This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Thursday is packed to the gills with hockey action. While Wednesday had a mere two games on the schedule, there are 14 games Thursday. That means 28 teams are in action, including Ottawa and Vancouver, who are doing the back-to-back in one arena thing that is oh-so-trendy this season. Those two teams have had truly porous defenses and goaltending, so you can absolutely consider those players if you don't fear fatigue from back-to-back games. However, for this article all my specific recommendations are coming from teams I did not write about Wednesday. Here are the players to target, and to avoid.
GOALIE
Darcy Kuemper, ARI vs. ANA ($34): Kuemper has a 2.51 GAA and .913 save percentage, but a lot of that is owed to a five-goal lapse on the road against Vegas, which is understandable. Anaheim isn't going to threaten Kuemper and the Coyotes like that. The Ducks are last in goals per game this season (1.71) and last season they finished 29th.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Jacob Markstrom, CGY at MON ($30): Markstrom parlayed a career-best .918 save percentage into a nice contract with the Flames this offseason, and though his save percentage has dropped to .911 his GAA has also dropped from 2.75 to 2.63 because he's facing fewer shots. That may not be the case Thursday, as the Canadiens are scoring 4.89 goals per game on 35.7 shots on net per contest. If you don't believe in the sample size, the Habs averaged 34.1 shots on goal per game last season.
CENTER
Joe Pavelski, DAL vs. DET ($21): With Tyler Seguin out, Pavelski is the top center for the Stars, and he's been up to the task so far. The veteran center has eight points in a mere three games. Yes, seven of them have come on the power play, but the Wings had the league's worst penalty kill last year. These teams played Tuesday and Pavelski registered one helper. Needless to say, it came with the extra man.
CENTER TO AVOID
Brayden Point, TAM at CAR ($31): Point doesn't have Nikita Kucherov by his side, but he still has five points in the four games he's played so far. Of course, two of those games were against the Blackhawks. Even so, living up to this salary in a tricky matchup is going to be difficult from time to time for Point, and this could be one of those nights. The Hurricanes have only played three games, so I won't say too much about the fact they have a 2.00 GAA and have allowed a mere 22.7 shots on net per contest. However, I will say that the Canes gave up only 29.3 shots on net per game last season, second lowest in the NHL. I should also say that this game could potentially be postponed, though as of this writing it is still scheduled to happen.
WING
Mark Stone, VGK vs. STL ($28): Stone is off to a torrid start, as he's picked up nine assists to go with two goals in seven games. Ah, but you might look at his salary – and this matchup – and be skeptical. After all, last season the Blues had a 2.66 GAA and allowed only 29.6 shots on goal per game. To start this season, however, they have given up 36.6 shots on net per contest. Small-sample size? Perhaps, but the Blues did exchange Alex Pietrangelo for Torey Krug this offseason. I still think it's worth ponying up for Stone.
Pavel Buchnevich, NYR at BUF ($18): Buchnevich has notched five points in his first six games this season. While only one of those have come with the extra man, the Russian has averaged 2:44 on the power play, a new personal high. Meanwhile, the Sabres had the 30th-ranked penalty kill last year. Power-play time could pay off for Buchnevich, and for your DFS lineup.
WINGS TO AVOID
Jake Guentzel, PIT at BOS ($25): Fortunately, Guentzel is looking healthy after an impressive campaign last year (20 goals in 39 games) was cut short by injury. He has five points in seven games, and still skates on Pittsburgh's top line, but I don't want to mess with the Bruins when they are at home. Boston led the NHL with a 2.39 GAA last season, and it has a 2.50 GAA to start this season.
Timo Meier, SAN at COL ($17): Meier is off to a slow start to the season, shooting at a 4.3 percent clip. That will improve, but as he's struggled his ice time has dropped, and he's only averaged 15:03 minutes per game. Philipp Grubauer has never had a below-average season in the NHL in terms of save percentage, and this year thanks to his play (.919 save percentage) and the defense in front of him he has a 2.17 GAA.
DEFENSE
Morgan Rielly, TOR at EDM ($17): Rielly got off to a slow start, but over his last two games he's registered five assists. Last season, the Oilers had a 3.03 GAA even though they had the league's second-best penalty kill. I'm skeptical of them replicating that (they are middle of the pack to start this year), and Mikko Koskinen has had to make every start for the squad so far and has posted a 3.42 GAA with a .900 save percentage.
Rasmus Andersson, CGY at MON ($17): Quietly, the Flames seem to be shifting responsibility from Mark Giordano to Andersson. They are the top pair for the team at even strength, but Andersson is now on the top power-play unit. The Swede has averaged 4:22 per game with the extra man and has two power-play points in five games. Montreal had the 19th-ranked penalty kill last year and is down in the bottom five this season. The Habs also have a 3.56 GAA and .871 save percentage.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Dougie Hamilton, CAR vs. TAM ($24): Hamilton has barely gotten to play the year, so he's probably itching to go. However, he's running into the wall that is Andrei Vasilevskiy on Thursday (again, if the game happens). Vasilevskiy had a .917 save percentage last year in a season that was disappointing by his standards, but he killed it in the postseason and has a .920 save percentage to start this year.
Drew Doughty, LOS at MIN ($18): Doughty has started the season with four points through seven games, though on 14.3 percent shooting that is going to regress. Cam Talbot is out, but Kaapo Kahkonen has a 2.21 GAA and .918 save percentage through four games, and he had a .913 save percentage in limited action last year. Kahkonen will be helped if the Wild keep up their defensive stoutness, as they've only allowed 29.1 shots on net per game.
