The past week was stuffed with food, and also hockey. Sunday is for lighter fare, and that includes the NHL with three games on the docket starting at 5 p.m. EST or later. These are my lineup recommendations. No turkeys in the mix, fingers crossed.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are no teams on the second leg of a back-to-back Sunday, but a few with questionable goaltending situations and porous defenses. And that means good options can still be found.
GOALIE
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG at NAS ($8,300): Two of these goalies on Sunday earned a shutout in their last outing: Hellebuyck and Stuart Skinner. The latter also faces an easier matchup in the Ducks. But instead of rolling the dice, I'll go with a goalie I trust more. Hellebuyck has a Vezina, after all. He's also posted a 2.23 GAA and .923 save percentage over his last 12 appearances.
VALUE PLAY
Evander Kane, EDM vs. ANA ($7,200): The Oilers have experienced defensive issues and a bit of offensive woes, though Kane has delivered with nine goals and eight assists to go with 62 shots. Anaheim has allowed 32.4 shots on goal per game and John Gibson has started to slip, which doesn't surprise me, with an .868 save percentage from his last three starts.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Jets at Predators
Mark Scheifele (C - $7,800), Kyle Connor (W - $9,200), Alex Iafallo (W - $5,400)
It's not exactly a line that's easy on your salary cap, but there is still opportunity here. Juuse Saros comes in with a 3.13 GAA and .894 save percentage while Predators also list a bottom-five penalty kill. This is not just the Jets' first line, but also three members of their top power play.
Scheifele only managed 26 assists to go with 42 goals last season and is currently at 15 and seven of each. He's also averaged 3:41 with the extra man where he's registered six power-play points. Connor is the kind of forward who can fall out of bed and score 30 goals, so it's not too much of a surprise he's already at 14. He's also directed 76 shots on net, and don't forget he racked up 317 two years ago. Iafallo made the move over from the Kings. One thing stands out for this matchup, and that is he's averaged 3:31 on the power play with four points there.
DEFENSEMAN
Cam Fowler, ANA at EDM ($5,500): Fowler has packed nine assists into his last 13 games. The Oilers have picked it up a bit on the attack and may have posted a shutout last time out, but let's not lose sight of the bigger picture that is their 30th-ranked 3.79 GAA.
