This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Sunday's NHL action starts a little earlier than most days with the first pucks dropping at 5 p.m. EST. So if you're enjoying a breezy weekend afternoon, you'll have no issues getting your NHL DFS lineups in. And you get five games on the slate. Here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Among the teams on the second day of a back-to-back, the Senators and Oilers are playing each another and both saved their No. 1 goalies. The Kraken are visiting the Avalanche, though they did reserve Joey Daccord for Sunday. And the Kings were in Nashville Saturday afternoon before heading to Washington.
GOALIES
Jaxson Stauber, UTA vs. ANA ($8,000): With Utah facing the Ducks and the Stars on consecutive days, it feels likely Stauber will draw the start Sunday so Karel Vejmelka can take Monday's matchup. In two starts since getting called up from the AHL, Stauber has only allowed two goals on 53 shots. When he played with the Blackhawks a couple seasons ago, he made six appearances and produced a .911 save percentage. The Ducks make for a favorable matchup as they've only managed 2.42 goals per game.
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL vs. SEA ($7,900): For what it's worth, Blackwood has a 2.03 GAA and .938 save percentage in three starts since joining the Avs. The Kraken, as noted, are on the road for the second day of a back-to-back. While Seattle's on the fringes of the bottom-10 in offense, it is decidedly bottom-10 when it comes to getting pucks on net, so Blackwood shouldn't be too busy.
VALUE PLAY
Connor McMichael, WAS vs. LOS ($6,800): As the Kings have been the best team at preventing pucks from getting on goal, David Rittich has a 2.49 GAA even though he lists an .890 save percentage. On the road for the second straight day, LA's defense might not be so solid. McMichael has surprised with 28 points across 32 games, but the reason I'd roster him is that he leads the Caps with 91 shots. So he's more likely to get a few pucks on target against Rittich.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Avalanche vs. Kraken
Nathan MacKinnon (C - $9,100), Artturi Lehkonen (W - $6,500), Valeri Nichushkin (W - $6,300)
With both Nichushkin and Lehkonen back, the Avs have taken to doing the thing the Oilers also like to do and split up their two best players to offer more lineup balance. With MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen not sharing a line, stacking a Colorado combo becomes more viable from a salary perspective. Seattle is middling on the penalty kill and at preventing shots. Being on the road for the second consecutive night isn't likely to help. And while Joey Daccord is better than Philipp Grubauer, he's allowed three goals during each of his last two starts.
MacKinnon is the reigning Hart Trophy winner and an easy sell from a pure talent perspective, even if his salary is elevated. He's racked up 55 points with at least three in five of his last 10 outings. Lehkonen has 10 goals to go with six assists over 23 games, and that's while only registering two PPPs where he's averaged 2:31. Since returning, Nichushkin has accumulated 10 goals and five assists over 18 appearances. He's also riding a three-game goal streak with 26 shots in his last nine.
DEFENSEMEN
Mikhail Sergachev, UTA vs. ANA ($6,100): Sergachev has tallied 12 points over his last 13 games with eight goals overall. The Ducks sit bottom-six in shots allowed and penalty-kill percentage, and the only reason they aren't down that far in GAA is due to Lukas Dostal starting the season hot. He came into this year with a career .902 save percentage and has posted a .904 across his last five outings.
Jackson LaCombe, ANA at UTA ($5,500): LaCombe has recorded four goals, three assists, and 21 shots through his last eight games. As the Ducks continue their rebuild, the 23-year-old has gotten to skate 20 minutes a night during that stretch. Jaxson Stauber's two starts this season went well, but he spent all of last year down in the AHL in the Blackhawks organization and started the current campaign behind Vejmelka and Connor Ingram on the depth chart. Maybe his work so far won't prove instructive, and anyways I'd take a shot on LaCombe at this salary.
