This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Monday is a holiday in America, which leads to a lot of afternoon hockey. However, for DraftKings, the main DFS slate features the four games starting at 6 p.m. ET or later. So, looking at those games, here are my recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Nobody is on the second leg of a back-to-back Monday, so the goaltending questions become about the teams on the first leg of a back-to-back with a significant gap in quality between the top guy and the number-two man. Of these teams, though, only Colorado is in that position, and it has gotten below-average goaltending across the board.
GOALIES
Carter Hart, PHI at STL ($7,600): These teams are both below average in terms of goals per game, neck-and-neck in fact, but the Flyers only allow 28.9 shots on net per contest, so Hart has a 2.70 GAA with a .911 save percentage. He tends to have it easy, and so in this battle of middling offenses, I'll go with the goalie that probably won't be challenged too much.
Juuse Saros, NAS at VGK ($7,400): This is a worthy gamble if you want to try and save a couple hundred bucks in salary. Saros is having a down campaign, but he has a career .918 save percentage over 319 games, and he's only 28. Vegas is, somewhat surprisingly, only 18th in goals per game, and right now it is missing its best player in Jack Eichel.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Travis Konecny, PHI at STL ($7,300): Did you know Konecny was a point-a-game player last year? It's true! He had 31 goals and 30 assists, but that was in only 60 games. This year he's tallied 21 goals and added 18 assists in 43 contests, and that's with a mere three points on the power play even though he's averaged 3:08 per game with the extra man. Over the last three seasons, Jordan Binnington has a 3.20 GAA and .899 save percentage, and he has an .894 save percentage over his last 12 outings.
Jonathan Drouin, COL at MON ($3,900): It's a tale as old as time. A winger gets to be the "other guy" on a team's top line next to two elite players, and suddenly they are producing at an all-new level. This is the tale of Drouin this season. Playing next to Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, Drouin has 16 points over his last 15 games, though seven of those have come while playing on the first power-play unit. The Canadiens have a bottom-five penalty kill, and Jake Allen will be in net. He has a .900 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Wild vs. Islanders
Joel Eriksson Ek (C - $7,300), Matt Boldy (W - $6,400), Marcus Johansson (W - $3,400)
Kirill Kaprizov has returned to the Minnesota lineup, but for my purposes, that means this trio is together on the third line. Also, just as important, Boldy and Eriksson Ek are playing on the first power-play unit with both Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello. The Islanders are just outside the bottom 10 in GAA, but have allowed 34.9 shots on goal per game and, critically, rank 29th on the penalty kill.
I don't know what's more remarkable about Eriksson Ek, his offensive activity, or his poor puck luck. The Swede has put 65 shots on net over his last 16 games, but has a 1.5 shooting percentage. That is bound to change, especially for a guy who has averaged 3:47 per contest with the extra man. Maybe Boldy has taken Eriksson Ek's puck luck, because he has nine goals over his last 17 outings. That includes three goals with the extra man to go with one assist. Johansson doesn't play much on the power play, but he still has five goals and six assists over his last 16 games, and that's with Kaprizov and Zuccarello both missing time. When this team is at full strength, the offensive upside kicks up a notch.
DEFENSEMEN
Brock Faber, MIN vs. NYI ($4,500): I mentioned four of the five guys on Minnesota's top power-play unit. The fifth? That would be the rookie defenseman Faber. He hasn't been as prolific as his compatriots, but over his last 12 games he's averaged 3:41 a nigh with the extra man. Playing a bottom-five penalty kill with the top unit all together finally should help Faber add to his point totals.
Devon Toews, COL at MON ($4,400): Toews has been held without a point in four games after a seven-game point streak, but 24 points in 43 contests for a number-two defenseman more than suffices. This matchup is also sufficient to entice me. As noted, Jake Allen has a .900 save percentage, and the Habs have allowed 33.8 shots on net per game.
