Today's four-game NHL DFS slate is highlighted by Johnny Gaudreau and the Columbus Blue Jackets taking on Chris Kreider and the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Also don't miss out on some of the great value plays available on defence today with Alexander Romanov of the Islanders facing the Panthers. As always don't forget you can use the lineup generator powered by Fanjections to help put your lineup together as well.

 

Ducks at Red Wings

The Ducks offense comes into this game cold offensively. They have scored just 2.67 goals per game over their last three games. With that though their top players are not going to force you to pay up. Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry are both reasonably priced, but we should keep in mind that Detroit isn’t giving up a lot of goals either(2.75 per game in their last three on average). With that said, we know that Zegras and Terry are very capable of scoring, so taking them at a low price is a solid play in a GPP. For the Red Wings Dylan Larkin is a top play today, and you can pair him with a reasonably priced Dominik Kubalik or you can spend a little more to move to Lucas Raymond, but I prefer the Kubalik play as he is also on the top powerplay with Larkin. 

On defence, there isn’t too many players who are overly interesting. Neither team blocks many shots, so I would look primarily at the players who are on the top powerplay, which currently looks to be John Klingberg for the Ducks, and Filip Hronek for the Red Wings. Both players could be useful, and neither will cost you too much and should have relatively low ownership.

Looking at the goalies, we are expecting it to be John Gibson and Ville Husso. It has been a tough start to the season for Gibson who has won just one game, and has a save percentage that is below 90 percent to start the season. Husson however has had a nice start to his season with the Red Wings. He is yet to lose in regulation and he has a save percentage of 0.923. This should be a solid place to use Husso with the Ducks struggling to score just keep in mind that the Ducks are only putting 24.5 shots on goal per game right now so he needs to get the win to be valuable. 

 

Blue Jackets at Rangers

The Blue Jackets have gotten what they had expected from Johnny Gaudreau to start the season. He has five points and 13 shots in this last three games, and he is a player I wouldn’t shy away from using even while facing Shesterkin and the Rangers. We have also seen the play of Boone Jenner pick up with Gaudreau. He has three points in his last three games, and he has had 10 shots himself while playing more than 20 minutes each night on average. Other players of interest on the Blue Jackets are Gustov Nyquist who played 5 on 5 with Jenner and Gaudreau, as well as on the top power play. There is also Yegor Chinakov who has two multi-point games in his last three outings, and comes at a value price, but keep in mind he will only see 11-12 minutes of ice time. For the Rangers you will want to try to pick the right line. Their top four players, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, and Artemi Panarin all share the top power play and see more than 20 minutes of ice time each night. Panarin and Trocheck have an edge in points, but Zibanejad has had some some big nights early in the season and shouldn’t be ignored either as he is the most likely to exceed the five shot mark. You can also find some value in Kappo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere who are the other wingers on those lines, and both see time with the second power play unit.

Looking at the blue line, Zack Werenski should be a top target in this matchup. He is a threat to get you points as well as getting to both five shots and three blocks. There isn’t any other Blue Jackets defencemen who are of significant interest however as no one else is really shooting much or blocking shots. For the Rangers, we often first think of Adam Fox, but Jacob Trouba is often the better DFS play as he is averaging nearly three blocked shots and isn’t afraid to shoot the puck either. That isn’t to say that Fox can’t be effective. He has the highest upside because of his ability to generate points, but he doesn’t have the floor that Trouba has.

We are expecting it to be Daniil Tarasov and Igor Shesterkin in goal for the Blue Jackets and the Rangers respectively. While Shesterkin is yet to lose in regulation, he hasn’t played well in his last two starts. With that said he his price isn’t unreasonable for a top goalie, and Columbus has been putting 32 shots on goal per game on average so far this season. As for Tarasov, his price is low and his ownership should be similarly low as well, but you are taking on quite a bit of risk as the Rangers are scoring nearly 4 goals per game, and Tarasov’s save percentage this season is below 90 percent.

 

Islanders at Panthers

The Islanders are a tough team to dissect. The general thought is that Mathew Barzal is their best player, few people would disagree with that, but for DFS purposes he hasn’t been overly productive. For the Islanders in this matchup, I would look at Anders Lee, and Oliver Wahlstrom, both of which have two goals in their last three games, and both have been shooting the puck (funny how those things go together). Brock Nelson is also worth a look, he hasn’t been shooting the puck as much but he does have three points in his last three games and plays on a line with Lee 5 on 5 as well as on the powerplay. For the Panthers, Matthew Tkachuk is the obvious place to start. He is over a point per game as a Panther, and he also leads the team in shots averaging more than five shots per game. You can pair him with Sam Bennett who is also putting up close to five shots per game and has four points in his last three games.

When we look at the backend for the Islanders Noah Dobson really stands out. He is a player who blocks shots and shoots the puck, and when you combine that with his top power play time, he is a player who has some big games when everything goes right. You should also not look past Alexander Romanov, who is third in the NHL in blocked shots with 20 in five games, especially when they are facing a Panthers team that is putting 36 shots on goal per game. For the Panthers, you can look at Gustav Forsling who has 13 shots in his last 5 games, and Brandon Montour who will see time on their second powerplay unit, but with Aaron Ekblad out they have moved away from having any defencemen on their powerplay unit.

In goal we are expecting Semyon Varlamov to go for the Islanders with Sorokin getting the start last night, and Sergei Bobrovsky for the Panthers. Varlamov played well in his start against the Sharks getting the win and stopped 93 percent of the shots he faced. Bobrovsky hasn’t been bad for the Panthers either with two wins and a 0.917 save percentage in four games. Bobrovsky should be a solid play in this game as the Islanders are putting nearly 34 shots on goal per game so far this season.

 

Sharks at Flyers

When we talk about the Sharks today, everything starts with Timo Meier. He is among the top 5 players in shots attempted, and he is their most capable goal scorer. After that things can get pretty bleak. Tomas Hertl is a solid player to pair with Meier, and we have been seeing production from Evgeny Svechnikov, but he is only playing 12 minutes per game which will really put a cap on his potential to continue to score at any pace. It is safe to say so far so good for the Flyers under John Tortorella. This may not last forever, but the team has played well and beat some good teams so far (keep in mind the Sharks did the same thing last season). With that said Travis Konecny and Joel Farabee are both averaging more than four shots per game, and their linemate Kevin Hayes has five points in his last three games so you have some top line options. Also keep in mind that James van Riemsdyk is also on the top powerplay and can give you some second line exposure if you don’t want to put all of your eggs in the top line basket.

On defense for the Sharks you have two options really. You have Erik Karlsson, who has upside with his ability to get points, and you have Mario Ferraro who is a player who gets some points but is really of note because he will block shots for you. The Flyers only put around 27 shots on goal per game though so it could be more difficult for him to get to three blocked shots in this game. For the Flyers we have some options. Ivan Provarov is top five in the league in blocked shots averaging nearly five per game, and he also has five points so far. Additionally Tony DeAngelo also has five points and is averaging more than two blocked shots per game, and he sees the top power play time for the Flyers.

In goal for this one we are expecting the Sharks to use James Reimer, while the Flyers go to Felix Sandstrom. Reimer hasn’t been bad for the Sharks, but he only has one win so far, while he has posted a 0.917 save percentage. Sandstrom took the loss and didn’t play well in his only start this season, however the Flyers are the favorite to win this game especially at home, so he might be worth a look.





 

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