This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a light five-game slate as the East and Central Division take a break, so no teams are playing back-to-back tonight. Based on FanDuel's Sportsbook, three teams who staged upset wins last game are once again the underdogs: the Wild (+108), Coyotes (+168) and the Canucks (+130). The Wild and Coyotes are facing teams missing key players due to injury, while the Canucks' goaltending has carried them to three straight wins.
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer, COL vs. ARI ($8,300): I like the odds of Grubauer turning in a good performance, but I'm much less sure about the Avs' offense. It took just 14 shots for the Coyotes to win last time and Grubauer certainly isn't as consistently stellar as he was at the beginning of the season, but the Avs are the better team, and Antti Raanta, who will likely be at the other end of the ice, has struggled for most of the season.
Kaapo Kahkonen, MIN vs. VGK ($7,500): The struggle is real for the Knights in Minnesota. After Monday's 2-0 loss, the Knights are now 1-4-0 with just six goals scored in five games at the Xcel Energy Center. It's still early stages in the Knights' history, and Minnesota isn't the only road destination they've struggled to win, but also consider that Kahkonen has won seven straight games and kept his opponents to two goals or less six times. The Knights offense is definitely less potent if Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo miss another game. We'll ride Kahkonen's hot streak until it ends, and at this salary, it's a value play, anyway.
Thatcher Demko, VAN vs. MON ($7,000): Demko's a very good value play because he's been brilliant over the past four games, all of them wins. The Habs are favored and the Canucks get outshot fairly often, so even with the loss it may give Demko a chance to rack up the saves. He's faced 30 or more in four of his past five games, which already equates to 24 fantasy points. The main challenge for Demko in this game is to outduel Carey Price ($7,700), who is also a good pick considering his career numbers against Vancouver (15-2-5, .931 Sv%) and his recent performances (3 GA in 3 GP) in what could be a low-scoring affair.
VALUE PLAYS
Valeri Nichushkin, COL vs. ARI ($3,400): Nichushkin's worth picking as long as he gets the requisite ice time; he's played at least 15 minutes in each of his past three games with the Avs dealing with injuries to multiple key players. He's scored four points and 13 shots during that span.
Nils Höglander, VAN vs. MON ($3,600): With news that Elias Pettersson is likely out for another week, look for Höglander to keep getting top-six minutes with time on PP2. He's scored two goals in his past five games with 10 shots on goal, and seems to have some good chemistry with both J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, the team's top two scorers.
LINE STACKS
Avalanche vs. Coyotes
Mikko Rantanen (W - $8,300), Valeri Nichushkin ($3,400), Gabriel Landeskog ($6,400)
In typical Colorado fashion, they loaded up on their top line, and though it was weird to see Rantanen play center, he was very effective, winning 58 percent of his faceoffs. This line generated 18 changes in 12:55 of 5v5 play, according to Natural Stat Trick, in a game where the Avs dominated possession. The one drawback is that Nichushkin doesn't play PP1, but he's a good value play on his own regardless.
Oilers vs. Senators
Connor McDavid (C - $8,800), Leon Draisaitl (W - $7,900), Kailer Yamamoto (W - $4,700)
The Oilers are a one-line team... again. In a desperate move to win, Draisaitl moved back to McDavid's wing and the trio combined for two goals and two assists. There's no reason to think the Sens can keep this line in check.
Senators at Oilers
Josh Norris (C - $4,100), Tim Stützle (W - $4,400), Drake Batherson (W - $4,700)
Both Norris and Colin White ($4,500) spent time with this line, and there's not much separating the two at the moment, but Norris gets the slight edge because his salary is lower. What you really want is the Stützle-Batherson combo, anyway. Stützle scored a goal on five shots last game against a team that has a thin blue line and unreliable goaltending, making this a potential value line stack.
DEFENSEMEN
Thomas Chabot, OTT at EDM ($5,500): Another two helpers against the Oilers last game gave Chabot 16 helpers on the season and 10 in his past eight games. He's reliable because he plays such a big role for the Sens, and with Pietrangelo and Cale Makar unavailable and Shea Theodore in a scoring drought, Chabot is one of the better options among elite defensemen tonight.
Samuel Girard, COL vs. ARI ($5,300): He gets to quarterback the power play with Makar out of the lineup and he's done an excellent job so far with 18 points on the season. The Coyotes rank 11th in most penalties taken with 97 in 25 games and gave up four power-play opportunities last game.
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. MON ($5,000): It was an interesting game for Hughes; he logged 30 minutes, including 4:02 in the five-minute overtime, but finished with just one assist and two shots. Part of the reason for his low-event performance was Price, who was brilliant, but also because he hung on to the puck a lot without doing much with it. Regardless, Hughes plays a big role for the Canucks' transition game and ranks third in scoring among defensemen.
Jakob Chychrun, ARI at COL ($4,500): He scored in consecutive games for the second time this season and currently ranks second in FPPG with 13.67, trailing only Jeff Petry. Even when Chychrun doesn't score, he's a good source of shots and blocked shots. He's been running PP1 while Oliver Ekman-Larsson was moved to PP2.
