This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Tuesday's NHL slate features eight games after 7:00 p.m. EST. Below, you'll find a breakdown of the action and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
The obvious team to build around will be the Stars, who are set to host the league-worst Canadiens. After that comes one team that we're used to pulling from for lineups and another that hasn't often been built around but is appealing here. The first is the matchup-proof Lightning in Los Angeles, while the second is the Senators at home against Buffalo. Panthers-Flames (over/under: 6.5 goals) is expected to be Tuesday's highest-scoring game, while both Jets-Capitals and Sabres-Senators come in at 6.0.
GOALIES
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. MON ($8,400): Dallas' goalie of choice for this one will be the chalk play in net, and Oettinger's enjoying a strong season, with a 9-3-0 record, 2.47 GAA and .915 save percentage. He should build on those strong numbers against a reeling Canadiens club that's on a six-game winless streak that has seen Montreal fall to last place in both the league standings and goals per game (2.08).
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at LA ($8,200): Vasilevskiy is in the midst of another fabulous season, with a 22-6-3 record, 2.14 GAA and .924 save percentage. Meanwhile, the Kings are allowing the second-most fantasy points in the league to opposing goalies by virtue of averaging the third-most shots (35.2) but ranking outside the top 20 in goals per game (2.79).
Carter Hart, PHI vs. NYI ($7,500): Hart has some against-the-grain appeal, even with the Flyers mired in an eight-game winless streak. The Islanders got three pucks past Flyers backup Martin Jones on Monday, but New York's offense still ranks 30th overall with 2.29 goals per game. Philadelphia's bound to get back in the win column at some point, and beating the same team twice in as many nights is rarely easy.
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG at WAS ($7,300): Another against-the-grain goalie option is Hellebuyck, who has put forth a few Herculean efforts of late, with a 42-save performance and a 33-save shutout fueling his 4-1-0 record in the past five games. The 2020 Vezina Trophy winner will look to build on his recent success against a Capitals team that has stumbled recently, winning just one of its last six games.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Alex Ovechkin, WAS vs. WPG ($8,700): If you have some affordable value plays in mind, it's rarely a bad idea to build around Ovechkin. The star winger shares the league lead in both goals (26) and points (54) with Leon Draisaitl, and Ovechkin has supplied a league-high shot total (181) to boot. As long as you can fit his $8,700 salary, Ovechkin likely won't let you down.
Matt Duchene, NSH vs. VAN ($6,900): Duchene's 17-18-35 line through 36 games in this bounce-back season includes a 4-6-10 output in the past nine contests. The veteran winger leads the Predators with eight power-play goals, and his 14 points with the extra man trail only Roman Josi's 20. A visit from the league-worst Vancouver penalty kill (67.6 percent) should help Duchene add to those totals.
Anthony Beauvillier, NYI at PHI ($3,900): Beauvillier has been productive of late, lighting the lamp in three of his last six games, including Monday against these same Flyers. Given Philadelphia's recent struggles and 3.32 goals per game allowed overall this season, Beauvillier's a nice value among the low-scoring Islanders at his sub-$4,000 valuation.
Blake Coleman, CGY vs. FLA ($3,300): This one is expected to be a track meet, and Coleman's strong output of late has him primed to provide excellent value at just $3,300 as the Flames try to keep pace with the high-powered Panthers offense. In addition to his productive 2-2-4 line in the past five games, Coleman has supplied 24 shots on goal over that stretch.
Alex Formenton, OTT vs. BUF ($2,600): Whether you're stacking Senators or simply searching for value, Formenton's a strong choice at just $100 above the minimum valuation. He started the season in a fourth-line role but has moved up to the top six lately while riding an impressive hot streak, which had included a trio of multi-point performances in Formenton's last four games.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Stars vs. Canadiens
Roope Hintz (C - $7,200), Joe Pavelski (W - $7,200), Jacob Peterson (W - $2,500)
Even if Jason Robertson (lower body) is unable to suit up, the rest of Dallas' surging top line should dominate the Canadiens, who are allowing a league-high 3.68 goals per game. Pavelski has been on fire recently, with a 6-9-15 line over his last nine games boosting his season output to 15-21-36 through 35 contests. Hintz has a 4-5-9 line in his last eight and 15-12-27 line in 33 games overall. Peterson could prove to be a tremendous value if he slides into Robertson's spot on this line, though he's produced a modest 5-2-7 line to date.
Senators vs. Sabres
Josh Norris (C - $5,900), Brady Tkachuk (W - $6,700), Drake Batherson (W - $5,900)
The lowly Senators are heavily favored at home against the even lowlier Sabres, and Ottawa's top line features the team's top three scorers, so it's not hard to pick which line to build around in this matchup. Batherson leads the team in points with a 10-20-30 line, which has him four points north of a point-per-game pace. Norris' 16-8-24 line in 39 contests has him leading the team in goals, while Tkachuk has at least a share of second in both categories courtesy of his symmetry 12-12-24 line. Meanwhile, Buffalo has won only once in its last nine games.
Panthers at Flames
Sam Bennett (C - $5,700), Jonathan Huberdeau (W - $7,100), Anthony Duclair (W - $5,100)
Offense hasn't been hard to come by for the Panthers, who are averaging a whopping six goals per game en route to an 8-0-1 record over their last nine. This second line has been the team's best of late, and even the defensively sound Flames will likely struggle to slow this trio down. Huberdeau's running away with the team points lead courtesy of a 15-38-53 line through 38 games, which includes a monstrous 5-15-20 output during his active eight-game point streak. Duclair's the only member of the Panthers with more goals than Huberdeau, and seven of Duclair's 16 goals have come in the last nine games. Bennett's right there with them in the goal chase, with 15 overall and six in the past four contests, plus he'll have extra motivation to stick it to the Flames team that traded him away last season.
DEFENSEMEN
Roman Josi, NSH vs. VAN ($8,200): Josi doesn't come cheap, but he should be worth paying up for given his power-play prowess. The star blueliner's 13-27-40 line through 38 games overall includes a 7-13-20 output with the extra man, which ranks Josi third league-wide in power-play points behind the Oilers duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl (22 apiece). He could tie or surpass them in that category by the time he's through with the league-worst, 67.6 percent penalty kill.
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF at OTT ($5,300): If you're loath to hop on the Ottawa hype train, Dahlin's a solid pick going in the other direction. He's playing massive minutes on Buffalo's blue line and will have a nice opportunity to add to his season 6-17-23line against a Senators team that's allowing 3.61 goals per game — third-most league-wide.
Esa Lindell, DAL vs. MON ($4,800): Lindell's a strong choice for those who want exposure to this lopsided matchup without paying top dollar on defense. The steady veteran has a three-game point streak going, and Lindell's two-way contributions have allowed him to reach double digits in fantasy points five times in his last seven games. He's unlikely to slow down with the last-place Canadiens in town.
Dmitry Orlov, WAS vs. WPG ($4,000): With John Carlson in COVID protocols, Orlov moves up to the top power-play unit for this favorable matchup against a 71.1 percent Jets penalty kill that's second-worst in the league after Vancouver. That assignment significantly raises the offensive ceiling for Orlov, who's already enjoying a decent campaign on offense with 17 points through 37 games.
