Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Between the Benches. A large Tuesday slate leaves us with just 4 games of NHL DFS tonight. Those 4 games however pack a massive punch and we should see a healthy amount of scoring.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
Phoenix Copley ($8.2K DK/$8.3k FD) vs. San Jose Sharks – Have the Kings found their goalie? It sure seems like it. The 30-year old netminder has been playing some exceptional hockey over the last few weeks. Since December 6, Copley has played 13 games and has won 11 of them. His 2.56 GAA is the best of his career. He also gets a favorable matchup tonight vs. a Sharks team that is just 2-3-2 in their last 7 games. This is a great spot for Copley to continue his stellar play.
Jack Campbell ($8.2k DK/$7.5k FD) vs. Anaheim Ducks– This is more of a testament to the matchup than it is to the goalie. The Ducks are a mess on both sides of the ice and one we can take advantage of. The Ducks are scoring just 2 goals per game over the last 2 weeks. That’s pretty horrendous. Campbell, while not great, is a competent goalie and should be able to limit the damage tonight against this anemic offense. He’s shown upside at times this season and should show it tonight. Far from safe so he’s more of a GPP only type play.
NHL DFS Stacks
Edmonton 1 (McDavid, Kostin, Yamamoto) + Nurse vs. Anaheim
Any time the Ducks play we should automatically consider stacking against them. They are one of the worst teams in the league and more often than not, give up a ton of goals. Just look at their last game where Boston put up a 7-spot vs. them. The Ducks just play too loose of a defense to have any success. Over the last 2 weeks, they’ve given up on average nearly 18 high-danger chances per game. That’s just not going to cut it.
I’ll be honest, I’m mostly focused on McDavid here. You can certainly pair him with Yamamoto or Kostin, but I wouldn’t do a full line stack here as neither of those guys has much upside. Another route you can take here is to play the Oilers’ PP and pair McDavid with Draisaitl and Hyman. Regardless, I will be finding a way to get McDavid into my lineups tonight. In this matchup against a bad Ducks team, he’ll be a man among boys and should be able to do whatever he wants on the ice.
Los Angeles 3 (Fiala, Lizotte, Vilardi) + Doughty vs. San Jose
This is probably one of the more lopsided matchups of the night. We have the Kings (54 points) vs. the Sharks (34 points), with both teams on polar opposite ends of the standings. This is a game that the Kings should dominate from the very start, especially with how bad the Sharks goaltending has been of late. They’ve given up 4 goals per game on just 27 shot attempts per game. That equates to a slate low 85% save %.
We’ll attack San Jose tonight with the third line from LA. This is the line that has been keeping the Kings afloat. They’re led by Kevin Fiala. Over his last 5 games, Fiala has 5 goals and 5 assists for an average of 2 points per game. My preference here is to pair him with Vilardi. Vilardi has 5 assists in his last 5 games and is just $3.8k on DK tonight. It’s always risky playing a third line, but these guys have been playing really well.
Toronto 2 (Tavares, Marner, Jarnkrok) + Giordano vs. Nashville
I don’t often make it a habit of picking on the Predators because they do have solid goaltending, but this second line for Toronto has been playing really well and that should continue tonight. Even though their goaltending is solid, their defense is not. The Predators are giving up more than 15 high-danger chances per game over the last 2 weeks. Goaltending can only save you for so long and against a really good Maple Leafs team, it won’t be enough.
All 3 guys on this second line have upside tonight and I more than likely will play a full stack here. This line is led by Tavares and his 4 goals over the last 5 games. Combined, these guys have 21 points in their last 5 games. The priority here if you don’t wan to go full stack is Tavares and Marner. That said, Jarnkrok offers nice savings at $2.9k tonight. He’s been productive with 5 points in his last 5.
Other Stacks: Was 1, Philly 2, Tor 1, Nash 1, LA 2
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- Martin Fehervary – $3.0k on DK
- Marc-Edouard Vlasic – $2.6k on Dk
- Alexandre Carrier – $2.7k on DK
Summary
It’s a small but mighty 4-game slate tonight. We have some really clear spots for offense and also some sneaky ones. McDavid is a must play tonight IMO, and pairing him with either his line mates or power play mates will be a key to you getting a takedown.
Make sure to use our Projection model when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
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