FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays: November 21
By Matt Rogers
This is the FanDuel NHL Blue Line Power Plays column for Tuesday, November 21st. We’re a daily fantasy hockey column focused on top FanDuel NHL plays for your lineups each day.
Yesterday’s results were mostly favorable for us, but we missed on a couple of picks. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost at home to the Coyotes 4-1, which was a surprise. Still, we were high on James van Riemsdyk, who had the Leafs only goal and 20.5 FanDuel NHL points. But Auston Matthews was a disappointing top $7,900 pick, generating only 3.2 points.
Nazem Kadri had an assist, for a solid 10.1 points, but looking back, we should’ve focused more on the Flames. Calgary continued their red-hot play in Washington, D.C. with a 4-1 win of their own over the Capitals. Sean Monahan, who wasn’t part of yesterday’s article, piled up 30.1 FanDuel NHL points on a goal, assist, and six shots. But we did focus a little on Johnny Gaudreau, who also had a goal and assist for 26.9 FanDuel NHL points.
One of our favorite mid-salary range wings right now, Nino Niederreiter, had another great night. Nino has another goal last night, five shots, and a blocked shot for 22.1 points. Also, Roman Josi, our loan Predator, had two assists and five shots on goal for an awesome 25 FanDuel NHL points.
The Blue Jackets only put three in goal, but Brandon Dubinsky was worth the play. Sergei Bobrovsky had 30 saves for the Jackets, the win, and 28 FanDuel NHL points. But the surprise goalie of the night was Reto Berra, who has 40 saves and a win over the Sharks, in San Jose. Berra piled up 36 FanDuel NHL points, and if you had him in your GPP leagues, you had a solid shot at a tournament win. Now, we’re moving onto Tuesday night’s slate.
Here’s a look at the NHL schedule for Tuesday, November 21st:
Canucks at Flyers (7pm ET)
Oilers at Blues (8pm ET NBC SN)
Canadiens at Stars (8:30pm ET)
With only three games on the schedule, we have a limited group of players to target. We have six goalies in net, but only two of those goalies are in the top 15 in least goals against. That opens up the possibilities for offense, but challenges our goalie options.
The Canucks and Flyers are generally evenly matched, but the Flyers top line has been a great way win FanDuel tournaments this season. The Oilers have some great young talent on their team, but they’re struggling to score.
Meanwhile, the Blues are having a great year, but Jake Allen has struggled in his last two starts. And while Dallas is struggling to put three pucks in the net each game, the Canadiens are barely breaking two goals per game, second worst in the NHL in scoring.
As always, we’ll look to update our picks and final lineups prior to lock on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.
Now let’s start building our lineups by looking at the top centers for this slate…
Top FanDuel NHL Centers: Nov 21st
Connor McDavid ($9,100) is by far the best talent on the ice tonight. McDavid is arguably the leagues best player. Over the last three games, Connor has three goals and three assists, and broke 35 FanDuel NHL points in two of those three games. McDavid is one of the rare ‘always start’ when on the ice for cash games. However, Connor isn’t getting much offensive help from the rest of the Oilers, and they have a tough match up against Allen and the Blues tonight.
He’s not quite as dominate, but the Flyers top lines are lead by Sean Couturier ($6,700) and the’ve been incredibly productive this season. Couturier is averaging well over 17 FanDuel NHL points this season, and he’s been consistently scoring throughout the year. In their last two games, Sean has two power play goals and an assist, along with five shots per game for over 48 FanDuel NHL points. The Flyer sand Canucks are evenly matched tonight, in what looks like a potential shootout.
If you’re fading the Flyers at home, Bo Horvat ($6,000) isn’t as consistent as Couturier but has two goals and an assist over the Canucks last three games. The Horvat and the Canucks are facing Brian Elliott in goal tonight. Elliott has looked great at times, but still has a low 90% save percentage. So Horvat will likely be involved in some scoring tonight.
The Oilers are giving up over three goals per game this season. Cam Talbot is a great FanDuel NHL goalie for his number of saves, but struggles to get the win with so many shots on goal and a high 3.1 GAA, the worst in net tonight. That opens the door for a lot of scoring from the Blues, and Brayden Schenn ($7,100) and Paul Stastny ($5,300) are both hot lately, giving you exposure to the Blues first and second lines throughout the game.
Now let’s take a look at the wings we want to stack along with our centers…
Top FanDuel NHL Wings: Nov 21st
We just mentioned how the Blues have a great offensive match up on home ice tonight. And while Connor McDavid is arguably the best player on the ice, Vladimir Tarasenko ($8,300) is involved in the argument. Tarasenko likely is the best player for tonight, given the match up. Vlad is averaging over 18 FanDuel NHL points-per-game.
Tarasenko generally sees about 20 minutes of ice time each game, and consistently provides FanDuel NHL points, with six to eight points as a floor and around 40+ as a ceiling. That’s a wide range, but you’re paying for a very good chance for double-digit points. Vlad is a must have in all formats tonight.
A cheaper way to get exposure to the Blues top line tonight is Jaden Schwartz ($6,800). He has a goal or assist in six of the Blues last seven games, and even when not scoring, Jaden has several shots on goal, still generating FanDuel NHL points. With the favorable offensive match up for the Blues, it’s likely Schwartz point streak continues tonight.
With the Flyers hot first line on the ice in a favorable match up, eight Jakub Voracek ($7,700) or Claude Giroux ($7,200) should be part of a Flyers top-line stack with Couturier. If you can afford it, stack all three. Voracek is the more productive of the two, with over 17 FanDuel NHL points. But Giroux is the more likely to get the goal, with nine already this season, compared to Voracek’s give. Still, either or both is a great option tonight.
Travis Konecny ($3,700) plays wing on the Flyers third line, but he logs around 15 minutes per game also playing with Jordan Weal ($3,100) and rookie Nolan Patrick on the Flyers second power play line. Both the speedy Konecny and Weal are a very cheap way to get exposure to Flyers scoring tonight.
While we like the Flyers top-line tonight, we also like the Canucks odds of scoring on Tuesday. Brock Boeser ($5,400) is one of the more active scorers on the Canucks top line, averaging nearly 15 FanDuel NHL points-per-game on a very reasonable salary. The 20-year-old has two goals and one assist over the Canucks last three games. Elliott’s going to let a few past the crease tonight, and Boeser is most likely to be involved.
Sticking with the Canucks top line, a better value pick is Sven Baertschi ($4,400). On Saturday night against the Blues, in Vancouver, Sven scored a power play goal and also logged an assist. that’s Baertschi’s second power play goal in the last three games, and third in his last five games. For $1K less than Boeser, we’re getting great exposure to the Canucks top lines.
Top FanDuel NHL Defenders: Nov 21st
Our favorite defensive pick this season has been Alex Pietrangelo ($6,200). Since the Blues traded Kevin Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo has emerged as a dominate defender for the Blues, involved in many of the scoring chances. Alex is averaging nearly 17 FanDuel NHL points-per-game, unique for a defender. Pietrangelo is another must-have in all FanDuel NHL formats tonight.
A cheaper way to get exposure to the Blues top line on defense is Joel Edmundson ($4,200). He’s not nearly the dominate force as Pietrangelo, but the 24-year-old is a beneficiary of a very productive line. Edmundson has a goal or assist in three of the last five Blues games.
We like the Flyers top line tonight, and to complete a stack, we need either Shayne Gostisbehere ($5,600) or Ivan Provorov ($4,500). Between the two, Ghost is more well known, but Provorov is equally effective. They both play on the Flyers top regular line, but Shayne gives you exposure to the Flyers top man advantage situation. Still, Provorov is on the second power play line with the Flyers rising talent, and rookie Nolan Patrick. Either is a great value tonight.
If you’re stacking the Canucks, the best bet on defense is Alexander Edler ($4,400). Edler was one of our favorite value picks last season, but his FanDuel NHL point production has dropped off so far this season, currently 7.6 per game. Still, in a favorable offensive match up tonight, Alexander is a great value.
Top FanDuel NHL Goalies: Nov 21st
The Edmonton Oilers are only scoring 2.5 goals per game this season, 27th in the NHL. That’s disappointing considering the young talent on the team, and their scoring ability last season. But that bodes well for our most expensive goalie tonight, Jake Allen ($8,800).
In 17 starts, Jake has an impressive eleven wins. Allen also has a hot offense on the other side of the ice for the Blues. So of the six goalies starting in net tonight, he’s most likely to get the 12 points for the win. However, there’s risk with this play. Allen is giving up 2.72 goals per game, fourth among the six goalies starting today. Also, while Allen had a great one-goal win against the Oilers in Edmonton last week, he’s given up 14 goals in just the last four games.
A better deal appears to be Charlie Lindgren ($8,000). Carey Price has a lower body injury, moving the Canadiens to start Lindgren more often. Charlie has struggled lately, giving up five goals in each of his last two starts. But among his seven games, Lindgren is only giving up 2.49 goals per game, 12th best in the NHL and best among all goalies tonight. Also, the Stars are scoring under three goals per game, setting up great chance for the 23-year-old to bounce back.
So, after reviewing all of our favorite options, here’s an example of a lineup we put together for Nov 21st FanDuel NHL:
C Couturier (PHI $6,700)
C Stastny (STL $5,300)
W Tarasenko (STL $8,300)
W Voracek (PHI $7,700)
W Baertschi (VAN $4,400)
W Konecny (PHI $3,700)
D Pietrangelo (STL $6,200)
D Provorov (PHI $4,500)
G Lindgren ($8,000)
Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the week. You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NHL lineups. We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.
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