FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: March 18
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. The Saturday, March 18th edition. Last night’s lineup scored over 179 FanDuel NHL points and we’re going to look for another big payday tonight. We will find several top picks, and value for affordability.
The NHL has ten games on the schedule this Saturday. Two games begin at 1pm ET, the remaining eight games begin at 7pm ET or later. The FanDuel NHL MAIN slate begins at 7pm ET and is the focus of this article. We’re going to use three stacks and only focus on three games tonight. Here’s the schedule of those games:
Blackhawks at Maples Leafs (7pm ET)
Blues at Coyotes (9pm ET)
Canucks at Oilers (10pm ET)
The Canucks lost their last five games and are visiting a good Oilers team in Edmonton. The Coyotes have won their last five games, but a surging Blues team will be hard to beat in Arizona. The Maple Leafs only won four of their last ten games, and will struggle to hold of a red-hot Blackhawks.
We’ll start our stacking at Center with the Blues and Oilers.
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($4,700) had a quiet start to March, scoring less than 10 FanDuel NHL points in the Oilers first four March games. But Nugent-Hopkins bounced back over the last week, scoring a goal against the Stars and Bruins, on three shots. Tonight, the Oilers have a favorable match up against an untested goalie for the Cancuks. Ryan should continue to roll tonight and is a good bet for at least 15 FanDuel NHL points. The is the beginning of our Oilers stack.
After scoring a goal and getting an assist against the Ducks on March 10th, Paul Stastny ($5,600) has only been averaging around 6 FanDuel NHL points-per-game in the last week. But the Blues are in Arizona tonight. Stastny is manning center on the Blues top line and should be involved in a few scoring results, alongside Blues stud Tarasenko. This is the start of our Blues stack.
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
Before we continue with one of our stacks, started with our center picks, we’re going to jump over to the Blackhawks and grab Patrick Kane ($8,800) from the 1st line and Richard Panik ($4,500) from the 2nd line.
Kane and the Hawks have been on fire lately, winning eight of their last 10 games. The Blackhawks are on road ice, but they’re visiting a Maple Leafs team struggling to stay in playoff contention. Kane has a goal or assist in the last four games and that run will continue tonight. Panik has been cold to start March, but just scored a goal in Ottawa on Thursday night. Richard is a great value for Saturday night.
We’re completing a Blues top line stack with Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,200) and Jaden Schwartz ($5,700). We already have Stastny in our lineup, and expect this line to score multiple goals tonight. Stud Tarasenko and Schwartz should each be involved in heavy scoring with Stastny.
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
With Nugent-Hopkins in our lineup and the Oilers in a favorable home ice match up, we’re going to continue to grab Oscar Klefbom ($4,600) and Andrej Sekera ($4,200) to complete our Oilers stack tonight. We’re not using top play picks from the Oilers, but we’re getting great value with each of these picks.
Klefbom gives us exposure to the Oilers explosive top line, and Sekera provides more coverage along with Nugent-Hopkins on the 2nd line. Klefbom has a goal against the Stars on Tuesday night, and tonight has another similar situation available. Sekera has two assists in the last two games, and should be involved with another goal as well. Sekera also has eight blocked shots in the last two games, along with four shots on goal.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
The Blues have been hot lately, and many thanks should be giving to Jake Allen ($8,700), who has resurged since late February. Over the last five games, Allen is 4-1. Jake is coming off a loss against the Ducks on Wednesday night, but he only gave up two goals in 22 shots.
In the last five games, Allen has only given up seven shots on goal, or under two goals per game. Jake is also seeing a high volume of shots on goal from opponents, piling up over 30 saves per-game in the last five games. With a likely win in Arizona, Allen is a good bet for nearly 30 FanDuel NHL points.
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!