This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a light Sunday, with only four games on the slate. The first one is at 3:00 p.m. EDT, and it has its own contests on DraftKings. I decided to include one recommendation for that game, and the rest are for the three-game slate starting at 6:00 p.m. Two teams, the Penguins and the Devils, are on the second day of a back-to-back. The Devils do get a bit of extra rest, since they played at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday and play at 6:00 p.m. Sunday.
GOALIES
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM vs. CLM ($8,200): Andrei Vasilevskiy is an elite goalie with a 2.08 GAA and .930 save percentage. He will be at home Sunday to take on the Blue Jackets, who have fallen to 29th in goals per game. My only concern? The Lightning might use this matchup as a chance to give Curtis McElhinney a start. That being said, Tampa is fighting Florida and Carolina for playoff seeding, so they might not risk putting anybody but Vasilevskiy in net.
Igor Shesterkin, NYR vs. BUF ($8,100): The Sabres have risen all the way to 28th in goals per game. They are now averaging a whopping…2.40 goals per contest. OK, so Buffalo is still bad, and it still doesn't have Jack Eichel, Taylor Hall, or Kyle Okposo available for different reasons. Shesterkin has had a couple rough starts recently, but all in all he has a 2.45 GAA and .920 save percentage. Now's a good time for him to right the ship.
Brian Elliott, PHI vs. NJD ($7,800): This one is a risk, I know. Only roll the dice on Elliott if you want to try and save some money on goalie betting on a favorable matchup. The Devils are in the bottom five in goals per game and are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. There's a decent chance Elliott picks up a win, assuming he's in net because Carter Hart is banged up. Also, in 13 home games this season Elliott does have a 2.37 GAA and .910 save percentage.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Taylor Hall, BOS at PIT ($11,400): Many of us wondered if Hall would get a spring in his step after leaving Buffalo for Boston, a city he's always wanted to play in. Well in seven games with the Bruins he has six points, including three goals. He already has more goals with Boston than Buffalo! Things are definitely on an upswing, and the Bruins do get to face a Penguins team on the second leg of a back-to-back. Remember, this is for a single-game showdown. Hall makes a fine choice for your captain
Ondrej Palat, TAM vs. CLM ($5,700): Palat just scored his first goal in 14 games, but he wasn't exactly a zero in that time. He had seven assists in those 14 contests, and he's on a four-game point streak. The 30-year-old has also started 63.5 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, most on the Lightning, and has averaged 3:08 per game with the extra man. Meanwhile, Columbus has not been as defensively solid as you may have anticipated heading into the season, as it has a 3.33 GAA with poor goaltending from Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins.
Jack Hughes, NJD at PHI ($4,900): I figured I would throw one Devil in here on the account of the fact that the Flyers, you know, have a 3.49 GAA. Hughes has definitely taken steps forward in his sophomore season. He's played more than three minutes more per game and has started 64.7 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, highest on New Jersey. The 19-year-old has also been more active offensively recently, as he's notched 53 shots on net in his last 15 games.
LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Flyers vs. Devils: Sean Couturier (C- $6,100), Jakub Voracek (W -$4,800), Claude Giroux (W - $5,400)
The team with the third-highest GAA in the NHL on the road for the second day of a back-to-back? Yeah, I don't really need to explain this much further, right? I will add that the Devils also have the league's worst penalty kill, though. In the last two full seasons the NHL has had Couturier had 76 points, and this year he has 33 points in 36 games, including a point in each of his last two games. Voracek has not been as potent on the power play as in the past, but he has still averaged 2:43 per game with the extra man. Even in a down year he can still take advantage of the league's worst penalty kill with that much time. He's had at least 17 power-play points in each of his last eight seasons, after all. Speaking of power-play success, Giroux had at least 19 points with the extra man in his last 11 campaigns, and while he only has nine this season that's in 45 games.
Rangers vs. Sabres: Ryan Strome (C - $6,500), Artemi Panarin (W - $8,400), Colin Blackwell ($3,900)
Buffalo has a 3.38 GAA and has allowed 33.2 shots on net per contest, both bottom five in the NHL. Linus Ullmark is out for a while and Carter Hutton is banged up, which has meant a lot of time for third-string goalie Dustin Tokarski. He's needed to post a .914 save percentage just to have a 3.23 GAA, and in the only other season where he played double-digit games he had a .910 save percentage. Oh, and that was in the 2014-15 season, so it's been a while. Strome has really benefitted from the Rangers deciding to play Artemi Panarin – their best player – with him on the second line. Of course, they also play on the top power-play unit together. The 27-year-old has 44 points in 48 games, including 16 on the power play. Panarin has had an April to remember, and OK I'm going to throw in March 30 as well because he had three points that day. Over his last 14 games he has a staggering 26 points. Blackwell is definitely a lesser name, but 10 of his 22 points have come in April, when not coincidentally he's been on this line.
DEFENSE
Mikhail Sergachev, TAM vs. CLM ($5,500): Victor Hedman is maybe the best defenseman in the NHL, but he also has a higher salary ($7,300) than any other blue liner you are going to find. Sergachev is a step down, but he also doesn't break your budget. Earlier this month he had a four-game point streak, and he's notched 26 points even with a 2.1 shooting percentage well below his career average. Is it too late for regression to the mean? Against a Columbus team with a 3.33 GAA, perhaps not.
Ryan Lindgren, NYR vs. BUF ($3,100): Adam Fox is a fine choice, but he commands a high salary. That's why I am going with his defensive partner in Lindgren. While the 23-year-old doesn't play on the power play, he's averaged 20:06 in ice time, almost four minutes more than last season. He's tallied 15 points in 48 games with 60 shots on net. This matchup against a Sabres team with a 3.38 GAA and banged up at the goaltender position provides upside here I am willing to take a chance on.
Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI vs. NJD ($5,100): It's been a tough year for Gostisbehere. The Flyers put him on waivers, nobody claimed him, and he's still with the team. However, recently Philadelphia has placed him back on the top power-play unit, which is where he made his name once upon a time. He's averaged 2:41 per contest with the extra man, and Ghost is getting to face the worst penalty kill in the league Sunday. The Rangers have only played the Devils once since the beginning of the year. Now they can finally take advantage of this matchup, Gostisbehere included.
