This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Saturday is less busy than usual for the NHL, likely because Sunday is New Year's Eve, and so that day will be busier than typically the case. Even so, Saturday night seven games are happening at 7 p.m. ET or later. Here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
We're packed to the brim with teams on the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday. Hey, at least all those players get to have New Year's Eve (and New Year's Day) off. Making these even trickier for the seven teams in this scenario, only Washington and Nashville are facing one another. The Panthers get to be at home for both games, while the Devils and Rangers are stuck on the road for both. St. Louis moves to the road, while Toronto heads home. Got all that?
GOALIES
Anthony Stolarz, FLA vs. MON ($8,400): I am going with Stolarz in spite of the fact his team is on the second leg of a back-to-back. He's played sparingly, but has a .915 save percentage and 2.18 GAA. That sparking GAA is in part due to the fact the Panthers rank third in shots on net allowed per game. Montreal has averaged 2.79 goals and 29.0 shots on net per contest, so this matchup still looks good to me.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM vs. NYR ($8,000): After a slow start upon returning from injury, Vasilevskiy has a 2.39 GAA and .923 save percentage over his last 10 starts. Now, the Rangers are above average offensively, but are also on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. That, combines with Vasilevskiy's strong play, leads to my recommendation.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Sam Bennett, FLA vs. MON ($4,500): Both Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe shoot the puck a ton. As their center, it's Bennett's job to get those two said puck so they can shoot it. The Canadiens have allowed 33.5 shots on net per game, and they have already announced Jake Allen is getting the start in this one. He's ceded the lead role on account of the fact he has a .904 save percentage, which plays into his 3.43 GAA.
Morgan Geekie, BOS vs. NJD ($3,800): When Geekie was moved up to being the first-line center with Pavel Zacha out, he briefly became a DFS darling because of his sudden upside. Instead of seeing his role swiftly diminished upon Zacha's return, though, the Bruins have even toyed recently with Geekie serving as the first-line center with Zacha and David Pastrnak on the wing. Through it all, Geekie has seven points over his last eight games, and the Devils are in the bottom five in GAA.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Hurricanes at Maple Leafs
Sebastian Aho (C - $7,200), Andrei Svechnikov (W - $5,200), Teuvo Teravainen (W - $4,800)
The Leafs lost Matt Murray before the season, and then things got bleak once Joseph Woll went down as well. Ilya Samsonov has been scuffling, and now Martin Jones is the backup, and the one in line to start Sunday. Now, Jones has a .914 save percentage in seven appearances, but the 33-year-old has a career .905 save percentage in over 450 games played. Carolina's lacked for secondary scoring recently, but the first line has been red hot, and is worth a stack.
Aho is perhaps the NHL's hottest player, as he is coming off back-to-back four-point games. However, he's actually had three or more points in four of his last nine contests. The Michael Bunting experiment on the first line didn't work for Carolina, so now Svechnikov is there. He's had an injury-plagued season, but he has three multi-point games in a row, and his shooting percentage has rebounded as is now up to 11.1. Teravainen is the one of this trio not on the first power-play unit, so he has not been as productive recently. He does have two goals in his last four games, though, giving him 13 on the season.
DEFENSEMEN
Charlie McAvoy, BOS vs. NJD ($6,100): McAvoy has had a couple four-game stints out of the lineup this season, but all in all he has 19 points in 25 games. That includes an assist in each of his last two contests. As I noted, the Devils are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back, and also in the bottom five in GAA.
Jordan Spence, LOS vs. EDM ($2,700): Spencer has three assists in his last five games, giving him 12 on the season. He has zero goals, though, and while 38 shots on net in 31 games are not a ton, players rarely finish a season with goose eggs in shooting percentage, and two seasons ago he had a 4.9 shooting percentage. Stuart Skinner is coming off a shutout, but it was against the Sharks. He also still only has an .891 save percentage on the year even with that shutout boosting his numbers.
