Nashville Predators @ Chicago Blackhawks

The Predators come in as -185 road favorites versus the Blackhawks and have an implied goal total set at 3.46, which is third highest on the slate. We should see Pekka Rinne in net for the Predators, but he isn’t confirmed as of now. We are dealing with a three-game slate, but the Predators are looking to be a solid option since they come in with an expected Corsi For set at 49.3, which is second highest on the slate. The Blackhawks also come in allowing 13.76 high danger scoring chances per game, which is dead last in the league, putting the Predators in a spot to score plenty tonight.

Nashville finally has their top line back together, which makes them much easier to stack in any format. Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson, and Fillip Forsberg make up that top line along with being on the first power-play unit. They are slightly cheaper compared to some other top lines on this slate, which helps with roster construction given the lack of value plays we have tonight. Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi are the two defensemen on the first power-play, who should be added to the stack if you have the salary available.

For the Blackhawks, they will have Collin Delia in net tonight, who is much cheaper but has given up three goals in each of his last two starts. He is certainly going to be seeing plenty of shots tonight, so if he is able to pick up the win, he makes a viable GPP option. The offense for Chicago is nothing to get excited about with a 2.54 implied team total, but if you are looking to be different on this slate, that is certainly one way to go. Patrick Kane will always make a good one-off in tournaments since he is averaging about four shots per game and seeing time on the power-play, giving him some upside.

Colorado Avalanche @ Calgary Flames

This game has an over-under set at 6.5, which his highest on the slate, means the scoring should be here in full tonight since we have some great offenses in play. The Avalanche are on the second night of a back to back where they scored four goals. The Avs should have Semyon Varlamov in net tonight since Grubauer was between the pipes last night and gave up seven goals. Colorado is very top heavy when it comes to their offense, which means most of their scoring comes from Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Gabriel Landeskog, while the rest of the lines are somewhat hit or miss. They come in with the lowest expected Corsi For on the slate, sitting at 43.7, so we could easily see this game be lopsided in terms of the scoring.

If this game is going to be lopsided, it will likely come from the Flames side of things, who are looking amazing right now and have scored three or more goals in six of their last seven games. If I’m looking to spend up anywhere tonight, it’s on the Flames first forward line with Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, and Elias Lindholm, with Mark Giordano on the first power-play unit. They have seemingly been producing multiple points every single night and it shouldn’t stop tonight with their 3.77 implied total which is highest on the slate. The second forward line of Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik, and Mikael Backlund are also viable, but for tournaments only tonight.

Ottawa Senators @ Anaheim Ducks

This game also has an over-under sitting at six, which is a bit interesting to me since the Ducks have an implied goal total of 3.63. The Ducks have lost eight games in a row, where they have scored two or fewer goals in seven of those games. They are truly one of the weakest offensive teams in the league but are now facing the Senators who are dead last in the league when it comes to Corsi against, meaning they give up a ton of shots. I’m not sold on the offense for either side, but I will say that this is an interesting spot to do a full on game stack since the Ducks are giving up the second most high danger scoring chances per 60, while the Senators are giving up the sixth most this season. We are dealing with a situation where neither team truly has a “good” offense, but both defenses are giving up so many shots and chances, they are viable to stack against. I see this game going one of two ways, it will either be 2-1 since both teams are so bad on offense, or it will be somewhere near 4-3 since the defenses are so bad. I would prefer to load up on the other games since the overall expectation is a bit higher there for fantasy points and come to this game as a secondary option for the game theory perspective.