This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Saturday night is a good time for hockey fans. The NHL is giving us 10 games on the docket starting at 7 p.m. EST or later. Looking to give your DFS lineups a boost? Here are my players to target, and to avoid, for your lineups.
GOALIE
Martin Jones, TOR at SAN ($24): Jones will be facing his former team Saturday, and he comes into this matchup playing some of the best hockey of his career. Turned to as a last resort in Toronto, he's posted a 2.21 GAA and .930 save percentage. Eventually, the bloom will come off the rose, but not in this matchup. San Jose has managed a paltry 2.03 goals and 25.4 shots on net per game.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Stuart Skinner, EDM vs. OTT ($26): Skinner has played much better since a terrible start to the campaign, but he still has an .895 save percentage on the year. Given his career .908 save percentage, I am skeptical he will play at a high level all year. The Senators are porous defensively, but they have averaged 3.35 goals and 32.4 shots on net per game, so I am expecting a lot of goals in this one.
CENTER
Marco Rossi, MIN at CLM ($14): Any rookie center would be in the shadow of Connor Bedard this year, but Rossi has been no slouch. He has 11 goals and 12 assists through 37 games, and Rossi is now the second-line center for the Wild. The Blue Jackets have allowed 34.4 shots on goal per contest, and they have a 3.63 GAA as well.
CENTER TO AVOID
Jack Hughes, NJD vs. VAN ($35): It's another Hughes Brothers Bowl, but this time, the odds are in Quinn's favor. The Devils are on the second leg of a back-to-back, for starters. On top of that, Thatcher Demko has a 2.47 GAA and .918 save percentage. Vancouver actually has the lowest GAA of any team playing Saturday.
WING
Zach Hyman, EDM vs. OTT ($26): Hyman has a goal in four of his last five games. He's also averaged 3:24 per contest with the extra man. That power-play time is key to me here, as the Senators are last on the penalty kill.
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK vs. NYI ($23): Marchessault has tallied 17 goals in 39 games, and he's also put 137 shots on net. On top of that, he's notched 11 power-play points. Under Barry Trotz, the Islanders were defensively stout, but those days are gone. The Islanders are 31st in shots on net allowed per game as well as penalty-kill percentage.
WINGS TO AVOID
Cole Caufield, MON vs. NYR ($21): Caufield has had some tough shooting luck, with an 8.3 percent mark on the year. While he's played better recently, so has Igor Shesterkin. The one-time Vezina winner has a 2.12 GAA and .923 save percentage over his last seven outings. Additionally, 12 of Caufield's 27 points have come on the power play, and the Rangers have the seventh-ranked penalty kill.
Brandon Hagel, TAM at BOS ($19): Hagel just scored a goal, which is good. It was his first goal in 19 games, which is not so good. Linus Ullmark, the reigning Vezina winner, has a .916 save percentage on the year, but also a .937 save percentage over his last three starts.
DEFENSE
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK vs. NYI ($22): Pietrangelo's power-play minutes on the year are tamped down by earlier in the season when he wasn't on the first unit. Over his last 19 games he's averaged a whopping 4:13 per game on the power play. I noted the Islanders have the 31st-ranked penalty kill earlier. Pietrangelo hasn't been scoring a ton recently, but this matchup could help get him on track.
Morgan Rielly, TOR at SAN ($20): Rielly has been firing on all cylinders on the Toronto blue line over the last month. Across his last 14 games he's tallied 13 points, as well as 40 shots on goal. I mentioned the Sharks have been awful offensively, but they are just as bad defensively. Their 4.03 GAA is highest in the NHL.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF at PIT ($21): With so many options Saturday, I would eschew shelling out for Dahlin's salary. Tristan Jarry has a 2.58 GAA, and the Penguins have a top-10 penalty kill. Ten of Dahlin's 31 points have come with the extra man, so a good penalty kill is a mark against him.
Mike Matheson, MON vs. NYR ($20): Matheson has been particularly reliant on the power play for production this year. A whopping 15 of his 27 points have come with the extra man. As I noted, the Rangers have the seventh-ranked penalty kill, and Shesterkin has been playing well for good measure.
