We have arrived at the two week mark! There are just two full weeks left in the regular season for NHL. Tonight’s slate is just a two-gamer, so tonight’s Forecheck is going to look a little different. Instead of our traditional article, this will be a game by game breakdown. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Two games makes a tough NHL DFS slate, no doubt about it. You will have to nail it to have success, and there are a couple of approaches. The first approach is an onslaught stack lineup. This approach is where you pick your favorite team and play as many players as possible from the lineup. Be sure to get some exposure to depth players to make your lineup unique.
The second approach is a mini game stack approach, where you pick the highest scoring game and stack it, and fill in with your favorites from the second game. Your goalie will also come from the second game, correlating with those favorites.
As much as possible, you want to still avoid stacking against your goalie in your lineup. Negative correlation is never good, no matter the size of the slate.
If you are uncomfortable playing the two game slate, you can attack the showdown slate using our NHL DFS Showdown Strategy Guide for guidance.
Remember, volatility is a big part of these very small slates, so be sure to play a little lighter than normal, and we do NOT recommend playing cash games tonight. Of course, you could fade such a small and volatile slate, but where’s the fun in that?!
Implied Vegas Totals: NYI 3.1 / MON 2.6
Tale of the Tape: The Islanders come into this matchup 2-3 over their last five games, while Montreal is a measly 1-4. Tonight will be an emotional matchup for both sides of this game. On the Islanders’ side, a legend of their franchise, Mike Bossy, passed away today. On the Canadiens’ side of things, Carey Price returns to the crease for the first time in almost two years away from the game. More on that later.
The Islanders are the better team here, and on paper, they should come out of this one with a win. However, they have not been very good on the road, and they are a long shot for a wild card berth in the playoffs. This game is almost meaningless, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t value in playing it for NHL DFS purposes.
Montreal could surprise us here and ride an emotional wave to a win. We will definitely want some Habs in our lineups tonight.
Goalie Matchup: Semyon Varlamov (probable) vs. Carey Price (CONFIRMED!!)
There is a lot of importance to the goalie matchup here. Carey Price returns to the Montreal crease tonight after taking time away from the game. This is a massive development, and as a fan of the game, it is SO NICE to see him battle his way back. He was dealing with a ton, and to make a return to the game on home ice is a huge deal! The Montreal crowd will definitely welcome him back with wide open arms tonight, and this should be an emotional game for him.
From a DFS standpoint, it is hard to say how Carey will look tonight. He is worth a shot in a couple of lineups thanks to his raw talent, but who knows how much rust will be there. This is a great time for the Habs to ease him back into normal game play, with their season officially not moving into the postseason.
Varlamov should get the start for the Isles, as they are on a back to back, and Sorokin went last night. Varly has had a rough go of it recently, sporting a whopping 4.58 GAA over his last five games.
Lines to Target
NYI1 – Brock Nelson/Anders Lee/Anthony Beauvillier/Noah Dobson: The Isles’ top line is definitely in play here. The Canadiens don’t do too much in the way of hard matching, so they will have their chances.
MON1 – Nick Suzuki/Cole Caufield/Josh Anderson/Jeff Petry: The same thing goes for this line, as there is not a lot of matching that is done. The top line will see their chances as well, and have a slight advantage tonight.
Others to Consider: MON3, NYI2 are both in play in this game as well, but the top lines should be the ones to shine tonight.
Value
Jake Evans (C)
JG Pageau (W)
Chris Wideman (D)
Rem Pitlick (W)
Alexander Romanov (D)
Implied Vegas Totals: WPG 2.5 / FLA 4.2
Tale of the Tape: This game has a lot more as far as meaning tonight. The Jets essentially have to win out to make the playoffs, as they are in a very tight race in the West. The Jets are also missing a couple of key players on offense, which hurts them, but they will still be playing aggressively. On the other side, the Panthers are vying for the President’s Trophy (most points in the league) and the top spot in the East for the playoffs. They have already clinched a playoff spot.
Look for this game to be a little higher paced than the other game. Winnipeg had a game cancelled the other night and come into this well rested. With their playoff hopes on the line for the next two weeks, they will be playing to win. This game is almost going to have a playoff feel, and frankly, it could go either way. The Jets come in playing .500 hockey, while the Panthers have not lost in their last five games, and have been scoring like crazy. If you can find the value, this is the game to stack.
Goalie Matchup: Connor Hellebuyck (Likely) vs. Sergei Bobrovsky (Confirmed)
The goalies in this game have been…well…not great. Both Bob and Helly are sporting a GAA over 3 in their last five games, with Bob being all the way up at 3.71. It will be hard to trust the goalies in this game, and with firepower on either side, this one could get wild. These are your riskier goalies, and Bob probably gets the slight advantage here, but it is hard to trust.
Lines to Target
FLA1 – Aleksander Barkov/Anthony Duclair/Carter Verhaeghe/Ben Chiarot: This top line is almost always in play for the Cats. Tonight is no different, and they will likely be heavily owned.
FLA2 – Sam Bennett/Claude Giroux/Jonathan Huberdeau: On paper, this line has a slightly better matchup than the top line, but they are both in play. Consider a power play look here to blend your exposure.
WPG1 – Pierre-Luc Dubois/Blake Wheeler/Kyle Connor/Josh Morrissey: With the depleted lineup, this is THE line for the Jets. They are going to have tons of ice time and they will be relied upon heavily to carry the offense.
Others to Consider: FLA3, WPG3
Value
Radko Gudas (D)
Brandon Montour (D)
Nate Schmidt (D)
Neal Pionk (D)
Morgan Barron (W)
Anton Lundell (C)
Carter Verhaeghe (W)
This is a newly added section to the Friday Night Forecheck, where we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Aleksander Barkov (FLA): anytime goal scorer
Kyle Connor (WPG): anytime goal scorer
Josh Morrissey (WPG): over 0.5 points
Cole Caufield (MON): 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.
The NHL season continues to roll, as we have entered the last month of the season. Tonight gives us a juicy five game slate, with some very interesting spots for leverage. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Darcy Kuemper – Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche head to Winnipeg tonight for a game against the Jets. This is a good spot for Kuemper, who has been a bit inconsistent this year, but has been playing well recently. On the road means a little bit of risk, and we can expect him to give up a couple of goals tonight. However, the shot upside should be there to counter the goals he lets in.
Ilya Sorokin – New York Islanders: The Islanders look to get Sorokin back in net tonight, and that’s a big boost for them. They head to Carolina tonight to take on the Hurricanes, who are notorious for throwing low danger shots at the net from everywhere. Those shots end up being saves, which can help pad a save total for any goalie against them. Carolina has also been struggling a bit lately, playing .500 hockey over their last five games. This game seems like it is going to be tight and low scoring, so if you aren’t comfortable with Sorokin, you can play the other side with Frederik Andersen.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Linus Ullmark – Boston Bruins: The Bruins head to Tampa tonight to take on the Lightning in a game that they can definitely win. Tampa has a whole has been struggling recently, much like Carolina, and this looks like a nice upside spot for Ullmark.
Note: The above plays are geared for GPP. For cash, ownership dictates that we should be playing Sergei Bobrovsky (Florida Panthers).
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Florida Panthers 1 – Aleksander Barkov/Carter Verhaeghe/Anthony Duclair/Mackenzie Weegar: The Panthers have the best matchup on the board tonight, boasting a massive 4.9 implied total, against the Sabres and Dustin Tokarski. The top line matchup is the best one, and people may shy away from playing Duclair or Verhaeghe. If you choose to go power play look here with Barkov/Huberdeau and then someone like Giroux or Weegar, that is hard to argue.
Colorado Avalanche 1 – Nathan MacKinnon/Mikko Rantanen/Valeri Nichushkin/Cale Makar: We have seen Hellebuyck for the Jets be very inconsistent this season, and this looks like a perfect time to take advantage. This top line should see a bulk of the chances tonight and is in a prime spot.
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Boston Bruins 1 – Patrice Bergeron/Brad Marchand/Jake Debrusk/Charlie McAvoy: As mentioned above, the Bruins head to Tampa tonight to face a struggling Lightning team and goaltender. Vasilevskiy’s GAA over his last five games is a whopping 3.77, and the Lightning are giving up 3.4 goals per game over their last five home games. This is a formula for success for this line tonight, and the top line should be the focus. However, if Pastrnak should return to the lineup, it would put the second line of Haula/Hall/Pastrnak in play as well. The top line should see the Point line for a majority of the night, in a plus matchup.
Buffalo Sabres 1 – Tage Thompson/Alex Tuch/Jeff Skinner/Rasmus Dahlin: The Sabres are on the road, on a back to back, and heavy underdogs. This creates a heavy leverage spot for the deeper GPP players. Sergei Bobrovsky looks to get the start tonight in net for the Panthers, and his GAA over his last five starts is a massive 4.64.
Carolina Hurricanes 3 – Jordan Staal/Nino Niederreiter/Jesper Fast: This third line should match the top line for the Isles tonight. As much as this line isn’t exactly a scoring line, they should have some chances against the Isles tonight. Because they are a third line, they are high risk due to ice time.
St. Louis Blues 2 – Robert Thomas/Vladimir Tarasenko/Pavel Buchnevich: The Blues host the Wild tonight in a decent matchup for a line that has been hot recently. Talbot for the Wild has been average, so this line should continue to roll.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: TBL1, CAR1, WPG1, WPG2, MIN1
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Erik Haula ($3400) – Boston Bruins
Wing: Nino Niederreiter ($2600) – Carolina Hurricanes
Defense: Mattias Samuelsson ($2500) – Buffalo Sabres
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Seth Jarvis ($4100) – Carolina Hurricanes
Wing: Ondrej Palat ($4300) – Tampa Bay Lightning
Defense: Mattias Samuelsson ($4000) – Buffalo Sabres
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
Wing: Mikko Rantanen – Colorado Avalanche
Defense: Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning
Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky – Florida Panthers
This is a newly added section to the Friday Night Forecheck, where we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Brad Marchand (BOS): anytime goal scorer
Nathan MacKinnon (COL): anytime goal scorer
Robert Thomas (STL): anytime goal scorer
Mikko Rantanen (COL): over 1.5 points
Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): 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.
Happy Friday! We have seven games on the slate tonight, with a few teams on back-to-backs (NYI, CHI, ANH). Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning: This is the cash goalie pick of the night, as the Lightning host the Blackhawks. The Lightning are heavy favorites, and on the second leg of a back-to-back. These factors add up to what should be a very nice night for Vasilevskiy, even though the upside might be somewhat limited.
Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers: This pick was a very close call between him and his opponent, Ilya Sorokin. The reason being is that both of them have been playing pretty well lately, with Igor rebounding a bit over the last week. You can flip a coin on this one, but the advantage goes to Igor, as the Isles are also on the second leg of a back-to-back.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Chris Driedger – Seattle Kraken: This play is super interesting tonight, as the Kraken host the Golden Knights tonight. If he goes, Driedger has some good upside, and could be a strong GPP play. However, if his crease-mate Grubauer gets the nod, you can totally pivot to Logan Thompson for the Golden Knights. This game seems like it could go under, as the Kraken are not that good and the Knights are pretty banged up.
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Tampa Bay Lightning 1 – Brayden Point/Steven Stamkos/Nikita Kucherov/Victor Hedman: There should be no surprise here, as the Lightning host the Blackhawks tonight and get to face Kevin Lankinen. A lot of times, we would recommend fading the heavy chalk, but it is going to be extremely hard to fade this play tonight. This spot is as juicy as they come, and they should be in for a multi-point night tonight.
Nashville Predators 1 – Ryan Johansen/Matt Duchene/Filip Forsberg/Roman Josi: The Predators head to Buffalo tonight to take on the Sabres in what should be a fun game to watch. Buffalo has actually been playing fairly well, and so have the Preds. This top line has looked very good over the last couple of weeks, and they have a good chance to continue that trend tonight. You can always replace Johansen with Granlund here and get a power play look. Oh, and Roman Josi, look up his game logs. It’s ridiculous.
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Nashville Predators 3 – Colton Sissons/Tanner Jeannot/Yakov Trenin: As much as the top line is in play, this third line has been providing some solid depth support for the Predators of late. The preferred approach with this line is to pair Jeannot and Trenin together. They are dirt cheap and provide some decent value, plus access to a nice implied total.
Ottawa Senators 1 – Josh Norris/Brady Tkachuk/Drake Batherson/Erik Brannstrom: This matchup is all about the line matching. Detroit matches the Suter line to the opposing top line, and that is a fantastic matchup for this Ottawa top line tonight. In a small sample, the Suter line is bleeding high danger chances, shots, and goals against, so this line should have its opportunities tonight. Mentioned in honorable mentions, Ottawa 3 has my interest piqued as well, based on the line matching schemes.
Detroit Red Wings 1 – Dylan Larkin/Lucas Raymond/Tyler Bertuzzi/Moritz Seider: That same line matching scheme mentioned above puts the Larkin line in a great spot. They become high risk because Forsberg for Ottawa has been decent (not great) over the last five games. This game could see a lot of scoring tonight.
St. Louis Blues 1 – Ryan O’Reilly/David Perron/Brandon Saad/Nick Leddy: The Blues head into Edmonton, where this line should see a matchup with the Draisaitl line. On the surface, that seems like a tall task, but the Draisaitl line actually gives up a decent amount of chances. Couple that with the fact that Edmonton’s goaltending has not been good, and this becomes a very interesting upside play tonight.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: ARI1, ANH2, BUF1, OTT3, EDMPP, NYRPP, NYI1
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Mikael Granlund ($4200) – Nashville Predators
Wing: Frank Vatrano ($3500) – New York Rangers
Defense: Mattias Samuelsson ($2500) – Buffalo Sabres
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Mikael Granlund ($4500) – Nashville Predators
Wing: Brandon Saad ($4500) – St. Louis Blues
Defense: Erik Brannstrom ($3900) – Ottawa Senators
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers
Wing: Nikita Kucherov – Tampa Bay Lightning
Defense: Roman Josi – Nashville Predators
Goalie: Andrei Vasilevskiy – Tampa Bay Lightning
This is a newly added section to the Friday Night Forecheck, where we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Brayden Point: over 1.5 points
Ryan Johansen: over 0.5 points
Matt Duchene: anytime goal scorer
Brady Tkachuk: anytime goal scorer
David Perron: anytime goal scorer
Leon Draisaitl: over 1.5 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.
It’s Friday! You know what that means…another Friday Night Forecheck! We have five games on the slate tonight, with a few interesting matchups. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames: The Flames host Arizona tonight in what should be a dominant game for them. The Coyotes have been scoring a little more of late, but they also bleed goals. With the way Markstrom has been playing, he should be in line for a nice night against a poor Coyotes team.
Pavel Francouz – Colorado Avalanche: The Avalanche host the Flyers tonight in what should be an ‘easy’ win. The Flyers have struggled to string wins together, and have been especially bad on the road over their last five road games. During that stretch, they have only scored 2.6 goals per game.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers: Our friend Igor has burned us recently, as he was shaky over the last few starts. Tonight, he faces a Pittsburgh team that looks like they are getting primed for the playoffs. For that reason, this is a high risk, high upside play. This game looks like it will be a grind it out affair that will be tightly contested. The shot volume should be good for DFS, and on home ice, Igor should be a little more steady.
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Calgary Flames Power Play – Elias Lindholm/Johnny Gaudreau/Matthew Tkachuk/Tyler Toffoli/Rasmus Andersson: The Flames’ power play is in a fantastic spot tonight against one of the worst penalty killing teams in the league. This setup is essentially the top line, and Toffoli on the top line is very, very interesting. Either way you slice it, this unit should be in for a big night.
Colorado Avalanche Power Play – Nathan MacKinnon/Nazem Kadri/Valeri Nichushkin/Mikko Rantanen/Cale Makar: Playing the power play unit in this spot is how we can get access to both top lines in very good spots. The Flyers come into Colorado tonight, on the second half of a traveling back to back. Bad Flyers team, plus they may be tired, means a big opportunity for this well-oiled Colorado machine.
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Winnipeg Jets 2 – Pierre-Luc Dubois/Kyle Connor/Evgeny Svechnikov/Josh Morrissey: This line is set up for a nice night tonight against the Blue Jackets. They should see the majority of the second line in a top six matching scheme. The game overall should be pretty high scoring, as we have Merzlikins vs. Comrie tonight. For those into the sports betting, o6.5 for this game seems like a good bet, and is -125 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Calgary Flames 3 – Calle Jarnkrok/Andrew Mangiapane/Blake Coleman/Noah Hanifin: This third line for the Flames is also in a very, very good spot, and is a great way to get low owned exposure to a massive implied total. They also all skate on the second power play unit. Of course, being a depth line, there is a bunch of risk here. With their value, though, they don’t need much to pay off and then some.
Washington Capitals 1 – Evgeny Kuznetsov/Alex Ovechkin/Marcus Johansson/John Carlson: The Caps head to Buffalo tonight to face the Sabres and Dustin Tokarski. While Tokarski has decent numbers over his last five, he is not what we would consider a top tier goalie. Washington should be able to put together some scoring tonight.
Buffalo Sabres 1 – Tage Thompson/Alex Tuch/Jeff Skinner/Rasmus Dahlin: The Sabres’ top line is in play simply for the goalie matchup. Samsonov for the Caps is not a scary goalie, and this top line has been surprisingly decent this year.
Columbus Blue Jackets 1 – Jack Roslovic/Gustav Nyquist/Patrik Laine/Zach Werenski: We can also consider the top line for the Blue Jackets tonight, especially since this game looks like it will be higher scoring.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: PIT1, NYRPP, PHIPP
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Calle Jarnkork ($2800) – Calgary Flames
Wing: Marcus Johansson ($2900) – Washington Capitals
Defense: Brian Dumoulin ($2700) – Pittsburgh Penguins
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Cole Sillinger ($4200) – Columbus Blue Jackets
Wing: Marcus Johansson ($4100) – Washington Capitals
Defense: Brian Dumoulin ($4100) – Pittsburgh Penguins
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche
Wing: Kyle Connor – Winnipeg Jets
Defense: Rasmus Andersson – Calgary Flames
Goalie: Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames
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.
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