I am going to have to apologize for this brief write up, but Chris Wassel had an emergency come up in very short notice, so I will try my best to briefly summarize some of my thoughts on tonight’s four game DFS NHL slate. 

Today was actually a bad day for me because I am going to be extremely busy with appointments around the 7:30 PM ET roster lock. Please keep an eye on any developments, but mainly late scratches or goalie changes. A good way to keep an eye on things is via my Twitter NHL Beat Writer list, which you can access by clicking here.

Here are tonight’s matchups:

Boston Bruins (-140) at Ottawa Senators (+127) - 5 O/U o130

Projected Goalies: Tuukka Rask (Confirmed) vs. Craig Anderson (Confirmed)

Dallas Stars (+224) at Washington Capitals (-252) - 5.5 O/U o125

Projected Goalies: Kari Lehtonen (Confirmed) vs. Braden Holtby (Confirmed)

New York Rangers (+107) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-118) 5.5 O/U u120

Projected Goalies: Antti Raanta (Likely) vs. Andrei Vasilevskiy (Confirmed)

San Jose Sharks (-102) at Winnipeg Jets (-108) - 5.5 O/U u130

Projected Goalies: Aaron Dell (Unconfirmed) vs. Connor Hellebuyck (Confirmed)

The most obvious target tonight is going to be the Washington Capitals thanks to their huge expected goal total of 3.46. They are the only team playing tonight that has an expected goal total that is over 3. Otherwise, the Lightning are close, at 2.83. 

You’re going to want some exposure to the Washington Capitals, whether it’s the top line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie, or the second line of Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Justin Williams. Obviously, there’s a ton of merit in rostering either Kevin Shattenkirk and John Carlson as well, considering they do run each of the team’s power-play units. Value wise, the second line is going to provide the most savings, but the top line will tend to get a) more overall ice time and b) a higher floor/ceiling, especially because they tend to be on the ice in crunch time, which increases the chance for those empty netters we all know and love. You can always consider Jakub Vrana from WSH3, who will get some time with the second power-play as well. 

As for the other big targets, it’s really a bit of a free for all. Vegas doesn’t have any “big favorites” outside of Washington, and I can absolutely see any of the other six teams doing some damage. I think one of the most impressive team’s I’ve watched lately has been the Winnipeg Jets, who are now rolling four very competitive lines, and are playing with some confidence thanks to better goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck and because all of their guys are finally healthy. I think anyone from the Jets top two lines are in play, which includes Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, and Blake Wheeler, as well as Mathieu Perreault, Mark Scheifele, and Patrik Laine. They also have two very productive defenseman in Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba who are among the top two defense options available tonight. 

If there’s a team that I am going to fade tonight, it’s going to be the New York Rangers. Don’t get me wrong, they have the capabilities to put up six+ goals out of nowhere tonight, but my problem with them is the fact that their scoring is not predictable whatsoever. Any of their four lines can be responsible for their scoring output, and it’s tougher to predict than any of the other options tonight. I also don't mind playing Dallas Stars in GPP tournaments, and especially their top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Jason Spezza