This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
After a busy day of early hockey, Saturday evening isn't exactly scant for action in the NHL. There are seven games on the slate starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. Here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Two teams, the Penguins and the Oilers, are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. However, both teams saved their better goalies, Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner, for Saturday.
GOALIES
Juuse Saros, NAS vs. ARI ($8,100): Saros has had an erratic campaign, but over his last eight starts he has a 2.41 GAA and .917 save percentage. The Finn may not be busy Saturday. Arizona has managed a mere 26.6 shots on net per contest, which is bottom three in the NHL.
Joey Daccord, SEA at PHI ($7,900): Daccord has fully taken the number-one role from Phillip Grubauer, and with good reason. He has a 2.32 GAA and .921 save percentage, and that's now over 34 games. Both of these teams are in the bottom 10 in goals per contest, but I'll trust Daccord over Samuel Ersson any day of the week.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
John Tavares, TOR at OTT ($6,600): After a drought, Tavares got a point in Toronto's game right before the break. Since the break, though, he has five points in two outings. Seems like he's back on track. The Senators have a 3.62 GAA and a bottom-five penalty kill. Even if Tavares haven't rounded back in form, I wouldn't mind betting on him against Ottawa.
Brandon Hagel, TAM at CLM ($5,100): Hagel has picked up at least one point in eight of his last nine games, and there's a good chance he makes that nine out of 10. The Blue Jackets have a 3.66 GAA, which is 31st in the NHL, ahead of only the Sharks.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Hurricanes vs. Devils
Jack Drury (C - $2,900), Martin Necas (W - $5,000), Michael Bunting (W - $3,800)
The look of Carolina's second line is fairly fresh, but the salary impact here is not onerous for the upside of this matchup. New Jersey has a 3.57 GAA, fourth highest in the NHL. Both of their goalies have sub-.900 save percentages, which does not bode well. For the Devils, that is. It does bode well for these three Hurricanes.
Drury's move to second-line center is new, but there was opportunity and he took advantage of it. He has 10 points over his last 16 games. Since missing five games, Necas has absolutely been on fire. He has seven goals, an assist, and 35 shots on net over his last seven contests. The Devils have a middling penalty kill, and Bunting is the one of these three guys who plays on the top power-play unit. He's tallied 15 power-play points in 49 games.
DEFENSEMEN
Thomas Chabot, OTT vs. TOR ($5,700): Chabot has been hurt for large swaths of this year, but when he's been healthy he's been producing with gusto. Across 23 games he has 15 points and 64 shots on net. His 3.1 shooting percentage is below his career 5.6 shooting percentage, so there is arguably room to improve. Meanwhile, Ilya Samsonov has a 3.38 GAA and .879 save percentage.
Darren Raddysh, TAM at CLM ($5,100): Well, the return of Mikhail Sergachev was brief. That means Raddysh is back to being not just Victor Hedman's defensive partner, but the number-two option offensively. He has seven points over his last 10 outings. As I noted, the Blue Jackets rank 31st in GAA, and they also rank 29th in shots on net allowed per game.
