This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Maybe you care about the Army-Navy game, perhaps because you just time traveled from 1949 or something. Perhaps you are all about the NBA's In-Season Tournament coming to a conclusion. Me? I'm focused on the nine NHL games taking place Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. ET or later. Here are my DFS recommendations for your lineups based on those games as well.
SLATE PREVIEW
Saturday is heavy on first legs of a back-to-back, which is common practice for NHL scheduling. In terms of teams on the second leg of such a scenario, we only have the Blues, and they face the woeful Blackhawks. Plus, the Blues saved Jordan Binnington for this one as well, the better of their two goaltending options.
GOALIES
Igor Shesterkin, NYR at WAS ($8,100): It's been a surprising season for Shesterkin, who has scuffled a bit. However, he has a .923 save percentage in his career and has a Vezina to his name, so I think he will be fine. I believe facing the Capitals should help. Washington has played fewer games than most teams, but even so, it ranks 31st in goals per contest, and that's poor.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM at SEA ($8,000): Vasilevskiy started slow after returning from injury, but he's allowed one goal across the last 50 shots he's faced. The Kraken are in the bottom five in goals per game, so the Russian netminder could keep that momentum going.
Devon Levi, BUF vs. MON ($8,000): When Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen got scratched with an illness, the Sabres called up Levi and let him start, because that's more viable and productive than putting Eric Comrie in goal. To his credit, the 21-year-old did look good against the Bruins. Being at home against the Canadiens is a nice chance for Levi to get another good game in his ledger, and the Canadiens have averaged 2.69 goals and 28.3 shots on net per contest.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Connor Bedard, CHI vs. STL ($6,900): It would be nice to have an under-the-radar option to deliver you from Chicago, but that's just not happening. Bedard may be a teenaged rookie, but he is the only viable option for DFS purposes on his team having tallied 21 points in 25 games. The Blues are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back, and are in the bottom six in shots on net allowed per contest.
Trevor Moore, LOS at NYI ($6,100): Adrian Kempe leads the Kings in shots on goal, which is not a surprise. Taking the silver medal, though, is Moore, who has tallied 69 shots on target through 23 games. Surprisingly, Islanders goalies have been pelted with pucks this season. They have allowed 35.8 shots on net per game, which is 31st in the NHL.
Jake Neighbours, STL at CHI ($3,900): Neighbours has picked up 10 goals this year and earned a spot on the first line, which has benefited him. He's tallied 26 shots on net over his last eight games. While the Blues are on the second leg of a back-to-back, Chicago offers a favorable matchup. The Blackhawks have a 3.52 GAA and have allowed 32.8 shots on net per contest.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Sabres vs. Canadiens
Dylan Cozens (C - $4,100), John-Jason Peterka (W - $4,700), Zach Benson (W - $3,300)
The Canadiens have allowed 34.2 shots on net per game and have a bottom-five penalty kill. That's enticing enough as is, but the Habs have also announced Cayden Primeau will be in net for this one. The goalie options in Montreal are far from impressive, but Primeau is definitely the least of those options. He has a career .875 save percentage, and the Sabres' second line will get a shot at him Saturday.
Cozens didn't quite click as the first-line center, but being on the second line seems to suit him. He has a point in each of his last two games, and his 6.8 shooting percentage has a lot of room for improvement. Peterka did well (32 points) in a limited role as a rookie. This year he's got a substantive role and has 11 goals on 72 shots on net with nine assists for good measure. Benson is the latest youngster to join the Sabres, and he's perhaps found his footing after missing a few games. He has five of his seven points in 11 games since returning.
Rangers at Capitals
Vincent Trocheck (C - $6,000), Artemi Panarin (W - $8,600), Alexis Lafreniere (W - $4,700)
Darcy Kuemper (3.23 GAA, .887 save percentage) has been bad this year, which isn't a surprise given that he had a .907 save percentage last year. Charlie Lindgren (2.61 GAA, .924 save percentage) has been quite good, but that is a surprise, as he had an .899 save percentage last season. To that point, Lindgren has a .903 save percentage over his last four outings. The Rangers' second line is stacked with talent, so why not stack them in your own lineup?
Even while often playing the role of third-line center, Trocheck had 22 goals on 225 shots on net and 42 assists last year. Now a second-line center, he has 22 points in 24 outings, with five multi-point games in his last 13 contests. Admittedly, Trocheck is certainly benefiting from skating next to Panarin, consistently one of the top point producers in the NHL. This season is no different, as he has 37 points in 24 games. I've been in on Lafreniere for a couple years, which is maybe no bold given he was once a vaunted first-overall pick, but I do feel like he's fallen under the radar while he has emerged as a legitimate secondary scoring option even with no power-play time. He's been surging, with 12 points and 45 shots on net over his last 14 outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Moritz Seider, DET vs. OTT ($5,500): After a slow start offensively, Seider has gotten going, with six points over his last eight games. Now, five of those points have come with the extra man, but that's not a worry here. The Senators are in the bottom five in terms of penalty-kill percentage.
Drew Doughty, LOS at NYI ($4,700): Doughty is on a three-game point streak. He's also averaged a robust 3:41 per game with the extra man. That could be beneficial to the veteran defenseman, as the Islanders have a bottom-five penalty kill.
Owen Power, BUF vs. MON ($3,700): This does rely, to a degree, on Rasmus Dahlin missing another game with injury. If that is the case, Power will be on the top power-play unit. The Canadiens are the best matchup for any team Saturday, especially for any Sabre on the first power-play squad, given that the Canadiens have a bottom-five penalty kill.
