This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Monday is a pretty nice NHL slate. Eight games are taking place, which means half the league is in action. First puck drops at 7 p.m. ET, so it's business as usual. Let's kick the work week off well. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Two teams are on the second leg of a back-to-back. Colorado is at home against Chicago, and Edmonton is visiting Columbus. Neither is a tough matchup, but both the Avalanche and Oilers have questions in goal, so there can still be opportunity found on those two fronts.
GOALIES
Connor Ingram, UTA vs. SAN ($8,400): Ingram has looked good twice all season, which is not ideal given he has made seven starts. However, he has a .907 save percentage in each of his last two campaigns. If he proves to be that goalie, a home game against the Sharks is well within his capabilities to handle with gusto. San Jose's rebuild is coming along slowly. After being the NHL's worst team last season, the Sharks are 0-7-2 and have managed a mere two goals per game.
Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR at VAN ($7,900): Early season numbers can prove to be misleading when all is said and done, but there is a number I do believe: Carolina has held opponents to 25.7 shots on net per game. Under Rod Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes have been one of the stingiest defenses in the NHL. Kochetkov posted a .910 save percentage over the prior two seasons but managed a 2.37 GAA because, again, this defense is elite. The Canucks have turned 29.4 shots on net per game into 3.43 goals per contest, which is not sustainable. I would be surprised if they manage to get 29 shots on net.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Teuvo Teravainen, CHI at COL ($5,000): The Blackhawks brought in Teravainen to make things easier on Connor Bedard. He did… early. Though the Finn doesn't have a point in his last four games, he has seven points in nine games this season because he started red hot. Being on the second leg of a back-to-back, the Avalanche will likely have to give Alexandar Georgiev a shot after gluing him to the bench after a terrible beginning to the season. How bad was it? He has a 4.98 GAA and .810 save percentage in five appearances.
Pavel Dorofeyev, VGK vs. CGY ($4,300): Yes, it was against the Sharks, but Dorofeyev had three points and nine shots on net in his last game. That's notable in any matchup. Over his last seven outings, he has seven points and 25 shots on net, so that one game wasn't necessarily a huge outlier. The Flames have allowed 32.6 shots on goal per game. It's Dan Vladar's turn in the goaltending rotation. He has a career .894 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Hockey Club vs. Sharks
Barrett Hayton (C - $5,300), Clayton Keller (W - $7,200), Nick Schmaltz (W - $5,700)
Utah hockey fans will get to experience the enthusiasm you feel when your team welcomes a terrible squad into its home arena. Yes, it's only been nine games, but this season has been an extension of the last for the Sharks, who have bottomed out as a franchise in a way you usually only see in the NBA. In addition to their punchless offense, the Sharks have a 4.22 GAA and have given up 33.9 shots on net per game. Utah's top line can certainly handle this matchup.
Hayton started the season with six points in five games. While he does not have a point in his last four outings, he's put three shots on net in each of his last three contests. That means he's staying engaged and active. Meanwhile, only once this season has Keller been held to fewer than three shots on target. While he's been held without a point on a couple of occasions, Utah's captain has nine points in as many outings. Schmaltz has eight points, but they are all assists. Not one of his 19 shots on net has gone in. He has a career 13.9 percent shooting rate. That is going to change, and likely soon.
Sabres vs. Panthers
Tage Thompson (C - $7,500), Alex Tuch (W - $7,000), John-Jason Peterka (W - $6,000)
The Panthers take their championship defense up north in a trip to Buffalo. It's been a mixed bag for Florida, whose lineup is slightly different and perhaps dealing with that proverbial title hangover. What stands out to me the most is the play of Sergei Bobrovsky, long an inconsistent performer in goal. Through seven outings he has a 3.11 GAA and .886 save percentage. Three times as a Panther he's finished a season with a GAA over 2.90 and a save percentage below .910. The Sabres' top line is hot. Bobrovsky is not. Don't avoid this stack just because many Panthers players now have rings.
Thompson is on a six-game point streak and has a streak going of three multi-point games in a row as well. All that and he only has one power-play point on the season after having 16 last year. Tuch has nine points in nine games. He's also put at least three shots on net in six contests, including in each of his last three outings. Peterka had a quiet 28 goals last season and has four this year even though he's missed two games. The 22-year-old also has three assists, which is encouraging given he only had 20 all of last year.
DEFENSEMEN
Zach Werenski, CLM vs. EDM ($7,300): A healthy Werenski is a productive Werenski, as his 57 points in 70 games showed us last year (by his standard, playing 70 games in a season practically makes him Phil Kessel). This year the longtime Jacket has seven points and 25 shots on net in seven contests. He's also averaged 3:09 per game on the power play. The Oilers, who are on the second leg of a back-to-back, have the league's worst penalty kill.
Michael Kesselring, UTA vs. SAN ($3,000): Mikhail Sergachev was the big defensive addition for Utah, but Kesselring has gotten to play with him. As a rookie, Kesselring had 21 points in 65 games while averaging 15:48 a night in ice time. This year he's averaged 20:13 per game and tallied five points already through nine contests. All those minutes look enticing against San Jose's defense.
