This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Welcome back, hockey fans and NHL DFS players! The All-Star break is over, though Monday is a gentle easing back into the regular-season action. Only two games are on the slate, both at 7 p.m. ET. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Umm, I don't need to tell you none of these teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back, right? Most of these guys have had a few days off and will be as well-rested as they are going to be for the rest of the season.
GOALIE
Alexandar Georgiev, COL at NYR ($8,000): Two of the four teams in action Monday are in the top eight in goals per game. The Islanders are definitely the worst offense of the four, but I don't want to risk using one of Toronto's goalies. Thus, Georgiev versus the Rangers, who rank 12th in goals per contest. He has a 2.70 GAA over his last 13 appearances, but also notable is the fact he has a 10-3-0 record in those games as well.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Mitchell Marner, TOR vs. NYI ($6,500): Patrick Roy has not waved a magic wand and fixed the Islanders' issues. They are last in penalty-kill percentage and have allowed 34.9 shots on net per game. Marner is not as potent on the power play as his compatriot William Nylander, but he has 17 points with the extra man, and anybody who averages over three minutes per game with the extra man is worth considering against the league's worst penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Islanders at Maple Leafs
Bo Horvat (C - $6,700), Mathew Barzal (W - $6,300), Anders Lee (W - $3,900)
Unsurprisingly, Martin Jones was not able to sustain his hot start to his time with the Maple Leafs. Man, it's almost like the 34-year-old was down in the AHL for a reason. Joseph Woll is just hoping to get back to practicing soon. That leaves Ilya Samsonov, who has a 3.36 GAA and .878 save percentage, as the number-one goalie. This, in turn bodes well for the Islanders' number-one line.
The Islanders' offensive struggles largely come from a lack of depth, with the trade for Horvat proving quite fruitful in comparison. Not only does he have 45 points in 48 games, but he's put a robust 41 shots on net over his last 12 outings. Barzal may play on the wing, but he's much more of a playmaker than goal scorer, with 38 assists in 48 games. His greatest strength is his power-play work, as he has four goals and 14 helpers with the extra man. Toronto has the 24th-ranked penalty kill. It's been a tough year for Lee, but he's still on the top line, and he does have 13 goals. He's also tallied 17 shots on net over his last six outings.
DEFENSEMAN
Adam Fox, NYR vs. COL ($5,600): Though the matchup isn't great, the salary was too good for me to ignore. He has the lowest salary among the four cornerstone defensemen these four teams employ. Fox has been hot, as he's on a six-game point streak that has given him 37 points in only 39 games. Rostering Fox for $5,600 compared to, say, Noah Dobson for $7,000 really appeals to me.
