This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a quiet Saturday night in the NHL with four afternoon games and just the six evening matchups included in the featured contests at DraftKings. The Flyers and Rangers are the only notable big favorites on the docket, while San Jose and Edmonton are both receiving smaller chalk on home ice. The Lightning-Bruins and Canadiens-Panthers bouts both have the home teams slightly favored. New Jersey is the only team playing the second leg of a back-to-back set after topping St. Louis on Friday.
GOALIES
Not only are the Flyers cruising along an eight-game winning streak, Carter Hart ($8,400) is 19-2-2 with a .942 save percentage and 1.64 GAA on home ice this season. The Sabres are also 5-12-3 with just 33 goals at five-on-five through their past 20 road games. This salary might not be prohibitive enough for Hart.
Boston sits atop the standings, but Andrei Vasilevskiy ($7,500) has been as good as any netminder for a prolonged stretch with a 20-4-1 record, .927 save percentage and 2.24 GAA, so his salary is attractive. The Bruins defeated the Lightning 2-1 Tuesday, and then Vasilevskiy bounced back with a shutout over Montreal on Thursday. From a value standpoint, the Russian netminder warrants consideration - and he's at worst a solid flyer.
Speaking of weak road teams, Ottawa has only won three of their past 20 away games and scored just 30 goals at five-on-five in the process. Aaron Dell ($8,200) is also in need of a get-right matchup. He's lost three straight with 11 goals against and an .874 save percentage. However, it's worth noting Dell posted a .921 save percentage through his previous 10 starts, so the potential is there.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
With New Jersey in the noted back-to-back spot, look for Artemi Panarin ($7,900) and the Rangers to have a strong showing Saturday. The Russian winger has 28 multi-point showings this season and ranks fourth in points per 60 minutes with an elite 4.13 mark, so his price is short.
Healthy and back atop the depth chart in all situations, Logan Couture ($6,100) is a speculative value with a favorable matchup against the Senators. He's recorded a modest two goals and one assist while averaging 19:36 of ice time - including 2:33 with the man advantage - through five games since returning from injured reserve. Of course, the real draw is Ottawa's poor defense, as they've surrendered 3.72 goals per hour on the road this season.
Columbus represents a stingy defensive club with the fewest expected goals against per 60 minutes in the league since the All-Star break, but Kailer Yamamoto ($5,400) is having an excellent season and is locked into a cushy fantasy spot skating with Leon Draisaitl ($8,600) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,800) at even strength. The rookie has produced at a point-per-game pace with 11 tallies and 13 helpers through 24 outings.
After posting an impressive 13 points - with four goals - through 12 games from late January to mid-February, Nick Suzuki ($3,700) has missed the scoresheet in seven straight. He continues to skate in a top-six role and with the No. 1 power-play unit, so the rookie center should be positioned for a bounce-back showing with Florida allowing the third most goals per 60 minutes since the All-Star break.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Florida's No. 1 line has been held off the scoresheet in four consecutive outings, so statistical correction is ahead for Aleksander Barkov ($6,700), Jonathan Huberdeau ($6,900) and Evgenii Dadonov ($5,300). The trio have clicked for an elite 6.23 goals and 15.38 high-danger scoring chances per 60 minutes over the past two years.
Sean Couturier ($6,500), Claude Giroux ($6,000) and Jakub Voracek ($5,200) have combined for 16 tallies and 27 helpers through 13 games dating back to the middle of February, and the run has them up to 5.06 goals per hour for the campaign. It's a soft matchup, with Buffalo owning the league's worst penalty-kill percentage and surrendering 3.5 goals per 60 minutes through its past 25 road games.
DEFENSEMEN
With Ottawa's noted defensive struggles on the road, Brent Burns ($7,800) is a high-floor, high-ceiling target. He's recorded 12 points, 62 shots and 36 blocks through his past 16 games while logging a hefty 26:52 of ice time - including 2:47 with the man advantage. It's also worth noting that Burns's lowest DraftKings point total during that stretch is 9.3, and he's reached the shots and/or blocks bonus 11 times.
The offensive upside Ivan Provorov ($5,800) owns has begun to translate to the scoresheet of late, as he's collected four tallies and six helpers through 12 games. He's boosted his fantasy value with 23 shots and 19 blocks during the stretch, and the top-unit, power-play quarterback also lands in a cushy matchup. The Sabres own the worst penalty-kill percentage in the league this season and have surrendered the fifth most goals per game on the road.
With the potentially soft schedule spot against New Jersey, Anthony DeAngelo ($5,100) jumps off the page. He's recorded a goal and eight assists through his past nine outings to improve to a second-ranked 2.51 points per 60 minutes among all defensemen. He also quarterbacks the No. 1 power-play unit, and New Jersey has been shorthanded the eighth most times this season.
While Keith Yandle ($4,400) has only marked the scoresheet in two of his past eight outings, the veteran still ranks 10th in points per 60 minutes among regular defensemen this season and eighth over the past three years. Montreal also owns an underwhelming 77.9 penalty-kill percentage.
