This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Tuesday's NHL slate begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time and features eight games. Below, you'll find an overview of the matchups and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
This slate offers a nice mix of lopsided matchups and battles between explosive offenses. Even with the Penguins-Devils matchup looking like more of a toss-up given recent results, you can still lock in the highly favored Hurricanes in Detroit and Predators in Montreal. Goals also shouldn't be hard to come by in the Lightning-Maple Leafs game, while Senators-Ducks should provide some nice value options.
GOALIES
With most of the pricier goalie options facing difficult matchups, this is a good time to chase bang for the buck in net.
The New Jersey and Pittsburgh teams are trending in opposite directions, and it's not the way you would think. The Devils are 6-1-2 in their last nine games while the Penguins are 2-8-0 in their last 10 games. Given those recent results, Devils netminder MacKenzie Blackwood ($7,300) is a tremendous value play. Blackwood has gone 7-1-1 with 16 goals allowed over his last nine starts.
Juuse Saros ($7,300) has shut out the Stars in each of his last two starts, setting aside 70 shots in the process. Now, the Nashville netminder will try to maintain his momentum against a different opponent. The Canadiens have been kind to opposing goalies, ranking second in shots per game (34.1) but just 18th in goals (2.94).
Carter Hart ($7,800) could be worth locking in despite a brutal home matchup against the Bruins. The Flyers' netminder has been matchup-proof recently, allowing just 12 goals during an active seven-game winning streak.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Dallas has suffered back-to-back shutout losses, but Jamie Benn ($5,600) was rolling prior to those defeats, with a six-game point streak in the previous six games. A visit from a Rangers team that's allowed 24 goals in its last five games should allow the Stars' offense to get back on track, with Benn leading the way.
Sticking in the Rangers-Stars game, Mika Zibanejad ($8,500) has plenty of against-the-grain appeal in a tough matchup in Dallas. You'll be hard-pressed to find a hotter scorer across the NHL, as Zibanejad has 15 goals in his last 11 games and a 39-33-72 line over just 55 appearances overall.
While Saros has played well of late, he's still operating behind a vulnerable Predators penalty kill, which ranks 29th at 75.8 percent. Montreal's Nick Suzuki ($4,000) is primed to take advantage of Nashville's poor penalty killing, as the young center's 14 power-play points are tied with the injured Tomas Tatar (upper body) for the team lead, while Suzuki's six goals with the extra man are two fewer than Tatar has and at least three more than any other teammate.
Tyler Toffoli ($6,000) has been hot for a while now, as he has a 5-3-8 line in nine games since joining the Canucks via trade and finished his Kings tenure with four goals in the two games before that. The winger should keep the good times rolling at home against a free-falling Islanders team that's lost six in a row.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Hurricanes at Red Wings
Sebastian Aho (C - $7,100), Andrei Scechnikov (W - $5,900), Teuvo Teravainen (W - $5,800)
The Hurricanes need every point they can get in a tight playoff race, and the Red Wings just don't have the talent to keep up with Carolina's top line. These three players are by far the top producers on the Hurricanes, as each one has at least 60 points while no other teammate has more than 40 heading into this matchup with Detroit's league-worst defense (3.71 goals allowed per game). Aho leads the team in both goals and points with a 36-27-63 line, while Teravainen has a 15-46-61 line and Svechnikov's at 24-36-60.
Lightning at Maple Leafs
Brayden Point (C - $6,900), Nikita Kucherov (W - $8,300), Ondrej Palat (W - $5,000)
Point and Kucherov have kept on rolling since Steven Stamkos suffered a core muscle injury, as Point has a 3-3-6 line in the six subsequent games while Kucherov has added a 3-5-8 line. Palat has been more of a passenger on this line, but he helps bring an element of affordability and rounds out this trio heading into a juicy matchup against a Maple Leafs team that's dropped three in a row and ranks among the five worst defenses with 3.20 goals allowed per game.
Ducks vs. Senators
Adam Henrique (C - $5,200), Rickard Rakell (W - $5,500), Jakob Silfverberg (W - $5,300)
This line should deliver against the 30th-ranked Senators defense (3.33 goals allowed per game) without breaking the bank. Henrique leads the team with 25 goals, and his 40 points are two behind Ryan Getzlaf's team-leading total. Rakell dished out three helpers in his last game, which pulled him into a tie with Henrique at 40 points. Silfverberg's coming off a two-goal, one-assist effort, which raised his season line to 20-18-38.
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Ellis ($6,000) is often overshadowed by Roman Josi on the Nashville blue line, but Ellis has been fantastic in his own right recently. After taking one game to get his feet wet in his return from injury, Ellis has produced a 2-7-9 line, 19 shots and 20 blocks in the past eight games and should keep rolling against Montreal.
Ryan Pulock's ($5,500) play has been a silver lining for the Islanders during their recent struggles, as he's scored three times on 14 shots in the last three games. The hard-shooting blueliner will look to stretch his goal streak to four against a Vancouver club that continues to play without starting goalie Jacob Markstrom (lower body).
Jaccob Slavin ($5,100) is the clear top option left on Carolina's injury-riddled blue line, and he's stepped up offensively with eight points in his last 10 games. Further success should find Slavin against the lowly Red Wings.
Dakota Mermis ($3,400) has a goal, two assists, three shots, four blocks and a plus-4 rating in the last two games. Chances are this hot streak won't last, but you could do worse than the unheralded Devils blueliner if you're in search of a cheap filler on the back end.
