It’s been a long week off and I’m sure everybody can’t wait to get back to the grind. There is a $12 FHWC qualifier on DraftKings and some huge GPP’s tonight so make sure you go check them all out and get in on the action. The slate is huge so there are ton of players in play. The Penguins are reeling from injuries so it’s a good idea to either hop on the cheap Pens all playing top time tonight, but they have a tough match up, or go with the Jets because they have a solid chance at an upset. Make sure you look up the projected lines at places like Rotogrinders, Left Wing Lock, and Daily Faceoff and follow the teams beat writers on twitter so you are stacking players who will pair up for points together. I like to look at the NHL Fantasy Stats website as well to see who the top point pairs are on teams to know who is really laying off the puck to who. Good Luck tonight grinders!
Goalie
Jonas Hiller vs Sabres – Can you remember the last time Buffalo won a game? It hasn’t happen since the new year and I expect tonight to be no different. The Flames have a pretty good offense that has been playing well as of late and should make it easy for Hiller to get a win and possibly give up a goal or less. Price is very affordable all over and with his inconsistency this year and the expectation of high ownership may sway the masses. The Ortio experiment was fun while it lasted but Hiller gets back in the crease tonight against the dream opponent of all opponents to get you stuff back together. Hiller can be totally lights out and will give you the salary to spend up in other places.
Consideration: Devan Dubnyk vs Oilers, Roberto Luongo vs Red Wings
Center
Brayden Schenn vs Coyotes – Going back to the well a few times again and Schenn is no different. The Flyers will be given many opportunities to score on Arizona and Schenn is still skating with the top scoring line par in the NHL. If Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek go off Schenn is usually there to go off with them. His price doesn’t rise too much and pairing him with one of the two is always a good way to save a bit and get good exposure to a high scoring line. He has hooked up with Voracek more then Giroux as a point pair.
Sean Monahan vs Sabres – Everybody is going to want to pick on the Sabres and you should, for good reason. After a goal drought that seemed to last forever, Monahan has scored has found the back of the net in the last four games and has launched 12 shots at the net in the process. He gets the top PP time and even though Calgary has mixed their lines up a bit Monahan is still center with the best opportunity tonight. Go after the Sabres and be confident you’ll have a great chance at fantasy gold.
Consideration: Tomas Plekanic vs Stars, Bryan Little vs Penguins
Winger
Andre Burakovsky vs Blue Jackets – Still skating on the top line with Overchkin and Backstrom and getting some PP time on the 2nd PP unit, Burakovsky is still super cheap across the industry and in anther great spot. It looks like The Blue Jackets best goalie Bobrovsky is out for a while the not so good replacement Curtis McElhinny is in. He scored a goal and grabbed to assists in the last two games where the match up was just as good. This line as a stack took down last weeks big GPP and qualifier and I don’t see a reason they can’t preform at this level again tonight. Going to keep going to the well until it dries up.
Thomas Vanek vs Oilers – Heading in to the break, Vanek had a 6 shot, 1 goal and 1 assist effort against the Red Wings. This team has been pretty inconsistent but not as inconsistent as the Oiler goalie situation. The Wild seemed to be coming together a bit heading into the break and has an opportunity to get a road victory against a team giving up more than 3 goals per game and one of the lowest on the PK.
Flip Forsberg vs Avalanche – Colorado allows a lot of shots on goal and Forsberg should get a few extra chances. The rookie has cooled off a bit since the hot start to the season but the Preds were rolling into the break and with James Neal back out there and Ribeiro playing the assist machine, they should play pretty well against Colorado at home. Without Rinne in net they are going to have to create more scoring chances as the Preds are without the great wall of goalie that is Pekka Rinne.
Consideration: Alex Overchkin vs Blue Jackets, Taylor Hall vs Wild
Defense
Michael Del Zotto vs Coyotes – Del Zotto took a three game point streak into the break collecting three assists and a goal. He has played well in January and has been given more ice time and a bit of a PP time rub. These teams have really shaky goal-tending and this game could get out of hand. Mark Streit is still a fine option and will most likely be higher owned and Del Zotto had played just as well up to the break. I think it is a good night to pay up for defense as top scoring defenders are always expensive, but Del Zotto should give you some relief to go find your stud defender.
Consideration: Kyle Quicey vs Pathers, Yandle/Ekman-Larsson vs Flyers
Stacks
The Calgary Flames top PP unit vs the worst in the league a everything Buffalo Sabres – Don’t over think it, get exposure to a few of these guys.
The Coyotes vs Flyers – Don’t take a goalie from this game, take all the PP players from both teams. Both are bottom 5 in the league on the PK and some of these guys are ridiculously cheap.
The Rangers vs Islanders – Vegas has the Islanders wining but it’s hard to tell where this game is going, but if there is a stat to take advantage of its the Islanders PK. Not sure how they will be owned but you should have some contrarian exposure to the Rangers top PP.
