This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
Wednesday features a seven-game slate, but two of them — Stars at Panthers (5 p.m. EST) and Hurricanes at Lightning (5 p.m.) — make up an early-only contest, while the other five are part of the main slate. The Wild at Avalanche (9 p.m.) will be interesting to watch in a key West Division matchup; the Wild have won three straight while the Avs have won six of their past 10, and first and sixth place is separated by just five points.
GOALIES
Chris Driedger, FLA vs. DAL ($7,800): He's been one of the league's best stories this year and will start his fifth straight game after allowing just one goal on 25 shots last game. I don't expect the Panthers to dominate, but they were clearly the better team and have provided plenty of goal support. The Stars are 30th in 5v5 goals for.
Darcy Kuemper, ARI vs. ANH ($8,200): Kuemper allowed three goals last game, and it's unlikely that the league's worst offense will do that again. The Ducks have scored three or more goals just five times this season, and managed just three goals in two games against the Coyotes previously. The Ducks GF/GP is no longer last in the league, but it's still a paltry 1.89.
Carter Hart, PHI vs. NYR ($7,900): One thing Hart does really well is bounce back from bad games, and he had one of his worst games ever at Lake Tahoe. After allowing six goals against Boston in an earlier game this season, he bounced back with a solid win allowing just one goal against New Jersey. The Rangers will be without top forward Artemi Panarin, a big blow to an offense that already ranks 27th in GF/GP.
VALUE PLAYS
Alex Kerfoot, TOR vs. CGY ($4,700): With so many injuries, head coach Sheldon Keefe has had to juggle his lines, and one of them who's shown very well is Kerfoot. As a center, Kerfoot's line created eight chances and allowed zero, but the big bonus is that he also showed well on Auston Matthews' line. It doesn't seem like John Tavares is a great fit there, at least to start, so perhaps we'll see more of Kerfoot in that left-wing spot.
Martin Necas, CAR at TB ($4,300): Necas has four points in his past three games and has been held without a point just twice in February. He's been one of the Canes' best forwards this season with a 5v5 CF% that ranks fourth on the team, according to Natural Stat Trick, and there's definitely some movement back to the mean as his shooting percentage improves.
Jordan Kyrou, STL at LA ($4,400): You can't really trust the Blues lately, especially with the number of injuries they have, but Kyrou has been a bright spot all season. He finished with four shots against the Kings and ranks second on the team in goals. He's been a good fit on the top line with Ryan O'Reilly.
Jason Robertson, DAL at FLA ($3,300): He's riding a small heater with a five-game point streak after being held without a point in his first three games. His role has increased recently, and while it's anyone's guess which line the Stars' offense is going to come from, Robertson is slated to play with Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov, who are tied for second on the team in goals, and on PP2.
Gabriel Vilardi, LA at STL ($3,300): He's been a solid value play over the past week and gets a chance to extend his point streak to five games. Vilardi's part of the Kings' new young core and is getting plenty of opportunity to showcase his offensive skills on the second line and PP2.
LINE STACKS
Kings at Blues
Anze Kopitar (C - $7,400), Alex Iafallo (W - $4,900), Dustin Brown (W - $6,100)
We're running it back after Brown scored two goals last game. The Kings have a pretty balanced lineup, but the top line has scored 19 goals, which is about the same as the second and third lines combined. All three play on PP1, so that's the added bonus against a team that that has a very bad PK and missing key penalty killers.
Wild at Avalanche
Victor Rask (C - $4,500), Kirill Kaprizov (W - $4,800), Mats Zuccarello (W - $4,800)
This is a value play while this line runs hot because I'm not convinced Rask – who had close to no fantasy value last season – can keep this up. Zuccarello has returned and made a huge impact, including four points last game, though it's clearly an unsustainable pace. There's no denying they've been effective, combining for 14 points in their past two games. Note that Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala has been a good pairing recently, too.
Flyers vs. Rangers
Sean Couturier (C - $6,900), Joel Farabee (W - $5,100), James van Riemsdyk (W - $6,600)
This is probably the Flyers' only reliable line at the moment with Claude Giroux's status for tonight unknown. The trio has been one of the league's best recently, combining for eight points in their past two games.
DEFENSEMEN
Torey Krug, STL vs. LA ($5,300): With so many injuries, Krug has been forced to play a lot. His point production may be modest, but no doubt he's playing a huge role and ranks second among Blues defensemen in shots (41), trailing only defensive partner Justin Faulk (50). Last game was just the first time all season Krug was held without a shot.
Mikhail Sergachev, TB vs. CAR ($4,700): Sergachev's 12 assists ranks fifth in the league, and though he has yet to score a goal, the feeling is that he's probably due at some point. He's the highest-scoring defenseman without a goal, and based on Natural Stat Trick's individual expected goals (ixG), he should've scored at least one already.
Rasmus Andersson, CGY at TOR ($4,500): Andersson notched two assists and two shots last game and has not relinquished his role as the top quarterback on the power play. The Leafs are undermanned on defense and I don't expect Michael Hutchinson to get another shutout.
Jake Bean, CAR at TB ($3,800): He should dress, considering how well he's been playing: five apples in five games, and a career-high seven shots on goal in just 15 minutes of play last game. Bean's known for his offense and it's a good fit on Carolina where they like to play fast. Bean's 64.66 5v5 CF/60, according to Natural Stat Trick, trails only Dougie Hamilton among Canes defensemen.
Travis Dermott, TOR vs. CGY ($3,600): Dermott's been used sparingly but will play on the second pair with Justin Holl, which means his minutes will surely increase. Moving the puck up the ice has always been one of his strengths and hopefully he can take part in the league's third-best offense by GF/GP.
