Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Washington Capitals

It’s going to be impossible to fade this game tonight. Las Vegas has the game total sitting at 6.5, and it could easily be seven by puck drop. Both teams can score goals and they both have terrible goaltending. Braden Holtby is expected to start for Washington, while Matt Murray looks to get the nod for Pittsburgh.

Let’s start with the Penguins, who have made their entire roster a mess. Kessel is skating on the third line, Crosby and Letang are on the second power play unit and Hornqvist is centering the top PP unit. What a mess.

There’s an excellent chance that the Backstrom line will get Crosby’s line, so that makes Pittsburgh second line a nice target. That being said, the real value on this slate is the Penguins third line of Jake Guentzel, Phil Kessel and Riley Sheahan. Both Guentzel and Kessel play on seperate power play units and Sheahan at $3200 on DK really is a bargain. You can pay up for Malkin or Crosby, but it doesn’t seem worth it. Dominik Simon is a nice single bullet option if you  want to get exposure to the crosby line without having to play Sid.

On defence, Olli Maatta is $3100 on DraftKings and is playing on the top power play unit. At that price, it’s hard to say no to him. Letang is always an option to consider, but he’s over $6000 on DK, and that’s just too much for me.

On the Washington side, it’s all about Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin. The duo are expensive, but they play together on the top power play unit and they should avoid the Crosby line. With some bargain Pittsburgh skaters, it shouldn’t be a challenge to fit both into a line, especially on FanDuel.

On the back end, John Carlson is worth the price of admission. He’s cheaper than Letang and he maximizes the power play stack. No need to get cute on the Washington side of things.

 

Nashville Predators Vs. Colorado Avalanche

Not as high a total as the Washington/Pittsburgh game, but there should be some goals in this game. Both teams play a high pace offence, but only Nashville has real value.

Outside of Colorado’s top line, the rest of their team is very average. There’s a good chance that Colorado matches their top line with Nashville’s top line, so Kyle Turris and Craig Smith become the duo to play in this contest. Both players play on different power play units, so that does hurt their value just a bit. Their matchup on paper is still very good. It looks like Kevin Fiala is going to skate on the top line tonight, so he’s a nice single bullet option if you need to get exposure to the top line. He’s $4000 on FD, so that’s the spot to use him.

On defence, it’s always hard to decide between P.K Subban and Roman Josi. Josi is $300 cheaper on FD than Subban, so if you need to save some salary, Josi is the option to go with. Subban is seeing time on the top power play unit, so if you decide to go with a three-man top PP stack, Subban is a better option. In terms of value, Josi is the way to go. He does have to matchup against Colorado’s top line, but that shouldn’t prevent him from picking up points.

If Pekka Rinne get’s the start, he becomes the goalie to use in cash games. He’s super safe and super expensive, so If you can afford to fit him into your lineup, do it.


Calgary Flames Vs. Anaheim Ducks

The final contest on the slate is really the least interesting of them all. The Ducks are playing their second game in as many nights, and judging by their performance last night, they won’t be very good tonight. It’s going to be a headache trying to figure out who gets the nod for Anaheim, but if it is Ryan Miller, watch out. Miller is #NotGood, and that makes Calgary a very nice option, even on the road.

For Calgary, their top line is the most dangerous of them all, but their second line is where the real value can be found. James Neal is $3400 on DK, and that is really hard to pass up on. You can pair him with Matthew Tkachuk and get exposure to both power play units for exactly $9000. If you need exposure to the top line, Elias Lindholm is the way to go. He won’t cost you a fortune to roster and he get’s you that top line exposure at a fair price. He’s also a nice single bullet option.

On the blue line, Mark Giordano is a nice option to consider, but probably not for cash games. He’s the third most expensive defenceman on DK, and on a slate where you need to make some tough choices, there’s no need to pay up for him in a mediocre matchup. At his $5700 DK price tag, it’s better to spend the extra few hundred dollars and play Letang.

No part of me likes saying this, but Mike Smith is an option to consider. After Rinne, Smith is all that there is. Even if John Gibson was to get the start, it’s hard to imagine them getting past Calgary. Smith has been awful most of the season, but all he needs to do is stay in the game and pick up the win. He’s $7400 and he’s confirmed to start. Again, not an ideal play, but it is what it is. Let's pray to the fantasy hockey gods and hope this works out nicely.