Welcome to Saturday’s 10-game NHL Slate. There are many competitive games on this slate, with a couple that look to be one-sided. The biggest favorites on the board are the Calgary Flames hosting the Chicago Blackhawks, but my favorite stack is going to be in the Tampa Bay Lightning game. You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Thursday, December 21st, but before you build those NHL daily fantasy lineups, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS projections, the NHL Value Finder, and the NHL DFS lineup generator. Let's look closer at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.

 

 

NHL DFS Playbook January 27th

Recommended DFS Starting Goalies

Top Options for Saves

Jake Allen Vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Connor Ingram Vs. Carolina Hurricanes

Connor Hellebuyck Vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

 

Best Odds for a Win

Jacob Markstrom Vs. Chicago Blackhawks

Thatcher Demko Vs.Columbus Blue Jackets

Antti Raanta Vs. Arizona Coyotes

 

Favorite Goalies to Use for DFS Lineups

Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets

Rostering a goalie when the other team has Auston Matthews carries obvious risk, but Connor Hellebuyck has been the best goalie in hockey and is the current Vezina favorite. He’s reasonably priced on DraftKings and we just saw his backup Laurent Brossoit almost go the distance, giving up the only goal in overtime to none other than Matthews. He should face a healthy amount of shots and is favored at home in this game.

Jacob Markstom, G, Calgary Flames

Jacob Markstrom has had a pretty rocky season, but he’s been much better of late. Over his last 10 games, he holds a 2.73 GAA and .913 SV% with a 5-5 record. Chicago doesn’t put a ton of pucks on net so it’s very unlikely he can hit the save bonus, but they only average 2.12 goals so his win odds are solid. This will be Chicago’s fourth straight game on the road so I’d consider Markstrom for that reason alone.  

Tristan Jarry, G, Pittsburgh Penguins

While I’m not the biggest Tristan Jarry fan, he has very respectable stats on the season. He holds a 2.56 GAA and .913 SV%, both in the top half of the league, but his sub .500 record is problematic. He has a good matchup here against the 26th-place Montreal Canadiens and has been considerably better at home this year. He’s tied for the league lead in shutouts with five and should be a safe play in net.

Alex Lyon, G, Detroit Red Wings

Alex Lyon is risky here against the Golden Knights, but he’s been too good for us not to consider. On the year he holds a .252 GAA and .923 SV% with a 12-6-1 record as a starter. He got lit up by Dallas two games ago but is coming off a shutout over the Flyers and is an interesting goalie in the value tier. He would not be my first choice in a single-entry contest, but I do have some interest in larger field tournaments and multi-entries. 

 

Recommended DFS Skaters

Highest Expected Goal Totals  

Vancouver Canucks Vs Elvis Merzlikins (4.2)

Pittsburgh Penguins Vs. Jake Allen (4.0)

Carolina Hurricanes Vs. Conor Ingram (4.0)

 

Favorite Skaters to Use for DFS Lineups

Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning

Brayden Point is in another terrific spot here against the New Jersey Devils who allow 3.5 goals per game, tied for 5th most in the league. He’s coming off two straight games with a goal and assist, and skates on a line with Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. The Lightning have 3.7 implied goals and I feel very confident in Point who scored 51 goals last season.

Vincent Trocheck, C, New York Rangers

I think either Vincent Trocheck or Mika Zibanejad are in play here, but I favor Trocheck who skates on the second line with Artemi Panarin. The Senators have been a terrible team all season and allow the third most goals at 3.59 per game while holding the third-worst penalty kill at 73.1%. The Rangers are on the road here but Trochek provides a decent floor between shots and blocks, and Ottawa has the fifth most penalty minutes, boosting his value on the top power-play unit.

Steven Stamkos, W, Tampa Bay Lightning

Steven Stamkos is one of my favorite wings on the slate and can easily be paired with Brayden Point. He’s scored four goals in his last six games and with a bunch of teams on a back-to-back, I find myself favoring the Lightning. You can pay up for Kucherov but if you want to save some salary, Stamkos makes a ton of sense.

Cole Caufield, W, Montreal Canadiens

Cole Caufield had a pretty quiet stretch through December, but he’s red hot right now. He has scored a goal in six of his last seven games while flirting with the shot bonus in nearly every game. Cole will always carry some risk while the Canadiens only average 2.71 goals per game as a team, but he’s riding an eight-game point streak at a decent price tag.

Brock Faber, D, Minnesota Wild

Brock Faber is having an impressive rookie season with 29 points through 48 games. He’s averaging nearly 25 minutes of ice time on the season while skating the top defensive pair, first power play unit, and second penalty kill. He has a solid fantasy floor, averaging nearly three blocks and two shots per game over his last 10 games. The Wild have a very mediocre power play, but Anaheim is the most penalized team in the league so he will get plenty of chances to pick up points tonight.

Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning

Victor Hedman rounds out my favorite Tampa Bay Lightning plays. He’s an expensive defenseman but he’s got 47 points in 47 games and correlates nicely with Point and Stamkos. Tampa Bay has the best power play in the league at 30.5% and Hedman is an integral part of that unit. Hedman averages two shots and one block per game so he does carry some floor value, but we are counting on him to at least pick up an assist to pay off his tag.

 

Check out our list of the best, and most trusted sports betting and fantasy sports promo codes from the top legal sites in your state.

Dominate your NHL DFS contests today with our DFS Playbook,  Player Projections, Lineup Generator & DFS