DFS Tuesday: Leafs Looming Large; Goals in Buffalo; Tomas Hertl Against Arizona
Brad Hayward
2022-12-13
Last night's games were a fantasy-hockey dreamland for goalies, with five of the six games played having three or fewer goals scored. If my math skills haven't failed me, the combined save percentage for the 12 netminders was 0.945. Offensive kudos to Evgeni Malkin and Brayden Schenn, each scoring dramatic game-winners after 9-game scoring droughts.
With their win over Dallas, the Pittsburgh Penguins are now 11-1-1 through their past 13 contests, and have moved from playoff hopefuls, into second place in the Metropolitan Division. (Yes, Carolina has games in hand, for you purists.) The Pens have averaged 3.61 goals scored over that span and surrendered a miserly 2.08 goals against. In at least two of my fantasy leagues, though, Pittsburgh has only one player (Sidney Crosby) whose season rank is in the top-50. "By committee" sounds like a cliché, but the team has 13 skaters already with 10+ points. The Hurricanes and Penguins have two meetings before Christmas, so the Metro may look clearer at the break.
Daily fantasy for Tuesday (12 games tonight):
Could there be a bigger – on paper – mismatch than the Anaheim Ducks playing in Toronto? The Leafs are every bit as hot as Pittsburgh, 14-1-4 since November 1st, and with both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov playing their best, the team GAA is well under 2.3 for that stretch (Samsonov 1.00 for past 4 starts). The Ducks, well… 30th in team scoring, and a minus-53 goal differential. I'd go all-in. Play confirmed-starter Samsonov (DraftKings $8400), with at least four of Mitch Marner ($7000), John Tavares ($6700), William Nylander ($6600), Michael Bunting ($4200), and Rasmus Sandin ($4100). Never up, never in.
The other game that intrigues me offensively is Los Angeles at Buffalo. These are high-scoring and defensively challenged squads and shouldn't be left off your betting consideration this evening. If you skip Tavares from the list above, you can fit in Dylan Cozens ($5600), Owen Power ($3400), and Gabriel Vilardi ($5300) for what could be a shootout.
My personal play add is Tomas Hertl ($5400) as my second center.
Have a great day! @dokhockey