Below are game breakdowns for each of today’s three NHL games followed by example lineups for the NHL DFS slate.
DAL @ NSH
The first game of the day has a humorous over/under of only 4.5 goals, which is something you’d never see in the regular season. The goal totals in the series have been 5-3-5-6, so 4.5 may be a bit of overkill, but it’s certainly not a high scoring series. For that reason, this game isn’t one to lean much on in cash games.
That said, there is some upside available in this game. In the first two games in Nashville, the Preds chose not to match strength with strength at all times as Nick Bonino’s line saw the most of Dallas’ top line, which mean Ryan Johansen’s line saw a fair bit of Dallas’ second and third lines. Both top lines dominated possession-wise at even strength, and they both obviously see a lot of power play work.
With Jamie Benn expected to play up on the top line with Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov, they have enough upside to warrant GPP consideration. We like Ben Bishop’s price tag on DK, and the line is priced a tad better collectively there than on FD, so that’s the spot for a Dallas stack. John Klingberg plays on the top PP unit and is also priced better on DK than FD.
Johansen has Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson on his wings, and they could be due for a breakout game as they only have two points between the three of them in the first four games. They were excellent in Game 2 when they saw very little of Seguin’s line and generated 14 shot attempts at even strength compared to just two allowed. Since they’re not much of a cash play and because Dallas is a GPP option on DK, a NSH1 stack on FD makes some sense. Roman Josi plays with the line at even, and P.K. Subban plays with them in the power play, so either D-man could be included in the stack.
Obviously the goalies are going to be worth a look in a game with a 4.5 over/under, and we already mentioned the value in Bishop’s priced tag on DK. With the Preds being a -155 home favorite, Pekka Rinne is obviously an option for cash games. He’s priced more than fairly on both sites.
WPG @ STL
Five games into the series, the home crowd has yet to go home happy even once. Not only are the road teams winning, they’re generally doing it by simply being the better team, not by getting a little lucky or just getting great goaltending. In the two prior games played in St. Louis, the Jets easily out-chanced and outshot the Blues.
Winnipeg’s top line centered by Mark Scheifele won the possession battle in both road games as they matched up with St. Louis’ top line. They lost the possession battle in their home games when they saw more of the Oskar Sundqvist line, which has been St. Louis’ best possession line in this series. Based on that pattern, the Scheifele line, with Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor on the wings, is in play tonight. They’re still a road underdog, so they’re more a GPP play than cash. They’re not necessarily priced well on either site, but they’re slightly more affordable on DK. Dustin Byfuglien is the D-man playing on the top PP unit with that line.
The Blues are a cash game play as one of the two favorites in a game with an over/under over five goals. However, we might not want to lean on their top line since we just discussed the fact that they’ve been outplayed by the Scheifele line when they’ve matched up. The Sundqvist line had Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz on the wings last game and might be a better option. Both wingers are priced fairly on DK and FD, and Schenn works on the top PP unit with the top line. If you want exposure to the top line, Ryan O’Reilly is priced well on FD. David Perron, who played on the Sundqvist line early in the series, is priced well on DK. Alex Pietrangelo is the D-man on the top PP unit, and he played the most with the Sundqvist line at even in the two prior games in St. Louis.
In net, Connor Hellebuyck could be a GPP option based on his price tags. He’s the cheapest goalie of the slate on FD and the second cheapest on DK. He could make some sense including in a WPG stack.
CAR @ WSH
This series has gone according to plan with the home team winning all four games so far. However, the home team has not necessarily been the better team in each game. Carolina dominated the possession game in their home games, but they played the Caps to a draw at even strength in Game 2 and were the better team in that respect in Game 1, though the numbers were somewhat skewed by the Caps jumping out to an early lead in that game.
Washington is the only team going today who was a decidedly below average defensive team in the regular season, and Braden Holtby is not the shutdown goalie he once was. As a result, Carolina has GPP appeal in this game, but the Caps are still a cash game play given that they’re one of the two home favorites in games with an over/under north of five.
Carolina’s top six are all priced better on FD than DK, so that’s the spot to use them in a GPP stack. The top line of Sebastian Aho, Nino Niederreiter and Teuvo Teravainen all play on the top PP unit together along with Justin Faulk. The second line is Jordan Staal, Justin Williams and Warren Foegele. Williams plays on the top PP unit, but Staal and Foegele play on the second unit with D-man Jacob Slavin. Which line you use in a GPP really depends on how much cash you have to spend.
As far as cash games go, Alex Ovechkin is an obvious cash game option on both sites. With T.J. Oshie out, Tom Wilson should move back up to the top line, and he is priced well on FD. John Carlson is on the top PP unit and is another obvious option.