This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a six-game slate starting at 7 p.m. EST with a marquee matchup between the Penguins and Capitals. This will be the fifth meeting of the season with the series 3-1 in favor of the Penguins, and it'll be the last time the two rivals meet until late April. We may see Ilya Samsonov start this game after being called up from the taxi squad Monday.
The Blackhawks-Blue Jackets game (7 p.m.) will be an interesting one with the series tied 2-2, but the two teams are trending in vastly different directions. The Hawks have won seven of their last 10 while the Jackets most recently lost to the Predators, and were outshot 45-23.
Speaking of the Preds, they'll visit the Red Wings (7:30 p.m.), and it'll be interesting if they can keep their momentum. They face the Wings twice and the Jackets twice before a tough month-long stretch when they face Carolina, Florida and Tampa that could completely kill their playoff hopes. The Preds have been outshot by their opponent seven times this season, two of them by the Wings.
The Oilers and Canucks (10 p.m.) wrap things up and prepare for a high-event game. The Oilers are 8-2-0 in their past 10 while the Canucks have won just twice, and their two previous meetings featured eight and seven goals, respectively. Expected starter Thatcher Demko is 0-2 with eight goals allowed in his career against the Oilers.
All fancy stats courtesy Natural Stat Trick.
GOALIES
Carey Price, MON at OTT ($8,600): I don't have a ton of trust in the Habs right now and it might be better just to avoid this matchup, especially with Price playing so poorly recently. The Habs should be the better team, they should have a good chance to win but there are better plays available…
Kevin Lankinen, CHI at CBJ ($7,500): The raw stats look good, but the Jackets' top line had an atrocious showing in their last game and the Blackhawks seem to be really gelling as a team. They provide good goal support with a solid first line and Lankinen remains one of the league's best so far with a .927 Sv%. The Jackets are 25th in Shots/GP, 19th in GF/GP and 30th in 5v5 CF%.
Mackenzie Blackwood, NJ vs. BUF ($7,100): I'm a big fan of House Blackwood, who sports a 2.16 GAA and .938 Sv% so far this season. The Sabres, meanwhile, blew a rare lead and scored just two goals on 36 shots, once again failing to generate quality offense and ranks 28th in GF/GP. Blackwood has never beat the Sabres, but he has a good chance this time around. The Devils will have a healthy lineup while the Sabres are playing the second half of a back-to-back and will use, ummm, Colin Miller on the top pairing.
VALUE PLAYS
Jack Hughes, NJ vs. BUF ($4,800): Hughes can extend his point streak to four games and a strong value play as a No. 1 center. He leads all Devils forwards with 19:46 TOI/GP, and the return of Nico Hischier might open the door for some better matchups for Hughes.
Josh Norris, OTT vs. MON ($4,400): The Sens are playing well relative to expectations, winning four of their past 10 games with Norris scoring a point in four of his past six games. The Habs defense might be better, but Price's play has been worrisome so far. The Sens have already had success against the Habs with all three meetings decided by just one goal. Drake Batherson ($3,900) is also a viable value play in this matchup.
Pius Suter, CHI at CBJ ($4,300): It's been a quiet stretch for Suter, but seems entrenched on the Hawks' top line. As long as he plays with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat, Suter will have a lot of upside as a value play.
Pavel Zacha, NJ vs. BUF ($3,800): His offense may never come, but Zacha's on a six-game point streak and having Hischier and Hughes in the lineup allows the Devils to move Zacha up the lineup. He played a season-high 20 minutes in his last game against the Sabres, a team that's thin on quality defense and goaltending.
LINE STACKS
Oilers at Canucks
Connor McDavid (C - $9,200), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (W - $6,500), Jesse Puljujarvi (W - $4,300)
McDavid has ripped up every team in the league, but none more so than the Canucks, against whom he's scored 31 points in 23 games, more than any other team in the league. The Canucks allow a lot of chances in transition and have always had trouble covering forwards with speed.
Canadiens at Senators
Phillip Danault (C - $3,700), Tyler Toffoli (W - $6,600), Brendan Gallagher (W - $7,000)
Head coach Claude Julien mixed up his lines and he's found a pretty effective one with Toffoli playing in Tomas Tatar's usual spot. Danault's line created a team-high 15 chances and doubled every other line's ice time at 5v5.
Devils vs. Sabres
Nico Hischier (C - $4,500), Jesper Bratt (W - $4,300), Pavel Zacha (W - $3,800)
Both Hischier and Bratt play on PP1 while Zacha plays PP2, and I've already mentioned how the Sabres are struggling. This is a value line stack that should get plenty of offensive opportunities.
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang, PIT at WSH ($6,000): It's been a good stretch of games for Letang, who scored two goals against the Islanders and now has six points in his past six games. When healthy, Letang does basically everything for the Pens; the only time this season he didn't managed to record a shot or blocked shot was Jan. 30 against the Rangers, when he played just five minutes before getting injured.
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. EDM ($5,600): I feel like I pick Hughes every time, but at least there's previous history. Hughes has scored seven points in six games against the Oilers, including three assists in two games this season.
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF at NJ ($4,300): This will be a very tough test for Dahlin, who now has to log a ton of minutes with the Sabres missing both Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe. Dahlin has notched two assists in his past three games and quarterbacks a talented power play that has scored in nine of their past 10 games.
