Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to the Saturday Slapshot. With just 5 games on tap tonight, our options are going to be somewhat limited. We also have a handful of teams playing on the tail end of a back-to-back. That said, it should be a fun slate .
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
Matt Murray ($8.1K DK/$8.4k FD) vs. Calgary Flames – The Flames showed last night that they are definitely not the same Flames team of years past. Against a poor defensive Blue Jackets team, they mustered just 1 goal, leaving plenty of NHL DFS lineups to rot. Tonight, we’ll use the Flames a bit differently. We’re going to attack them with a goalie.
Matt Murray is coming into this game off arguably the game of his career. Against the powerful Stars team, he stopped all 44 shots on his way to a 43 DK performance. I’m not calling for a repeat performance, but we know he has upside and won’t break the bank at $8.1k on DK. Murray has been strong all year with just 2 games under 10 DK points this season. The Maple Leafs are strong favorites in this one, solidifying this pick.
Jonathan Quick ($8k DK/$6.8k FD) vs. Montreal Canadiens – This is more of a matchup play than a testament to the play of Quick. While the Canadiens haven’t been awful this season, their offense has left a lot to be desired. Of all the teams playing tonight, they have the lowest goals per game over the last couple of weeks and if we look out to a longer view, it would be a similar story.
Quick has been far from great this year, with a 3.42 GAA and a .887 save %. That said, he has shown at times the ability to have a strong game and I think this environment tonight is one that he could do well in. He’s much more of a play on FD tonight as he’s under $7k there.
NHL DFS Stacks
Pittsburgh 1 (Crosby, Guentzel, Rakell) + Petry vs. Buffalo
We get a repeat matchup between the Sabres and Penguins tonight. The 2 teams combined to scored 7 goals last night and i wouldn’t be surprised to see more than tonight as both teams should have some tired legs and that normally equates to some sloppier play. Vegas agrees as this game already has an implied goal total of 7. That’s high!
I’m starting off my roster tonight with the top line for Pittsburgh. Although Crosby was a huge disappointment last night, his linemates weren’t. Both Guentzel and Rakell had goals last night and were productive. Guentzel is now up to 8 points over his last 5 games and for me tonight, is the most important piece to this stack.
Kings 1 (Kopitar, Fiala, Kaliyev) + Doughty vs. Montreal
I like to pick and choose my spots with the Los Angeles Kings and tonight seems like a spot to use them in. With Jake Allen expected to be in goal tonight for Montreal, we’ll have a goalie that has big goal upside. And by big goal upside, I mean he likes to give up a large number of goals. He has a bunch of games this season giving up at least 4 goals.
We’ll look to attack Montreal with the top line for the Kings. My core here will be Fiala. Over his last 5 games, Fiala has 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. I’ll add in Kopitar to this core. Kopitar has 3 goals and 4 assists in his last 5, including a 3 assist game the other tonight. I’m not overly interested in Kaliyev.
Toronto 1 (Matthews, Bunting, Nylander) + Giordano vs. Calgary
The Maple Leafs’ offense has been showing a lot more consistency lately and that has me all over them tonight, especially this top line. The Leafs have scored at least 4 goals in 5 of their last 7 games and are finally back to being that prolific scoring team.
While not a sneaky pick with this top line for the Leafs, it’s one that should do well. All 3 guys on this line are in play tonight. While Matthews is back to scoring goals with 4 in his last 5, I wouldn’t hold you back if you just wanted to play Nylander and Bunting tonight. Both guys have been productive with a combined 10 points over their last 5 games, and they come in much cheaper than Matthews. That said, Matthews is still an elite play tonight.
Other Stacks: Buffalo 1 and 2, Pittsburgh 2, Toronto 2, Montreal 1, Car 1 and 2, Min 1 and 2
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- T.J Brodie – $2.6k on DK
- Brady Skjei – $3.3k on Dk
- Jan Rutta– $2.7k on DK
- Brian Dumoulin – $2.8k on DK
Summary
Tonight should be a fun night of NHL DFS. We have some really strong games tonight, including a repeat of the Sabres and Penguins.
Make sure to use our Projection model when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
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