The NHL has to schedule around the holidays and an Olympic break, though there are still seven games on Sunday starting at 5 p.m. EST or later. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
As Saturday is often busy for hockey, eight teams are playing the second leg of a back-to-back on Sunday. Montreal and St. Louis face each other as do the Islanders and Panthers. The Hurricanes host the Sharks while the Rangers welcome the Golden Knights. And it'll be Columbus and Chicago on the road facing rested squads in the Caps and Ducks.
GOALIES
Logan Thompson, WAS vs. CLM ($8,300): Thompson has been excelling this season posting a 2.06 GAA and .919 save percentage through 20 appearances while getting back on track after a few subpar performances. The Blue Jackets are average offensively and will be away for a second straight day.
Akira Schmid, VGK at NYR ($7,800): This is Schmid's fifth season in the NHL, so it may be surprising he's still only 25. While finding a regular role hasn't been easy, he's managed to impress at times. Schmid has recorded a .903 save percentage, though also claims a 2.35 GAA with two shutouts. While the Rangers have managed to crawl out of the bottom-5 in goals per game, they're still very much in the bottom-10.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Frank Nazar, CHI at ANA ($4,600): The Blackhawks are the team on the road for a second consecutive night, though Nazar is only 21 and participates on the top power play where those minutes are generally easier on the legs. The Ducks maintain a bottom-10 defense, and what they don't have is a healthy Lukas Dostal. In fact, Petr Mrazek is also hurt to leave Ville Husso as their No. 1 netminder.
William Eklund, SAN at CAR ($4,600): Eklund has regressed in the plus/minus department, but that will happen when you're on a young, defensively-challenged side while also averaging 4:03 on the man-advantage where he's tallied eight of his 17 points. Going up against Carolina's defense even as they're closing out a back-to-back doesn't seem to be a good idea, yet their penalty kill is below-average possibly due to Jaccob Slavin's injury.
FORWARD LINE STACKS TO CONSIDER
Capitals vs. Blue Jackets
Justin Sourdif (C - $3,500), Tom Wilson (W - $6,000), Aliaksei Protas (W - $5,100)
Columbus has gotten decent-enough goaltending not to be in the bottom-10 in GAA, yet remains bottom-5 in shots allowed. I certainly don't envision their defense unexpectedly locking in when they're skating for a second straight day. And though Jet Greaves started the season well, he's produced an .891 save percentage over his last 10 outings.
It's understandable if you haven't heard of Sourdif as he's only 23 and only logged four games with the Panthers prior to this season. He original received ice time on the fourth line, but he's since moved up and is averaging 15:17 with six points from 12 matchups. Wilson registered a 19.5 shooting percentage last year, so we know he can convert at a high rate. That being said, his current 27.4 can't really be sustained. Wilson doesn't seem to be affected by that as he's reeled off eight goals and seven assists across 13 appearances. Protas broke out last season with 30 goals and has picked it up by posting a point in nine of his last 11.
Ducks vs. Blackhawks
Mason McTavish (C - $4,300), Cutter Gauthier (W - $7,100), Beckett Sennecke (W - $3,400)
I figured I'd just go ahead and stack against both teams on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back. The Blackhawks, like the Blue Jackets, are bottom-10 in shots allowed. Spencer Knight has been stellar while Sunday's projected starter Arvid Soderblom hasn't. He's in his fifth season with the club where he's struggled to an .888 save percentage. I opted for the Ducks' second trio as Chicago carries a decent penalty kill and these three players haven't had to rely on man-advantage production.
McTavish is coming off his first 20-goal and 50-point campaign, and now has more talent and better coaching that's led to 19 points with eight of those coming from his last nine games. Gauthier potted 20 goals as a rookie, but it appears he'll pass that before Christmas as he's already at 16 goals with a reasonable 13.9 shooting percentage. Sennecke is remarkable as he's still a teenager who's accumulated 22 points even with only two of them on the power play. He's also notched 10 over his last 10 outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Jakob Chychrun, WAS vs. CLM ($7,200): I mentioned the Blue Jackets give up a lot of shots. And that's right up Chychrun's alley as he leads the team in directing pucks on net with 97, 24 more than second-place Alex Ovechkin. It appears he's in line for a peak Brent Burns-type season with over 300 shots.
Esa Lindell, DAL vs. PIT ($4,200): You probably know what to expect from Lindell as he's posted five goals and 21 assists during each of the last two seasons, yet he's provided six points in his last 12 matchups while averaging 25:01 with Thomas Harley sidelined. The Penguins have allowed 28.8 shots per game while relying on Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs to exceed expectations. Jarry is currently at a .913 save percentage, though listed a .903 the previous three seasons.
