FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: March 10
By Matt Rogers
Welcome to the Friday, March 10th, addition of the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. We’ll focus on the top plays for Friday night, and find several value picks for affordability. Salaries we discuss in this article are set by FanDuel for Friday night.
With five games on the NHL schedule tonight, we have an unusually busy list of teams to choose from after a big Thursday night. We’re looking to continue this article’s hot streak, after piling up over 187 FanDuel NHL points last night. Here’s a look at the games we’re target for Friday night:
Sabres at Blue Jackets (7pm ET)
Blackhawks at Red Wings (7:30pm ET)
Ducks at Blues (8pm ET)
Penguins at Oilers (9pm ET)
The struggling Sabres, winning only three of their last ten games, are visiting a hot Blue Jackets team in Columbus. We’ll look for a top play in Columbus. The Blackhawks have won eight of their last ten games and are looking to continue their hot streak against the Red Wings in Detroit. The Hawks are a big focus of this lineup.
And finally, the Ducks and Penguins each have favorable match ups on road ice. But their competition is solid and we’ll limit our exposure to those games.
Let’s start off with a look at our center picks from the games in Columbus and Detroit:
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
The Blackhawks are on road ice tonight, in Detroit. The Red Wings are having a terrible season and have been cold lately. The Hawks have been on fire and have been a great FanDuel NHL lineup target over the last couple of weeks. That continues tonight.
Jonathan Toews ($7,400) was not involved in any scoring opportunities last night against the Ducks, but he still had six shots on goal and a blocked shot leading to 11.2 FanDuel NHL points in 22 minutes of ice time. Over the last five games, Toews has two goals, one power play goal, and two assists. In the last four road games, Jonathan has five goals and five assists, averaging well over 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game on the road in that time. Toews is a top play tonight.
The Columbs Blue Jackets are hot again, and we’re going to grab 2nd line leader Brandon Dubinsky ($5,300). Brandon has two goals in the last two games and I think that streak continues on home ice against the Sabres. Buffalo is a great match up for the Blue Jackets and Dubinsky’s line is likely to be involved in at least one scoring opportunity.
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
Patrick Kane ($8,600) may not be on Toews line, but this is still a Blackhawks stack of FanDuel NHL stud talent. Kane has six goals in the last five games, including two power play goals, and an assist. Patrick was quiet on March 3rd against the Islanders, but that game aside, he’s averaging well over 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game over the last couple of weeks. This should be a big night for Kane and Toews.
Since Patrick Eaves ($5,400) was traded by the Stars to the Ducks, he was on fire until he put up a goose-egg last night against a good Blackhawks team in Chicago. I expect Eaves to bounce back tonight. Before last night’s game, Patrick was averaging nearly 20 FanDuel NHL points over the last two weeks. Tonight in Saint Louis, Eaves should climb back toward that amount again.
I was nervous about playing Jake Guentzel ($4,400) on Wednesday without the alignment to Crosby. But the Penguins 3rd line went nuts, scoring four games on Wednesday. Guentzel has two goals over the last two games, and three over the last five. The young winger is on fire and should stay hot in Edmonton tonight.
Swinging back to the Blackhawks for value, we’re going to stack Nick Schmaltz ($4,000), with Toews on the top line for the Hawks. Schmaltz is coming from a cold game against the Ducks on Thursday night, but he has two goals and seven assists in the last six games. That’s quite a run. Schmaltz should bounce-back again tonight.
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
Justin Schultz ($6,200) is absolutely on fire right now. Schultz has three goals and three assists in the Penguins last three games. Justin is getting around three shots on goal a game and is blocking two to three shots a game as well. Tonight in Edmonton, Schultz should be a good 15-20 point play.
We picked Cam Fowler ($4,700) a couple of times over the last two weeks. Even though Fowler only has one assist and no scores in that time, he’s still averaging around eleven FanDuel NHL points-per-game in the last 14 days. Fowler has a decent match up tonight on road ice, in Sant Louis, and should have multiple shots on goal and blocked shots, even if he’s not involved in any scoring results.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
Corey Crawford ($8,800) is coming off a loss against the Ducks, but he’s won four of his last five games. Also, in the Ducks loss, Crawford only gave up one goal and had 25 saves, still piling up 16 FanDuel NHL points. Over the last two weeks, Crawford is averaging around 30 saves per game.
Corey is giving up less than three goals per game and in a good match up against a weak Detroit Red Wings team tonight, Crawford should be a solid lock for the win, and 12 additional points. I don’t like many of the other goalie options tonight, and with a nearly 25 FanDuel NHL point-per-game average over the last two weeks, Crawford is worth the hefty salary.
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!