Lineups were posted around 3:50 PM ET. Please be sure to check back before roster lock in case changes are made to the lineups.
Our focus is going to be on tonight’s four game DFS NHL evening slate that has a roster lock of 7:00 PM ET/4:00 PM PT. There are two teams who will be playing their second game in as many nights. This includes the Washington Capitals (5-6-1), who were defeated in a hard fought game against the Kings in Staples Center, and the San Jose Sharks (8-3-1), who were defeated at home against the Predators.
With four games available, tonight’s optimal 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. My favorite line stacks of the night will be in GREEN. Secondary stacks will be in GOLD. Contrarian stacks will be in BLUE. Players who will be on the POWER-PLAY are going to be in BOLD CAPS.
NEW YORK RANGERS at DETROIT RED WINGS (NYR -145 favorites; 5.5 O/U u130)
Starting Goalies: Antti Raanta (Confirmed) vs. Petr Mrazek (Confirmed)
NY Rangers Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
NYR1: KREIDER - STEPAN - ZUCCARELLO
NYR2: BUCHNEVICH - ZIBANEJAD - NASH
NYR3: Grabner - Hayes - MILLER
NYR4: Glass - Lindberg - VESEY
NYRD1: Staal - MCDONAGH
NYRD2: Smith - Holden
NYRD3: SKJEI - Kampfer
NYRPP1: Kreider/Stepan/Zuccarello/Zibanejad/McDonagh // PP lines are not official
NYRPP2: Vesey/Miller/Nash/Buchnevich/Skjei
Detroit Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
DET1: NYQUIST - ZETTERBERG - TATAR
DET2: ABDELKADER - NIELSEN - Helm
DET3: LARKIN - SHEAHAN - ATHANASIOU
DET4: Miller - Glendening - Callahan
DETD1: DeKeyser - GREEN
DETD2: KRONWALL - Jensen
DETD3: Ouellet - Russo
DETPP1: Nyquist/Nielsen/Abdelkader/Zetterberg/Kronwall
DETPP2: Tatar/Sheahan/Athanasiou/Larkin/Green
I find this game very appealing because I think the scoring should be a little predictable, at least from the Wings perspective. For what seems like the 14th time in a row, I am going to emphasize how good Henrik Zetterberg has been this season. With Anthony Mantha riding the pine, he has been reunited with a returning Gustav Nyquist, and a surging Tomas Tatar to form a very dangerous top line. They’ve been matching up against their opposition’s top line, so I would be more cautious about playing the Stepan line tonight.
The Rangers 2nd and 3rd lines are a little appealing just based on the matchups with the non-Zetterberg fueled Wings lines; however, they have been incredibly inconsistent. There is definitely plenty of risk involved if you decide to go that route, but you can be assured that ownership will be very low.
MONTREAL CANADIENS at EDMONTON OILERS (EDM -130 favorites; 5 O/U o115)
Starting Goalies: Carey Price (Likely) vs. Cam Talbot (Likely)
Montreal Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
MON1: PACIORETTY - Danault - SHAW
MON2: LEHKONEN - GALCHENYUK - RADULOV
MON3: King - Mitchell - GALLAGHER
MON4: Martinsen - Ott - McCarron
MOND1: MARKOV - WEBER
MOND2: Emelin - PETRY
MOND3: BEAULIEU - Benn
MONPP1: Pacioretty/Radulov/Gallagher/Weber/Markov // PP lines are not official
MONPP2: Lehkonen/Galchenyuk/Shaw/Beaulieu/Petry
Edmonton Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
EDM1: MAROON - MCDAVID - DRAISAITL
EDM2: LUCIC - NUGENT-HOPKINS - EBERLE
EDM3: POULIOT - Desharnais - Kassian
EDM4: Hendricks - LETESTU - Pakarinen
EDMD1: KLEFBOM - Larsson
EDMD2: SEKERA - Russell
EDMD3: Nurse - Benning
EDMPP1: Lucic/Letestu/Draisaitl/McDavid/Klefbom
EDMPP2: Maroon/Nugent-Hopkins/Pouliot/Eberle/Sekera
The Oilers have won four of the last five meetings between these two teams. Even though the Habs had a terrible game against the Flames this past Thursday, they also had to play without their star goaltender, Carey Price. I would think that Price should be back in net tonight, which would be huge for the team considering how dominant he has been over the last few weeks. It should also be noted that Alexander Radulov will make his return to the lineup, which influenced Head Coach Claude Julien to shuffle up the lines a bit, moving the surging Brendan Gallagher away from the top line, and down to the third line.
I definitely lean towards the Oilers side for this contest, but it probably isn’t as appealing, because I just don’t like the odds of this game getting out of hand. The last time these two teams met, Edmonton squeaked by with a 1-0 shootout victory. Then again, this can easily flip to something like a 6-4 firestorm (I think it has the best chance of happening if Carey Price is still woozy from his illness), so I guess I’ll have to look over every option when it comes to using an Oiler in my cash game lineups. It’s always a little difficult because you have someone like Connor McDavid who is always a great option, but does cost an arm and a leg.
The Oilers have a funky “former Hab” line featuring Benoit Pouliot, David Desharnais, and Zack Kassian that is very appealing as a GPP play due to the narrative, but you have to think of it as a high risk/high reward type of situation.
WASHINGTON CAPITALS at ANAHEIM DUCKS (WSH -130 favorites; O/U 5 o120)
Starting Goalies: Braden Holtby (Confirmed) vs. John Gibson (Unconfirmed)
Washington Projected Lines (Updated: 3:30 PM ET)
WSH1: JOHANSSON - BACKSTROM - OSHIE // i wouldn't be surprised if these lines get jumbled up again prior to tonight's game, so buyer beware
WSH2: OVECHKIN - KUZNETSOV - Wilson
WSH3: Connolly - Eller - WILLIAMS
WSH4: Winnik - Beagle - VRANA
WSHD1: Alzner - CARLSON
WSHD2: ORLOV - NISKANEN
WSHD3: Orpik - Schmidt
WSHPP1: Johansson/Backstrom/Oshie/Ovechkin/Carlson
WSHPP2: Vrana/Kuznetsov/Williams/Niskanen/Orlov
Anaheim Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
ANA1: Cogliano - KESLER - SILFVERBERG
ANA2: RAKELL - GETZLAF - EAVES
ANA3: Kase - Thompson - PERRY
ANA4: Shaw - Wagner - Boll
ANAD1: FOWLER - VATANEN // you can use Fowler OR Vatanen with the ANA1 stack
ANAD2: LINDHOLM - Manson
ANAD3: Holzer - BIEKSA // wouldn’t surprise me if Montour plays instead of Holzer
ANAPP1: Kesler/Getzlaf/Eaves/Fowler/Vatanen
ANAPP2: Rakell/Perry/Silfverberg/Bieksa/Lindholm
The Capitals have mixed up their lines a bit, which isn’t too big of a deal on paper, but I think it does give someone like Marcus Johansson a ginormous boost. MoJo is a great value throughout the industry and will be with Backstrom/Oshie in virtually every situation.
It’s tough to get a good grasp of this game because these are two teams who tend to play each other pretty tight, but both teams went bonkers the last time they met in Washington on 2/11, combining for 10 goals. The Ducks “should” be pretty pumped up for tonight’s game because the organization will be honoring the 10th anniversary of their 2007 Stanley Cup Championship team, but then again, if we’re talking about someone like Getzlaf or Perry, there’s always the chance that they come out a big sluggish because they will most definitely be participating in the ceremony.
So here’s the interesting thing to consider. I would say more often than not, we’re going to see Kesler’s very good defensive line matching up with Alex Ovechkin throughout the night. Even though Ovechkin should be next to a very good defensive forward in Tom Wilson, he has allowed a ton of goals at 5v5 whenever he isn’t next to Backstrom and Oshie. Kesler hasn’t been very productive lately, but he hasn’t exactly gotten as many good bounces compared to earlier in the season as well. As far as standalone options, you can also consider the consistent Jakob Silfverberg, who is a very high iCorsi player who will bring a decent-sized floor.
Update: Kevin Shattenkirk has been suspended two games (for being a moron).
DALLAS STARS at SAN JOSE SHARKS (SJ -200 favorites; 5.5 O/U u115)
Starting Goalies: Kari Lehtonen (Likely) vs. Aaron Dell (Confirmed)
Dallas Projected Lines (Subject to Change)
DAL1: BENN - SPEZZA - SEGUIN
DAL2: SHORE - Faksa - SHARP
DAL3: Elle - EAKIN - HEMSKY
DAL4: Cracknell - McKenzie - RITCHIE
DALD1: LINDELL - KLINGBERG // can use Lindell OR Klingberg with the DAL1 stack
DALD2: Hamhuis - Johns
DALD3: Nemeth - Oleksiak
DALPP1: Benn/Eakin/Seguin/Sharp/Lindell
DALPP2: Ritchie/Shore/Hemsky/Spezza/Klingberg
San Jose Projected Lines (Updated: 3:30 PM ET)
SJ1: Hansen - THORNTON - PAVELSKI
SJ2: MARLEAU - COUTURE - Boedker
SJ3: DONSKOI - HERTL - Sorenson
SJ4: Haley - Tierney - WARD
SJD1: Martin - BURNS
SJD2: VLASIC - Braun
SJD3: Dillon - DEMELO
SJPP1: Marleau/Thornton/Couture/Pavelski/Burns
SJPP2: Donskoi/Hertl/Ward/DeMelo/Vlasic
The Stars haven’t played since Wednesday, which might just be what the doctor ordered considering they are 4-0-1 this season when playing with three days of rest or more. The biggest issue I have with the Stars is simply the fact that Head Coach Lindy Ruff loves to shuffle up the lines randomly. What we see during their morning skate could be totally different from what we see during the game. On top of that, he is a bit of a loose cannon in terms of lineup shuffling whenever the team gets off to a bad start.
Regardless, if Benn/Seguin/Spezza remain together, they’re in a good situation simply because they work incredibly well together (I’m basically saying, I’d play them for them and not because the Sharks are good targets).
The Sharks are also an interesting play because of the fact that the Stars are absolutely garbage on the penalty kill, which should bode well for paying up for someone like Brent Burns, or to a lesser extent, Joe Pavelski. I also happen to like the Hertl line a lot. The only problem with them is that they don’t get much ice time at even strength and may need to get most of their production from limited 5v5 (albeit, against the Stars 3rd or 4th lines).
Update: Vegas seems to adore the Sharks tonight, and considering how well he's played at home, I think Aaron Dell is clearly going to be the chalk goalie of the night.