This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
A divisional clash between the Blues and Predators should be the highlight of the night. Nashville should be desperate; a loss to the first-place Blues would put them 12 points behind, and they're already three points behind the last wild card spot. The Preds can sweep the home-and-home series.
The Golden Knights in Dallas should reveal more about the Stars. The Stars are 1-5-0 all-time against them and allowed 15 goals in their past four meetings, but they've been excellent defensively this season. They've allowed three or more goals in regulation just four times in the past 15 games.
The red-hot Sharks have eight of their past nine and face the red-hot Kings, who have won four of their past six, which would've been five had Antti Raanta not turned superhuman on Saturday. The Sabres will make their last trip to Tampa this season and try to avoid a 3-0 hole. They have not won in regulation against the Lightning in Tampa since 2015, and they've gone 2-11-1 head-to-head since.
The Flames offense has gone cold with four goals in their past five games and they'll definitely need some against the Penguins, who are 10th in GF/GP (3.35). The Canucks, meanwhile, are 2-1-0 in their road trip so far and face the tough-luck Flyers (1-2-3 in past 6 GP).
The Senators and Blue Jackets should be an interesting but unpredictable matchup with two young squads punching above their weight. The Rangers will host a Western Conference team for the first time since Oct. 22 facing the Wild, and they haven't beaten an interconference opponent since the Jets in the season opener.
The Islanders, with points in 17 straight games, might be the best team in the league, yet there's been no Hart, Vezina or Jack Adams talk for any of their players – very odd. The Ducks have not won at home since Nov. 1.
GOALIES
Historically, Vegas has beaten them up, but the Stars' stock has skyrocketed so that makes both Ben Bishop ($9,000) and Marc-Andre Fleury ($8,900) questionable but definitely expensive buys. Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,700) may be a popular choice but over the past week the Sabres have performed much better (54.07 CF% vs. 46.56 CF%).
Between Pekka Rinne ($7,900) and Jordan Binnington ($8,600) I'd rather not choose because they're both good, though curiously the Blues are the slight underdog (+115, according to FanDuel Sportsbook) even though the Preds have looked worse – bad enough that picking Rinne seems questionable.
Matt Murray ($8,600) has lost four straight, but three of those have come in overtime and two of them were against the Islanders. The Flames offense has not been good which should make Murray a good value play for goalies above $8,000.
Based on their rotation, Thomas Greiss ($7,800) will likely be between the pipes against the Ducks, who were just beaten 6-2 by the shorthanded Lightning. The Isles are elite right now and perhaps one of the best plays of the night. Greiss has won eight straight decisions.
Henrik Lundqvist ($7,800) has a .918 save percentage at home (vs. .893 on the road) and the Wild are not good on the road (4-10-1). Alex Stalock ($7,300) has a career .909 save percentage and the Rangers have an underrated offense, ranked 9th in GF/PG (3.38).
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Mikael Granlund ($5,000) hasn't lived up to expectations but the well is not empty with a goal and four assists in his past five games. Peter Laviolette tried everyone to fill Viktor Arvidsson's void on the top line, but expect Granlund to get a crack at it.
Anthony Cirelli ($4,700) has a goal in four straight games and the Lightning's depth is pulling through in Steven Stamkos' absence. Cedric Paquette ($3,200) has two points in three games while averaging over 16 minutes, Yanni Gourde ($4,400) also has two points in three games but averaging over 17 minutes, and Patrick Maroon ($3,000) has two points in two games.
Barclay Goodrow ($3,500) is getting a lot of ice time with Tomas Hertl injured. Playing with Timo Meier has not bore fruit yet, but the blocked shots are nice and since he spends so much time killing penalties there's always a slight hope of a shorthanded point.
Rookie Nikolai Prokhorkin ($3,200) is seeing limited action in the Kings' bottom six but three points in four games is hard to ignore. The Sharks have held their opponents to two goals in two games but it's the exception to the norm. They've been porous all season.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Buffalo Sabres (Total: $19,700)
C – Jack Eichel ($8,000)
W – Sam Reinhart ($5,500)
W – Victor Olofsson ($6,200)
Powered by Eichel's five-game point streak, the Lightning are nothing to be afraid of (3.30 GA/GP, 10th-worst) and even though Olofsson's goal scoring has cooled off, he has four helpers in six games.
New York Rangers (Total: ($17,600)
C – Ryan Strome ($5,500)
W – Artemi Panarin ($8,400)
W – Jesper Fast ($3,700)
Fast's the third wheel with his low offensive ceiling, but he's a tough penalty killer and Panarin's a magician while Strome surprisingly has 21 points. Three of his past four assists have been on goals scored by Panarin.
Ottawa Senators (Total: $15,700)
C – Logan Brown ($4,200)
W – Brady Tkachuk ($6,400)
W – Anthony Duclair ($5,100)
It's a super-cheap top-line stack with Brown scoring three points in his past four games averaging 14 minutes, Tkachuk with three points and 17 shots in three games and Duclair playing his best ever. The Jackets goaltending is not good and Tkachuk is a chance-generating machine in the high-danger scoring area.
Vancouver Canucks (Total: $20,000)
C – Elias Pettersson ($7,400)
W – Brock Boeser ($7,300)
W – J.T. Miller ($5,300)
The best part is that all three are key cogs on their power play, which ranks fourth, and Pettersson is 11th in league scoring but still believes he can do better. They've scored nine points combined in two games.
DEFENSEMEN
Brent Burns ($7,100) and Erik Karlsson ($6,700) will be popular picks but at no point this season have either of them been considered the league's best. Drew Doughty ($6,400) is in the same boat even though all three should be popular picks.
The real deals start with Victor Hedman ($6,400), who is on a seven-game point streak, followed by Roman Josi ($6,300) and Alex Pietrangelo ($6,000). This trio is more worthwhile because they're producing and playing on good teams.
Miro Heiskanen ($5,500) is one of those guys who's a more valuable asset on the ice than in fantasy, but the potential for a couple points while collecting some shots and blocked shots is there. He's been Dallas' best during their impressive 15-game run. Seth Jones ($5,400) is in a similar boat but with an impressive track record against the Sens with 13 points and a plus-11 rating in 15 games.
Rasmus Dahlin ($5,100) and Quinn Hughes ($4,600) should be good picks while they continue to run their team's power plays. The Canucks' power play can be feast or famine sometimes but overall it remains elite, which gives Hughes the edge. Anthony DeAngelo ($4,600) and Adam Fox ($3,800) are good backup options though David Quinn can't seem to decide which quarterback he wants on the top unit.
