This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
It's one week from Christmas, and the NHL is giving us an early gift of five NHL games. Sure, I could make that same joke for half of December, but I get one use of it and I decided to burn it today. The first puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET. Here are your NHL DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Only one team, the Jets, is on the second leg of a back-to-back. After playing in San Jose on Tuesday, the Jets are in Anaheim on Wednesday. Back-to-backs are always notable with Winnipeg because the drop from Connor Hellebuyck to Eric Comrie is significant. Of course, the Ducks are a lackluster offense, so there is only so much upside there. Vancouver is on the first leg of a back-to-back, but with Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen both healthy now that's less stark.
GOALIES
Karel Vejmelka, UTA vs. VAN ($7,800): This will likely prove an outlier season for Vejmelka, as breaking through as an above-average NHL goalie at 28 is not something to bet on. However, he has a 2.40 GAA and a .915 save percentage through 17 games, so he is playing well. The Canucks have averaged 3.20 goals per game, but have only averaged 26.2 shots on net per contest, so that's a lot of good puck luck. Utah has only given up 28.2 shots on goal per game, so Vejmelka may not be too busy in this home start.
Samuel Ersson, PHI at DET ($7,400): I would have preferred to go with a Detroit goalie in this matchup, but Cam Talbot has been ruled out and Alex Lyon is a question mark, at best. Ville Husso doesn't cut it for me. Thus, I have flipped to the other side of this matchup. With a 2.87 GAA and .891 save percentage, Ersson hasn't exactly set the world alight either, but the Red Wings have only managed 2.57 goals and 25.4 shots on net per game, so the threat there is limited.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Kyle Connor, WPG at ANA ($8,700): Though Connor is on the road for the second night of a back-to-back, I'd still happily roster him. He is comfortably pacing the Jets in shots on goal, having tallied 111 through 33 games. Connor can essentially be inked in for at least 30 goals before any campaign begins, and his propensity to get pucks on goal helps there. Anaheim has allowed a whopping 33.2 shots on goal per contest. The only thing keeping them out of the bottom 10 in GAA is Lukas Dostal's scorching start to the season.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Flyers at Red Wings
Morgan Frost (C - $4,400), Matvei Michkov (W - $5,100), Owen Tippett (W - $5,000)
The Red Wings have struggled to kill penalties. Only the Islanders have been worse, and the Wings have failed to even cross the 70 percent threshold 30 teams have managed. Even if Alex Lyon returns, it will be his first game in December, so he may be rusty, and that's not ideal behind a porous penalty kill. Philly's power play has been spotty, but I still like this line even if only one guy is currently on the top power-play unit. John Tortorella has been shuffling his power-play units quite a bit, so these three could all still have their opportunity.
Frost is a good example of Philly's power play. He's been on the second unit recently but has averaged 2:21 per game with the extra man. He has six points in 11 games since returning from injury, but that includes two multi-point games, and a game like that could be in play Wednesday. The rookie Michkov is one of the only guys to get regular power-play minutes, having averaged 3:09 per game. He has tallied 12 power-play points. He's been hot recently with four multi-point games in his last seven contests, and five games in that span with at least three shots on net. Tippett has been productive even without power-play success recently, having tallied five goals over his last seven games. He remains a prolific shooter of the puck, notching 80 shots on net in 31 outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Brock Faber, MIN vs. FLA ($4,100): There has been no sophomore slump for Faber. He has 17 points in 31 games and has a three-game streak of picking up an assist going. You can always rely on Sergei Bobrovsky to keep things interesting. After being integral to the Panthers' Stanley Cup run last season, Bobrovsky has a .889 save percentage this year.
Jackson LaCombe, ANA vs. WPG ($3,300): I grant you it is entirely unsustainable, but LaCombe has a goal and an assist in each of his last two games. More sustainable is the fact he played over 22 minutes in ice time in both of those matchups, perhaps speaking to his post-Cam Fowler role. One assumes Anaheim hopes the 23-year-old is part of the team's future. Catching the Jets on the second leg of a back-to-back is all well and good, but catching Comrie in goal sweetens the deal. He has a career .894 save percentage.
