This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The NHL is easing down on the throttle heading into the All-Star break. There are only two NHL games Sunday, both of which start at 5 p.m. ET. The options are limited, but here are my recommendations for your DFS lineups.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Bruins are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back, the only one of these four teams in that spot. Also, the four teams are the Bruins, Capitals, Hurricanes, and Maple Leafs. They are all in the top 10 in GAA and shots on net allowed per contest, and three are in the top 10 in penalty-kill percentage as well. Yeah, it's probably going to be a tough days for offenses.
GOALIE
Ilya Samsonov, TOR vs. WAS ($8,100): The least-imposing offense of these four teams? That would be the Capitals, who have averaged 3.14 goals and 32.0 shots on net per contest. They are on the road, and they are facing their former goalie in Samsonov. While Samsonov is coming off a bad start, he has a 2.37 GAA and .916 save percentage on the season.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Teuvo Teravainen, CAR vs. BOS ($4,200): Teravainen has picked up 12 points in his last 17 games. However, he still only has a 4.9 shooting percentage, so some intense regression toward the mean could be in order. Now, that doesn't often happen against the Bruins, who have the lowest GAA in the NHL. That being said, they are on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Capitals at Maple Leafs
Dylan Strome (C - $4,000), Alex Ovechkin (W - $8,600), T.J. Oshie (W - $4,400)
The Maple Leafs rank 16th on the penalty kill, and among these four teams that qualifies as a relative weakness, which makes it worth targeting. All three of these guys have produced on the power play this year, and two of them are still on the first power-play unit. Strome isn't, but he has been centering Ovechkin's line at even strength, which is a promotion for him.
Strome has 14 power-play points, though as I noted his time on that front has dropped, and he only has three power-play points in his last 15 games. Having said that, he also has 12 total points in those 15 contests, so he's stayed productive. Ovechkin, of course, never stops shooting, and he never stops scoring. He has 32 goals on 215 shots on net in 50 games, including 10 goals with the extra man. As per usual, Oshie has struggled to stay healthy. Also as per usual, when healthy he's been a real contributor on the power play. Five of his 10 goals in 33 games have come with the man advantage.
DEFENSEMAN
Brett Pesce, CAR vs. BOS ($4,100): Pesce has 12 points in his last 15 games. He also has 35 shots on net in that time, a good amount for a defenseman. On top of that, Pesce has only relied on the power play for two of those points, which is encouraging given the fact the Bruins have the league's best penalty kill. In the back-to-back scenario involving Boston, I'm good with Pesce, and prefer him to, say, Brent Burns, who is more dependent on the power play.
