Good day, DFS squad! I played in a couple tournaments Tuesday, went 0-2 there, and really wanted to get in on some of the games last night, but was too busy and wasn't able to do so. I will say though, the Toronto/Dallas game was entertaining, and the two periods I watched of Florida/Minnesota was good as well. Sometimes when you have no fantasy implications, or skin in the game with DFS, it can be fun to just watch a game and enjoy it. That said, let's sweat out some games today!

For this slate today, I'll say that I like parts of it while some of these games are a stay away for me. There is one obvious smash spot here with Colorado on the road in San Jose…if you want to throw in as much Colorado as you can afford, I'm not going to be the one to tell you to do otherwise here today. With that, let's check in on a couple games that caught my eye.

Slate Preview

Los Angeles vs Philadelphia

You guys ever been on a Stairmaster and just start diving into Los Angeles Kings stats? Just me, huh. Well either way, this is the team with the second lowest goals against average per game, and they're going to see a Philadelphia team that played last night. The problem that I run into though with Los Angeles is just how to stack them, because I like this first line of Alex Turcotte ($2,800, stock is rising), Anze Kopitar ($6K) and Adrian Kempe ($7K) as a line, but I only get two of them (Kopitar-Kempe) on the top power play. I think you can mix and match here for a 3-man stack and throw in Kevin Fiala at $6K, or Brandt Clarke ($5,400) on the blueline. Even Alexis Laferriere at $4,100 is fine here if you wanted to throw him in a Kings stack to get a little different with your lineup. Odds are, LA is going to see Aleksei Kolosov in net tonight, with Samuel Ersson going yesterday, and while I dunked on Kolosov earlier this season, his numbers the past month haven't been at the bottom of the goalie tables that I look at. Started from the bottom, now we're near the middle. I've started to build my single-entry lineup here tonight and Los Angeles is one of those teams for me that I might try and get in as part of a stack that I'm building.

Let's now talk about Philadelphia. This would be more fun if we could chat about the Phillies or maybe even the Eagles (not the Sixers), but here we go. The Flyers lost last night, so no skate this morning, and John Tortorella will probably not talk to the media and if he does, we won't know lines at all. In going between games last night, I caught a little bit of the Flyers, and by little bit, I mean I happened to switch to this game when Torts was fuming on the bench because of a call that had been reversed. The universe is just screaming that these lines are going to get nuked, but I could still see myself having some interest here. I don't love the Sean Couturier line, even though that group got on the board last night, and dropping down to line two. I love Owen Tippet ($4,900) and Matvei Michkov ($5,100), but those two are on different power play units and I don't know if even strength is how I want to play this Philly lineup. That said, I don't dislike this third line if I need a discount here. Noah Cates ($2,500) might not shine bright in DFS, but this is a center that I've always really liked, and think is pretty underrated for what he brings to the table defensively. You could either play him or two-man Bobby Brink ($3K) and Tyson Foerster ($2,700), for their price points. The problem again is different power play units between those two wingers, so I might only try and find correlation here, but the point being that the Philly third line might be a spot to get a filler stack here tonight.

New Jersey vs Columbus

Starting with the road Devils here. New Jersey has the most PP goals, and 2^nd highest rush attempts on the man advantage in the past month. If I'm going anywhere, I want some Devils power play, even though I just want to say, if anyone out there wants to play my patented top four winger strategy for New Jersey (1-2 on the year don't let it get hot), you can, but the Devils now have Dawson Mercer up on the top line instead of our guy Stefan Noesen. With that said, this could this be a pricy three-man Devils stack night and go Jesper Bratt ($7,500), Jack Hughes ($8,800), and Dougie Hamilton ($6,500). Hamilton to me is the one I want, with him shooting the puck more with five shots on goal last game and one of defensemen that I like here tonight. Again, I haven't built my lineup just yet but in single entry this is one of the maybe three lines that I am strongly considering.

On to Columbus, this club looked dead in the water for two and half periods vs Tampa Bay on Tuesday, and then in what felt like two minutes, we had ourselves a hockey game. I don't mind Columbus as a pivot here on this slate, maybe not all-in playing a line, but I could see one-offs here and there with Kent Johnson piquing my interest here at $4,600. That might be just a little bit more expensive than I'd want to pay for a one-off here tonight but he's the one I have circled for Columbus if I want to get any of them in my lineup.
 
Vancouver vs Vegas

I love this game, so let's talk about it starting with the road Vancouver Canucks. It feels like we can get some of these skaters at a discount right now and seeing as most of the time I feel like DFS players forget that Vancouver is in the league, this might be a fun way to get a unique build. Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller are each under $6K right now so if you wanted to play them both and add in Quinn Hughes at $7,200, I don't hate that play at all. Even adding in Conor Garland down at $4,300 for a four-man stack is fine and he's going to skate with the top line on power play as well. Vancouver did shakeup their lines a little bit last game so if I'm going anywhere, I'd probably stick with Miller and Boeser as I know that those two are going to skate together at all strengths. In single-entry this might be an outside looking in club but 3-max and up they have to be in consideration tonight.

Now on to Vegas. The Golden Knights have the best home record in the NHL which is usually the case season-to-season. With that, I really like them here tonight, particularly the top line of Jack Eichel ($8,600) and Mark Stone ($6,800). Even if you want to mix and match a winger with those two and grab Pavel Dorofeyev ($4,700) or Ivan Barbashev if he's healthy tonight at $4K is good with me here. This is the team that in single-entry I'm trying to make work in a lineup here tonight with Eichel's price tag, I like Vegas here in single-entry and above. Again, keeping in mind that this is Vegas at home going up against a Vancouver club that played last night.

Defensemen

The highest that I would go here tonight would be Quinn Hughes at $7,200. Typically I don't spend up for defensemen on larger slates but for this hefty schedule I might be looking to do that. In the $6-range I like Dougie Hamilton at $6,500, Brandon Montour at $6,200, and MacKenzie Weegar at $6K at home vs Ottawa is also interesting to me. If you're going with playing Los Angeles tonight, Brandt Clarke makes some sense at $5,400 as he's back quarterbacking their top power play unit. On the cheaper side, Alex Pietrangelo is a maybe for me, as much as I like Vegas here, I'm not sure I want to grab anything from their blue line, but I could consider adding Pietrangelo in at his price point. The same goes for Brayden McNabb for Vegas, listed tonight down at $3,200.

Goalies

In net for me tonight, if I'm spending up, I think Jacob Markstrom would be the highest I would go at $8,400 but to be honest I think I will looking to spend much less in net tonight. I would be willing to go down to Linus Ullmark at $7,600 if he's starting as Ottawa has quietly gone 7-2-1 in their last ten games, and winners of four in a row. If you're not on the Kings, I could see Aleksei Kolosov as an interesting play, even though he might be a tad more expensive than I would want to pay to get to him at $7,300.

Good luck tonight everybody!  

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