Hope you're staying reasonably warm and ready for some Sunday NHL DFS action with the FanDuel slate featuring five games and the first puck dropping at 5 p.m. EST. Onto the lineup recommendations!
SLATE PREVIEW
Two teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back, and interestingly both have a 22-hour turnaround. The Sens at least get to be at home, though they'll be facing the Golden Knights on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Panthers are traveling from Minnesota to go up against the Blackhawks.
GOALIES
Dustin Wolf, CGY vs. ANA ($7,600): Wolf's had an interesting season with a 3.98 GAA and .870 save percentage away from Calgary and a 2.25/.920 at home. The Ducks have actually dropped to 3.20 goals per game, which isn't terrible but still out of the top-10. Unfortunately for Anaheim, the issue is Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry, and Mason McTavish are all dealing with injuries.
Spencer Knight, CHI vs. FLA ($7,400): Knight should be hyped to face his former team while coming in at a solid 2.54 GAA and .913 save percentage overall. I know Matthew Tkachuk is back, though the Panthers are comfortably below-average in offense. And as noted, Florida is on the road for a second straight day.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Pavel Dorofeyev, VGK at OTT ($5,900): Dorofeyev is certainly the least prominent names on Vegas's top power play, yet he's managed 13 of his 22 goals on that unit after potting a combined 35 last year. Ottawa will be on their second game in as many days while ranking bottom-five in GAA and penalty-kill percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Penguins at Canucks
Thomas Novak (C - $4,400), Evgeni Malkin (W - $6,700), Yegor Chinakhov (W - $3,700)
The Ducks are 31st with a 3.49 GAA. Why am I mentioning a team not involved in this matchup? Because the Canucks are 32nd at 3.67. Given how solid this matchup is, I feel good about stacking Pittsburgh's second line to save some salary over their top trio.
Tallying 27 points isn't bad for a second-line center, though Novak has been better of late via six points from his last five games with multiple shots during each of his last three. Since returning from injury, Malkin has racked up 10 points in nine outings. He's also the one of this trio who logs regular man-advantage minutes while the Canucks have the worst penalty kill. Chinakhov recently joined from Columbus and has rewarded his current club with six points across 12 appearances, including a goal from each of his last two.
DEFENSEMEN
Shea Theodore, VGK at OTT ($6,100): While Noah Hanifin has reunited with Rasmus Andersson, Theodore is still the Golden Knights' top defenseman averaging 22:45 over eight outings alongside six points, 13 shots, and 14 blocked shots. He may not be significantly involved versus Ottawa's poor penalty kill as Vegas does the five-forward setup on their lead man-advantage, though the Sens are also bottom-five in GAA and on the second day of a back-to-back.
Kevin Bahl, CGY vs. ANA ($3,600): Bahl was already doing more before the Rasmus Andersson trade, but has added a sizeable role during his last four matchups where he's averaged 24:01 while recording four assists and five shots. Lukas Dostal has played well of late, yet the Ducks will be on the road while carrying a 3.49 GAA. At Bahl's salary, he's worth a shot on Sunday.
