FanDuel NHL: Saturday Targets

FanDuel NHL: Saturday Targets

This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.

Sunday could be Super, but Saturday has its charms. After all, there are eight NHL games and five in the evening make up the main DFS slate. Get your lineups in by 7 p.m. ET, and think about including some of these guys in those lineups.

SLATE PREVIEW

None of the bottom-8 teams in GAA are in action Saturday night, so some of the usual targets aren't available. We also have two teams on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back in the Jets and the Islanders.

GOALIES

Juuse Saros, NAS vs. WPG ($8,200): The Jets are just below the median in goals per game, so it's not a great matchup. But since they're on the road for a second game of a back-to-back, I do believe it to be favorable. Saros has been great in goal with a 2.39 GAA and .926 save percentage.

Ville Husso, STL vs. CHI ($7,900): The Blues seem to have come to the realization that Husso is their best option in net. He's posted a 1.90 GAA and .941 save percentage, including a 1.37/.956 line in eight 2022 starts. The Blackhawks rank 30th in goals at 2.40, so Husso should be able to keep his hot run going.

VALUE PLAYS

Blake Coleman, CGY vs. NYI ($5,400): Coleman has a four-game point streak and has scored six of his 10 goals from his last 14 games. That's notable as his shooting percentage is still 7.6. The Islanders boast two good goalies, but they are also on the road for the second game of a back-to-back. That's never easy.

Elias Pettersson, VAN vs. TOR ($5,200): Pettersson has started to look like his old self recently with 10 points over his last 11 games. The Swede has also started 66.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, most on the Canucks. The Maple Leafs' goaltending has been a concern recently. Jack Campbell has a 4.11 GAA and .864 save percentage in his last eight games, and Petr Mrazek has a .902 save percentage on the season.

LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER

Blues vs. Blackhawks: Ryan O'Reilly (C - $5,600), Brayden Schenn (W - $6,000), Jordan Kyrou (W - $7,700)

The Blackhawks have a 3.32 GAA and have allowed 32.1 shots on net. Marc-Andre Fleury has a 2.87 GAA and .910 save percentage. Since the New Year, though, he's produced a 2.90/.907 line. With that in mind, I'm in on St. Louis' top line.

O'Reilly managed 54 points in 56 games last season. Thanks to a recent run of 11 in 11, he' up to 30 through 41. Since returning from his most-recent absence, Schenn has seven goals and four assists in seven games - including three points with the extra man. Kyrou – the NHL's faster skater – has used that speed to notch 42 points with 12 of those on the power play.

Predators vs. Jets: Ryan Johansen (C - $5,500), Luke Kunin (W - $4,400), Nick Cousins (W - $4,100)

I decided to go with Nashville's second unit to provide a lower-salary stack option. With this matchup, it could still pay off. The Jets are middle-of-the-pack in GAA and shots on net allowed per game, but bottom-five in penalty kill. And they're on the road for the second game of a back-to-back. Only Johansen is on the top power play, but Cousins and Kunin see time on the second group.

Johansen is definitely the jewel in this crown with 34 points, including 12 on the power play. Kunin has posted double-digit goals for the third straight season with five across his last 11 games. Cousins is not a big-time scorer with six goals and seven assists, though four of those points have come on the power play.

DEFENSE

Morgan Rielly, TOR at VAN ($6,600): Rielly is racking up plenty of points, especially assists with 35 to go with five goals. Best of all, he's notched 14 power-play points. Why am I so enthused about that? Because the Canucks have the league's worst penalty kill.

Justin Faulk, STL vs. CHI ($5,000): Faulk has seven goals on 83 shots on net. He's added 13 assists to that total. The veteran defenseman also has a point in back-to-back contests and eight overall in his last 12 games. As I mentioned earlier, Fleury has a 2.87 GAA and .910 save percentage.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan is a writer of sports, pop culture, and humor articles, a book author, a podcaster, and a fan of all Detroit sports teams.
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