This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a busy 10-game Thursday slate with the Ducks, Flames and Blue Jackets playing the second half of their back-to-back, while the Penguins and Rangers will be playing the first half of their back-to-back. The Golden Knights-Panthers matchup features the most intrigue as a preview of a potential Finals matchup and it'll be just their seventh meeting in history. The series tilts in favor of the Knights (4-1-1) and only one of their matchups featured fewer than seven goals.
GOALIES
Igor Shesterkin, NYR at CBJ ($8,600): Shesterkin is the only goalie who can give Vasilevskiy a run for his money as the league's best goalie, but he'll be an expensive option. The Rangers have won four of their past five meetings and Shesterkin has been very good against them in the past. The Jackets have lost eight of their past 11 and they've allowed at least five goals in three of their past five games.
Tristan Jarry, PIT vs. SEA ($8,500): The Kraken have a reputation for being better on the road, but the truth is they're still not very good. Jarry and the Pens have lost just twice in 2022, making them one of the best teams in the league while the Kraken may be headed toward the lottery.
Ilya Sorokin, NYI vs. LA ($8,400): Sorokin has won five straight games and the Kings are reeling with four losses in their past five games. Goaltending has been an issue for the Kings lately, which is a sign that perhaps the Isles can provide more goal support than usual for Sorokin. The Isles have won four of their past five meetings.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB vs. NJ ($8,300): Anytime you can get arguably the league's best goalie against a team struggling to win games, it's a good option. Vasilevskiy's career numbers against the Devils aren't very good – 2-4-0, .895 Sv%, 3.09 GAA – but this is matchup the Lightning should dominate, even without Nikita Kucherov.
Frederik Andersen, CAR at OTT ($8,000): Andersen will be looking for his fifth straight win and given his track record this season is a potential value play among the elite goalies. Sens defensemen Nikita Zaitsev and Erik Brannstrom are not expected to be available, and their depth on the blue line will be tested by a very balanced and very deep Canes offense.
Anthony Stolarz, ANH at MTL ($6,900): The Ducks should come out with a better effort after getting outshot 44-20 against the Leafs on Wednesday, though kudos to them for even getting a point out of it in a shootout loss. Stolarz is expected to start and he draws a much easier assignment. Even if the Ducks stumble again, it shouldn't be too difficult to get pucks past expected starter Cayden Primeau, who has a 4.33 GAA.
VALUE PLAYS
Mathieu Joseph, TB vs. NJ ($3,600): With Nikita Kucherov unavailable, Joseph has moved to the second line with Steven Stamkos back at center. He's scored three points in three games, though the drawback with Joseph is that he doesn't play on the power play and only on the penalty kill.
Evgeni Malkin, PIT vs. SEA ($6,800): Compared to centers of a similar caliber, Malkin offers up good value at this salary. He's on a five-game point streak and remains one of the league's best offensive players when healthy.
LINE STACKS
Lightning vs. Devils
Brayden Point (C - $8,700), Ondrej Palat (W - $6,300), Anthony Cirelli (W - $5,500)
Palat is expected to return to the lineup and both him and Cirelli offer up good value on Tampa's top line. Cirelli takes Kucherov's spot and plays on both the power play and penalty kill, giving him plenty of exposure on special teams even though Point and Palat will likely be more effective with the first power play unit.
Penguins vs. Kraken
Sidney Crosby (C - $8,500), Jake Guentzel (W - $9,100), Bryan Rust (W - $8,300)
Crosby scored three points for the second time in three games and this remains one of the league's best lines. All three play on the top power play unit with Malkin and Kris Letang, and the Kraken PK ranks 20th in the league.
Ducks at Canadiens
Ryan Getzlaf (C - $5,400), Trevor Zegras (C - $6,000), Troy Terry (W - $6,400)
It was an interesting decision by the Ducks to stack their top line, even though it was short-lived. This combo generated just one shot attempt and allowed nine, per naturalstattrick.com, before Dallas Eakins gave up and went back to Zegras with Rickard Rakell. They may never try this combo again, but if they do, perhaps they'll have much better luck against the Habs. Note that both Getzlaf and Zegras are listed as centers even though Zegras played on the wing when they played together.
DEFENSEMEN
Adam Fox, NYR at CBJ ($7,100): There's little separating Fox and the other elite defensemen, and so the $300 discount to Roman Josi and $200 discount to Letang seems like a good deal. Fox has arguably the easiest matchup, too, and currently leads all defensemen with 46 points in 43 games.
Tony DeAngelo, CAR at OTT ($6,500): DeAngelo's on a five-game point streak and has a very good chance of extending that against the Sens. The Sens PK ranks a modest 17th in the league, but note that they will likely be without Zaitsev, who is one of their top penalty killers.
Quinn Hughes, VAN at WPG ($5,800): Hughes was blanked in his last game but plays a significant role on the Canucks, averaging 25 minutes per game. Elias Pettersson, one of their top shooters on the power play, is slowly turning his season around and scored a goal in his previous game, and the Jets PK has been a sore spot all season, ranked fifth-worst in the league at 74.1 percent.
