Good day, everyone! So, last night I went heavy on a Utah mix-stack and parts of the Anaheim Ducks’ second line with Philipp Grubauer in net. I had the Utah game going and within about the first period or so of that game, I was convinced that cashing would be impossible so I did what you would do, go to bed! Woke up this morning somehow in the money. I'm not going to ask why or how and instead just keep 'er movin'.

I researched today's slate yesterday and can see a couple fairly popular spots like Montreal and Carolina, and while those are good plays, I don't 100% feel like adding a Nashville sidecar with them even though those lines fit perfectly. There are different spots I'm looking at instead that may be more advantageous, let's dive in!

Slate Preview

Vegas Golden Knights

I had a Vegas power play stack in my lineup on Saturday and right before lock swapped out and sort of glad that I did. Today, however, I might be right back on the Vegas power play train on the road in Boston, but there's a good reason for it. The Bruins have taken the third-most penalties in the last month and while that shouldn't surprise anyone as they've been one of the more heavily penalized clubs, they're going to see a Vegas power play that is fourth in goals for on the man advantage over that same time frame. This matchup is also curious in that Vegas leads the lead in OTL's but Boston is near the bottom…do we have a wonky game upcoming tonight? I like either a Vegas power play stack here or if you want to two-man say Jack Eichel ($9,500) – Mark Stone ($7,500) or even a two-man stack on the Vegas second line, where there you can leave off Rielly Smith if you'd like. In my single-entry I am considering Vegas on the road, but in multi-entry contests, I'd probably look to have some shares of the Golden Knights.

Dallas Stars

Alright folks, we might be locking and loading some Stars on the road in Columbus, but one thing has to happen first, and that's Elvis Merzlikins confirmed as the Jackets' starting netminder. From December 22^nd to January 8^th, the Columbus net belonged only to Jet Greaves, where now recently in the last three Columbus contests they have gone back to Merzlinkins. I'm all in on targeting a goaltender with an .882 save percentage if he's confirmed (he did leave the last game with an injury). For me, my Dallas stack would probably look like the top line plus Wyatt Johnston, and I'd go about my build as a 4-3-1 tonight. If it comes a couple hours from now, we see that Greaves is your starter than my interest in Dallas is much lower, but I'm holding hope that it's not and we can take advantage of another Merzlikins four goals on 24 shots. This is a spot as well if you're rostering an expensive lineup to where I don't mind the Dallas third line as a potential filler stack as well.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Let's chase some volume, shall we? Both Bryan Rust ($6,500) and Rickard Rakell ($5,800) have hit the shot bonus in 20% of their games on the season and will be going into Edmonton where we know that club likes to trade chances at times. This is also a spot to where they'll likely see Tristan Jarry in net who this club shot on every day in practice, and let's be honest with ourselves, it's Tristan Jarry. I'm not interested in much else on the Penguins, unless you want to roster a cheap defenseman from them with injuries to their blue line, to me this is a spot where I'll plug in the top line and build from there. I'm really considering them in my single-entry lineup tonight even though if I had to list teams I like to stack, Pittsburgh is near or at the bottom next to Seattle. Just burned one too many times.

Defense

My ceiling on the blue line tonight is probably Evan Bouchard at $6,800 as he always looks like a great play coming into any slate. I like Rasmus Dahlin as well at $6,600 who had a goal the other night…that was taken back to an assist, then repeat that process. ESPN fantasy hockey notifications at their finest! Noah Dobson at $5,200 is fine as well as Thomas Harley with or without a Dallas stack as he's been shooting the puck at a good rate since coming back. Charlie McAvoy sitting at $4,900 is someone I could see rostering tonight with 10-plus DK points in his last seven games. Sean Walker is priced at $3,200, where not too far back he was up at $4K, and I'll take that discount and say thank you. Ben Chiarot is someone that I almost never stack but he is an interesting play tonight as he's been putting up decent DK numbers since the middle of the month. For a cheap sub $3K d-man I like Louis Crevier for Chicago. He's currently on the top pair and skates plenty on the Chicago PK.  

Goalies

I don't mind Sam Montembeault in this spot tonight at home versus Buffalo but $8,200 might be a little rich for me. Hey, if you're stacking Habs and he makes sense, I'm fine with it, but I typically spend down slightly in net. Connor Hellebuyck is sub $8K at home…do with that information as you will! If Greaves is in net, you can roster him for volume at $7,400, that may be just fine. For me in single-entry, I have Ukko-Pekka Luukonen at $7,200 #1 on my board and is in all likelihood, who I'll have in net tonight. I will say, I don't think the 'Hawks get the win tonight on the road in Carolina, but from a volume standpoint, Spencer Knight at $7K is a decent play. He was tracking the puck alright in Sunday's game at home versus Winnipeg and can make for a good cheap net option tonight.

That's it for now, best of luck tonight everybody!  

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