This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Saturday is the 13th day of January, but there are 12 games on the slate for the NHL starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. One shy of some nice symmetry! Of course, 24 teams still give you a ton of options for your DFS rosters. With that in mind, here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
All four teams that played Friday are on the second leg of a back-to-back Saturday. In terms of increasing intrigue for me in terms of a matchup, the teams in question are Dallas, Nashville, Minnesota, and Philadelphia. Why the Flyers, the stoutest defensive team of the quartet, last? They are on the road for both games, and they face the red-hot Jets on Saturday.
GOALIES
Scott Wedgewood, DAL at CHI ($8,700): The Stars are on the second leg of a back-to-back, and Wedgewood has not been good this season. And yet, I'd consider him as a goalie in DFS. With Connor Bedard out for a significant amount of time, Chicago is effectively locked into being the second-worst offense to San Jose's. Indeed, the Blackhawks are down to 2.29 goals and 26.0 shots on net per contest. If Wedgewood can't handle this matchup, that bodes poorly for his future.
Joey Daccord, SEA at CLM ($7,900): Nobody in net is hotter than Daccord at the moment. Across his last seven games he's posted a pristine 7-0 record with an 1.14 GAA and .966 save percentage. Columbus ranks 22nd in goals per game, which isn't terrible, but I like the chances of Daccord winning an eighth game in a row.
Stuart Skinner, EDM at MON ($7,700): The Oilers have been hot, and while the offense has been key to that, so has Skinner's turnaround in goal. Over his last 15 outings, the netminder has an 1.93 GAA and .929 save percentage. Now, he faces a Canadiens team that has been held to 2.71 goals and 28.5 shots on net per contest.
VALUE PLAYS
Gabriel Vilardi, WPG vs. PHI ($6,400): There is a chance that Mark Scheifele and/or Nikolaj Ehlers miss this one due to injury, though both seem likely to play. That would mean Vilardi would have his linemates with him, linemates that have helped him tally a point in four of his last five games. The Flyers have played great defense, but they are on the road for their second game in as many nights, and Samuel Ersson has a .903 save percentage. There is still opportunity here.
Brandon Hagel, TAM vs. ANA ($6,000): The Lightning stack their elite talent on one line, but Hagel is out there providing some scoring on the secondary level. After having 30 goals last season he's tallied 12 goals on 100 shots on net through 43 games. The Ducks are banged up, and that including John Gibson. That means Lukas Dostal, who has a 3.46 GAA, could be starting in goal.
Mason Marchment, DAL at CHI ($5,900): Four times in his last six games, Marchment has tallied multiple points. He may be on the second day of a back-to-back, but the Blackhawks have allowed 32.5 shots on net per game, and Petr Mrazek has an .896 save percentage over the last three seasons.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Kraken at Blue Jackets
Alexander Wennberg (C - $4,400), Jaden Schwartz (W - $5,900), Brandon Tanev (W - $3,400)
Seattle's second line has been together briefly, which means their production together has been brief as well. However, that blip of production paired with this matchup works for me. The Blue Jackets have given up 34.1 shots on net per game, and Daniil Tarasov has been tapped to start in goal. He has a 3.79 GAA and .883 save percentage.
Wennberg has a goal in each of his last two games, and four points in his last six outings. Schwartz has three points over his last two outings, and 18 points in 25 games this season. Tanev, meanwhile, has three assists over his last two games. Like I said, the production from this trio is limited to Seattle's last two contests. However, those are the two games Schwartz has played since returning from a lengthy injury absence. These three have produced together since, and the hope is that will continue against this easy matchup.
Coyotes at Wild
Jack McBain (C - $3,900), Clayton Keller (W - $7,400), Nick Schmaltz (W - $5,200)
The Wild may get Filip Gustavsson back for Saturday, the second leg of a back-to-back. That being said, the talk is that he "could" be available. Maybe the Wild will want to throw him in net as long as he's not risking re-injury, because Jesper Wallstedt allowed seven goals in his one start for Minnesota. Even if Gustavsson plays, though, he allowed at least three goals in his last four starts before getting hurt, and he hasn't played since late December. Additionally, the Wild have a bottom-five penalty kill, which is why I opted to stack an Arizona line with two guys from its top power-play unit.
The center spot between Keller and Schmaltz has been a revolving door due to injuries and, in the case of Logan Cooley, not being quite ready for the role. McBain is in this spot now. He has 10 points in 25 games, and skating between these two can't hurt his upside. Keller is the guy for the Coyotes, the one true offensive standout on the roster. He had 86 points last year and has 35 in 40 games this season. Keller has tallied 17 of those points with the extra man. Schmaltz was effectively a point-a-game guy the last two seasons, though he's fallen off that pace this year. Even so, he has 13 goals and 13 assists in 40 games, and 13 of those points have come on the power play.
DEFENSEMEN
Josh Morrissey, WPG vs. PHI ($7,500): Morrissey isn't going to replicate the 76 points he had last season, but he has 32 points in 41 games, and if you are quibbling about that with a defenseman, your expectations are overly lofty. He's also put 110 shots on net. While the Flyers' stout defense may keep Morrissey from being as prolific as usual, getting a couple shots on Ersson and his .903 save percentage could be enough.
Sean Durzi, ARI at MIN ($5,900): If I'm attacking the Wild's bottom-five penalty kill with the team on the second night of a back-to-back, Durzi is a sensible addition to the mix. He was productive on the power play in a secondary role for the Kings. With Arizona, he's averaged 3:22 per game with the extra man and has nine power-play points in 34 contests.
Nick Perbix, TAM vs. ANA ($3,800): Perbix is coming off back-to-back two-point games? Is that anomalous? Absolutely, but he does skate next to Victor Hedman on the first pairing for Tampa, and that's a good play to be for a complementary defenseman. It helps give Perbix bang-for-your-buck potential on the DFS front, especially in this matchup. The Ducks have a 3.39 GAA, and they have also given up 32.7 shots on net per game.
