This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
We have a busy night ahead of us with 10 games on the docket. The opening five start at 7:00 p.m. ET (Winnipeg at Boston, Minnesota at Montreal, Washington at Ottawa, Los Angeles at Tampa Bay, Chicago at Carolina), followed by a clash at 7:30 p.m. (the Islanders at Philadelphia), two at 9:00 p.m. (Anaheim at Calgary, Detroit at Edmonton), one at 10:00 p.m. (Columbus at Vegas) and a final tilt that begins at 10:30 p.m. (San Jose at Seattle).
SLATE PREVIEW
Minnesota, Los Angeles and Philadelphia are each set to play in the second half of a back-to-back, so fatigue might be an issue for those teams. It might be particularly problematic for the Kings, who are playing in their third road game in four days and their fourth in six. Columbus' schedule is also worth considering. The Blue Jackets are set to play again Friday, which might impact their lineup decisions tonight.
GOALIES
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG at BOS ($8,400): Hellebuyck has been the top goaltender in 2024-25 with a 31-7-2 record, 2.00 GAA and .927 save percentage through 40 outings. He's showing no signs of slowing down after winning his past four starts while stopping 88 out of 92 shots (.957 save percentage). Boston is a decent opponent at 25-21-6, but the Bruins haven't been impressive offensively. They're tied for 26th with 2.71 goals per game.
Ilya Sorokin, NYI at PHI ($7,300): Sorokin has been a mixed bag in 2024-25 with a 17-14-4 record, 2.73 GAA and .905 save percentage in 35 outings, but he's won his past four appearances while posting a 1.32 GAA and a .955 save percentage. The Flyers are a middling adversary – they're 23-23-6 and rank 18th offensively with 2.90 goals per game.
Jakub Dobes, MTL vs. MIN ($6,800): Although Dobes has allowed four goals in each of his past two starts, he's been superb overall with a 5-0-1 record, 1.93 GAA and .933 save percentage in six outings. As noted above, the Wild are also going through a busy stretch of their schedule, and on top of that, they're without Kirill Kaprizov (lower body). Minnesota is still a 30-17-4 squad that's won its past two games, so thinking Montreal will win tonight is far from a safe call. If Dobes was more expensive, I would not recommend him, but with his price being this low, the potential upside here is high if you're willing to take the risk.
VALUE PLAYS
Shane Wright, SEA vs. SJS ($4,800): Taken with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, Wright got off to a slow start in his first full NHL campaign, recording just a goal and an assist over his opening 18 outings. That led to a stretch of three straight games as a healthy scratch, which proved to be a turning point for him. Since his stint in the press box, Wright has eight goals and 23 points in 31 appearances. He's also on a three-game scoring streak (one goal, two assists).
Marco Kasper, DET at EDM ($4,500): The 20-year-old rookie wasn't a major offensive contributor over his opening 35 outings of the 2024-25 campaign – he had just two goals and seven points in that span – but something has clicked recently. Across his past 10 appearances, he's supplied seven goals and 11 points. It certainly doesn't hurt that he's projected to play alongside Dylan Larkin ($7,400) and Lucas Raymond ($7,300) tonight.
Luca Del Bel Belluz, CBJ at VGK ($3,700): Del Bel Belluz's first 10 career NHL games (one in 2023-24, nine this season) have gone about as well as he could have hoped – the 21-year-old has three goals and eight points in that span. He's showing no signs of slowing down with a goal and four points across his past three outings.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Golden Knights vs. Blue Jackets
Jack Eichel (C - $8,400), Mark Stone (W - $7,900), Ivan Barbashev (W - $6,500)
Columbus has held its own this campaign, but that's largely due to its offense. The Blue Jackets are tied for 26th in terms of goals per game (3.34), so this is a good time to take Vegas forwards.
Grabbing the Golden Knights' top line looks particularly appealing, especially with Eichel on a seven-game scoring streak (five goals and five assists). He's on track to comfortably surpass his career-high 82 points with 16 goals and 64 points through 50 games this campaign. Stone is red hot, too, collecting a goal and seven points over his past four appearances, bringing him up to 13 goals and 46 points in 37 outings overall.
Barbashev is a potential skip, though. He has 15 goals and 33 points in 41 appearances, which isn't bad, but he hasn't found the back of the net since Dec. 14. He does have three assists over his past four games but has recorded just four shots in that span.
Although he has center eligibility instead of being a winger, Tomas Hertl ($6,900) would be a nice substitute for Barbashev. Hertl isn't much more money, and he's on a 10-game scoring streak (eight goals and six assists).
Jets at Bruins
Mark Scheifele (C - $7,900), Kyle Connor (W - $8,500), Gabriel Vilardi (W - $7,000)
The Jets' top line had a brief patch recently where they were quiet, but they've picked up again. Across Winnipeg's past two games, Scheifele has two goals and three points, Connor has three goals and five points and Vilardi has two goals and six points.
In addition to being hot again, this trio is also having a great campaign overall. Vilardi has been the least productive of them with 22 goals and 49 points in 52 appearances. The other two are already past the 25-goal and 50-point marks with Connor looking especially good after supplying 29 markers and 65 points through 52 outings.
DEFENSEMEN
Zach Werenski, CBJ at VGK ($7,800): Werenski is on a three-game scoring streak (one goal, two assists) to keep him in the mix for the top spot in the blueliner scoring race. Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar lead the pack with 58 and 56 points, respectively, but Werenski isn't far behind with 16 goals and 54 points through 50 appearances.
Seth Jones, CHI at CAR ($6,300): Jones has missed time this campaign, but he's been solid when available, providing five goals and 23 points across 33 outings. He's been especially effective recently with two goals and nine points over his past six appearances, so feel free to grab him while he's hot.
Drew Doughty, LAK at TBL ($5,500): Doughty made his season debut on Wednesday after missing the opening 47 games of the campaign due to an ankle injury. Rather than being eased into the lineup, he logged 23:51 of ice time, including 2:08 with the man advantage. The Kings ended up suffering a 3-0 loss, but it's encouraging to see Doughty get back into the swing of things with a big role, and it doesn't hurt that he recorded three shots. He's a top-end defenseman who looks great at his present price, although you'll need to double-check he'll be in the lineup tonight. Perhaps the Kings will decide to make him a healthy scratch rather than dress him in both halves of a back-to-back immediately after returning. In some ways, Tony DeAngelo ($4,600) would be a similar pick. Defensive issues and controversies aside, DeAngelo is certainly capable of contributing on offense and is serving on the Islanders' top power-play unit. DeAngelo has a rockier track record, but he's even cheaper than Doughty, so there is merit to taking DeAngelo instead, especially if the Kings playing for the second straight night makes you concerned about Doughty.
