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On this final Monday of the regular season, we have a single game showdown slate. Tonight’s game features the Philadelphia Flyers taking on the Chicago Blackhawks in Chicago at 8pm Eastern. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Slate Notes
Tonight, we have a showdown slate! These can be super fun, but they are also very volatile. In the breakdown below, we will highlight the line matchups as well as some intriguing value plays. If you haven’t already, make sure you check out our NHL DFS Showdown Strategy Guide for guidance on building your lineups for tonight.
Philadelphia Flyers @ Chicago Blackhawks
Implied Vegas Totals: PHI 3.1 / CHI 3.6
Tale of the Tape: Well, what a game to have for a showdown. These are two teams who are well outside the playoff hunt, so this game basically means nothing. Philly played yesterday afternoon, while the Hawks last played on Friday. Both of these teams come into this game giving up over 4 goals per game in their last five, and they are both in the bottom of the rankings on special teams.
Poor defensive play means variance, which just adds volatility to the already volatile nature of showdown. The reality is, scoring can come from anywhere tonight, so it will be a tough one to play. It is safe to assume that there will be a lot of goals tonight, so power play stacks (see Showdown Guide) may be the way to go.
The reality is, this game is way up for grabs, and either team can win, realistically. If you are looking to bet the game, a bet of over 6.5 is probably a safe one. Chicago probably gets a slight edge here, with the Flyers traveling on a back to back, but that is a risky bet.
Goalie Matchup: Felix Sandstrom vs. Kevin Lankinen
YUCK! These goalies tonight are not what we would consider good. Starting with Sandstrom, he is an AHL goalie who has been called up due to an injury to Carter Hart. He is basically backup to the backup, and he is still very green. He only has three NHL games under his belt, and a career GAA over 3.
On the other hand, Lankinen comes into this game around the same age (26), but with plenty more experience at an NHL level (67 games). Lankinen carries a 3.62 GAA this season, which is massive, and just has not been very good.
With all of that being said, one of these goalies has to get a win. Both teams are 1-4 in their last five games, and it really is a coin flip. However, from a DFS standpoint, it is very possible that neither goalie is optimal tonight.
Line Matching Notes
With this game being in Chicago, we have to go by what the Hawks do with their line matching.
Top Line: The Hawks’ top line generally matches the bottom two D pairings of their opposition on home ice. That being said, this will generally set them up against the depth of the opposing team. They still spend a few minutes per game against the top line, but their focus is the second and third lines.
Second Line: The Hawks’ second line tends to spend their time mostly against the opposing top line. We can’t quite consider this a hard match, as they spend a little bit of time against the second and third lines, but it is minimal.
Third Line: The Hawks’ third line fills in for the second line when needed, so they see a little bit of time against the opposing top line. Otherwise, they see a lot of the opposing third and fourth lines.
Fourth Line: The Hawks’ fourth line is used occasionally in the same spot as the third, but will mostly see the 3rd and 4th lines for the Flyers tonight.
Put it all Together: These matchups put both the Philly second line and the Hawks’ top two lines in play tonight, and will be a good place to start your lineups.
Lines to Target
CHI1 – Dylan Strome/Patrick Kane/Alex Debrincat/Seth Jones: The top line for the Hawks has a very solid matchup tonight against the depth for the Flyers.
CHI2 – Jonathan Toews/Tyler Johnson/Dominik Kubalik: The second line for the Hawks has arguably the best matchup on the board tonight, from an even strength perspective.
PHI2 – Joel Farabee/Bobby Brink/James van Riemsdyk: This second Philly line is in a decent spot, but they have lacked scoring recently. However, keep in mind that the whole team was allergic to scoring until yesterday’s game against Pittsburgh.
Others to Consider: PHI3 has gotten a lot of scoring recently
The Build Options
These are build recommendations based on the NHL Showdown Strategy Guide
Chicago Power Play – Patrick Kane or Alex Debrincat captain
Sandstrom Captain/PHI2
Philly Power Play – Farabee or Brink captain
Value Plays
These are value plays that offer upside at a very low salary
Caleb Jones (D)
Noah Cates (W)
Ronnie Attard (D)
Taylor Raddysh (W)
Bobby Brink (W)
Player Props
These are some interesting player props for tonight’s showdown
Patrick Kane (CHI): anytime goal scorer
Alex Debrincat (CHI): over 1.5 points
Ivan Provorov (PHI): over 0.5 points
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 any advanced rates referenced in the above article are pulled from www.naturalstattrick.com.
