NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/21
We have a massive 14-game slate tonight in the NHL leading into Thanksgiving. These slates can tend to overwhelm some people because there are so many directions to go. To simplify things, we should look at these slates like a
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/17
Top Goalies Mikko Koskinen (EDM) Koskinen is a good correlation play with the Oilers’ skaters and presents as a great value on DK ($7,500). He’s won four of his five starts this season and has good upside against Calgary
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/16
Top Goalies Laurent Brossoit (WPG) As a substantial home favorite against a team that has a tough time scoring goals, Brossoit sticks out as a popular option tonight in all formats. He’s priced up where he should be on
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/15
Top Goalies Roberto Luongo (FLA) Generally going against Columbus on the road is a risky proposition and tonight is no different. However, the Jackets are dealing with a team-wide illness that has caused players to miss some games of
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/14
Top Goalies Connor Hellebuyck (WPG) With the Caps playing their second game in as many nights, this seems to me like a spot where Helly and the Jets will take advantage. We know that the Jets are a better
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/12
Top Goalies Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) The Rangers and Henrik will host the Canucks tonight at home where they are 5-3 on the season. Vancouver comes in 5-4-2 on the road, but have been one the more surprising teams to this
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/9
Top Goalies John Gibson (ANA) Gibby has been rock solid and gets a good home matchup tonight against the Wild who are playing their second game in as many nights. Expect Gibson to see a good amount of shots
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/8
Top Goalies Jaroslav Halak (BOS) He’s clearly outplayed Tuukka Rask this season. Halak has seen at least 40 shots against in each of his last two games and on the season has stopped 219 of 230 shots he’s seen for a .952 save percentage. He’s a favorite play tonight at home against the Canucks and can be played in all formats. Carey Price (MTL) In his last five games against the Sabres, Price has allowed just nine goals. In those games, he’s seen 38, 39, 30, 45, and 36 shots against for an average of 37.6 shots per game. While he has struggled a bit this season, the Sabres offense has struggled even more averaging just 2.87 goals per game (22nd in the league). Price’s salary is affordable on both sites tonight in a good matchup at home. Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB) If willing to pay up, Vasilevskiy has righted the ship of late allowing just three goals in his last two games while stopping 33 and 34 shots in each game respectively. Late last season Vasi was victimized by the Isles allowing six goals on 41 shots. To me that was nothing more than a blip and I would expect him to be strong in between the pipes at home tonight. Others to consider: Darcy Kuemper (ARI), Marc-Andre Fleury (VGK) Key Three Skaters Steven Stamkos (TB) Over his career, Stamkos has played 31 games against the Islanders and has 13 goals and 20 assists to go along with 90 shots over that span. The Isles, who have been solid against centers this season, catch the Lightning captain at the wrong time. He has four goals, four assists, and 20 shots over his last five games after a slow start to the season. This home matchup should work well in his favor. Brad Marchand (BOS) Marchand is a gritty player with some talent skating on one of the best lines in the league. The problem with him sometimes is that he takes himself out of the game with stupidity because he’s a head-case. Marchand leads the league in penalty minutes with a staggering 45, including a 14-minute meltdown the other night. The matchup on paper couldn’t be much better for Marchand. The Canucks have allowed the second-most fantasy points to left-wingers this season, including 12 goals and 26 assists. With three goals in his last five games, let’s hope Marchand can keep his composure and perform at a high-level tonight, which I think is likely in the home matchup. Sebastian Aho (CAR) The Blackhawks are a mess and will be with a new head coach for the first time in a long time when they host the Hurricanes. One of Chicago’s deficiencies has come against the centers as they have allowed the third-most fantasy points to the position. Aho has gone without a point in each of his last three games, but still has four goals and 13 assists on the season and is averaging more than four minutes of power-play time per game. The Hurricanes have not been shy about getting pucks to the net and should continue that trend tonight with Aho leading the charge. Favorite Line Stacks Lightning First Line Miller – Stamkos – Kucherov This line has woken up over their last four games with a total of seven goals and eight assists over that span. Stamkos and Kucherov obviously lead the charge and are aided by J.T. Miller on left-wing. All three of these guys share time on the power play and with the Islanders averaging the sixth-most penalty minutes per game (10.8) and boasting a penalty kill (79.5) that is tied for 17th in the league, this line should get some opportunities in that regard as well. Hurricanes Second Line Ferland – Aho – Svechnikov We talked about Aho and he’s a more household name than the others on this line, but they’ve been very good. Ferland came over from Calgary in the offseason and has been a force up front. He is second among all NHL forwards with 8.24 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes, while also being third in shots per 60 (13.57). Svechnikov holds great value and much like Ferland is not afraid to get into the scoring areas down low. He’s currently sixth among forwards in high-danger scoring chances and comes in at just $4,100 on DK and $3,500 on FD. Aho and Ferland see time on the top power-play unit together while Svechnikov sees his work on the man advantage coming on the second unit. Canadiens First Line Tatar – Danault – Gallagher The Sabres are one of the worst teams at defending the center which will aide Danault, the general weak link of this line. Tatar came over in the offseason in the Max Pacioretty trade and has been nothing short of great with five goals and eight assists thus far. Gallagher is now arguably Montreal’s best player and if not best player he’s at least their best forward. He generates a ton of high-danger chances, shoots a ton, and has five goals in his last 10 games against Buffalo. Tatar and Gallagher see power-play time on the top unit while Danault doesn’t see any ice time with the man advantage. Others to consider: Bruins first line: Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak Golden Knights first line: Marchessault – Karlsson – Smith Top Positional Plays Players not mentioned in “key three skaters” or “favorite line stacks” sections Center Patrice Bergeron (BOS) – Vancouver have allowed 20 goals and 25 assists to centers thus far. Bergeron sees the bulk of the ice time at the position for the Bruins in all situations. Alex Galchenyuk (ARI) – Galch has points in four of his six games this season, he’s very cheap, and he draws what has been a very good matchup for centers this season. Jack Eichel (BUF) – Montreal has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to centers. Brayden Point
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/7
Top Goalies Mike Smith (CGY) Ah, Smitty, my friend. The Ducks are playing in their second game in as many nights and are expected to welcome back Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Eaves, both slates to skate on the first line
NHL DFS: The Point Shot – 11/6
Top Goalies Frederik Andersen (TOR) Love this spot at home for Freddy against a Vegas team that have not fully hit their stride offensively just yet. We should see enough volume from Andersen and I would expect him to come away with a win. Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) Bobrovsky has been very underwhelming early on this season. He faces the Stars at home who just played into overtime last night in Boston before coming up short. I expect a good performance from Bob tonight at home where the Jackets are better as a team. Carey Price (MTL) Price is a great value tonight for the Canadiens as they take on the Rangers in Madison Square Garden. Price is looking to bounce back after allowing four goals in back to back games and I think we see a big night from the Canadien netminder. Others to consider: Jack Campbell (LA), Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB) Key Three Skaters John Tavares (TOR) While Auston Matthews continues to sit out, JT has seen an increase in ice time and has been productive. He has four points in his last four games with a goal and three assists over that span. Tavares leads the league in high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes and 13th in shots per 60. The Leafs are home where they have been sub-par, but they host the Golden Knights who are just 2-5 on the road. Toronto is seventh in goals per game (3.43) and has the fourth-best power play (30.8 percent success rate) in the league. Expect Tavares to be a factor in all situations tonight. Brendan Gallagher (MTL) He should have his way up front against the Ranger defense who decide to never hit anyone in front of the net. He’s generated 12 shots against the blue shirts in his last two games against them and is top-ten this season in high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes. Gallagher is the type of player that gives the Rangers trouble with a strong net-front presence and his ability to score in traffic. Jeff Carter (LA) Carter centers the “that 70’s line” once again as they’ve been reunited with the firing of John Stevens as head coach. In his last two games, Carter has a goal and an assist in each and has 10 shots in his last three games. The Ducks comes into tonight having allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to centers, including 17 goals, 21 assists, and 179 shots. With time on the top power-play unit, Carter’s value, ice time, and matchup have me liking him tonight. Favorite Line Stacks Blue Jackets First Line Panarin – Dubois – Atkinson PLD has been hot of late with four goals in his last five games. Unfortunately, Panarin and Atkinson have done nothing over that span leading one (myself) to believe that can only change. The Stars just played a hard-fought overtime game last night in Boston against the Bruins, a game in which they lost in the extra period. Now they fly to Columbus to face a Blue Jackets team that has been solid at home over the last two seasons. Panarin is too good to be held down (15 points in 14 games) much longer and as I’ve said, he’s gone pointless in each of his last four. Atkinson, similar to Panarin, is ice cold but that’s to say that he doesn’t have his opportunities. Atkinson averages 5.56 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes and is 10th with 12.55 shots per 60. I fully expect this line to show up tonight. Blues First Line Schwartz – O’Reilly – Tarasenko Ryan O’Reilly has been on fire of late with points in each of his last seven games tallying four goals and eight assists over that span. ROR moves up to the first line tonight with Brayden Schenn missing this game due to injury. Vladimir Tarasenko, as I mentioned a few days ago was due to start lighting the lamp and he has done so to the tune of four goals in his last five games with 18 shots over that span. With 14.07 shots per 60 minutes (third-most in the league) and an average of 18:49 ice time per game, Vlad should see plenty of chances to keep his hot stretch up tonight. Jaden Schwartz adds some good value to this line at $5,100 on DK and $5,300 on FD. Sharks First Line Evander – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski Kane, Thornton, and Pavelski come in as a great value line, especially Thornton and Pavelski who skate on the top power-play unit. Kane is a high volume shooter facing the Wild who have allowed an average of 33.4 shots per game. Thornton, recently back from injury, had a goal in his last game and Pavelski, who moved over to wing with the return of Thornton has points in three of his last four games against the Wild. Others to consider: Devils first line (Hall – Hischier – Palmieri), Lightning first line (Miller – Stamkos – Kucherov) Top Positional Plays Players not mentioned in “key three” or “favorite line stacks” sections. Center Connor McDavid (EDM) – He doesn’t suck. Nico Hischier (NJ) – The Senators have allowed the second-most fantasy points to centers this season and Hischier is among the leaders in high-danger scoring chances. Dylan Larkin (DET) – Two goals and six assists over his four-game point streak. Elias Pettersson (VAN) – Bursting on the scene as the favorite right now to win the Calder trophy. He has 10 goals and nine assists on the season and four goals with three assists in his last three games. William Karlsson (VGK) – In a high-paced game against Toronto who allows a lot of scoring chances, Wild Bill is underpriced on DK at $5,000. Logan Couture (SJ) – He’s a score-first type of center with points in each of his last nine games. Brayden Point (TB) – Quietly has eight goals