It's the first Saturday of December and DraftKings is offering 10 NHL games for their evening slate with the first ones starting at 7 p.m. EST. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Toronto and Montreal named their starters for their matchup, yet neither is on the second leg of a back-to-back. Four teams are playing for the second straight night as the Canucks are at home against the Wild, Utah has to visit Calgary, the Jets travel to face the Oilers, and New Jersey heads to Boston.
GOALIES
Linus Ullmark, OTT vs. STL ($8,200): Ullmark has been better of late, though in this case "better" means a 2.58 GAA and .895 save percentage over his last eight starts. His defense has clearly helped him and should continue that against the Blues as they've only managed 25.8 shots per game, so this could be your classic "Allows two goals on 20 shots in a win" kind of start, which works well for DFS purposes.
Spencer Knight, CHI at LOS ($7,500): There's a chance the Blackhawks will save Knight for Sunday when they face the high-flying Ducks. If Arvid Soderblom ends up getting the call, I'd pass. Knight has been crushing it this year with a 2.44 GAA and .919 save percentage. Meanwhile, the Kings have struggled offensively at 2.56 goals per game.
Jeremy Swayman, BOS vs. NJD ($7,400): Though Swayman is coming off a poor outing against the Red Wings, he's registered a .924 save percentage since the start of November. The Devils are middle-of-the-back when it comes to scoring goals, but are without Jack Hughes and will be on the second night of a back-to-back.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Lucas Raymond, DET at SEA ($6,500): Raymond has notched at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games. He's also managed 11 on the power play overall. The Kraken continue to flounder, which includes carrying the league's worst penalty kill.
Matthew Knies, TOR vs. MON (6,000): You know who gets a lot of assists on the wing? Mitch Marner, who's now in Vegas? You know who has 21 assists in 24 games this year? Knies, who's still a Leaf. It doesn't really matter which Habs goalie starts on Saturday, though Toronto draws Jakub Dobes with his 3.11 GAA and .892 save percentage.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM vs. WPG ($4,800): Nugent-Hopkins recently returned from a lengthy absence, and sure enough he's produced four power-play points across three appearances. He's carved out a nice career complementing Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl while up a man. All goal-prevention numbers for the Jets have to be asterisked with Connor Hellebuyck out. On the second night of a back-to-back Saturday, expect Thomas Milic in net with an .882 save percentage over his first two NHL starts.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Wild at Canucks
Ryan Hartman (C - $4,100), Kirill Kaprizov (W - $8,500), Mats Zuccarello (W - $5,100)
When the team with the highest GAA is playing for a second consecutive day, you select a line that's facing them. I've opted for the Wild's first trio that includes one highly-productive player, one with bad puck luck, and another who hasn't done much of late with two of them on the top power play.
Hartman only has eight points through 24 games, yet posted an assist and five shots against the Avs during his return. That was four outings ago, but he can achieve something similar versus the Canucks if he did that facing Colorado. Fingers crossed we get a healthy season from Kaprizov as he's been doing well once again at 17 goals on 95 shots plus 14 assists with 11 PPPs. Zuccarello has tallied 10 points in 13 matchups, and that's with a 3.9 shooting percentage. He's not exactly known for finding the back of the net, yet still lists a career 11.2 where his current number should improve.
Senators vs. Blues
Dylan Cozens (C - $4,200), Drake Batherson (W - $5,200), David Perron (W - $3,100)
The return of Brady Tkachuk has offered the Sens more depth while improving their power-play upside. That's good as two of these players join him on the lead man-advantage. The Blues also maintain a bottom-10 penalty kill alongside a 3.50 GAA.
Cozens has been more reliant on the power play for production during his first full season in Ottawa as 10 of his 17 points have come with the extra man. Batherson has actually only relied on the PP for seven of his 24 points, yet managed a goal and assist there during his last game. Even with worse puck luck, Perron has been more productive compared to his debut campaign with the Sens with 13 points, including three in his last four.
DEFENSEMEN
Jake Sanderson, OTT vs. STL ($6,000): With Thomas Chabot out, there isn't an enticing, salary-saving option on Ottawa's blueline. Fortunately, Sanderson has thrived as he's on a five-game scoring streak where he's totaled eight points. The Blues, meanwhile, are bottom-eight in both GAA and penalty-kill percentage.
Rasmus Andersson, CGY vs. UTA ($5,200): It's been a horrendous campaign for MacKenzie Weegar, though Andersson has stepped up to shoulder the load by posting 20 points while recording a goal, assist, six shots, and four blocked shots in his last outing. The Mammoth's defense has covered for both of their team's goalies holding sub-.900 save percentages, but that will be harder to do on the road for the second night of a back-to-back.
Brock Faber, MIN at VAN ($4,400): Faber tends to get points in bunches, which isn't ideal when he hasn't produced one from his last four games. However, he's tallied nine shots during that stretch. Maybe Faber will start another scoring run given the Canucks are last in GAA and are still without Thatcher Demko.
