This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Bruins are aiming for a league-best 20th win at home hosting the Canadiens, who are one of the better road teams in the league but will be without the services of captain Shea Weber. A win for the Bruins will give them a 3-1 edge in the season series and a sweep on home ice.
The Flames are looking for their second straight win against the Kings after losing both of their meetings in October. Scoring has not been a problem for Calgary with two straight 6-2 wins on the road. The Kings, meanwhile, have lost 10 of their past 11, and have not won on home ice in 2020.
The Canucks are retiring No. 22 and 33 in what should be an emotional night as they face off against the Blackhawks, the two teams having shared an intense rivalry a decade ago. The division-leading Canucks have a conference-best 18 wins at home (tied with St. Louis), while the Blackhawks have lost four straight.
GOALIES
Tuukka Rask ($8,700) will be a popular choice and certainly a safe one on home ice (12-0-6 this season) against a battered team. Carey Price ($8,600) has been phenomenal lately (.936 Sv% since Jan. 1) and he'll need to stay that way for the Habs to have a chance. Price has a 5.12 GAA in three games against Boston this season but all three games were played prior to his hot streak. Still, looking at the Habs lineup it's difficult to see exactly where their edge will be.
Jacob Markstrom ($8,200) allowed just two goals on 38 shots against Nashville on Monday and the 6-foot-6 goalie has come up huge for the Canucks this season. Corey Crawford ($7,800) will likely start for Chicago and his play has trended the opposite way with three goals allowed in each of his past two starts. He has posted good numbers overall this season (.912 Sv%) but the Canucks offense has been pretty dangerous and scored seven goals last time they met.
Win and you're in, so expect David Rittich ($7,600) to get the nod. He's a good value play against the lowly Kings and Jonathan Quick ($7,000), who has allowed three goals or more in six straight games.
VALUE PLAYS
The Habs don't have much of an answer for Charlie Coyle ($4,900), who has four points in three games against them this season. Other than Philip Danault, who will likely draw Patrice Bergeron's line, neither Nick Suzuki nor Max Domi can physically compete with Coyle.
Milan Lucic ($3,200) is on a roll with back-to-back multi-point games. He had three points against San Jose and the Kings are another soft opponent.
There's a lot of line juggling in Vancouver but Zack MacEwen ($3,000) had a few shifts on the top line and averaging over 12 minutes in his second callup of the season. Jake Virtanen ($4,000) has never looked better, scoring his career-high 16th goal against Nashville. He's been playing with Elias Pettersson in Brock Boeser's absence. Brandon Sutter ($3,800) is getting minutes on the top power-play unit and scored a goal against Nashville as well.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Calgary Flames (TOTAL: $20,400)
C – Sean Monahan ($6,700)
W – Johnny Gaudreau ($7,500)
W – Elias Lindholm ($6,200)
It's an expensive line stack but they're playing one of the worst teams in the league with a thin defense and inconsistent goaltending. Monahan and Gaudreau have picked it up in the second half while Lindholm is on a seven-game point streak.
Vancouver Canucks (TOTAL: $16,300)
C – Elias Pettersson ($6,900)
W – Jake Virtanen ($4,000)
W – Tanner Pearson ($5,400)
There was some line juggling with J.T. Miller sometimes taking Pearson's place, but for the most part the trio stayed intact. Among the four line they had the best Corsi relative to competition, and while Pettersson looks a little banged up, he looked far better against Nashville than Calgary. It's a cheap line stack for a line that's arguably as productive as the top line with Miller and Bo Horvat.
DEFENSEMEN
Quinn Hughes ($5,200) has been the Canucks' best defenseman this season and after a three-assist effort against Nashville is now tied-fourth in scoring among defensemen. The Blackhawks PK ranks 10th, but undisciplined play has allowed the Canucks to score at least one PPG in both games this season.
Jeff Petry ($5,000) continues to log big minutes with his third straight 27-minute game. He's been a workhorse since Weber's injury and continues to quarterback the top PP unit. Scoring won't be easy against the Bruins but Petry is also a generous shot blocker.
Noah Hanifin ($4,300) is the new QB for Calgary with Mark Giordano out, and he has three assists in his past two games. The Kings are 28th on the PK so the Flames shouldn't need many chances to capitalize. He's skated over 23 minutes in three straight games after topping 20 minutes just once in his previous five games.
