Special Edition of the article this week with a DFS Friday on tap as 26 teams were scheduled for action in the last night before the league pauses for a holiday break. We've since lost two of those games as of this writing because of weather concerns, but that still leaves us with a more than suitable 11 game slate. Lots to sift through here so be sure to give our tools at DFS Central a look to help point you in the right direction with your lineups.

Before diving into my plays for the night I'd like to take a quick moment to wish the rest of the Dobber Hockey staff and anyone reading this article a very Happy Holidays. I hope Santa is good to you all and if the big guy sees this, I wouldn't mind him stuffing a first-place tournament lineup into my stocking tonight! If that's going to happen it'll likely include some of the plays below. The player prices are from DraftKings, but the information and concepts can be applied to any site.

Top-Tier Stack to Pay Up For

I'm not faulting anyone who goes with the top line from Edmonton in this spot, but their prices have gotten so out of control now you truly need about 30 DraftKings points per night, per player to have a chance – and that's difficult to count on even from someone like Connor McDavid ($9,700). For tonight, I'll take my chances with Dallas who are a bit more affordable which allows me to fill out a more solid lineup around the stack. Jason Robertson ($8,600) gets the McDavid-like pricing, but his linemates of Roope Hintz ($7,100) and Joe Pavelski ($6,200) give us a little more wiggle room in salary. I'd consider trying to squeeze Miro Heiskanen ($5,500) onto this stack as well. This quartet of players have been quiet of late by their lofty standards but that still means four goals and 11 assists over the last five games. I'm expecting a big night for the Stars with a quality matchup against a Canadiens team that's bottom ten in both shots and goals allowed. 

Mid-Tier Stack to Target

The Kings are a team that might not be looking forward to the mini-break as they entered their matchup Thursday on a three-game winning streak and find themselves sitting in second in the Pacific Division. The matchup tonight against the Coyotes is one they should be able to continue their winning ways with. Most recently the top line for Los Angeles has returned to what we saw for the majority of the time early on in the season which is Kevin Fiala ($6,300) and Adrian Kempe ($4,800) centered by Anze Kopitar ($5,700). A bonus with this line is the trio also all skate together on the power play which gives us the full correlation we hold so highly in daily fantasy. It's a good bet if the Kings are to put a few goals in the back of the net that this line should be involved. Also consider Drew Doughty ($5,000) who's averaged 12 DraftKings points per game over his last five games entering Thursday and is priced under the majority of other top power play defenseman.

Cheap Stack to Build Around

The Calgary Flames get the best matchup on the slate against a Ducks team that leads the league in shots allowed, scoring chances allowed, high danger chances allowed, and goals allowed. So, you may be picking up why it's a good idea to stack against them. While most will gravitate towards the top two lines here, and those are very fine plays in their own right, I like taking a few stabs tonight on some pieces from the third line of Mikael Backlund ($4,900), Andrew Mangiapane ($3,800), and Blake Coleman ($3,100). That allows you to fit in some of the more high-powered stacks above but still provides you access to a quality matchup. In their 12 minutes of ice time together on Tuesday the above trio managed 18 shot attempts, nine of which got on net, and had an 86% Corsi percentage which tells you they dominated control of the puck when they were out there. They weren't able to turn that into a goal but if they can maintain that level of play, the expectation is that a few will soon follow.

Goalies

I typically like to correlate my goalie in my lineups with one of my stacks, but if you're looking for a value standalone option, I'd consider Connor Hellebuyck ($7,700). Hellebuyck has averaged the most DraftKings points between all the goalies available on this slate, yet he is priced as the ninth-most expensive. He also catches a Washington team on a back-to-back. (For confirmed starting goalie information, head over to Goalie Post.)

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @SteveDotzel so you can follow my "DFS-NHL" list which is comprised of dozens of team accounts and beat writers providing important updates throughout the day. Best of luck with your lineups!