This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Tuesday's NHL slate offers plenty of selection, with nine games on tap after 7:00 PM Eastern time. Below, you'll find an overview of the matchups and suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
There are a few juicy matchups that feature a high-octane offense facing a vulnerable defensive team. The Capitals and Lightning both sport top-10 offenses and will face bottom-10 defensive teams in the Maple Leafs and Rangers, respectively. Then, there are the star-driven Bruins and Oilers clubs, whose top lines should both thrive against a pair of bottom-five defenses in the Sharks and Red Wings, respectively.
GOALIES
There are seven teams averaging 2.50 goals per game or fewer. Six of them are scheduled to play in this slate and four of them are paired off in the Jets-Ducks and Wild-Stars matchups.
You figure Winnipeg's offense will get going eventually, but Connor Hellebuyck ($7,700) has carried the team thus far with a 2.21 GAA and .933 save percentage. His stellar play in net should continue in Anaheim.
Both teams' goalies look appealing in the clash of bottom-three offenses in Dallas. Ben Bishop ($8,100) hasn't been the problem for the hosts, as he sports a 2.35 GAA and .920 save percentage. Starter Devan Dubnyk has struggled for the visiting Wild, but backup Alex Stalock ($7,400) offers great value if he gets the nod given his 1.98 GAA and .928 save percentage in six appearances (four starts).
The other two bottom-seven offenses in action are Detroit and Chicago. Whomever gets the call between Mike Smith ($7,800) and Mikko Koskinen ($7,600) for the Oilers is likely to pad their stats against the Red Wings, and Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne ($8,300) should have no problem building on his 6-0-1 record, 1.98 GAA and .931 save percentage against the visiting Blackhawks.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Steven Stamkos ($7,300) leads the Lightning with five goals, 11 points and 32 shots. He continues to skate on the top line and No. 1 power-play unit, and Stamkos should excel against a Rangers team that's giving up 3.78 goals per game. Roll him with confidence as a stand-alone option or part of a larger Lightning stack.
James Neal ($5,900) leads the league with seven power-play goals, as he's fit in seamlessly on Edmonton's star-studded top power-play unit. He gets a great opportunity to keep rolling with the extra man against Detroit's 69.2 percent penalty kill, which is the third-most generous in the NHL.
With all the star power in Toronto, it's easy to overlook 25-year-old Russian signing Ilya Mikheyev ($4,300), who has four goals and 10 points along with 32 shots through 13 games. Mikheyev should be a nice value play in what promises to be a high-scoring game against Washington.
Dominik Simon ($4,300) continues to skate in one of the league's most fantasy-friendly spots, filling the third spot on a line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel in Pittsburgh. He has a point in five of his last seven games and eight shots in the past two, so Simon's set up to provide strong bang for the buck against a visiting Flyers team that's let in nine goals in its last two games.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Bruins vs. Sharks
Patrice Bergeron (C - $7,600), David Pastrnak (W - $8,300), Brad Marchand (W - $7,700)
While locking this whole line down requires a major chunk of your cap space, a strong performance by this trio can propel you to victory before the rest of your lineup even comes into play. Just look at Boston's last game, when these guys combined for five goals and 13 points in a 7-4 win over the Rangers. Through 11 games overall, Bergeron sports a 5-6-11 line, Pastrnak's at 11-12-23 and Marchand's at 7-13-20. Meanwhile, the visiting Sharks are getting outscored 3.58 to 2.58 in the average game this season.
Oilers at Red Wings
Connor McDavid (C - $8,200), Leon Draisaitl (W - $7,500), Zack Kassian (W - $4,000)
Only four forwards have scored 20-plus points so far this season. The Bruins line above features two of them and this Oilers line features the other two. Best of all, it also comes built in with a low-cost option who's likely to outperform his price if his two star linemates are involved in the scoring. McDavid (6-15-21) and Draisaitl (9-12-21) both have 21 points in 12 games, while Kassian owns a 3-5-8 line. A Red Wings team that's been outscored 45-27 through 12 games is unlikely to have any answers to this line.
Capitals at Maple Leafs
Evgeny Kuznetsov (C - $6,000), Jakub Vrana (W - $4,200), Tom Wilson (W - $4,900)
This game is likely to be played at a fast and fantasy-friendly pace, as both teams are ranked in the top six offensively and bottom 10 defensively. Washington's top line will draw the toughest assignments against Toronto's best defensemen, which should leave plenty of room for this talented second line to wreak havoc. Kuznetsov has topped 70 points three times in the past four seasons, and he's racked up five goals and four assists in 10 games after serving a three-game suspension to open the season. Vrana's expected to take another step forward at age 23 after posting a 24-23-47 line last season, and he's on a slightly better pace with four goals and four assists through 13 games. Wilson has posted comparable production to Vrana, with four goals and three assists.
DEFENSEMEN
In addition to the four forwards above, John Carlson ($7,000) is the fifth player currently above the 20-point threshold with five goals and 16 assists in 13 games. He has the highest offensive ceiling of any defenseman in this slate against a Maple Leafs that's giving up 3.38 goals per game.
Anthony DeAngelo ($4,300) continues to produce points for the Rangers, and that's unlikely to change against the Lightning team that drafted him 19th overall back in 2014. The offensively gifted blueliner has multiple points in each of his last three games, with three goals and three assists in that stretch.
Sticking in the Lightning-Rangers game, this could be a nice buy-low opportunity on former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh ($3,800). McDonagh only has three helpers without a goal through 10 games, but he's playing over 22 minutes per game — second on the team behind Victor Hedman — and has more offensive ability than he's shown with a career rate of 0.47 points per game.
The Ducks have mustered only three power-play goals so far this season, but a home matchup against Winnipeg's league-worst, 64.0 percent penalty kill could be just what the Ducks need to pick up the pace with the extra man. As the lone defenseman on Anaheim's top power-play unit, Cam Fowler ($4,100) is in position to benefit from this matchup without costing owners too much.
