This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's been a pretty light week so far, but Thursday's slate will feature 11 games, starting at 7 p.m. EDT with the latest puck drop at 9 p.m., ensuring folks on the eastern seaboard can go to bed a little earlier. Two matchups are particularly intriguing: the chase for fourth place in the East with Rangers at Flyers (7 p.m.) and a battle between the two best teams in the West with Golden Knights at Avalanche (9 p.m.).
GOALIES
Semyon Varlamov, NYI at BOS ($8,300): Varlamov has lost two straight games but the Islanders never really seem to be in a spiral. They will be going for their fifth straight win against the Bruins, who have scored just five goals in the previous four games. The Islanders' stout defense and the Bruins' poor finishing means potentially a good night for Varlamov.
Casey DeSmith, PIT vs. BUF ($8,200): The Sabres' losing streak could very well extend to 16 against DeSmith, who has allowed just six goals in his past five games, one of which included a shutout win against the Sabres.
Jack Campbell, TOR at OTT ($8,000): The pesky Senators have been playing spoiler of late, but Campbell has been brilliant in his four starts this season. He's looking to extend his shutout streak and already beat the Sens on the road in his first game of the season. The Sens have beaten the Leafs just twice in regulation since 2020. The Sens were getting some good puck luck in their two wins against the Flames with a 1.063 and 1.037 PDO despite getting outshot at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick.
MacKenzie Blackwood, NJ at WSH ($7,000): There's definitely some upset potential here. Both the Devils and Capitals have been playing very well lately, and the Devils wins have come against teams with little depth down the middle. The Caps will miss Lars Eller, and note during their seven-game winning streak they were outshot by their opponents five times.
VALUE PLAYS
Pius Suter, CHI vs. FLA ($4,000): All bets are off if Aleksander Barkov dresses. The Blackhawks have the edge at center ice if the Panthers are missing their MVP, and Suter took full advantage of it last time with a goal in 16 minutes of play.
Yegor Sharangovich, NJ at WSH ($3,900): It's going to be difficult to keep going back to this well if Sharangovich keeps this up, but in the meantime we're happy to stick with the Belarussian dynamo. He scored two points on four shots in his most recent game, and seems firmly entrenched on the top line. He's shooting a lot, having registered three shots or more in 10 of his 13 games in March.
Jared McCann, PIT vs. BUF ($3,800): He didn't quite take advantage of his role on the second line against a bad team with one assist and two shots in 14 minutes of play, but it's still a very good matchup for him.
Michael Dal Colle, NYI at BOS ($3,400): I'm not quite sure who the Isles will play on left wing on the top line, but it shouldn't be Leo Komarov and it looks like Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom may stick together. That leaves Dal Colle, who skated a season-high 16 minutes against the Flyers though he failed to register a single shot. If Dal Colle is anything but first-line left wing, leave him out of your DFS lineup.
LINE STACKS
Maple Leafs at Senators
Auston Matthews (C - $8,300), Mitch Marner (W - $7,400), Wayne Simmonds (W - $3,500)
Matthews has beaten up the Sens ever since his rookie debut, and Marner's one of the best playmakers in the league. I also feel way more confident with the Sens starting Anton Forsberg in his season debut rather than facing the red-hot Filip Gustavsson. Simmonds is actually a good value play with his net-front presence on PP1.
Lightning vs. Stars
Brayden Point (C - $7,400), Steven Stamkos (W - $7,900), Ondrej Palat (W - $6,100)
Expect lineup changes since the Lightning have since dealt Alexander Volkov, but this has been a very good line for them all season. All three play on the top power-play unit.
Penguins vs. Sabres
Sidney Crosby (C - $8,200), Bryan Rust (W - $5,800), Jake Guentzel (W - $7,500)
Crosby had two points and seven shots and Rust and Guentzel both finished with a point apiece last game. I don't see how the rubber match will be any different with the Sabres continuing their embarrassing, record-setting slide.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman, TB at DAL ($7,100): He will be a popular pick, and as a point-per-game player his value proposition isn't far off from some of the elite forwards. The upside to Hedman is that he generally plays more minutes than all of them.
Dougie Hamilton, CAR at CBJ ($6,500): The Hurricanes should have the edge but anything can happen against the Blue Jackets, winning 3-0 in their last matchup and pushing the Canes to extra time in the previous two. As much as the Jackets try to keep their games low-scoring affairs, the Canes offense is difficult to stop. Hamilton registered just one shot last game, but that's an anomaly and he should have more this time around.
Roman Josi, NSH vs. DET ($6,500): It's a good matchup for the Predators and Josi, who finished with an assist and six shots last game, extending his point streak to four games after missing two weeks.
Kris Letang, PIT vs. BUF ($6,000): Letang rounds out the premier options for Thursday's slate, getting an easy matchup against the Sabres. He scored a goal and finished with six shots in the first half of their back-to-back and has been very effective against the Sabres this season with three points and 12 shots in three games this season.
Aaron Ekblad, FLA at CHI ($5,500): He didn't register a point last game but finished with five shots, the second time in three games he's done so. He continues to skate a ton of minutes and I like the matchup against a very bad Blackhawks PK.
Matt Grzelcyk, BOS vs. NYI ($4,200): It's been a tough season for Grzelcyk but he's been splendid in March, scoring a goal and five assists. It will be difficult to score on the Isles, but over the past three games Grzelcyk has managed to put 17 shots on net. Not many defensemen can put up such high-volume shots on a nightly basis.
