This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
What will the first Sunday of December bring us on the NHL front? Well, I know we have six games, and that the first ones kick off at 6 p.m. EST. With that setting the table, let's get into the recommendations…
SLATE PREVIEW
There may be an air of familiarity to Sunday's game. Five teams are playing the second leg of a back-to-back. Tampa, Toronto, and Chicago are all on the road for the second day in a row, but the Blackhawks are facing an Islanders team that was in Detroit on Saturday.
GOALIE
Carter Hart, PHI vs. TAM ($7,400): Hart has had a couple rough starts recently, but he still has a 2.70 GAA and .919 save percentage. He also gets to be at home against a Lightning team on the road for the second game of a back-to-back. The Lightning usually have a potent offense, but this season they are outside the top 10 and also don't have Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.
Marc-Andre Fleury, CHI at NYI ($7,300): The Blackhawks and Islanders are both in the bottom three in goals per game, so this will likely be a low-scoring affair. New York has been the more punchless offense of these two, though. Fleury, meanwhile, has put his tough start behind him. Over his last 11 games he has a 2.09 GAA and .936 save percentage.
VALUE PLAY
William Nylander, TOR at WPG ($6,700): Nylander's four-game point streak came to an end Saturday, but he put seven shots on net so it's not like he faded into the background. He also has eight power-play points this season. That's worth noting, because the Jets have the 31st-ranked penalty kill.
Alex Iafallo, LOS at EDM ($): Iafallo's 16 points in 22 games is impressive, but I'm just as interested in his 71 shots on goal in that time as well. Why is that so relevant? Because the Oilers have given up 34.0 shots on net per game. Iafallo should be quite active in this one.
LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Sharks at Blue Jackets: Logan Couture (C - $4,800), Timo Meier (W - $7,100), Jonathan Dahlen (W - $3,200)
Columbus is on the second leg of a back-to-back and is in the bottom five in shots on net allowed per game. There also dealing issues in goal, and Elvis Merzlikins has a 3.23 GAA and .908 save percentage over his last seven games. The Sharks may be on the road, but this is still looking good for their top line. Couture has notched 20 points and 54 shots on goal in 23 games, and he has six points in his last six contests. Meier has been on fire since returning to the lineup, with 13 points and 48 shots on goal in his 11 outings since getting healthy. The rookie Dahlen has some good linemates to play with, and he has seven goals in 20 games.
Flyers vs. Lightning: Sean Couturier (C - $5,100), Claude Giroux (W - $5,000), Cam Atkinson (W - $4,100)
When Andrei Vasilevskiy is in net you want to steer clear of Tampa's opponent. However, the second night of a back-to-back likely means Vasilevskiy will be on the bench. That means Brian Elliott tending goal. Over the last three seasons he has an .894 save percentage. These are different circumstances than usual with Tampa Bay. Couturier has had trouble scoring, but his 8.1 shooting percentage is likely to regress toward the mean. Plus, he has 29 shots on net in his last eight games. Giroux has looked more like himself, as he has 18 points in 21 games and has averaged 3:20 per game with the extra man. In his first season with the Flyers, Atkinson has seven goals on 61 shots on net and five assists.
DEFENSE
Morgan Rielly, TOR at WPG ($5,400): Rielly had three assists Saturday, two on the power play. That gives him seven points with the extra man. There were two years there not all that long ago where Rielly had more than 20 power-play points. Now he's facing the 31st-ranked penalty kill.
Erik Karlsson, SAN at CLM ($4,800): Karlsson isn't the player that he used to be, but there's still some offense left in his stick. Since returning to the lineup he has seven points in 11 games. On the season, Karlsson has five power-play points in 18 contests. As I mentioned earlier, the Sharks are also getting the Blue Jackets on the second leg of a back-to-back.
