Welcome to the latest edition of the Saturday Slapshot where we’ll be focusing on tonight’s 7 game main slate of NHL DFS on DraftKings and FanDuel. We’re at the point of the year where teams are either playing for their playoff lives or jockeying for position. Thankfully, hockey is not like the NBA and we rarely see major players sitting out at the tail end of the season.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
Connor Hellebuyck ($7.8K DK/$7.2k FD) vs. Los Angeles Kings – We should see Hellebuyck in net tonight for the Jets in a home matchup vs. the Los Angeles Kings. Hellebuyck has back-to-back really solid outings, with 26 DK points against Buffalo and 22 points against Arizona. This is a similar match tonight for Hellebuyck as the Kings haven’t really been scoring. Over the last month, they’re scoring just 2.5 goals per game. This is a good sport for Hellebuyck to continue his solid recent play. He should be one of the top goalies on the night.
Jake Oettinger ($7.9k DK/$7.5k FD) vs. San Jose Sharks – The San Jose Sharks are just not a team that should strike fear into any goaltender. Over the last month, they’re scoring just 2.6 goals per game and outside of their top line, they have very little firepower. Oettinger has been a great story for the Stars this NHL season, with a 24-11-1 record and a GAA below 2.5. He’s won 5 of the last 7 games he’s started and tonight should make it 6 of 8.
Tonight with Goaltending I’m not going to stray too far from the two I mentioned. I will be locking in one of the two and just moving on. The only other goaltender I have any interest in is Jeremy Swayman, but he’s pricey on DK and I just don’t think I want to go that high for him.
Toronto 1 (Matthews, Marner, Buntin) vs. Philadelphia
This line is going to be chalky, there’s no denying it. The Leafs are playing a Flyers team that is giving up almost 4 goals per game over the past month. That’s laughably high and it’s something we’ll want to take advantage of tonight. There isn’t much I need to say about Matthews to try to sell you on playing him. He’s already at the 50 goal mark and he’s at the point where he’s chasing 100 points. He’s one of, if not the best player in the NHL.
There isn’t much time left in the season for him to get there, but my guess is that he puts a dent into that number tonight. The duo of Matthews and Marner will be pricey tonight, but it will be well worth it. The two have combined for 19 points over their last 5 games and close to 40 scoring chances.
Tampa Bay 1 (Point, Kucherov, Stamkos) vs. Montreal
If you want to fade Toronto tonight, another option is Tampa Bay 1 tonight. Montreal is Montreal and they give up a ton of goals. They gave up close to 3.6 goals per game in the month of March. Brayden Point is playing some great hockey and if I do decide to fade Toronto, he’d be a priority. Over hist last 5 games he has 8 points and 20 scoring chances.
Between him and Stamkos, they have 42 scoring chances, 15 of which are considered to be high danger chances. The two of them will also come at a $4k discount over Matthews and Marner, making the rest of your team solid and not having to punt as much. I think I just sold myself on playing Tampa over Toronto today.
Boston 2 (Haula, Hall, Pastrnak) vs. Columbus
What going to Tampa 1 allows you to do tonight is to also grab some of Boston. Boston is playing Columbus tonight and they are always someone we want to play against. In March the Blue Jackets gave up more than 4 goals per game. That’s an accomplishment not worth bragging about.
I’m going down to their second line and playing Pasta and Haula. Haula is just $3.5k on DK tonight but he’s playing well above that salary. Over his last 5 games, he has 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. At his salary, he’s close to a free square. This line should combine to be one of the top lines on the slate as Boston obliterates Columbus.
Other stacks (Dal 1, Cgy 1 and 2, Stl 1, WPG 1, Phi 1)
We have some great offensive teams in just unbelievable positions tonight. Toronto is going to be extremely popular tonight. You’ll need to decide to play or fade them. If you fade, I may, Tampa is in just as good of a spot tonight and come in much cheaper. That’ll make the rest of your team that much better.
Make sure to use our optimizer before setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!
Over the last month or so we’ve started to see smaller Saturday night slates. Tonight is no exception as we have ourselves a nice-sized 6 game slate of NHL DFS on DraftKings and FanDuel. Tonight we should see some fresh legs as only the Columbus Blue Jackets are playing on the back end of back-to-backs.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
Juuse Saros ($7.9K DK/$8.1k FD) vs. San Jose Sharks – If you look at Saros’ recent game logs, you’ll see someone that has been extremely inconsistent. Over the last couple of weeks, he’s had as many as 21 DK points vs. the Stars and as little as 3.5 vs. the Hurricanes. The matchup tonight should be on the “easier” side as the Sharks have been abysmal of late.
Over the last month, they’ve been scoring just 2 goals per game. Their offense has essentially vanished and has been one of the worst in the NHL. The Predator’s propensity to give up shots and the Sharks’ inability to score goals of late has me loving this bounce-back match-up for Saros. He’s under that $8k threshold on DK tonight so we won’t be paying a premium. And we don’t like having to pay premiums on goalies.
Vitek Vanacek ($8.2k DK/$7.6k FD) vs. Seattle Kraken – Yes, the Kraken put a larger than normal number for them Wednesday night when they scored 4 goals vs. Saros and the Predators. That’s essentially their weeks’ worth of goals so we should be good to use a goalie against them tonight. Over the last month, the Kraken are averaging just 2.30 goals per game. They have an extremely weak offense.
Tonight, we’re going to use Vanacek against them. In a small sample size in the NHL this season, he’s shown some serious upside. He has multiple games over 30 DK points. Should he get the start tonight, I’m all in on him. Whoever starts for the Capitals tonight should be in your pool of goalies.
Washington 1 (Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Wilson) + Carlson vs. Seattle
I haven’t used Ovechkin in quite some time when playing NHL DFS. He’s been priced to a point where his production was leaving little value. That said, he’s as cheap as you’ll ever see him. For the first time since the start of the year, he’s priced under $8k on DK at just $7.7k. That’s a steal. I’m sure it will lead to him being more popular tonight, but at that price it’s hard to fade with the upside that he presents us.
While he has only 2 goals over his last 5, he’s been showing some signs of life as he has 14 scoring chances over that period. I plan on pairing him with Kuznetsov tonight, who’s also reasonably priced at just $5.3k. Kuz is right behind Ovie with 13 scoring chances over his last 5 games. Seattle’s giving up 4 goals per game over the last month. This line should do well tonight.
Boston 1 (Bergeron, Marchand, Debrusk) vs. Columbus
I highlighted above that Columbus is on the tail end of a back to back. Even if they were rested, I would have attacked them. With them likely having tired legs, it makes me want to attack them even more. My priority with the Bruins tonight will be Debrusk at just $3.6k. He’s been one of the hottest players in the NHL over the last couple of weeks with 5 goals in his last 5 games.
While he’s quieted down a bit over his last 2 games, love the upside in him tonight against a team that is giving up almost 38 shots per game over the last month. I normally stick with 2 man stacks and my lean right now is to pair him with Marchand over Bergeron. Marchand has a slight edge in scoring chances and that’s what we covet, scoring chances.
Edmonton 2 (Draisaitl, Kane, Yamamoto) vs. Montreal
Montreal has been a much better team since Martin St. Louis took over the realms. That said, it’s still the same personnel that played poorly all throughout the first half of the NHL season. I’m siding with Edm 2 tonight over Edm 1 because we get about a $1,500 savings going down to Draisaitl from McDavid. Draisaitl has been showing some signs of life recently. He has back-to-back games with multiple points and 3 goals and 8 points over his last 5. At just $7.4k tonight we’re getting him at a huge discount from where he was about a month ago.
My plan is to pair him with Kane tonight. The 2 have played fairly well together as they’ve combined for 12 points over their last 5 games. The Oilers should face Montembeault tonight. After a solid stretch of 6 games, he came back down to earth against the Jets on Tuesday giving up 7 goals. While I don’t’ see him giving up 7 tonight, the Oilers should surpass the 4 goals Vegas currently has them at.
I also love Toronto tonight, but the Matthews line has absolutely burned me the last 2 games. I’m a little gun shy going back to them tonight.
Other stacks (Van 1, Tor 1, CBJ 1, Bos 2, Mon 1 and 2, Edm 1)
Love the over on the Canucks 2.5 goals tonight. While Toronto is a high-powered offense, they’re also poor defensively. They’re giving up 3.75 goals per game over the last month. Campbell has given up 14 goals in his last 3 games. Canucks should put up at least 3 goals tonight.
Tonight’s the type of night where we have some high upside guys really priced down in Ovechkin and Draisaitl. In my early builds, I have them continue to be my core 2 and surrounding them with at least one of their teammates. With Defenseman tonight, I’m going strictly value. There are 2 guys under $3k tonight on DK that have been giving us shots and blocks on a consistent basis. They’ll give us a ton of salary savings.
Make sure to use our optimizer when setting lineups.
Good luck and hope to see you in the green!
Make sure you follow me on Twitter at @rangerzfan79 and be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!
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