This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Wednesday's NHL slate features five games after 7:00 p.m. EDT. Below, you'll find a breakdown of the action and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
Despite the modest selection, there are a few teams to build around Wednesday. The Jets and Blues are heavy home favorites against Detroit and Seattle, respectively, while the Flames are expected to broil the Ducks in Anaheim. Lightning-Capitals and Canucks-Golden Knights clashes round out the action. Detroit-Winnipeg should feature the most offense, as it comes in with an over/under of 6.5 goals, while the other four games all sit at 6.0.
GOALIES
Ville Husso, STL vs. SEA ($7,900): Husso's 4-0-1 in his last five starts, and that strong stretch has improved his record to 20-6-5 along with a 2.41 GAA and .923 save percentage. If he gets the nod over Jordan Binnington, Husso should continue to excel against the bottom-five Kraken offense (2.61 goals per game).
Jacob Markstrom, CGY at ANH ($7,800): Even during his slumps, Markstrom plays well. He's a pedestrian 3-3-2 in his last eight starts, yet Markstrom has still managed to limit five of those opponents to two goals or fewer. Meanwhile, the Ducks are truly slumping, with an awful 1-9-3 record in their last 13 games.
Robin Lehner, VGK vs. VAN ($7,700): Lehner returned from a lengthy absence Sunday and allowed just two goals on 28 shots to beat the Canucks in overtime. With home-ice advantage shifting Vegas' way for this rematch, Lehner's positioned to match or even surpass that performance for a Vegas team that's desperate for every point.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Brayden Point, TB at WAS ($6,700): Point just had a six-game point streak snapped, but he still boasts a 4-5-9 line in his last seven games. Tampa Bay's top-line center can produce in any matchup and has a 27-27-54 line in 55 games. A road date with a Capitals team that's been outscored 11-2 over its last two games certainly doesn't scare him.
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK vs. VAN ($6,600): Marchessault has been powering Vegas' postseason push, notching a 3-7-10 line during his five-game point streak. With a 28-30-58 line, the veteran winger needs just two more goals to tie his career high of 30, and it looks like Marchessault will get those sooner rather than later given his current form.
Jakub Vrana, DET at WPG ($4,900): Detroit struggles to keep the puck out of its own net, but the Red Wings have some promising pieces on offense. One of those is Vrana, whose lethal shot clearly hasn't been affected by his lengthy recovery from a shoulder injury — he has a 5-4-9 line in his last eight games.
Tom Wilson, WAS vs. TB ($4,200): Wilson has scored a goal in three of his last five games while notching at least one point in five of six. The power forward has some against-the-grain appeal against a Tampa Bay team that has allowed 10 goals over its last two games.
Alexander Wennberg, SEA at STL ($2,600): Given his first-line center deployment and 2-2-4 line in the past four games, Wennberg's a bargain at just $100 above the minimum. While the Blues are heavily favored in this one, they often win with offense rather than defense, having allowed at least four goals in five of their last nine games.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Jets vs. Red Wings
Pierre-Luc Dubois (C - $5,800), Kyle Connor (W - $8,400), Blake Wheeler (W - $5,700)
Investing in the entirety of Connor's line could pay major dividends at home against a Red Wings team that's playing its second game in as many nights and allowing a league-high 3.84 goals per game. Connor's fifth in goals (41), 13th in points (82) and fourth in shots (283) league-wide. Dubois ranks second on the team with 203 shots, and he's compiled a 25-26-51 line in 69 games. Wheeler's just shy of a point per game with 54 in 56, including a 3-6-9 line over the past eight.
Flames at Ducks
Elias Lindholm (C - $6,500), Johnny Gaudreau (W - $7,400), Matthew Tkachuk (W - $7,000)
Calgary's high-powered top line should be worth paying up for against the free-falling Ducks. Gaudreau ranks fourth in points with a 34-61-95 line, including a 7-9-16 output in his last eight games. Lindholm leads the team in goals with a 35-35-70 line, while Tkachuk is hot on their tails with a 32-53-85 line.
Blues vs. Kraken
Robert Thomas (C - $4,700), Vladimir Tarasenko (W - $6,800), Pavel Buchnevich (W - $5,800)
This has been the Blues' most productive line all season, and a Kraken team that's giving up 3.49 goals per game is unlikely to slow this trio down. Tarasenko's 25-36-61 line in 62 games has him leading the team in goals and just one point back of Jordan Kyrou's team lead. Buchnevich is right behind Tarasenko with a 24-33-57 line in 60 appearances, including a 3-3-6 output in his last three games. Thomas has five multi-point performances during his current six-game point streak, pushing him up to a point per game in 59.
DEFENSEMEN
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK vs. VAN ($6,500): Pietrangelo has gone into playoff mode, stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis. In addition to a 6-4-10 line over his last 12 games, Pietrangelo has provided an excellent floor by totaling at least three shots in eight of those 12 games, as well as three-plus blocks in four of the past seven.
Noah Hanifin, CGY at ANH ($4,400): Hanifin has posted at least 9.5 fantasy points in nine of his last 12 games while providing value in a variety of ways. He has interspersed a 2-6-8 line with four separate five-shot performances over that stretch, and Hanifin should remain productive against the Ducks, who are allowing 3.17 goals per game.
Vince Dunn, SEA at STL ($3,800): If you're a fan of revenge games narratives, consider deploying Dunn against the Blues team with which he spent his first four seasons. Dunn has eight points in his last 10 games while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time over that stretch as Seattle's top all-situations defenseman. He'll be motivated to add to that recent success and should have plenty of opportunities to do so given his prominent role.
Ville Heinola, WPG vs. DET ($3,200): Heinola has dished out a helper in five of his last six games played, flashing the offensive ability that prompted Winnipeg to draft him 20th overall in 2019. The 21-year-old blueliner could be an affordable source of offense in a game that should feature plenty of goals.
