SLATE PREVIEW
There are a trio of games in the NHL on Friday. Colorado plays in Vegas, Washington hosts the Islanders and Detroit travels to Anaheim. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
GOALIES
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL at VGK ($7,300): Blackwood is set to make his first start of the season after missing the first 11 games with a lower-body injury. While Scott Wedgewood played well in his absence, the Avs rely on Blackwood as their top netminder. He went 22-12-3 with three shutouts, a 2.33 GAA, .913 save percentage over 37 regular-season appearances last year.
John Gibson, DET at ANA ($7,200): Gibson played 11 seasons in Anaheim after he was drafted in 2011 before trading him to Detroit in the offseason. He's gone 4-2-0 with a 3.20 GAA and .876 save percentage and should be motivated to do well on Friday against his former club.
VALUE PLAYS
Marco Kasper, DET at ANA ($4,500): Kasper is off to a slow start with only three goals, though two of them came on Thursday. He should be able to keep it going against a Ducks team allowing 3.44 goals per game.
Jonatan Berggren, DET at ANA ($3,200): Berggren has two goals and two assists from his last five games and carries a low salary on Friday while facing a subpar Anaheim defense.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Capitals vs. Islanders
Alex Ovechkin (W- $6,800), Connor McMichael (C-$4,700), Ryan Leonard (W - $4,300)
Washington's hoping to get Dylan Strome back on Friday. And if that happens, he'll end up replacing McMichael on the top line. Ovechkin has two goals with five assists while Leonard - who's is in his first full NHL season - is at five points. McMichael is at a goal and two assists notching 57 points last year.
DEFENSEMEN
Moritz Seider, DET at ANA ($5,400): Seider has only picked up four assists this season, with all coming on the power play. He's registered between 42 and 50 points during each of four NHL campaigns and should once again land somewhere in that range.
Jakob Chychrun, WSH vs. NYI ($5,900): Chychrun is off to another fine start with three goals and three assists while quarterbacking the Caps' the top power play and averaging a career-high 3:09 there.
