Detroit Red Wings Vs. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning are going to be extra chalky on this short two-game slate, but we can still find some value on the Detroit side of things. 

Let’s start with the favourites, specifically their top line of Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos. While all three are great options, we need to fade them and look for value elsewhere.

I’ll go all the way down to their third line of Blake Coleman, Yanni Gourde and Barclay Goodrow. We know the Red Wings have no depth, and the Lightning should be able to exploit that. We may even get them at a fair ownership price. Only Gourde is seeing power play time, so that does limit the upside, but not enough to say no to them.

On defence, Victor Hedman is the way to go. He’s the best way to get some exposure to the top power play unit. If you can’t afford him, Mikhail Sergachev is the next best option.

In goal, it looks like Andrei Vasilevskiy is going to get the start. He’s an easy fade for me on this slate because he’s just not going to see enough shots to hit value. Everyone will be chasing the win bonus, but that’s not going to help you finish at the top of the GPP leaderboard.

For Detroit, we can’t just stack their top line. I’m looking for a combination of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Robby Fabbri. If you want to stack their top power play unit, swap out Fabbri for Bobby Ryan. 

I don’t think the Red Wings are going to score many goals in this game, but if they do anything, the top line and Mantha will be involved.


 

Boston Bruins Vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This game has a lot more options to choose from, so we’ll spend more time looking at different combinations. 

Let’s start with Boston, who recently got David Pastrnak back after missing the start of the season due to injury. The Bruins are -128 favorites as of right now, and have an implied team total of 2.9. I’m not really buying that number, so I’ll have minimal exposure to them.

That being said, Pastrnak will be the only player I would pay up for. He’s healthy, and playing on one of the best lines in hockey. That’s good enough for me to get on board.

I’d pair him with Charlie McAvoy, who is seeing time on the top power play, for a niece mini-stack. Outside of that, I wouldn’t go any deeper. 

For the Flyers, I’m focusing on their second line of Kevin Hayes, Oskar Lindblom and Travis Konecny. They are the home team, so I expect Claude Grioux and company to match up against Patrice Bergeron’s line. The Bruins don’t have a ton of depth, and the Flyers can easily run all four of their lines.

If you want to get extra bold, James Van Riemsdyk and Joel Farabee is an option to consider. JVR is seeing time on the top power play unit and has 13-points in ten games. His price tag isn’t great on FanDuel, but I can live with it on DraftKings because he is producing. For Farabee, he’s $3000 on DK, and is coming off a three goal performance. The salary relief alone is enough for me to plug him into all of my lineups, but I do expect his ownership to be high. 

On defence, Ivan Provorov is my main focus. He’s been quiet of late, but he’s a shot blocking machine, and against a very good Boston team, he’s going to need to do a lot of that. His $5500 price tag on DK is also very appealing considering his floor is quite high.

In goal, I’ll go with Carter Hart. He hasn’t been good this season, but it’s not logical to have a bunch of Philadelphia skaters in my lineup and to also play Tuukka Rask. If anything, with the Flyers being the underdog, maybe that will push people to use more Boston skaters, and if Hart can pick up the win here and limit the damage, that should push us into the money in a few GPPs. It isn’t a safe play, but he could finish as the top fantasy goalie on this slate if everything goes according to plan.