Based on a small sample of line matching, this line should see the top line for the Isles for most of the night, which sets them up very nicely. The top Islander line is giving up 15.38 high danger chances against per 60. This line is only producing 8.58 high danger chances per 60, but the opportunities should be there. Consider the top line as well of Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel/Bryan Rust when looking at the Pens tonight.
Dallas Stars 3 – Tyler Seguin/Jacob Peterson/Alexander Radulov: This line should see a bunch of the depth lines for the Colorado Avalanche tonight, in a plus matchup. Seguin/Radulov have not been the same this year, which is what makes them risky, but this line looks to be in a good spot tonight.
Montreal Canadiens 3 – Jake Evans/Artturi Lehkonen/Brendan Gallagher: The line matching that Buffalo rolls with sets this line up with a very, very nice matchup against the opposing third line. These guys don’t hit the ice as much as we would like to see, so they carry a whole lot of risk, but they have a really nice upside matchup tonight, at very little to no ownership.
Honorable mentions: BUF1, COLPP, NYI2, SJS1, TOR2
Value Options – DraftKings
Center: Ross Colton ($2800) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Wing: Cole Caufield ($3000) – Montreal Canadiens
Defense: Vladislav Gavrikov ($2800) – Columbus Blue Jackets
Value Options – FanDuel
Center: Anthony Cirelli ($4400) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Wing: Michael Bunting ($3900) – Toronto Maple Leafs
Defense: Brian Dumoulin ($3600) – Pittsburgh Penguins
Cash Considerations – DraftKings
Steven Stamkos – C – Tampa Bay Lightning
Oliver Bjorkstrand – W – Columbus Blue Jackets
Cale Makar – D – Colorado Avalanche
Andrei Vasilevskiy – G – Tampa Bay Lightning
Cash Considerations – FanDuel
Steven Stamkos – C – Tampa Bay Lightning
Oliver Bjorkstrand – W – Columbus Blue Jackets
Cale Makar – D – Colorado Avalanche
Andrei Vasilevskiy – G – Tampa Bay Lightning
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.
