This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
It's the end of 2023! Sunday is New Year's Eve, which is often a holiday with some hockey action, usually starting a bit earlier so people can get to parties or what have you. There are seven games on the DFS slate, with the first starting at 6 p.m. ET, but none starting later than 8 p.m. ET. Let's end the year on a high note! Here are my DFS recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
We have a few teams on the second leg of a back-to-back, but the Canadiens and Lightning are facing one another. Pittsburgh gets to be at home for both games. The Oilers are on the road for both games, but they are doing the Southern California doubleheader, and they face the Ducks on Sunday. Buffalo, also on the road Sunday, is in Ottawa.
GOALIES
Scott Wedgewood, DAL vs. CHI ($8,500): While Wedgewood's own play hasn't been great since taking over for an injured Jake Oettinger, he has a 6-1-1 record over his last eight starts. There's a good chance he wins Sunday, and that he puts up solid numbers as well. Chicago has averaged a mere 2.46 goals and 26.7 shots on net per game.
Carter Hart, PHI at CGY ($7,400): The Flyers and Flames are similar teams. In fact, they have both averaged 2.94 goals per game. Both teams also have kept pucks off their own nets, but the Flyers are better at that. Philly has only given up 28.6 shots on net per contest. Hart is also better than Jacob Markstrom, and he has a 2.54 GAA and .915 save percentage. He's the goalie to go with for this matchup.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Jamie Benn, DAL vs. CHI ($4,100): Benn isn't going to replicate last season, when he bounced back in a major way to score 33 goals and total up 78 points. That being said, he has 23 points in 34 games, including seven on the power play. Petr Mrazek will start for the Blackhawks, and he is better than Arvid Soderblom. He also has a 3.07 GAA and .908 save percentage.
Trevor Zegras, ANA vs. EDM ($4,000): Since returning from injury, Zegras has two points and eight shots on net in three games. Hopefully getting a chance to return to health is going to get him back on track. Early results are encouraging. I am also encouraged Sunday because the Oilers are on the second night of a back-to-back, and journeyman veteran Calvin Pickard is the backup in Edmonton now. He has a career .903 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Islanders at Penguins
Bo Horvat (C - $6,700), Mathew Barzal (W - $6,600), Anders Lee (W - $4,100)
The Islanders are one of the teams that get to face an opponent on the second leg of a back-to-back while they are rested. Not only that, they miss facing Tristan Jarry. Instead, New York will face Alex Nedeljkovic. He has a career .908 save percentage, and in five starts while Jarry was hurt he had a 3.12 GAA and .893 save percentage. The Islanders don't have much depth offensively, but they do have a formidable top line worth stacking.
Horvat will hope to carry his end to 2023 into the new year. Over his last 15 games he has nine goals and 12 assists. On the season he has 14 goals, and his 13.9 shooting percentage is actually low for him. Barzal has 36 points through 34 games, including 13 with the extra man. The Penguins may be in the top 10 in terms of the penalty kill, the landscape changes on the second night of a back-to-back with Nedeljkovic in goal. Lee has put 35 shots on net over his last 11 games. That, and his puck luck leveling out after a slow start, have led to him scoring five goals in that time.
DEFENSEMEN
Jake Sanderson, OTT vs. BUF ($5,000): With Thomas Chabot out, Jakob Chychrun has shouldered most of the load offensively, but Sanderson has chipped in as well. He has six points over his last 11 games, and it is Sanderson, not Chychrun, who is on the point for the first power-play unit. The Sabres, as noted, are on the second leg of a back-to-back, and Devon Levi has an .889 save percentage in a disappointing rookie campaign.
Devon Toews, COL vs. SAN ($4,800): Here's the secondary scoring from the defense the Avalanche have been waiting for! Toews has a point in five of his last six games. Now, he gets to face the woeful Sharks, who have put up a 4.08 GAA that is by a comfortable margin highest in the NHL.
