Every Thursday I will be providing my recommended player picks for your daily fantasy hockey lineups. The goal is to help you to the top of the leaderboards in FanDuel and DraftKings tournament play.
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This is a bit of a light slate for a Thursday night with just seven games on the docket. We have some interesting matchups as the Boston Bruins host the Calgary Flames, who are on the tail-end of a back to back. The Philadelphia Flyers host the Corsi darlings of the NHL in the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Los Angeles Kings in a battle between the highest scoring team and the lowest scoring team on a per-game basis.
GOALTENDER
NOTE: Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page page prior to game time, to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting.
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Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning – Tampa Bay is headed to Los Angeles to take on the Kings in a matchup that Tampa should be able to handle quite easily. Not only do the Tampa Bay Lightning lead the league in goals scored, putting the puck in the net an absurd 4.13 times per game, the Kings are at the opposite end of the spectrum. Los Angeles is dead last, scoring an abysmal 2.22 goals per game. With the goal support that his teammates provide for him along with the complete lack of scoring from his opponent, Vasilevskiy should be able to pick up an easy win tonight with a shutout possibility.
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FORWARDS
David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins – As part of one of the most dominant lines in the NHL over the last couple seasons, David Pastrnak has developed into one of the best players in the entire NHL. Although Patrice Bergeron has missed a good chunk of the season, Pastrnak has continued to be elite and sits tied for ninth in points with 50 in 40 games and tied for fourth in goals with 24. Additionally, he has done a ton of damage with the man advantage, leading the NHL in power play points with 24. The Boston Bruins host the Calgary Flames — a team on the tail-end of a back-to-back. With Mike Smith getting the nod last night, David Rittich is expected between the pipes for the Flames this evening. He has been very good this year, but Boston has also been dominant the last three weeks. During that time, Boston is sixth in the NHL with a 63.99 CF/60 and third with a 55.59 CF%. An elite team like Boston should be able to take advantage of a tired Flames team tonight with Pastrnak and his linemates leading the way.
Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers – The Philadelphia Flyers have had a roller coaster of a season, as they typically do. For whatever reason, it seems that every single year the Flyers go on stretches where they look unbeatable followed by stretches where they look like they’re a lottery team. That has happened again this season, but Claude Giroux keeps trucking along and once again leads the team in points as he has done in six of the last eight seasons. With 44 points in 39 games, he’s far and away the best offensive player on the team with Jakub Voracek sitting way down at 30 points for second on the team. The Flyers host the Carolina Hurricanes — a team that is a possession darling around the NHL. However, over the last three weeks (roughly 10 games across the NHL), Carolina and Philadelphia have had similar possession stats at 52.99 CF% and 52.09 CF% respectively.
Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning – Since November 1, Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL in points and it’s not really close. He has put up an incredible 53 points in 29 games since then, with Johnny Gaudreau sitting second with 43 in 28. It has been insane to see Kucherov take off after what was a slow start by his standards. He now leads the league in points as the Tampa Bay Lightning head to Los Angeles to take on the Kings. Over the last three weeks the Lightning have a 62.2 CF/60, which ranks eighth, while the Kings are allowing a 62.0 CA/60, which is the sixth worst in the NHL. This is a very lopsided matchup in favor of Tampa Bay, as they should also be able to pile on the goals with their league-leading power play — converting at a 29.2 percent clip.
DEFENSE
Keith Yandle, Florida Panthers – Keith Yandle is third in the NHL — first among defensemen — in power play points as the Florida Panthers take their third-ranked power play into Buffalo to take on the Sabres. The Panthers are converting on 27.9 percent of their man advantages, with Keith Yandle contributing 22 of his 32 points on the PP. With Mike Hoffman (T-5th) and Jonathan Huberdeau (T-10th) also in the Top 10 in power play points, it makes sense as to why their top unit has been so dominant. Now, this special team matchup isn’t exactly a great one for Florida as the Sabres have the fifth-ranked penalty kill – succeeding in killing off penalties 83.8 percent of the time – but it is still worth mentioning. Yandle has been fantastic for the Panthers, even earning himself a controversial All-Star Game nomination (no Morgan Rielly?) in the process. We might as well keep riding this Yandle PP train as I’m sure it will slow down eventually.
