This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
I hope you enjoyed a fun weekend of March Madness, but Monday is here and your attention can fully return to the NHL. It was actually a busy weekend on the hockey front as well, but we have four games on the schedule for Monday. The first pucks drop at 7:30 p.m. ET, so you have a bit of extra time to get your lineups in. Here are my DFS recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
No team is on the second night of a back-to-back Sunday. Two teams are on the first leg, and that is notable with the Wild. However, my expectation is that Filip Gustavsson will start Monday at the Stars and let Marc-Andre Fleury face his former team, the Golden Knights, on Tuesday.
GOALIES
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. MIN ($8,200): When I was looking at Oettinger's erratic recent performance, I did note that his off nights did appear to be largely happening on the road. This prompted a larger-scale look from me and, indeed, Otter has some notable splits. In away outings he has a 3.04 GAA and .893 save percentage, while in Dallas he has a 2.19 GAA and .917 save percentage. The lack of Kirill Kaprizov has really cramped the style of the Wild offense. They are down to 2.74 goals and 27.2 shots on net per game, both in the bottom 10.
Jacob Markstrom, NJD vs. VAN ($7,800): Markstrom has really struggled since returning from injury, but finding a second goalie I found worth considering was tricky. At least Markstrom has one thing going for him. The Canucks have managed a mere 25.4 shots on net per game, and the Devils have allowed only 26.6 shots on goal per contest. Maybe Markstrom will be in for a light day of work, which could pave the way for something along the lines of a 3-2 win where his own performance is iffy but the DFS numbers still pan out.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Wyatt Johnston, DAL vs. MIN ($7,200): Johnston may be playing third-line center as of late, but he still has 17 points in his last 15 games. That's largely because he has 10 points with the extra man in that time owing to his role on the first power-play unit for Dallas. This is a role that leads to a good amount of ice time playing with elite offensive performers in situations conducive to success. Even if Gustavsson, and not Fleury, is in net for the Wild, this is the area in which Dallas can succeed. Minnesota ranks 31st on the penalty kill.
Simon Holmstrom, NYI vs. CLM ($5,000): Holmstrom's role has increased step by step since debuting with the Islanders two seasons ago, and now he finds himself on the top line and the first power-play unit. He's on a four-game point streak that has lifted him to 17 goals and 21 assists through 62 contests. In terms of the simple act of allowing pucks into your net, the Blue Jackets are pretty clearly the worst team in action Monday. They have a 3.32 GAA, bottom six in the NHL.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Hockey Club vs. Red Wings
Logan Cooley (C - $5,500), Clayton Keller (W - $6,900), Nick Schmaltz (W - $5,600)
I feel like I often find myself enticed by the possibility of stacking Utah's top line, but it has proven fruitful, so why eschew this trio? Just for the sake of variety? As I mentioned, the Wild have the 31st-ranked penalty kill. Minnesota has killed 71.8 percent of penalties faced. Well, Detroit is last. It has killed a mere 69.0 percent of penalties faced. If the Wings finish below the 70-percent mark, that would be remarkably bad. These three Hockey Clubbers don't merely skate together at even strength. They also play together on the number-one power-play unit.
Cooley doesn't have a power-play point since returning from his injury, but he still has 16 points with the extra man on the year. Plus, he is on a four-game point streak and just had two goals and an assist against Tampa. Keller is one of the best forwards in the NHL at setting teammates up on the power play. He has 24 assists with the extra man to go with seven power-play goals. In general Keller doesn't shy from shooting, though, having put 186 shots on net through 69 games. It's safe to say Schmaltz has fully put his poor puck luck behind him, given that he has six goals in his last 11 contests. He's not merely looking to light the lamp, though, as he has 10 assists in his last 14 games for good measure.
DEFENSEMEN
Noah Dobson, NYI vs. CLM ($7,000): Dobson's failed to replicate his performance from last season in some ways, but not in other ways. Sure, he has 34 points in 58 games after having 70 in 79 last year, but his 174 shots on net is exactly equal to the number he had last season. Dobson is also on a four-game point streak, and that includes a three-game streak with multiple points. The Blue Jackets are in the bottom eight in GAA, shots on net allowed per game, and penalty-kill percentage, so this matchup certainly benefits Dobson.
Mikhail Sergachev, UTA vs. DET ($5,600): Speaking of the Utah power play, but really more the Detroit penalty kill, Sergachev was placed on the point for Utah basically the second the team acquired him. The Russian has averaged 3:16 per game with the extra man this year and tallied 19 power-play points. While he's done a lot of his damage with the man advantage, that's not all he does. Recently he had a two-goal game that featured him scoring shorthanded, so clearly the Hockey Club trusts Sergachev with a lot of ice time.
