FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: March 27
By Matt Rogers
Welcome back to the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column. This is the Monday, March 27th edition. We will continue to pick through each NHL lineup tonight and find the top plays of the day, along with value plays for affordability. Again, salaries mentioned are for FanDuel NHL on Monday, March 27th only.
We have six NHL games scheduled for tonight. That’s more than we typically see on a Monday night for ice hockey. As the season winds down, identifying the best lineups to target is becoming more difficult as teams shut some players down for injuries or call young players up from the AHL. We are going to focus on only three games tonight, stacking two teams. Here’s a list of the games we like for Monday:
Red Wings at Hurricanes (7pm ET)
Coyotes at Blues (8pm ET)
Avalanche at Flames (9pm ET)
The Hurricanes are well outside of playoff range, but have won five of their last six games, keeping themselves in the playoff conversation. They’re a dangerous team to play now. But the Red Wings have also shown some signs of spunk lately.
Detroit has won four of their last six games and in each of their losses, they only gave up two goals. That’s a tough game to pick through, we may grab one hot player.
The Blues and the Flames have the enviable task of hosting the Coyotes and Avalanche tonight. The Flames have been on fire lately, and the Yotes will struggle to get anything going in St. Louis. So the Blues and Flames are big stack targets for tonight’s lineup.
Let’s start with our Center picks…
Next: Top Centers
Top Centers
As we already mentioned, we love the Flames tonight. And Calgary’s 2nd line is going to be our stacking target for the night. Sean Monahan ($6,700) centers the Flames number two line and has been on fire lately. Over the last four games, Monahan has three goals and three assists. He’s averaging around 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game in that time as well. Sean has a great match up with the Avs tonight and should land another double-digit, or 20+, FanDuel NHL point night.
Sticking with the 2nd line theme for tonight, we’ll plug-in St. Louis Blues center Patrik Berglund ($4,100). Berglund isn’t paired with the Blues dynamic talent, Tarasenko, but he has two goals and a helper in the last three games and gives us great exposure to the likely scoring results from this line against the Coyotes tonight.
Next: Top Wings
Top Wings
At wing, we’re going to start with a true Flames 2nd line stack with Johnny Gaudreau ($7,500) and grab Michael Frolik ($5,000) to get exposure to the Flames top line. Gaudreau and Monahan are the future of Calgary’s team, and are already top talents and scorers on the team. Over the last four game, Johnny has one goal and six assists. Gaudreau is averaging around 20 FanDuel NHL points-per-game and hasn’t been below double-digit points in ten days.
Frolik has been one of my favorite value picks at wing all season. Michael isn’t as well-known as Johnny and Sean, but he’s very active on the ice. Averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time a game, Frolik is scoring nearly 10 FanDuel NHL points in games where he has no goal or assist. Frolik had a helper on Saturday against the Blues, and should get another assist, or goal, against the struggling Avs tonight.
From the Blues, we’re going to jump to the top line and pick top playmaker Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,800). Tarasenko doesn’t stack directly with our Berglund pick at center, but he gives us great exposure to the Blues top line against a terrible Coyotes team. And Vladimir is arguably the best player on the ice tonight.
Finally, to complete our winger picks for tonight, we’re going Carolina to grab one of the visiting Detroit Red Wings, Gustav Nyquist ($5,200). Gustav is one of the better options on the ice from the Red Wings and he’s been hot lately. Over the last five games, Nyquist has a goal and four assists. Nyquist is another ice-time hog and is averaging double digits in FanDuel NHL points in March. This is our only pick from the Canes and Wings game.
Next: Top Defense
Top Defense
We’ll complete a four player St. Louis Blues stack at defense with Alex Pietrangelo ($5,400) and Colton Parayko ($4,500). Pietrangelo is the dominate option on defense for the Blues. Alex is getting around 25 minutes of ice time per game, and is a solid bet for 10+ FanDuel NHL points-per-game. Over the last five games, Alex has two goals and two assists, including a power play goal. On home ice against the Coyotes tonight, Tarasenko and Pietrangelo should be on fire.
Parayko gives us extra coverage of the Blues 2nd line, along with our Berglund pick at center. Colton has three assists in the last five games and is also on the ice for over 20 minutes per game. When Parayko isn’t providing helpers, he still getting several shots on goal and is blocking at least one to two shots per game.
Next: Top Goalie
Top Goalie
With four Blues locked into our lineup and one slot available for the Flames, we’re going to use Brian Elliott ($8,600) at goalie tonight. The Flames have been red-hot lately (pun intended) and Elliott is a big reason.
Since February 21st, Brian is 12-1. That’s an incredible run for any goal of any caliber. Elliott’s sole loss was to a ver good Capitals team in Washington, D.C. Outside of the Caps game, Elliott is only giving up just over one goal per game. It’s hard to lose when you’re that productive between the pipes. Tonight, Elliot should continue a winning streak against a terrible Avalanche team on home ice.
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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!