This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
There are only two NHL games Sunday, and they both start in the 1 p.m. ET hour. Hmm, what could be the reason for that? Well, what I do know is that these are my DFS recommendations for the big games Sunday. The NHL games, naturally.
SLATE PREVIEW
All four teams playing Sunday also played Saturday afternoon. The Blues and Canucks are both on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. Washington flips from the road to hosting Vancouver. Only the Canadiens, hosting the Blues, get two home games this weekend.
GOALIE
Thatcher Demko, VAN at WAS ($8,000): The Canucks saved Demko for Sunday, and that makes him the easy pick. He has a 2.47 GAA and .918 save percentage, for starters. Then, there's the Capitals element of this. Washington feels kind of locked into 30th in goals per game this year, and it definitely isn't climbing out of the bottom four.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Pius Suter, VAN at WAS ($3,900): The Capitals did the inverse of what the Canucks did, which is to say Darcy Kuemper is starting Sunday. He has a 3.18 GAA and .894 save percentage. Suter, skating next to Elias Pettersson, has seven points in his last six games.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Blues at Canadiens
Robert Thomas (C - $6,800), Jordan Kyrou (W - $7,400), Pavel Buchnevich (W - $6,900)
The Canadiens are in the bottom six in GAA and shots on net allowed per game, but what is most crucial to me is that they rank 30th in penalty-kill percentage. This is not just St. Louis' first line. All three play on the top power-play unit as well.
Thomas has been hot, with at least one point in six of his last seven games. He's also been kicking it into high gear on the power play, with seven points with the extra man in his last 15 outings. Kyrou has 15 goals in 50 games, even though he's had bad puck luck. Those 15 goals have come on 161 shots on net, and his career 12.6 shooting percentage indicates likely improvement is coming. Buchnevich has been shooting with gusto, putting 55 shots on net over his last 18 games. The Russian also has a power-play point in four of his last five outings.
DEFENSEMAN
Torey Krug, STL at MON ($4,700): I'll go with Krug here, as he also plays on the top power-play unit. Again, the Canadiens have the 30th-ranked penalty kill. Also, Krug has put four shots on net in each of his last two games.