SLATE PREVIEW
There are five games on the NHL slate Friday. Montreal plays in Ottawa, Detroit travels to Tampa Bay, New Jersey hosts Pittsburgh, San Jose heads to Edmonton and Calgary welcomes Minnesota. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
GOALIES
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB vs. DET ($8,200): Vasilevskiy is having a great comeback season going 37-20-4 with six shutouts, a 2.17 GAA and .921 save percentage. He has been sensational versus Detroit this year as he's only allowed five goals on 108 shots.
Jacob Markstrom, NJ vs. PIT ($8,300): Markstrom will look to rebound after allowing seven goals on 23 shots Tuesday versus Boston. He had won four straight prior to that and is 26-15-6 with four shutouts.
VALUE PLAYS
Dawson Mercer, NJ vs. PIT ($4,900): Mercer is having a similar campaign to last season as he's tallied 17 goals and 15 assists. He's also centering the second line with Timo Meier and Erik Haula while on the top power play.
Anthony Cirelli, TB vs. DET ($4,800): Cirelli is enjoying a career year with 28 goals and 26 assists. He had only one assist in six games before picking up another one alongside five shots against the Leafs on Wednesday.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Oilers vs. Sharks
Connor McDavid (C - $8,800), Connor Brown (W - $3,100), Jeff Skinner (W - $5,200)
McDavid returned to action Wednesday after missing eight games and went off for three assists. He now has four matchups left to hit the 100-point mark for the eighth time. He lined up with Skinner and Brown as the Oilers have multiple injured forwards. Brown potted a pair of goals on Wednesday while Skinner has produced two goals and two assists from his last six.
DEFENSEMEN
Jake Sanderson, OTT vs. MON ($6,400): Sanderson has registered six points from his last seven games and has done well on the power play overall with 28 PPPs. He's also set career-highs in goals (11), assists (43), shots on goal (183) and blocked shots (160).
Luke Hughes, NJ vs. PIT ($5,000): Hughes saw his four-game scoring streak come to an end on Tuesday that consisted of a goal and six assists. He's at 42 points on the season while quarterbacking the lead man-advantage as Dougie Hamilton is still sidelined with a lower-body issue.
