This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Sunday's NHL main slate is a small one, with just four games scheduled after 5:00 PM Eastern time. Below, you'll find an overview of the matchups and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Golden Knights stand out as the team to target against a Detroit club that's allowing a league-high 3.89 goals per game. This slate is teeming with elite talent, so expect to see plenty of the stars and scrubs approach. Flyers-Bruins and Maple Leafs-Blackhawks should be physical and fast-paced affairs, while Oilers-Ducks will likely feature substantially less open ice. The Golden Knights, Flyers, Maple Leafs and Blackhawks are all finishing up back-to-back sets.
GOALIES
Mike Smith ($8,100) and Mikko Koskinen ($7,800) both continue to thrive in their timeshare for Edmonton. Smith has a 2.22 GAA and .926 save percentage, which are almost identical to Koskinen's 2.18 GAA and .927 save mark. Whichever guy starts against a bottom-10 Ducks offense that's scoring 2.65 goals per game should deliver strong value.
Detroit's league-worst offense averages just 2.17 goals per game. Golden Knights backup Malcolm Subban ($7,800) should take advantage of this favorable matchup after watching Marc-Andre Fleury start Saturday.
Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask ($9,000) is 7-2-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .933 save percentage. Those two regulation losses have come in Rask's last two starts, so he'll be motivated to bounce back at home against the tired Flyers.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
While Connor McDavid ($8,700) and Leon Draisaitl ($8,800) could have trouble living up to their lofty valuations against the stingy Ducks, their affordable linemate needs much less production to provide good value at $4,000. Zack Kassian is back up on the top line after a brief demotion, and his 4-6-10 line this season is due predominantly to sharing the ice with these two studs.
Reilly Smith ($5,700) has been a goal-scoring machine for the Golden Knights. He leads the team with 10 goals through 18 games, and Smith's affordability relative to this slate's other top scorers makes him a strong pick against the lowly Red Wings.
If you like the Ducks here, make sure to include their most productive player in your lineup. Jakob Silfverberg ($6,000) is up to seven goals and a team-high 13 points in 17 games in what's shaping up as his finest NHL season.
Maple Leafs center John Tavares ($7,400) has underperformed with a 4-5-9 line in 11 games player this season, but he's due to pick up the pace considering Tavares scored 84 points in his last year with the Islanders before adding a 47-41-88 line with the Maple Leafs in 2018-19.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Bruins vs. Flyers
Patrice Bergeron (C - $7,900), David Pastrnak (W - $9,200), Brad Marchand (W - $8,400)
This line stands out more often than not even in the biggest of slates, and not locking in at least one of these guys could prove especially costly in a slate with so few alternatives. Bergeron has exceeded a point-per-game pace with an 8-9-17 line through 16 games, but he can't hold a candle to his linemates. Pastrnak leads the league with 15 goals and is tied with Draisaitl atop the league points leaderboard with 30. Marchand is breathing down their necks with a 10-18-28 line.
Golden Knights at Red Wings
Paul Stastny (C - $4,800), Mark Stone (W - $7,600), Max Pacioretty (W - $7,000)
Stastny is a tremendous value play against the lowly Red Wings, as he sports a 5-4-9 line through 18 games, putting the veteran center on pace for a seventh consecutive season of 40-plus points. Stone has been Vegas' best source of offense with an 8-10-18 line through 18 games, while Pacioretty's at 5-10-15, including goals in each of the past two games.
Blackhawks vs. Maple Leafs
Dylan Strome (C - $4,790), Patrik Kane (W - $8,000), Alex DeBrincat (W - $6,300)
This line presents an intriguing against-the-grain option against a Toronto team that's likely to deploy backup goalie Michael Hutchinson (4.25 GAA, .885 save percentage) after Frederik Andersen started Saturday. They combined for 237 points in 221 games played with the Blackhawks last season, and each member of this line has already cracked double digits in points this season, led by Kane's 17 through 16 games.
DEFENSEMEN
No Bruins stack is complete without Torey Krug ($5,800). The diminutive defenseman is the only player on the team outside the top line to record more than seven points. Krug has 13 points through 16 games, with two even-strength goals and 11 power-play assists.
Oscar Klefbom ($5,200) is the most dangerous source of offense on Edmonton's blue line, with four of his nine points coming on the power play. He's mired in a brutal 11-game point drought following a hot start, but this represents a nice buy-low opportunity on Klefbom, who has continued to generate opportunities with three-plus shots in six of those 11 games.
Vegas hasn't gotten much offense from the blue line, but Shea Theodore ($4,700) has been the team's top producer among defensemen with six points, including four on the man advantage. If there was ever a time for Theodore to break out offensively, this matchup against the Red Wings certainly seems like an ideal fit.
