This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Hey, your Super Bowl party prep won't take that long. You have time for the NHL on Saturday. There are five NHL games on the evening slate starting at 7 p.m. ET. Here are some recommendations for your DFS lineups.
SLATE PREVIEW
We've got two teams on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. We've got Canadian squad the Winnipeg Jets down in Nashville after being in Dallas on Friday. Then, America has sent the Islanders up to Canada for their two-fer. New York played Edmonton on Friday, and they are still in Alberta to play Calgary on Saturday.
GOALIES
Ville Husso, STL vs. CHI ($8,300): The Blues gave one-time playoff hero his first start in a while recently, and it did not go well. That likely means getting back to Husso in net, given that he has an 1.90 GAA and .941 save percentage. He's clearly been the best goalie in St. Louis. Chicago, meanwhile, has managed 2.40 goals per contest.
Jacob Markstrom, CGY vs. NYI ($8,200): The Islanders have gotten good goaltending, which they've really needed given that they rank 29th in goals per game. Now, they are on a road trip and playing their second game in as many nights. Markstrom has gotten red hot again after a brief blip. Over his last 10 starts he has an 1.86 GAA and .934 save percentage.
VALUE PLAYS
William Nylander, TOR at VAN ($5,800): The Canucks have the worst penalty kill in the NHL. That opens the door for the Maple Leafs' power play to excel. Nylander has been great with the extra man, as he's tallied 18 power-play points in 44 games.
Andrew Mangiapane, CGY vs. NYI ($3,300): Mangiapane is fashioning himself as something of a poor man's Alex DeBrincat, in that he's got a clear knack for scoring goals that allows him to sustain an elevated shooting percentage. He's less of a regression candidate than you might think. Mangiapane has 23 goals in 44 games, including five in his last seven. The Islanders do have two good goalies in Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov, but being on the road for the second night of a back-to-back is still not a favorable situation.
LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Predators vs. Jets: Mikael Granlund (C - $4,100), Filip Forsberg (W -$6,100), Matt Duchene (W - $5,300)
This is the line stack I am particularly enthused about. The Jets are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. They have a penalty kill near the bottom of the league, and all three of these guys are on Nashville's top power-play unit. Eric Comrie has good numbers this year, but he came into this season with a career 4.09 GAA and .873 save percentage.
Granlund is dishing out assists like a vintage Adam Oates. He's got 32 helpers in 45 games, including 13 with the extra man. Forsberg has missed a chunk of the season, but when he's been on the ice he's been stellar. The Swede has 24 goals and 15 assists in only 34 games. He's also on a five-game point streak. Duchene also has a five-game point streak, and he's notched nine goals and six assists on the power play.
Blues vs. Blackhawks: Robert Thomas (C - $4,000), Vladimir Tarasenko (W - $7,000), Pavel Buchnevich (W - $5,100)
Well, the Blackhawks do have a 3.32 GAA, which is bottom 10 in the NHL. They also have allowed 32.1 shots on net per game. Marc-Andre Fleury obviously has name recognition, but his performance has been uneven this year. All in all, he has a 2.87 GAA and .910 save percentage, clearly not imposing numbers. The Blues get the Blackhawks at home, and I'm enticed enough to think about stacking this line.
Thomas is the playmaker of the trio, with 27 assists in 38 games. Although, three of his five goals have come in his 14 games since returning from a seven-game absence. There's a lot of talk of an unhappy marriage between Tarasenko and the Blues, but it's not hurting his performance. He's tallied 41 points in 40 games, including six in his last seven since returning from COVID-19 protocols. Buchnevich has been a strong addition to the Blues this season, with 37 points in 39 games. That includes 13 with the extra man.
DEFENSE
Morgan Rielly, TOR at VAN ($5,900): I'm back to targeting Vancouver's league-worst penalty kill. Rielly's in line to take advantage of that. He's averaged 2:57 on the power play and has 14 points with the extra man in 44 games.
Mattias Ekholm, NAS vs. WPG ($3,500): Ekholm isn't a typical points producer, but he does have four 30-point seasons in his career. This year he has 15 points, but he has a point in four of his last five games. He's playing well, and he's facing a Jets team on the second night of a back-to-back.
