This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Daylight Saving Time is over, but the NHL season is just getting started. Although, Sunday isn't exactly the best representation of that. Only two games are on the slate, but they are both evening affairs, with the first puck dropping at 7 p.m. ET. Don't fall back in the standings in your DFS contests. Take these recommendations into account.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are four teams playing, and two of them are on the second leg of a back-to-back. Chicago is at home against New Jersey. Meanwhile, Vegas is on the road, but in Anaheim.
GOALIE
Vitek Vanecek, NJD at CHI ($8,400): It hasn't been a strong start to the season for Vanecek, who posted a 2.45 GAA last year in large part because of the stingy defense in front of him. Fortunately, a matchup with the Blackhawks should help. Enthusiasm for Connor Bedard aside, Chicago is still in the bottom five in goals and shots on net per game.
VALUE PLAY/ONE OFF
Mason McTavish, ANA vs. VGK ($5,500): Leo Carlsson is getting to center Anaheim's first line, skating between Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras. The plan there is to allow the second-overall pick to ease into NHL action. That leaves McTavish, a cagey veteran of all of 20 years of age, to center the second line, but he's shouldered the load there with gusto. He's tallied 12 points in 10 games and is on a six-contest point streak. Now, Vegas has been great. It has two above-average goalies. However, with only four teams playing, I'll take a red-hot McTavish against a team on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Devils at Blackhawks
Michael McLeod (C - $3,200), Jesper Bratt (W - $7,800), Ondrej Palat (W - $3,300)
Chicago is lacking on offense, but it is equally bad defensively, and there Bedard isn't really set up to help much. A porous defense on the second leg of a back-to-back will see Arvid Soderblom in goal. He has a career .885 save percentage. Nico Hischier is out right now, and Jack Hughes is questionable after leaving New Jersey's last game. Hopefully the second line will be sticking together, though, even if Bratt is the only one of these three excelling. That could change in this matchup.
McLeod has three points this season, but two in his last four games. He also has a larger role, and better wings, than anticipated due to injuries up the middle. A hot start propelled Bratt to 73 points last season, though he had 73 points the year prior as well. The Swede is hot once again, with 18 points in 10 games, and five multi-point games already. Palat's first year with the Devils was tough, and he too only has three points this season. He doesn't have a goal yet, though, and no forward finishes with a 0.0 shooting percentage when all is said and done.
DEFENSEMAN
Luke Hughes, NJD at CHI ($4,400): After a slow start to his rookie campaign, Hughes has six points in his last five games. Granted, he's been helped by following in his brother Quinn's footsteps and doing most of his damage with the extra man. A Blackhawks team on the second leg of a back-to-back with a goalie sporting a career .885 save percentage likely won't prove too difficult to manage on the power play.
