This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a seven-game slate Tuesday, starting with the second half of a back-to-back for the Bruins at Penguins (7 p.m. EDT). Note the Capitals, Sabres and Lightning are also playing back-to-back, and the Hurricanes and Islanders are putting their winning streaks on the line.
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer, COL vs. ANH ($8,500): Look for Grubauer to make his fifth straight start and his fourth against the Ducks. Not much thought has to be put into this one; Grubauer has a .925 Sv% and 1.97 GAA against them and the Ducks have scored two goals in their past three games.
James Reimer, CAR at DET ($8,300): There's obviously a good chance the Canes can extend their winning streak to nine games facing the Red Wings, who have scored only 64 goals this season and rank 28th in the league. Reimer has won four straight starts and this is the first time he's facing the Wings.
Cam Talbot, MIN vs. ARI ($8,000): It's hard to pry Talbot away from the net with just one goal allowed in his past two games, both against the Coyotes. Offense has become a huge issue for them lately, scoring just two goals in their past three games.
Casey DeSmith, PIT vs. BOS ($7,900): The Bruins are expected to start Daniel Vladar, and DeSmith has been a capable backup for most of the season. He's allowed just eight goals in his past five games and won three of them, one of which came against the powerhouse Isles. Boston's offense has completely dried up recently, getting shut out twice in four games and losing four of their past six. The Pens have a ton of momentum with the third-longest active winning streak, including last night's 4-1 win.
Mackenzie Blackwood, NJ vs. BUF ($6,700): I'm kind of scratching my head on this one because the Sabres' goalies have a higher salary. The Sabres can't keep losing forever and they lead the season series 3-1-1 while the Devils have won just once in 10 games, but the Sabres are also missing key players and will likely be starting third-string Jonas Johansson in net. Most will avoid this matchup between two struggling teams, but I like the value play for Blackwood.
VALUE PLAYS
Travis Zajac, NJ vs. BUF ($3,600): He's played at least 18 minutes in each of his past three games and recently just had his three-game point streak snapped. However, he's being used in a hard matchup role and will likely dominate the dot – which may lead to scoring chances – against the Sabres, who have little depth at center and suffer from poor defense and goaltending.
Janne Kuokkanen, NJ vs. BUF ($3,600): That's now a goal in four straight games for Kuokkanen, who has been ruthlessly efficient despite putting just six shots on goal during that span. His hot hand is likely just a flash in the pan, but he's been hard to ignore and the Sabres are a vulnerable opponent.
Evan Rodrigues, PIT vs. BOS ($3,100): Evgeni Malkin is on an eight-game point streak and that generally bodes well for Rodrigues, who isn't afraid to shoot the puck and scored yesterday. There's some value added with Rodrigues playing on PP2.
Kieffer Bellows, NYI at WSH ($3,000): Three goals in two games means Bellows will likely stick on the top line, even if those goals came against the Devils. This will be a much tougher matchup for Bellows, but as long as he stays on Mathew Barzal's wing and gets time on the power play, he's generally a good value play because he's not afraid to shoot and has some finish around the net.
LINE STACKS
Hurricanes at Red Wings
Sebastian Aho (C - $7,300), Martin Necas (W - $4,500), Nino Niederreiter (W - $5,200)
He was quiet for most of the season but El Nino has picked it up with three goals in his past five games. The trio's shooting efficiency is through the roof and they're outperforming expectations, but the Wings defense and goaltending hasn't posed much of a challenge to anybody this season.
Wild vs. Coyotes
Victor Rask (C - $4,200), Kirill Kaprizov (W - $6,300), Mats Zuccarello (W - $5,400)
The dynamic duo of Kaprizov and Zuccarello basically is the Minnesota offense, and while I have complained about Rask being on this line ad nauseum, at least his low salary keeps this line stack from taking up too much space. The two wingers have combined for eight points against the Yotes over the past two games.
DEFENSEMEN
Dougie Hamilton, CAR at DET ($6,100): Hamilton's on an eight-game point streak and managed to score a shorthanded goal against the Wings last game. He has four points and nine shots in four games against them this season and should be one of the more popular picks with both Victor Hedman and John Carlson facing tougher matchups.
Matt Dumba, MIN vs. ARI ($4,700): He seems to always play well against the Coyotes, adding a helper in each of their past two games against them. Few on the Minnesota blue line are capable of generating offense like Dumba.
Matt Grzelcyk, BOS at PIT ($3,900): He scored a goal and had a team-high eight shots on goal last night, an encouraging performance considering the injuries he's had to battle through this season. We should expect more of the same as long as he quarterbacks the power play; the Pens PK ranks 23rd in the league.
