This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Bruins (-285) are massive favorites against the Wings and represent the most lopsided play of the night. Despite a losing record, the Kraken (-176) are also favored against the Sabres, who are a surprising 5-3-1. Perhaps this is the time that teams with unexpectedly good results start to regress.
GOALIES
Jordan Binnington, STL at SJ ($8,200): Binnington's coming off a shutout win, but you're never 100 percent confident in him because he's prone to implosion, and the Sharks offense has been surprisingly good, ranking 13th in goals per game. The good news is the Blues provide the best goal support per game in the league, and the Sharks may have as many as seven regulars unavailable due to COVID protocol.
Jacob Markstrom, CGY vs. DAL ($7,900): Markstrom should be a popular play against the league's second-worst team in GF/GP. It's really great value for a really good goalie, and Markstrom has yet to lose in regulation since the season opener.
Jeremy Swayman, BOS vs. DET ($7,800): Swayman has a chance to put together two consecutive strong performances after allowing only two goals against the Canes in his last start. Being on home ice will help, and the Red Wings may be without Dylan Larkin, who has been sitting out for personal reasons.
Philipp Grubauer, SEA vs. BUF ($7,300): Hopefully, Grubauer's completely past his awful start. He's allowed just four goals in his past three games, and the Sabres will be playing their fourth straight road game. The Kraken have proven to be very streaky so far, and have also been much stronger at home (2-2-0) than on the road (1-4-1).
Matt Murray, OTT vs. VGK ($7,000): The Knights can't score; they've been blanked twice already this season and four other times failed to score more than two goals. Murray's been shaky, but the Sens provide better goal support (19th in goals per game vs. the Knights ranked 28th), and they're talented enough to stage an upset. All but one of their losses have been by just one or two goals.
VALUE PLAYS
Evan Rodrigues, PIT vs. PHI ($4,600): News that Sidney Crosby's debut may be delayed due to COVID gives Rodrigues even more excuse to stay in the top six. He hasn't scored in three games but has managed to at least put nine shots on net.
Alexander Barabanov, SJ vs. STL ($3,900): Barabanov has a point in two straight games playing on the second line with Tomas Hertl. The Blues have the fourth-best GA/GP, but mind you they've played Chicago, Arizona and Los Angeles twice. The Sharks are 13th in GF/GP, slightly better than the Avs who rank 16th, and the Avs managed to score seven goals in two games against the Blues.
Derick Brassard, PHI at PIT ($3,900): It's been a quiet few games for Brassard, who has not scored a point or forced a goalie to make a single save in three games. Nevertheless, he continues to skate on the second line with Joel Farabee and Cam Atkinson and get time on the power play. Against a potentially shorthanded Pens squad, Brassard might get the easy matchups with Sean Couturier playing ahead of him.
Nicolas Roy, VGK at OTT ($3,400): We shall see how the Knights lineup shakes out, but Roy is now centering the "top line" between Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault. The Knights have been hit with so many injuries their depth players are playing much higher in the lineup than they should be, though it should still be good enough to take advantage in case the Sens' goaltending implodes. Roy has actually been quite good at generating offense, ranking third on the team in shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, per naturalstattrick.com.
LINE STACKS
Senators vs. Golden Knights
Josh Norris (C - $6,200), Drake Batherson (W - $6,300), Brady Tkachuk (W - $7,200)
We're still waiting for Tkachuk to get going, but Norris and Batherson have been one of the best duos in the league so far, and both scored two points apiece in their last game. The Knights are very shorthanded and their goaltending has been subpar with Robin Lehner's .906 Sv%.
Flames vs. Stars
Elias Lindholm (C - $7,500), Matthew Tkachuk (W - $6,800), Johnny Gaudreau (W - $7,100)
They've combined for 28 points and they're arguably the best top line in the league. The Stars defend very well and limit the number of shots their goalies face, but their goaltending hasn't been very good lately. The Stars are 0-2-2 with 14 goals allowed in their past four games.
DEFENSEMEN
Brent Burns, SJ vs. STL ($5,300): For the amount he plays and shoots, Burns is one of the better value plays among defensemen. He's played 26 and 29 minutes in his past two games, recording an assist and 10 shots on goal. He's not the point-per-game machine he used to be, but he is still a reliable high-volume shooter.
MacKenzie Weegar, FLA vs. WSH ($5,100): Weegar's been excellent for the Panthers this season, averaging over 26 minutes in his past three games and recording an assist, three shots and seven blocked shots. He'll surely play a ton of minutes against a potential playoff foe.
Ryan Merkley, SJ vs. STL ($3,700): Merkley scored a goal in his second game and this kind of offense is exactly what the Sharks hoped he would provide in Erik Karlsson's absence. Merkley is also playing on the second power play unit with Tomas Hertl and William Eklund, though note the Blues PK is ranked second in the league.
