St. Louis Blues

Welcome to the Saturday Slapshot.  I’m Jared and I’ll be your host.  Tonight we have a massive 11 game slate where I’ll be highlighting some of my top plays for tonight’s NHL slate on Fanduel and Draftkings. 

Before we dive in I want to highlight some terms you’ll see in my article that may be foreign to you:

• Corsi – Any shot attempt (goals, shots on net, misses and blocks) outside of the shootout
• Even Strength – Play where both teams have the same number of players (including goalies) on the ice. Includes 5v5, 4v4, 3v3
• Power Play – Play where the team has more players on the ice than their opponent due to penalties. Includes 5v4, 5v3, 4v3
• Penalty Kill – Play where the team has fewer players on the ice than their opponent due to penalties. Includes 4v5, 3v4, 3v5

Goaltending

Cam Talbot ($7.9k DK/$8.3k FD) vs. Los Angeles Kings – Love the spot tonight for Talbot if he gets the nod.  He’s been extremely solid during his recent stretch of hockey.  Over his last 7 starts he’s gotten to the 20 point DK mark 5 times.  During that stretch he’s played some extremely solid offenses in the Oilers and Maple Leafs. 

Tonight’s match up against the Kings should be a much easier task.  Kings take a ton of shots but have a sub 10% shooting percentage.  Lots of shots + low shooting %  means high upside.  Talbot is my favorite goalie of the night.  Especially on DK where his price is below 8k. 

Ilya Sorokin ($8k DK/$8.2k FD) vs. New Jersey Devils – Islanders are big favorites tonight against the Devils. Devils haven’t been scoring too many goals of late.  Over their last 7 games they’ve been scoring less than 3 goals per game while taking more than 30 shots per game.  That means there are some saves to be had against the Devils.  Sorokin has hit at least 30 saves in 6 out of his last 7 games.  He should make it 7 of 8 tonight against a team that lacks a solid scoring threat.   

Tonight is another Saturday night where goaltending is a train wreck.  There are a ton of teams that are on the back end of back to backs tonight and that means we have mostly back up goalies, but at starting prices.  I will more than likely stick with Talbot and maybe use Sorokin. 

Stacks

Washington 1 (Ovechkin/Kuznetsov/Wilson) + Carlson vs. Buffalo Sabres

When it comes to attacking specific teams, the Buffalo Sabres are almost at the very top of the list.  Sabres are currently riding a 6 game losing streak and tonight should make it 7.  Defensively, they are one of the worst in the business.  Over their current losing streak they are giving up an outstanding 4.5 goals per game.  That’s even after giving up just 2 to my Rangers last night. 

I expect the Capitals to come out firing after losing a tough one to the Penguins last night.  With the Capitals it all starts with Ovechkin.  Yes, Ovechkin only has 1 goal over his last 5 games but he also has five helpers during that stretch.  He also has an insane iCF of 47.  On tonight’s slate only Pastrnak has a higher number.  Look for Ovechkin to explode out of his mini slump tonight.  You’ll want to make sure you pair him with at least Kuznetsov or Carlson.  They are expensive but are in a great spot tonight.

St. Louis 2 (Tarasenko/Buchnevich/Barbashev) + Scandella vs. Montreal Canadiens

In this game we have 2 teams going in opposite directions.  The Canadiens are 1-4-1 in their last 6 while the Blues are 4-1-1.  While both teams have struggled defensively of late, I’m going to side with the Blues in this matchup because they just have more talent.  Both teams have corsi’s of just 44% over the past 2 weeks so we know both teams are going to give up some shots.  Blues are giving up 36 shots per game while the Canadiens are giving up 37. 

While I love Tarasenko, it’s actually been his line mates that have been putting up the numbers.  Both Buchnevich and Barbashev have 5 points over their past 5 games.  They are also incredibly cheap on DK tonight and will help us fit the expensive stack above.  I absolutely do not mind if you pair them with Tarasenko tonight, but those two will be my priority. 

Seattle 1 (Wennberg/Schwartz/Eberle) + Giordano vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Seattle has been playing much better hockey of late.  Over their past 6 games they are 3-2-1.  They are also a much better team at home than on the road and guess what?  They’re on home ice tonight.  Over their past 7 games the Blue Jackets have been extremely poor on the defensive front. They are just giving up way too many high danger chances to be successful. 

During that 7 game stretch of hockey they are giving up over 14 high danger chances per game and 4 goals per game.  That just screams attack to me.  And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.  My priority with this stack will be Wennberg and Eberle as the two play together on the top power play unit for Seattle.  This is my riskier stack, but they are in a great spot tonight and I’m looking to take advantage of it. 

I didn’t write up Anaheim as one of my top 3 stacks, but I absolutely love them tonight if Casey DeSmith is between the pipes.  He’s awful and is always stackable against. 

Other stacks (Both top lines for Edmonton, Tor 1, Min 1 or 2, Anaheim 1, Bos 1)

Top Defenseman

• Morgan Rielly – Toronto Maple Leafs (9 points in 5 games)
• Seth Jones – Chicago Blackhawks
• Kris Letang – Pittsburgh Penguins
• Erik Karlsson – San Jose Sharks
• Evan Bouchard – Edmonton Oilers
• Mark Giordano – Seattle Kraken

Summary

I mentioned it in my goalie section that we’ll see a lot of back up goalies tonight.  With that we should see some high scoring games.

Good luck and hope to see you in the green!

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