This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The NHL gave up 15 games Saturday, but Sunday the schedule is just a smidge lighter. That is to say, there is a single game on the slate. At 3:30 p.m. ET, Vancouver hosts Anaheim. Not only that, but the Ducks played (and got smashed) Saturday. It's time for some single-game DFS on an Easter Sunday!
At DraftKings, you have $50,000 in salary for six players. One is your Captain, who earns 1.5 times the points, but at an elevated salary. Here's the lineup I landed on.
CAPTAIN
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. ANA ($13,800): Spoiler alert: I'm all in on the Canucks for this one. The Ducks, on the second leg of a back-to-back, are in the bottom five in GAA, shots on net allowed per game, and penalty-kill percentage. That penalty kill, which ranks 31st, is paramount to recommending Hughes. The defenseman is a power-play dynamo. This season he's averaged 3:53 per game with the extra man and has 31 power-play points. Making him my Captain opened up some salary for the rest of my roster as well.
FLEX
Casey DeSmith, VAN vs. ANA ($11,000): I tend to avoid goalies in my single-game lineups, but this time around I am making an exception. DeSmith has made every start for the Canucks since Thatcher Demko's injury, and with Arthur Silovs unproven and playoff positioning still in flux, I don't see that changing unless the Canucks are pressed into giving Silovs a start. DeSmith has a .910 save percentage over his last six starts, but also a 2.05 GAA thanks to Vancouver's defense. Meanwhile, the Ducks are in the bottom three in goals and shots on net per contest. If DeSmith doesn't pick up a win, I'll be surprised.
Brock Boeser, VAN vs. ANA ($9,400): Boeser has flown past his previous personal best with 37 goals. Granted, he has a 19.7 shooting percentage, but he has seven goals in his last 17 games, so he's never really slowed down. Oh, and Lukas Dostal has a 3.47 GAA and .900 save percentage for the Ducks. There's that, too.
Pius Suter, VAN vs. ANA ($6,800): Suter has 13 goals and 13 assists in 59 games. While he's been moved down the lineup, the Canucks are trying him as one of those bottom-six forwards who mostly plays on the power play. He just played 4:48 with the extra man on the power play in Vancouver's last game. If he does that against Anaheim's 31st-ranked penalty kill, it could bode well.
Nils Hoglander, VAN vs. ANA ($5,600): The 23-year-old Hoglander has come out of nowhere for the Canucks to pot 22 goals. Sure, he only has 11 assists, but he's spent his time recently skating next to Elias Pettersson who can certainly set him up for goals. Given that the Ducks are in the bottom five in shots on net allowed per contest and GAA, Hoglander should get a chance to add to that goal total.
Jakob Silfverberg, ANA at VAN ($2,800): Silfverberg rounds out the roster because, well, I only had so much salary left. He had a goal and an assist against the Kraken this past Thursday. The Swede has four 20-goal seasons in his past. My goal with this lineup is betting on the Canucks to win in a rout, and betting on Hughes, DeSmith, and Boeser to come up big. Anything from Silfverberg is effectively found money.
