This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Sunday may be the day for college basketball teams to get selected for March Madness, but Saturday is reserved for selecting NHL players on your DFS lineup. There are eight games starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. That's a solid slate and I have picked some players that intrigue me from a DFS perspective for you to check out.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are no teams on the second night of a back-to-back, but it is a slate is full of extremes. Four of the five clubs with the highest GAAs are playing. So are four of the five in the bottom of the league for goals per game. Granted, three of them – Arizona, Montreal, and Seattle – are the same. Also, the Habs and Kraken are playing each other.
GOALIE
Jeremy Swayman, BOS vs. ARI ($8,100): On the season, Swayman has posted a 2.06 GAA and .925 save percentage. Those are great numbers, but recently he's been even better with a 8-0-1 record and 1.52/.946 line from his last nine appearances. I know the Coyotes have strung together a few consecutive impressive offensive outings, but the fact remains they've averaged 2.54 goals and 26.1 shots on net per game.
Sam Montembeault, MON vs. SEA ($6,800): Yes, this is a big swing given that Montembeault has a 3.67 GAA and .897 save percentage on the year. That being said, Montreal is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games while Seattle is 1-7-2. The Kraken are also 7-20-3 on the road. Seattle has averaged a mere 2.57 goals and 28.5 shots on net. If there were ever a day to take a gamble on Montembeault, it's today.
VALUE PLAYS
Matthew Tkachuk, CGY vs. DET ($8,000): Tkachuk is absolutely peppering the net with pucks with 18 in 57 games resulting in 27 goals along with 39 assists. The Red Wings haven't exactly been stout at the back end, but a recent run of porous defending and goaltending leaves them with a 3.72 GAA and that's second highest in the NHL.
Brady Tkachuk, OTT vs. CHI ($6,5000): Is it fun to recommend both Tkachuk brothers? Sure, but it also makes total sense to do so. With a goal in each of his last three games, Brady has 20 on the season. He's also an even-more-prolific shooter than his brother having totaled 190 through 54 games. The Blackhawks have allowed 32.1 shots on net and also have a 3.44 GAA.
LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Bruins vs. Coyotes: Erik Haula (C - $4,100), David Pastrnak (W - $8,400), Taylor Hall (W - $6,500)
The Coyotes enter with a 3.56 GAA while giving up 34.9 shots per game. If that weren't enough, they also maintain the 31st-ranked penalty kill. The combination of Scott Wedgewood and Karel Vejmelka doesn't strike fear because even when one of them is making over 30 saves, they may still be allowing four or five goals. Moving Pastrnak down to Boston's second line broke up arguably the best line in hockey, but it seems to have bolstered the depth of its lineup.
Haula may only have 25 points this yesr, but eight of them have come in his last eight games. Considering there is a lineup change you can specifically point to correlating to that, it feels less likely to be a fluke. On a related note, Pastrnak has recorded at least one point in nine of his last 10. He's also notched 33 goals on a staggering 250 shots on net. Hall will be facing his former team (remember that?) having registered 11 points over 11 games.
Canadiens vs. Kraken: Nick Suzuki (C - $6,200), Josh Anderson (W - $4,600), Cole Caufield (W - $5,300)
Yeah, I didn't expect to ever be in a place where I would be recommending a Montreal goalie and line stack, but here we are. That being said, the Kraken do have a 3.60 GAA, fourth highest in the NHL. They don't have a netminder with a save percentage above .890. If you can get pucks on net, it often pays off against Seattle and the Canadiens' top trio boasts enough talent to make things interesting.
Suzuki had 41 points as a rookie, 41 last year, and 40 this season with plenty of time left to add to that total. He's also managed 12 across his last eight games - including three three-point outings. Anderson doesn't do much on the assist front, but he can score goals with 15 and six of those in his last eight. It took Caufield a little while to find his footing in his true rookie season, but he's done it recently with seven goals and eight assists over 12 games. He still has a 7.3 shooting percentage, so clearly his slow start included a fair amount of bad luck.
DEFENSE
Charlie McAvoy, BOS vs. ARI ($5,400): McAvoy has slowed down on the power play, but he's still at 16 PPP for the season. He also ended a lengthy power-play drought in his last game. As I noted, the Coyotes have struggled with the 31st-ranked penalty kill, so the fact McAvoy has averaged 2:59 per game with the extra man bodes well.
Jamie Drysdale, ANA at NJD ($4,200): Drysdale has grabbed a spot on the top power-play unit and is running with it with five points - all while up a man - over 12 games and 11 PPP on the campaign. The Devils don't have a poor penalty kill, but they do have a 3.50 GAA. Drysdale may not need time with the extra man to excel in this matchup.
