This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
With the NFL season over, having gotten one more controversial call in under the wire, it's time to focus on the NHL. Monday begins our NFL-free stretch of time with five NHL games on the slate starting at 7:30 p.m. ET or later. Hey, that's an extra 30 minutes to get your lineups in compared to usual! Here are my recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
There were NHL games Sunday. They were all just played in the afternoon. Even so, we have zero teams on the second leg of a back-to-back Monday, and one of the two teams playing Monday and Tuesday, the Senators, have already officially named their starter for Monday's game against the Flames.
GOALIES
Juuse Saros, NAS vs. ARI ($8,400): Saros has a .919 save percentage, but he still has a 2.73 GAA. That's because the Predators have allowed a lot of shots. However, the Coyotes are the last team to take advantage of that. They literally are last in the NHL at 25.9 shots on net per contest.
Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA at MIN ($7,500): Bobrovsky has had some pretty significant ups and down, but he is on a stretch of strong play right now. Over his last nine starts, the Russian has a 2.66 GAA and .924 save percentage. The Wild have scuffled a bit recently, and they rank 24th in goals per game.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Dillon Dube, CGY at OTT ($4,000): Dube has gotten a chance to skate on Calgary's top line with Elias Lindholm and Tyler Toffoli recently. He also has three goals and five assists over his last seven games. Right now, the Senators top-two goalies are out with injury. Mads Sogaard is going to make his first start of the season, and only the third start of his career. That's a lot of pressure on an unproven 22-year-old goalie.
Ryan Johansen, NAS vs. ARI ($3,500): It's been a step down of a season for Johansen, but he still has 26 points in 50 games, and also six points in his last nine contests. He's also averaged 3:06 per game with the extra man and has nine power-play points. Maybe Johansen isn't the guy to take advantage of how many shots the Coyotes allow, but he can take advantage of their 3.53 GAA and 23rd-ranked penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Red Wings at Canucks
Dylan Larkin (C - $6,100), Dominik Kubalik (W - $4,600), Tyler Bertuzzi (W - $3,900)
Let's see, the Canucks have a 3.98 GAA, which is the second highest in the NHL. They also have the league's worst penalty kill. Yeah, that works for me. All three of these guys get steady power-play time, which makes stacking Detroit's first line that much better.
Larkin was a well-deserving all-star, and he has 48 points in 50 games, including five in three contests since his big day down in Florida. He also has nine goals and eight assists with the extra man. Kubalik's power-play success happened primarily earlier in the season, but he still has 15 power-play points on the year. He also has six points in his last 12 games. Bertuzzi has dealt with injury and has a 5.0 shooting percentage, so things should pick up for him. He does have three points in his last seven games, though, and in those seven games he's averaged 3:29 on the power play.
DEFENSEMEN
Moritz Seider, DET at VAN ($5,700): I needed another shot at the Canucks penalty kill. Earlier in the year, it was Filip Hronek who was running the point on the top power-play unit in Detroit. That has changed. Over his last 16 games, Seider has averaged 3:14 per contest with the extra man, and has six power-play points. In total, he has 16 points in that time.
Drew Doughty, LOS vs. BUF ($5,600): Doughty has had trouble scoring goals this year, but he's been racking up assists and points on the power play. He has 13 points over his last 11 games, including seven helpers with the extra man. The Sabres are in the bottom 10 in GAA, shots on net allowed per contest, and penalty-kill percentage, so this is a favorable matchup in many ways.
