FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: March 6
By Matt Rogers
This is the Monday, March 6th, edition of FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays. The goal of this article is to help you find the top scoring options with several value picks for affordability. The salary options we discuss are set by FanDuel for Monday night.
There are only four games on the NHL schedule tonight. Building the ideal FanDuel NHL lineup this Monday night is challenging, with limited player options. There are some top picks to grab, but also several we should fade. We’ll also try to find some value options, in the low $3-4K salary range. Here’s a look at the four game NHL slate for tonight:
Stars at Capitals (7pm ET)
Bruins at Senators (7:30pm ET)
Rangers at Lightening (7:30pm ET)
Sharks at Jets (8pm ET)
The Capitals have a clear advantage over the Stars on home ice tonight. Dallas has some solid scoring options, but their defense and goal tending has been dreadful this season. So, we’ll look at stacking several Caps players.
Another favorable match up is the Sharks visit in Winnipeg. The Sharks lost to a good Wild team in Minnesota last night, but they’ll likely bounce back against the Jets.
For the most part, I’d like to fade the Bruins, Senators, Rangers and Lightening this evening. They have good match ups with less predictability in scoring. Each game will likely be a low-scoring close toss-up. Not ideal for daily fantasy sports.
Let’s start our lineups with a Caps stack in Washington, D.C.:
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,200) was quiet on Saturday night against the Flyers. The Capitals won 2-1 in a surprisingly close, and well defended, game. Evgeny had two shots on goal and only 3.2 FanDuel NHL points.
Kuznetsov was due for a cold night, after scoring three goals and helping with three assists in the five games prior to Saturday. Tonight, the Caps have a very favorable match up on home ice. The Stars have had terrible defense, and goal tending, all season. Kuznetsov is likely involved in one or more goals tonight, leading to a 15-20 FanDuel NHL point result.
While Kuznetsov leads the Caps 2nd line, Nicklas Backstrom ($6,800) is the top line leader in D.C. Nicklas was the hero against the Flyers on Saturday night, scoring the game-winning power play goal in overtime. Backstrom now has two goals against the Flyers in the last month.
Over the last three games, Backstrom has two power play goals, totaling around 20 FanDuel NHL points when averaged between the two joined. Over the last six games, Backstrom has three goals. But, Nicklas is a risky play, because he has quiet nights in-between hot streaks. That shouldn’t be the case with this scoring fest in Washington tonight.
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
After loading up Caps at center, we’re going to look at the Sharks for a stack at wing.
With only four shots on goal and a blocked shot in the last two games, Joe Pavelski ($7,600) has cooled off for the Sharks. But in the two games prior to this weekend, Joe had a goal and two assists. Pavelski has a history of going cold before exploding with several great FanDuel NHL point results. Joe should bounce back tonight in Winnipeg, with roughly 20 minutes of ice time on the Sharks top line.
Next, we’re going to grab to Sharks from the 2nd line, Patrick Marleau ($5,900) and Mikkel Boedker ($3,800). Marleau has been a consistent contributor for the Sharks since the start of the new year. Patrick has a couple of big games in that time, including a four goal effort in Colorado. Over the last five games, Marleau has two goals and two assists in roughly 15 minutes of ice time. Tonight, Marleau should be involved in another lamp-lighter.
Boedker is a value play at wing. Mikkel isn’t as consistent of a scorer as Patrick, but playing on the same line as a consistent scorer increases the odds of Boedker getting a rebound goal or assist. Over the last four games, Boedker has two goals, one assisted by Marleau. For under $4k, this pick seems like a solid deal.
Our final wing pick is also a value play. Rangers rookie Pavel Buchnevich ($3,300) is back in the lineup, playing on the 2nd line. Pavel came back to the NHL, after being called back up to the Rangers, on March 2nd.
In his first game back, Buchnevich scored a nice goal on the Bruins stud net-minder, Rask. Pavel followed that up with two shots on goal against the Canadiens. Tonight, the Rangers have a decent match up against the Bolts in Tampa. I’m hoping the Rangers get their offense back and Buchnevich is involved in one of the scoring results.
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
If we’re going to stack our lineup with Sharks, we of course can’t avoid the best defense option in the NHL, Brent Burns ($8,400). We had Burns in our lineup last night, without the expectation of much scoring. Sure enough, the Sharks only had one goal, and Burns wasn’t involved. However, Brent still had six shots on goal and three blocked shots.
Even when not involved in a goal, Burns is a valuable pick. Over the last four games, Burns has 14+ FanDuel NHL points, each game. That’s quite a run for most FanDuel NHL options, but not Burns. In his case, it’s expected.
To afford Burns, we’re looking for a value pick in our 2nd defensive spot. This seems like a great place to complete the Caps stack, and sure enough Karl Alzner ($3,300) is a top line defender available at a very reasonable price.
Alzner isn’t flashy, but he is getting three to five blocked shots per game over the last seven games, and has an assist as well. In a shoot-out game like tonight, Alzner’s value increases signficantly.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
Until now we’ve completely avoided the Bruins game in Ottawa. There’s a reason. I don’t expect a high-scoring match up and each of the goalies are exceptional. Tonight, I’m expecting the Senator’s Craig Anderson ($8,500) to come out of the game with a win (12 FanDuel NHL points).
Anderson won five of his last six starts. Craig has around 30 saves per game in that time, and is giving up under two goals per game. That’s quite a run for the veteran net minder. Also, Anderson is averaging around 25 FanDuel NHL points-per-game in the last six games. Even with his loss in Carolina, Anderson piled up 20.8 points, not a bad result after a loss.
Always check NHL lineups throughout the day when playing FanDuel NHL. The NHL isn’t overly forthcoming with injury news, and players are often scratched at the last-minute with little information. Also, goaltenders are never a sure-thing. Follow us on twitter, @fantasycpr, for updates as we get closer to lineup lock time. Good Luck today FanDuelers!