It's a business-as-usual Monday, and in the world of the NHL that means five games on the slate. The first starts at 7 p.m. EST. No more afternoon games on a weekday for a while! Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations.
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SLATE PREVIEW
There are no teams on the second leg of a back-to-back. Two teams are on the first leg, but Philipp Grubauer has had a rebound season in Seattle and Lukas Dostal has fallen off a cliff in Anaheim, so I don't see either team's goaltending decision making a difference.
GOALIES
Dustin Wolf, CGY vs. SEA ($8,100): I've been noting Wolf's home/road splits a lot of late, but guess what? I'm doing it again! Wolf has been bad on the road, but through 17 home games he has a 2.06 GAA and .927 save percentage. Frankly, even his overall .900 save percentage would suffice for me in this matchup. Seattle has managed a mere 2.62 goals and 26.0 shots on net per game.
Karel Vejmelka, UTA at NYR ($7,500): The Vezina-winning goalie in this matchup may be at home, but this is a case where a team with a strong defense is playing a team with a bad offense, and the former is the road squad. The Mammoth have allowed a mere 25.2 shots on net per game, and they have a top-10 penalty kill for good measure. Meanwhile, the Rangers have produced 2.60 goals and 25.7 shots on goal per contest. Only the Blues have a worse offense. Vejmelka hasn't been great, but he doesn't have to be here to return value.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Alex DeBrincat, DET at OTT ($7,300): DeBrincat had poor puck luck to start the season, so the fact he's now up to 22 goals through 43 games is remarkable. He's been helped by the fact he's tallied 10 goals with the extra man. To that end, the Senators have the 31st-ranked penalty kill, so DeBrincat may light the lamp against his former team.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Capitals vs. Ducks
Dylan Strome (C - $5,800), Alex Ovechkin (C - $6,800), Aliaksei Protas (W - $5,100)
Protas was a surprise late scratch Saturday, but the fact it was a surprise does make it more likely his lower-body issue isn't a big deal. Also, if he doesn't play, Anthony Beauvillier (W - $3,700) will likely stick on this line, and he had an assist Saturday with Protas out. Either way, the Ducks have allowed the league's highest GAA and have a bottom-five penalty kill. That's why I want a Washington line, and why I am willing to keep an eye on who is healthy for the Caps. On that front, the reason I didn't simply just opt for the second line is that Tom Wilson is also banged up, so that picture is no clearer.
Strome has 33 points in 40 games, but his recent play indicates he's looking to be a point-a-game player for the second season in a row. He's tallied 10 points in his last eight outings, three coming on the power play. Ovechkin is still able to pepper the net with pucks, as he has 111 shots on target through 42 games. Plus, unsurprisingly, he plays a ton of his minutes on the power play these days. The NHL's all-time goal scorer has averaged 4:18 per game with the extra man. Hopefully Protas is healthy, because he had 11 points in the eight games prior to sitting out Saturday. Impressively, he's managed to notch 97 points over the last two seasons with only two of those coming on the power play. That's quality even-strength production.
DEFENSEMEN
Rasmus Andersson, CGY vs. SEA ($5,700): Andersson has a goal in each of his last two games. On top of that, while Calgary's power play hasn't exactly been aflame (cough) this season, he has nine points with the extra man. That's good in this matchup. Earlier I mentioned the Senators have the league's 31st-ranked penalty kill. Well, the one team below them is the Kraken.
Rasmus Sandin, WAS vs. ANA ($3,000): This is not about recommending two guys named Rasmus, though that is fun. I figured I'd try to save some salary on a defenseman given that the opponent is a team far from home with a 3.56 GAA. That's despite Dostal's strong play earlier in the season. Since returning from injury, he has a 4.13 GAA in nine appearances. Sandin has six points in his last 11 games, but he's also a plus-8 on the season through 36 contests. He's had 30 points twice in his career, so he's a solid roll of the dice to get on the scoresheet when it comes to blueliners that won't stress your salary cap.
