Welcome to the Saturday Slapshot. There are a couple of early games today but this article will be solely focused on the massive 11-game NHL DFS slate we have tonight. There are some lopsided matchups that we’ll want to take advantage of tonight as well as some of the more explosive offenses in the league taking the ice.
Let’s dig in and see if we can make some money.
NHL DFS Goaltending
Ilya Sorokin ($8.4K DK/$8.4k FD) vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – Ilya Sorokin’s season stats have been amazing. Through 11 starts he has just a 2.09 GAA and a .936 save percentage. He’s a little more expensive than I’d normally like to pay for a goalie, but between his play this season and the matchup, he should be one of the leading scorers for goalies tonight.
Sorokin and the Islanders are heavy favorites tonight vs. a Blue Jackets team that hasn’t been doing a whole lot in the way of scoring recently. Over the last 2 weeks, the Blue Jackets are scoring just 2.5 goals per game on around 30 shots. There will be decent volume for Sorokin and his second shutout of the season is very much in play. He’s one of my favorite cash game goalies tonight and is also in play for GPP’s.
John Gibson ($7.8k DK/$7.2k FD) vs. Chicago Blackhawks – Playing a Ducks goalie normally makes me feel a little sick in the stomach, but you have to love the matchup for them tonight. After starting out the year pretty well, the Blackhawks are now playing how everyone thought the Blackhawks would play. They’ve scored just 10 goals in their last 6 games and have as anemic of an offense as there is in the game right now.
While the Ducks are sloppy defensively and give up just a ton of shots, they should be able to prevent a poor Blackhawks team from scoring more than a goal or 2 tonight. This pick is solely reserved for GPP’s as you can never trust the Ducks. That said, this is a great spot, and the price, especially on FD is extremely appealing.
NHL DFS Stacks
Vegas 1 (Eichel, Stephenson, Stone) + Pietrangelo vs. St. Louis
The Golden Knights get a great matchup tonight vs. a St. Louis Blues team that is giving up close to 5 goals per game over the last 2 weeks. Their goaltending has been a mess as they have just a .850 save percentage. This is something we’ll want to take advantage of tonight. This is a great spot for the top line of Vegas. Thanks to an empty net goal the other night, Eichel was able to score a hatty in his return to Buffalo. That makes it 5 goals in his last 5 games and 9 points overall. A price of $7k for him on DK tonight seems very fair considering the matchup and upside.
My next important piece next to Eichel will be Stephenson. Over his last 5 games, Stephenson has 7 points thanks to 5 assists. I’ll pair those 2 with Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo has been a huge part of this offense and is essentially an additional winger. He is pricey for a D at $7k though.
Vegas 2 is also very much in play. Smith and Karlsson make for a great pairing at just $8.9 combined on DK.
Pittsburgh 1 (Crosby, Guentzel, Rust) + Letang vs. Montreal
Pittsburgh should be able to get to a Montreal team that has been giving up about 3.5 goals per game over the last 2 weeks. I’m going to attack the Canadiens tonight with the top line for Pittsburgh. This line is pricy, but they’ve also been extremely productive over the last handful of goals. My main targets for this line are going to be Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel. The two have combined for 12 points over their last 5 games. Guentzel has been leading the way for the Penguins as he has 4 goals over his last 5. These combined are going to be costly, but in this matchup, they should be able to pay off their salaries and more.
Pittsburgh 2 is also in play tonight. The line of Malkin, Rakell, and Zucker has also been productive and they’ll come in much cheaper and potentially lower ownership.
New Jersey 1 (Hischier, Tatar, Zetterlund) + Hamilton vs. Arizona
The New Jersey Devils are the hottest thing in the NHL right now. They’re coming into this riding an 8-game winning streak and have won 9 of their last 10. A date with the Arizona Coyotes is one that should enable to them add another win to the win/loss column. While the Coyotes have actually been pretty good defensively of late, I just don’t think they’ll be able to keep up with the Devils.
I love this spot for Nico Hischier tonight as he’s been playing great of late. Over his last 5 games, he has 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points. At $6.4k he’s very fairly priced tonight. I’ll look to pair him with Tomas Tatar. Tatar has some upside at $4k tonight. He’s got 6 points in his last 5. The two of these combined will only cost us around $5.2k on average.
On D, we can look to pair them with Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton has been averaging close to 5 shots on goal per game and also has 4 points in his last 5. The only concern with him is that he’s fairly pricey at over $7k tonight.
Other Stacks: The top 2 lines for Boston and Colorado are very much in play. Tor 1 and 2, NYI 1 and 2, NYR 1, WPG 1, CHI 1 if you’re fading Gibson.
NHL DFS Top Value Defenseman
- Josh Manson – $2.6k on DK
- Brayden McNabb – $3.3k on Dk
- Marcus Pettersson – $3.9k on DK
- Ryan McDonagh – $2.7k on DK
Summary
Tonight should be a fun slate of NHL DFS. I plan on going heavy with the Knights and Devils tonight as both teams are playing extremely well and in great matchups. Don’t sleep on the Rangers either tonight. They scored 6 goals in the third period the other night and that may have woken up the sleeping beast.
Make sure to use our Projection model 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!