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NHL Advice – Matchups and Focal Points
STL v TOR – STL comes off it’s bye week, and for most teams we see flatness. There is honestly no real strength or weakness to this Blues club outside watching if we get a start by Jake Allen or Carter Hutton. Allen was brutal over his last handful of games and definitely gives me a little more confidence in TOR skaters until he proves he has sorted out his mental issues. This time last year, we heard the term “domed up” from Ken Hitchcock (then coach), and we seem to be getting a repeat early in 2018. I do, however, like TOR1 regardless of goalie. One of the hotter lines rolling right now across the league, and you might get some sneak to them should people fail to jump on STL coming off the bye. If there is a liability to the Leafs it’s both TOR2 and TOR3, which have proven very leaky. I just don’t know STL can take advantage.
Let me add that NHL DFS is a very volatile sport. Grab the right mindset with Handling Variance.
PHI v NYR – PHI1 and top D1 paired tonight will get a lot of my play. Giroux and Coutrier still pump in assists like no one’s business. Watch the Gostisbehere news today, as he’s scheduled to play tonight. While he’s great, a lot of people will be overplaying his partner, Ivan Provorov. Not the worst play, however, because Provorov has been on a tear. Over his last 8, 49 SOG + BS, 4 G, 4 A, and 188 minutes for $5400. The NYR liability is everything associated with it’s top lines. NYR1, D1, and D2 are all having defensive issues. I look for PHI to be a very chalky play tonight. That said, PHI1 has its own defensive leaks and it wouldn’t shock the pants off me to see NYR net one or two against them. NYR1/NYR2 would be more of a dart throw, though, best saved for larger GPPs.
NJD v NYI – Certainly by now we realize how poor NYI is defensively. NYI1, NYI2, and NYI4 are all just handing out goals like Halloween candy right now. You can target any NJD line, but I do prefer NJD1 in cash games. Hall, Hischier, Palmieri, and Vantanen are your big focal points. But, don’t sleep on Drew Stafford (NYD2/PP1) for cheap access to Hall, Palmieri, and Vantanen with some added correlation. In cash, using Stafford also gains more access to the NYI2 and NYI4 lines, with the NYI4 being by far the leakiest. Did I fail to mention NYI is on the back end of a B2B? Hmmmm. When it comes to NYI’s offense tonight, it’s a bit tougher to pin down. NJD2 is the leaky spot, but it’s hard to know where the Isles will try to matchup with home ice advantage. NYI2 has been the more complete line lately with Barzal, Beauvillier, and Eberle. We might see some “hot hand” action. Of course, that will be the chalk, too. NYI1 might actually be the matchup spot and it might also be a bit lower owned than usual.
Tune into our Slack Channels through the day where we will undoubtedly discuss this very topic!
DAL v DET – Dallas also rides in on a B2B tonight, but can Detroit take advantage? There are so many holes in both defenses, we might see a shootout. For DAL, the D1 and D2 are on fire. Sure, DAL1 has the talent, but it’s the defensemen driving the scoring right now. DET2 and DET3 are really giving goals, too. This is an easy spot to pick off Klingberg as a one-off. The others are going to be a bit of a gamble. I don’t see much on DET I’d like to target offensively, but that’s not to say I should fade them. DAL3 is a hole in the bucket allowing more water out than can come in, and the D pairs may be driving the offense, but they also aren’t getting back on defense. So, if DET can open up the ice, we might just see those fireworks. Worth GPP consideration for sure.
VGK v NSH – I can’t say enough about Vegas this year. That top line is matchup proof. Add in either defensive pair and you have nearly unlimited stacking possibilities. VGK1 is an easy stack and, for cash, you might just pair them with Shea Theodore. For GPPs, you might run down to Schmidt or Miller, but I might even prefer the cheaper Engelland. Engelland has a pretty hard floor of 5 points with upside into the 12-15 range for $3600. People might shy away because he doesn’t serve any PP time with the big boys. NSH2 is in a great spot tonight, and also running hot. They get a porous VGK2. Even if they don’t matchup directly, that 2nd NSH line will also draw Vegas’ D1 at points tonight too…..another weak link.
SJS v ARI – Our last game tonight sees San Jose on another back end of a B2B. While the D1 is playing well (thanks to continued run from Brent Burns), both defensive pairs from ARI are on the ice for an awful lot of goals. This might bring some scoring lines of SJ into play, but I think I’m heading a different direction. SJS3 and their offensive minded D1 are bad, too, but I don’t see anything tempting about ARI skaters tonight, personally. I know a lot of people love running Coyotes at home, but I just don’t see it tonight. And, yes, you can remind me of that on Twitter if ARI scores 8 goals.
If you like hockey, but got a little lost, catch up with the DFS NHL Strategy Guide.
NHL Strategy – Overtime
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