Below are game breakdowns and Optimal Lineups for Sunday evening’s three-game NHL DFS slate.
Boston Bruins @ Vegas Golden Knights
All three games tonight feature road teams that are playing for the second night in a row, which obviously isn’t the most fantasy-friendly situation. However, of those three road teams, Boston is by far the most appealing. They’re playing the expansion Golden Knights who will be without stud goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, which means former Bruin Malcolm Subban will make his third career start.
The Bruins figure to be without Patrice Bergeron again tonight, though it’s hard to know for sure since they did not have a morning skate. But assuming Bergeron is out, Riley Nash will be in an excellent spot on the top line between David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand. Nash also played on the top power play unit last night in Arizona. Pairing Nash with one of those stud wingers is an obvious mini-stack. Torey Krug is another option as the point man on the top PP unit.
Golden Knights aren’t the best plays given a very tough matchup against the Bruins, but James Neal is definitely an option, especially in GPPs, given that he’s literally scored in every game so far this season and has six goals total.
In net, Tuukka Rask is a solid option with Boston being a -140 favorite. Rask did not start last night in Arizona, so he will be fresh for the second half of the back-to-back.
Buffalo Sabres @ Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks
Anaheim is without their top two centers in Ryan Kesler and Ryan Getzlaf, but they’re still the preferred play in this one as a -150 home favorite against a Buffalo team playing for the second night in a row.
The trio of Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg and Patrick Eaves all played together both at even strength and on the top power play unit in their last game, so that’s where to look for Ducks to use. Both Eaves and Silfverberg are WAY too cheap on FD. Silfverberg is priced a bit better than Eaves on DK, and Rakell is overpriced on both sites. Cam Fowler joins that trio on the top PP unit.
The Sabres aren’t overly appealing against an Anaheim team that really suppresses shots, but the Ryan O’Reilly line is semi-interesting with assumption that Jack Eichel’s line draws the toughest defensive attention. Both O’Reilly and linemate Matt Moulson play on the top power play unit. Moulson is super cheap on DK, and O’Reilly is underpriced on FD. Their other linemate, Evander Kaner, plays on the second PP unit.
Whoever starts in net for Anaheim tonight is obviously an option given the Ducks are the biggest favorite of the night. Hopefully John Gibson is healthy enough to play tonight, but if not, Reto Berra would also be worth a look. Buffalo was a decent matchup for goalies last season as they ranked 15th in shots on goal but only 26th in goals scored.
New York Islanders @ Los Angeles Kings
This game is a huge possession mismatch as the Kings led the league in Corsi For Percentage last year while the Islanders finished 28th. The Kings have the 70’s line together with Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter and Tanner Pearson. Carter plays on the top power play unit, and Toffoli has as well, though he was on the second unit last night with Pearson. Drew Doughty and Alex Martinez are the D-men on the top power play unit. Doughty is preferred if you can afford him, but Martinez is a nice value option.
The Isles aren’t a great play in this tough matchup, but John Tavares is priced very well on DK and could make for an interesting GPP play. His linemates, Jordan Eberle and Anders Lee, also join him on the top power play unit as does D-man Nick Leddy.
As mentioned, the Kings are a shot suppression team, and they allowed the fewest shots on goal last season. That makes whoever starts in net for LA, likely Darcy Kuemper, not that appealing.