Today's two-game NHL DFS slate is highlighted by Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche taking on Bo Horvat and the Vancouver  Canucks. Also don't miss out on some of the great value plays available at center today with Josh Norris of the Senators facing the Penguins. Remember, you can use the lineup generator powered by Fanjections to help put your lineup together.

 

Senators at Penguins

Typically things for the Penguins start with Sidney Crosby, and rightfully so as it has been the best player in the league (or at worst among them) for the last 10 years. But in recent weeks, Evgeni Malkin has been the better of the two players, at least for DFS purposes. Makin has five points in his last two games, and he has had five shots or more in three of his last five games. This isn’t to say you cannot use Crosby today in what is a relatively weak matchup, however. On the wing, you really have your choice of Rickard Rakell, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust or Jason Zucker, and your choice will likely have a lot to do with which center you choose to play. As for Ottawa, they are seeing strong play from Tim Stützle, who scored in 20th goal of the season in his last game, and Brady Tkachuk who has five points in his last three games. I would also not lose sight of Josh Norris who is in his second game back from injury and is coming at a discounted price and he will see top-six minutes and powerplay time.

On defence, Ty Smith remains the primary target for the Penguins. While he has just one point in his last four games, he continues to be on the top powerplay unit and he has been shooting the puck quite a bit more than any other defencemen in Pittsburgh. For Ottawa, Thomas Chabot remains the most likely play. He has three points in his last three games and has a chance to get to either the blocked shots or shots on goal bonus.

It is expected that Tristan Jarry will return for the Penguins tonight and while this is a game that you would expect Pittsburgh to win, this is far from a soft landing facing an offensively capable team in the Senators. I would avoid Jarry in cash games. Ottawa is likely to go back to Cam Talbot today. He got the win against Pittsburgh on Wednesday, but his performance was far from impressive. I would expect the Penguins to put more than 19 shots on him today, and while that could be seen as an opportunity, I would be concerned as he really hasn’t played well recently.

Avalanche at Canucks

When we think about Avalanche forwards the first names that come to mind are typically Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, but it has been Artturi Lehkonen who has been scoring the goals with five goals in his last three games. Now MacKinnon and Rantanen are no slouches and this is a fantastic matchup for Colorado so I would certainly consider loading up with their players including their second-line guys. For Vancouver, they continue to see strong production from Andrei Kuzmenko, Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller. Horvat and Miller are the strongest pair to stack with, awhile you will pay a lower cost to get Kuzmenko who is on the third line, but still plays top six minutes.

On defence, it is always hard to look past Cale Makar. He has two goals and two assists in his last three games and has games where he is a volume shooter. I continue to like the value of Devon Toews who has points in three straight games and will give you blocked shots along with shots on goal. With Vancouver, you are essentially just looking at Quinn Hughes. He has points in five straight games and goals in three of those five games.

While Alexandar Georgiev has had his ups and downs this season he looks to be back on the upswing. He has posted strong save percentages in three of his last four games and he has had a very respectable 0.922 save percentage on the road. It looks like Spencer Martin will be getting the start for Vancouver today, and he has atrocious. He has given up four goals or more in four of his last five starts and has just an 0.856 save percentage at home. Unless you’re willing to go nuclear with goalie today, I wouldn’t be considering Martin.