Cash game lineups were posted around 4:15 PM ET. Please be sure to check back before roster lock in case changes are made to the lineups.
Tonight, we have another short four game DFS NHL slate that has a roster lock of 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. Four of the eight teams playing tonight will be playing their games without rest. These four teams are the Florida Panthers (5-3-4), New Jersey Devils (7-4-3), Dallas Stars (2-4-1), and Buffalo Sabres (5-8-1). It should be noted that all four teams will be playing on the road and that each of their records when playing without rest are in parentheses.
Again, with four games available, tonight’s lineups will be focused on cash games, but I am going to continue with my new format where I include projected lines for each team in order to help with GPP lineup construction. My favorite line stacks of the night will be in GREEN. Secondary stacks in GOLD. Contrarian stacks will be in BLUE. Players who will be on the POWER-PLAY are going to be in BOLD CAPS.
FLORIDA PANTHERS AT NEW YORK RANGERS (NYR -180 favorites; 5.5 O/U u110)
Starting Goalies: James Reimer (Confirmed) vs. Antti Raanta (Confirmed)
Florida Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
FLA1: HUBERDEAU - BARKOV - JAGR // FLA1 has more upside than FLA2, but don't have much of a preference for either of them
FLA2: JOKINEN - TROCHECK - SMITH
FLA3: VANEK - Bjugstad - MARCHESSAULT
FLA4: Thornton - MacKenzie - Sceviour
FLAD1: YANDLE - DEMERS // pair Yandle with FLA1 and Demers with FLA2 if looking at PP stacks or either of them if you're pairing with FLA1
FLAD2: Matheson - Petrovic
FLAD3: Kindl - Pysyk
FLAPP1: Huberdeau/Barkov/Jagr/Marchessault/Yandle
FLAPP2: Vanek/Jokinen/Smith/Trocheck/Demers
NY Rangers Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
NYR1: KREIDER - STEPAN - ZUCCARELLO
NYR2: NASH - ZIBANJEAD - MILLER
NYR3: Grabner - HAYES - Fast
NYR4: Glass - Lindberg - VESEY
NYRD1: Staal - MCDONAGH
NYRD2: Smith - Holden
NYRD3: SKJEI - Kampfer
NYRPP1: Kreider/Stepan/Zuccarello/Zibanejad/McDonagh
NYRPP2: Nash/Hayes/Miller/Vesey/Skjei
On paper, the Panthers should be much better than what we’ve been seeing from them over the past three or four weeks; however, they will continue to be without Aaron Ekblad, and their team defense has been atrocious. This includes the Panthers and Rangers’ previous meeting in Sunrise on 3/7 when the Rangers put up five goals, and eventually ran James Reimer off the ice. If it wasn’t for Reimer, I would not have been surprised if the Rangers put up eight or nine.
The most stable line you can get for the Rangers is the top line featuring Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, and Mats Zuccarello. They remain together as a line for a reason. They have superb chemistry, and if we’re talking about my favorite single target from that line, Chris Kreider, he’s working on a four game point streak. The only problem with the NYR1 is that they’re more than likely going to get a tough matchup against one of Florida’s top two lines. An interesting option is the newly formed second line with Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad, and J.T. Miller. You could argue that Miller has been the team’s best player throughout the season, although, he has not been as productive lately from a fantasy perspective.
The Panthers are just a little difficult to predict as far as scoring is concerned. Literally, any of their top three lines can go off, and there isn’t really much to go by as far as predicting who is going off when the line matchups are pretty even. Sometimes, it’s good to just target the best values, and I would say the best values when taking productivity and ice time in consideration are going to be Vincent Trocheck on FanDuel (under $6k? really?) and, well, everyone on DK. You also have Keith Yandle who put up a solid line the last time he made his return trip to MSG.
NEW JERSEY DEVILS AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (PIT -270 favorites; 5.5 O/U u130)
Starting Goalies: Keith Kinkaid (Confirmed) vs. Matt Murray (Confirmed)
New Jersey Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
NJ1: HALL - ZAJAC - PALMIERI
NJ2: BLANDISI - HENRIQUE - Bennett
NJ3: QUENNEVILLE - ZACHA - Noesen
NJ4: WOOD - Pietila - Lappin
NJ1: GREENE - Lovejoy
NJ2: Moore - SEVERSON
NJ3: Merrill - Prout
NJPP1: Hall/Zajac/Wood/Palmieri/Severson
NJPP2: Quenneville/Henrique/Blandisi/Zacha/Greene
Pittsburgh Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
PIT1: GUENTZEL - CROSBY - SHEARY
PIT2: KUNITZ - BONINO - Wilson
PIT3: HORNQVIST - Cullen - KESSEL
PIT4: Kuhnkackl - Sundqvist - Rowney
PITD1: Dumoulin - SCHULTZ
PITD2: STREIT -RUHWEDEL
PITD3: Cole - Pouliot
PITPP1: Hornqvist/Crosby/Kessel/Bonino/Schultz
PITPP2: Guentzel/Kunitz/Sheary/Streit/Ruhwedel
The Penguins have smacked the snot out of the Devils in each of the three games they’ve played against each other this season. I think you, me, and basically the majority of DFS NHL players still have a bitter taste in our mouths after the Pens got shutout by the Flyers this past Wednesday.
Oddly enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if this game ends up being low scoring, and that’s mainly because of New Jersey’s very boring and dull style of play. The pace of play definitely slows down a bit, and if you’re wondering what I mean by that, I can tell you that last night, the Flyers and Devils combined for a whopping 49 shot attempts at even strength. In contrast, 10 of the other 11 games featured a total of at least 73 shot attempts.
Nonetheless, Vegas doesn’t think it’s too big of a deal, and with the highest expected goal total, it’s a little too scary of a proposition to fade the Penguins in cash. You have all of the usual suspects in play tonight, which you can basically pick out of both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin’s lines. We have to see how lines play out because Ron Hainsey is a game-time decision and in the third period, Malkin and Nick Bonino flipped linemates, leaving Malkin with two lesser skilled linemates in Matt Cullen and Scott Wilson.
UPDATE: Evgeni Malkin is out of the lineup, and Patric Hornqvist is in. Bonino jumps up to a spot as the #2 center, so you can bump up Nick Bonino.
DALLAS STARS AT CALGARY FLAMES (CGY -220 favorites; 6 O/U u120)
Starting Goalies: Antti Niemi (Likely) vs. Brian Elliott (Confirmed)
Dallas Projected Lines (Updated: 7:08 PM ET)
UPDATE: Benn is out of the lineup and Hudler is in.
DAL1: SHARP - SPEZZA - SEGUIN
DAL2: SHORE - Faksa - HUDLER
DAL3: Elle - EAKIN - HEMSKY
DAL4: Cracknell - McKenzie - RITCHIE
DALD1: LINDELL - KLINGBERG
DALD2: Hamhuis - Johns
DALD3: Nemeth - Oleksiak
DALPP1: Hudler/Eakin/Seguin/Sharp/Lindell
DALPP2: Ritchie/Shore/Hemsky/Spezza/Klingberg
Calgary Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
CGY1: Ferland - MONAHAN - GAUDREAU
CGY2: TKACHUK - BACKLUND - FROLIK
CGY3: VERSTEEG - Bennett - BROUWER
CGY4: Bouma - Stajan - Chiasson
CGYD1: GIORDANO - HAMILTON
CGYD2: BRODIE - Engelland
CGYD3: Wideman - Bartkowski
CGYPP1: Versteeg/Monahan/Brouwer/Gaudreau/Brodie
CGYPP2: Tkachuk/Backlund/Frolik/Hamilton/Giordano
As of right now, I am assuming that Brian Elliott has recovered from his illness because his status definitely makes a big difference in my view towards the game. If Elliott is in there, I’m going to be more reluctant to roster the Stars, who finally snapped out of their bad streak of games with a 4-2 victory over the Canucks. In any scenario, I think it’s reasonable to play the Dallas top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza, who looked pretty good throughout last night’s game, outside of the point when Benn decided it was worth fighting a giant bottom-pair defenseman. It might be a better spot to stack DAL1 in GPPs rather than using them in cash games because even though their price has gone down, Spezza’s still really the only affordable option.
As for the Flames, I would be willing to roster any Flames who are getting power-play time considering the fact that the Stars continue to boast the league’s worst PK unit. When it comes to Calgary’s two power-play units, they both get fairly equal playing time. But ultimately, I can tell you that Calgary depends on the three defensemen to handle the puck a lot throughout the power-play, which definitely helps increase their overall value. You then have guys like Mikael Backlund, Kris Versteeg, and Johnny Gaudreau who are similar playmakers who control the puck a lot, but the guys who tend to clean up whenever a pass can sneak through or a nice bounce pops up is going to be Sean Monahan, Michael Frolik, and even Matthew Tkachuk. For one reason or another, Backlund’s line hasn’t had much luck against Calgary this season, while Gaudreau has put up four points in two games. It’s definitely interesting because I do consider Gaudreau’s line the better option tonight, although I do think Backlund’s line is a better value and has similar upside.
BUFFALO SABRES AT ANAHEIM DUCKS (ANA -210 favorites; 5 O/U o145)
Starting Goalies: Anders Nilsson (Likely) vs. Jonathan Bernier (Confirmed)
Buffalo Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
BUF1: KANE - O’REILLY - GIONTA // would bump up if Enroth is in net
BUF2: MOULSON - EICHEL- REINHART
BUF3: Foligno - Rodrigues - Fasching
BUF4: ENNIS - Girgensons - Deslauriers
BUF1: Gorges - RISTOLAINEN
BUF2: Bogosian - FRANSON
BUF3: MCCABE - Fedun
BUFPP1: Kane/O’Reilly/Reinhart/Eichel/Ristolainen
BUFPP2: Moulson/Gionta/Ennis/McCabe/Franson
Anaheim Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
ANA1: Cogliano - KESLER - Silfverberg
ANA2: RAKELL - GETZLAF - EAVES
ANA3: Ritchie - VERMETTE - PERRY
ANA4: Kase - Thompson - Shaw
ANAD1: LINDHOLM - Manson
ANAD2: FOWLER - Bieksa
ANAD3: MONTOUR - VATANEN
ANAPP1: Getzlaf/Kesler/Eaves/Vatanen/Fowler
ANAPP2: Rakell/Vermette/Perry/Lindholm/Montour
I was able to watch the Sabres practice on Wednesday as I finally got my Matt Moulson jerseys signed at the Kings practice facility (long story, but he was one of my favorites when he was with the Kings). Rasmus Ristolainen is super super impressive. It’s easy to understand why he is in the top three in the entire NHL when it comes to ice time. He’s super fast, a good skater, slick with the puck, and has a hard and accurate shot. Too bad the Sabres have to go through a tough two games in Southern California against two teams who have the ability to completely shutdown a team.
Then again, I have a weird feeling that Jhonas Enroth is going to be in net for the Ducks considering they are on the front-end of a back-to-back situation where the Ducks will have a tougher matchup against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. John Gibson is going to be out, so Jhonas Enroth is option B while Jonathan Bernier is option A. I have been impressed by Bernier and he has definitely been able to show a great deal of skill when playing with inspired defense in front of him. If it’s Enroth in net, even though I prefer Evander Kane and Ryan O’Reilly has a full-fledged duo, I probably can’t play them considering they’re likely to see a lot of Ryan Kesler’s line. Jack Eichel’s second line, on the other hand, is a more appealing trio matchup wise.
For the Ducks, if you took my advice on Ryan Getzlaf’s line on Wednesday, you probably found yourself in great shape. Getzlaf has been playing good hockey and I don’t think he has had a better fit as far as linemates are concerned in quite some time. Patrick Eaves probably can’t match the OVERALL skill that Corey Perry possesses, but he’s going to outwork him 99 times out of 100. The better play though, in my honest opinion, is Rickard Rakell, who is working on a three game goal scoring streak. If you’re feeling frisky, you can definitely consider Perry who will get the best matchup out of the Ducks top three lines, but doesn’t have the best supporting cast around him, and well, there’s also the fact that he’s Corey Perry, who I’ve said enough about in recent weeks.
Update: Enroth not starting, Anaheim is in better shape with Bernier between the pipes. Tough to do anything with Buffalo outside of GPPs.