Defend This

Erik Karlsson–Marc Methot (Ottawa) – Erik Karlsson had a nice three-point week for Ottawa and Marc Methot provides the perfect complement (shot blocker, better at defensive end, etc.). Karlsson is allowed to be a little more free-flowing as he does play in all situations. Keep in mind that the Senators do not play until Thursday this week so that should be in your considerations. How often is the Swedish defenseman going to score three goals a week? Exactly! However, expect a pretty solid week if you can be patient.

John Klingberg-Alex Goligoski (Dallas) – If they have faced a tough matchup, it does not seem to faze them. They had three points combined in the shortened week but their chemistry has to be noted. People can look them up even in daily fantasy as their value is in the middle class of defensemen and that is not too bad to take. Their power play frequency will increase this week but they do open up in Montreal so some may tread carefully. Either way, it is a pairing to keep an eye on in the second half. They may surprise again!

Kevin Connauton–James Wisniewski (Columbus) – With Sergei Bobrovsky out long term, Columbus is in almost as big of a mess as they were earlier in the year. The defense is going to have to score because the defense is inconsistent to questionable. When options just keep dwindling, at least they should be the go to top pairing on the power play which features Ryan Johansen and Nick Foligno for starters. That should perk up some fantasy owners that are on the fence. Yes, plus/minus will be a risk but there are always ways to combat that. Power-play points and points period is what they can and need to produce. They are a pretty good start especially since most will not think to look at Columbus much at this point.

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As always you can follow me @ChrisWasselTHW and thanks for reading. See you next week with four more line combination and three pairings for "Between The Lines".