Joel Bartilotta 
Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Between the Benches. We have a small 3-game slate tonight. With only 6 teams in action, some of our spots will be limited.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
I should start by saying that goaltending is a dumpster fire tonight. A case could be made to stack against each and every goalie tonight. That said, we still need to pick one or 2 so let’s go.
Jacob Markstrom ($7.8K DK/$7.5k FD) vs. Vancouver Canucks – We have a battle of 2 Canadien teams tonight in Calgary. My lean right now is to favor the home team as their the favorites in this one. Jacob Markstrom is coming into this game off his best game of the year. On Monday night vs. the Canadiens, Markstrom stopped 37 of 38 shots and scored 27 DK points. The 27 DK points were just the second time this season that Markstrom passed the 20-point mark and was also the most he’s had this year. My hope is that it increases his confidence and he puts up another monster night tonight.
Filip Gustavsson ($7.7k DK/$8.5k FD) vs. Detroit Red Wings– The Minnesota Wild come into this one of the heaviest favorites on the board tonight and rightfully so. They are 5-2 in their last 7 while the Red Wings are just 2-3-2. The Red Wings’ offense has been abysmal of late, scoring just 2.29 goals per game over those 7. Tonight they’ll get a tough matchup vs. Gustavsson.
While Gustavsson hasn’t played too much, when he’s played he’s played well. He’s coming off a dominant performance vs. the Canucks last week that saw him shut them out on 35 shots. He’s far from safe tonight, but I really like his chances to be one of the more productive goalies on this slate.
NHL DFS Stacks
Minnesota 1 (Steele, Kaprizov, Zuccarello) + Spurgeon vs. Detroit
With limited options tonight, I suspect that the Wild will be chalky tonight. They just have so many things in their corner tonight. The Red Wings’ defense has been bad. They’re giving up close to 16 high-danger chances per game and more than 34 shots on goal. To make matters even better for us, they’ll get to face Alex Nedeljkovic tonight. The owner of a GAA north of 4 and a save % south of 9.
This top line for Minnesota hasn’t quite been playing off the charts of late, but they have a ton of firepower with Kaprizov. Kaprizov is one of the more skilled players in the league and even though he has just 2 goals in his last 5, he’s taken 19 shots and 26 scoring chances. The numbers will come back for him and tonight’s a perfect spot for it to happen. Zuc is the preferred pairing partner here as he’s the playmaker and if Kaprizov scores, will more than likely get the apple.
Ottawa 2 (Pinto, DeBrincat, Batherson) + Hamonic vs. Montreal
It would be an understatement to say this season has been a disappointment for the Senators. They came into the season with high hopes but have yet to live up to them. That said, they are playing better and are 4-2-1 in their last 7. They’ll get a nice matchup tonight vs. the Canadiens, a team giving up more than 3 goals per game over the last 2 weeks.
I’m siding with the second line here tonight thanks to the strong play of all 3. Over their last 5 games, this line has combined for 15 points. Most of that production has come from DeBrincat and Batherson and they’ll be my core here. The 2 have combined for 13 of the 15 points. Pinto can 100% be added into this stack tonight as he’s shown some upside at times this season.
Calgary 1 (Backlund, Huberdeau, Toffoli) + Hanifin vs. Vancouver
Of all the teams playing tonight, no one is giving up more goals per game over the last 2 weeks than the Vancouver Canucks. At over 4 goals per game over the last 2 weeks, they are far and away worse than any other team tonight. They’re also giving up the second most high-danger chances per game at 15.80, slightly better than Detroit.
We’ll attack them with the top line for Calgary, a line that is coming alive. This line has combined for 13 points over their last 5, with Toffoli and Backlund having 4 each and Huberdeau having 5. Both Toffoli and Huberdeau play together on the top power-play unit and because of that correlation, they’ll be my preferred targets here. That said, a full stack here is in play.
Other Stacks: Ottawa 1, Calgary 2, Montreal 1 and 2
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- Luke Schenn – $3.3k on DK
- Nikita Zaitsez – $2.9k on Dk
- Erik Brannstrom – $2.5k on DK
Summary
It’s a small slate tonight, but it also has the makings of a high scoring slate as we have some poor defensive teams. I’ll be rocking a ton of Minnesota and Ottawa tonight with my NHL DFS stacks.
Make sure to use our Projection model when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
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