Below is a breakdown for Sunday’s three-game NHL DFS main slate beginning at 5:00 PM ET followed by example lineups.

Teams to Target

We have three home favorites tonight, the Rangers and Blackhawks as small favorites in games with an over/under of 6, and the Hurricanes as easily the large favorite of the slate in a game with an O/U of only 5.5. As a result, all three teams have reasonably similar implied goal totals. Of the three, Chicago has the best matchup. New York is facing a Jackets team that ranks top five in xGA/60 at 5v5, and Carolina is facing an Islanders team that ranks top five in actual goals allowed per game (Columbus is also third best in goals allowed per game). Chicago, on the other hand, gets Winnipeg who has the third worst 5v5 xGA in the last 35 days. The Jets do have Connor Hellebuyck in net who ranks fifth in Goals Saved Above Average, but Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins is seventh, and New York’s Thomas Greiss is 15th.

The only Blackhawk forwards that play together at even strength and on the top PP unit are Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik. Kubalik has 31 points in 47 games this season but is heating up with 14 points in his last 10, including 13 in his last seven. He also has two-goal games in three of his last four. In those four games he has 18 shots on goal, including a nine-shot game on Wednesday. He is priced reasonably on both sites, though he is easier to stack with Toews on FD as the center is severely overpriced on DK. Defensemen Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist also play on the top PP unit. Boqvist is priced at the minimum on FD, and Keith is a bit of a value on DK.

If you don’t mind the matchup too much for Carolina, top power play forwards and linemates Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen are both priced better on DK than FD, Teravainen in particular. Over on FD, Andrei Svechnikov is more of a value than he is on DK. Defenseman Jaccob Slavin has moved up to the top PP unit with Dougie Hamilton injured and is a nice value, especially on FD.

As for the Rangers, the mini-stack of Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad makes some sense as the pair also plays together on the top PP unit. Defenseman Anthony DeAngelo joins them on the top PP unit and plays with their line plenty at even in road games. The Columbus matchup is the one that scares me the most, so Rangers are only a GPP option.

Leaving what Vegas thinks aside, we now turn to the team that may have the best matchup of the slate, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Admittedly, the Rangers have been…less terrible defensively lately. Over the last 35 they’re only eighth worst in 5v5 xGA. However, even weighted for recency, the Rangers still have the worst xGA mark for the season. With no individual New York lines or pairs being noticeably better or worse, we can ignore matchups and go with Columbus’ top line which should stay together on the top PP unit. That’s center Pierre-Luc Dubois with wingers Gustav Nyquist and the returning Oliver Bjorkstrand. Dubois is priced well on both sites, Nyquist is a bit overpriced on FD and Bjorkstrand is a bit overpriced on FD, but all three are in play on both sites. Zach Werenski is the D-man on the top PP unit, but he is painfully overpriced, especially on FD. However, you often find yourself with extra cash on short slates.

Value Plays

The Blackhawks are another good matchup for opposing skaters (for the Jets today) as they are fifth worst in 5v5 xGA over the last 35 and 10th worst in goals allowed per game for the season. Blake Wheeler has switched spots with Mark Scheifele and is now centering the top line, and he is priced well on both sites. On the second line and second PP unit is Nikolaj Ehlers who remains a value on FD with a price tag $1,000 lower than it is on DK despite the cap being higher on FD. The same goes for top PP unit D-man Neal Pionk who is $600 cheaper on FD than he is on DK.

The best collective line value is Carolina’s third. Center Erik Haula and winger Martin Necas are both deep discounts on each site, and Ryan Dzingel is priced well on DK. Haula plays on the top PP unit while the wingers play on the second unit.

Goalies

With Carolina being the large favorite of the slate, James Reimer is an obvious cash game option. However, he’s only a FD option for me. For one thing, he is priced much better on FD than DK. But high save totals are more important on DK, and Reimer has the lowest projected shots faced per my model. For DK cash games I’m leaning towards Robin Lehner. Lehner and Igor Shesterkin are the goalies on the other two favorites, and Shesterkin is facing the Jackets who may have the best matchup of the slate, so they’re going to be in cash lineups. But Lehner is facing the Jets whose skaters are GPP plays today.

In GPPs, Shesterkin and Hellebuyck are the plays. Shesterkin is priced well on both sites and projects to see the most shots of the day, so he has plenty of upside and value potential. As mentioned, Hellebuyck has been an elite goalie this season, though he has struggled of late with a .900 SV% in his last 10 with three games in which he allowed five goals in that stretch. That said, he’s the second cheapest goalie on DK and could be paired with some Winnipeg forwards in a tournament.