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NHL DFS Man Advantage Thursday January 17th

ByMatt Vecchio|
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 28: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs tosses a puck over the glass to a group of fans prior to the start of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 28, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - DECEMBER 28: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs tosses a puck over the glass to a group of fans prior to the start of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on December 28, 2018 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 14: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins tends net during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on January 14, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) NHL DFS
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 14: Tuukka Rask #40 of the Boston Bruins tends net during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden on January 14, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) NHL DFS

Welcome to NHL DFS Man Advantage for Thursday night January 17th ! Tonight we have a relatively small Thursday slate with only 7 games for tonight. There are two games I am really intrigued with tonight and will probably be focusing my lineup build on. 

First, we have Toronto at Tampa Bay in a meeting of the top two teams in the Atlantic division. As of right now I feel that Toronto is the only team in the East that could eliminate Tampa when the playoffs get her, but as far as NHL DFS goes this game has the potential to be a shootout.

The second game I am looking at is the Blackhawks heading east to take on the Rangers at MSG. Chicago has scored 19 goals in the last 5 games for a near 4 G/G average and New York has scored 11 goals in their last 2 games.

NHL DFS Goalies:

Tonight there are 3 goalies at the top of the list for me with my favorite option being Tuukka Rask ($8,200) in a home game against St. Louis. Rask has won 6 of his last 7 starts (only loss coming in OT on Monday) and hasn’t lost in regulation since before Christmas. St. Louis may have won 3 of their last 5, they aren’t scoring much, with only 13 goals in their last 5

Ben Bishop ($8,000) vs Los Angeles and Robin Lehner ($8,300) vs New Jersey are my other two top options for the night. Both are expensive but do have games they shouldn’t have any issues winning. I think Lehner is my preferred option of the two here because of New Jersey’s average of 32.8 SF/G which is 8th in the league, meanwhile LA is 4th from the bottom with only 28.4 SF/G.

For GPP’s I am looking at Bishop’s opponent, Jonathan Quick ($7,200). Dallas has lost 4 of 5 and has only scored 5 goals in that span. Quick is 2-1-1 in his last 4 starts and has only allowed 7 goals in that span.

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – DECEMBER 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93, Jesper Fast #17, Neal Pionk #44, and Marc Staal #18 of the New York Rangers celebrate a go ahead goal against the Nashville Predators during the third period at Bridgestone Arena on December 29, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – DECEMBER 29: Chris Kreider #20, Mika Zibanejad #93, Jesper Fast #17, Neal Pionk #44, and Marc Staal #18 of the New York Rangers celebrate a go ahead goal against the Nashville Predators during the third period at Bridgestone Arena on December 29, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

NHL DFS Top Individual Plays

High Tier:

Patrick Kane ($8,100) – During his 6 game point streak, Kane has scored 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 points in 6 games. Kane is averaging 7.67 FPPG during his 6 game point streak.

Mathew Barzal ($7,000) – Over Barzal’s last 10 games he has totaled 14 points, 8 goals and 6 assists, and is averaging 5.6 FPPG. Barzal centers the Ises second line with Anthony Beauvillier and Josh Bailey. 

Mika Zibanejad ($6,600) – Zibanejad has 2 goals and 4 assists in his 3 games, and also has a near 7 FPPG average. Over his career (8 games), Zibanejad has 4 goals against the Blackhawks. Zibanejad is the center for the top line for the Rangers with Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello. 

Mid Tier:

Blake Coleman ($5,500) – Coleman and his New Jersey 2 linemates (Miles wood, Travis Zajac) have been playing extremely well of late. Coming into tonight’s game Coleman is riding a 5 game point streak. During his 5 game span Coleman has 7 points 5 goals and 2 assists)

More from FanSided

Alex Pietrangelo ($5,100) – Pietrangleo doesn’t have great stats, he has picked up a goal and 5 assists as well has 27 SOG and a 3.2 FPPG average .  It’s not about points this season right now, it’s more about Pietrangelo showing he is still a top dman to facilitate a trade for himself most likely soon and with his shooting ability he is generally able to generate fantasy points

Illya Kovalchuk ($4,800) – Kovalchuk plays on the Kings top line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown so his TOI is safe, it’s just a matter of him collecting points for us. Over his last 5, Kovalchik has 1 for and 3 assists

Value Tier:

Jake Muzzin ($4,500) – Muzzin comes into tonight’s game with three assists in his last 3 and is seeing over 22 minutes of TOI per game in that span, so we know he’s going to see a ton of time, and he also has been averaging 5 FPPG over his last 3

Dominik Kahun ($3,200) – Kahun is back playing on the Hawsk top line wth Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat. In his last 2 games Kahun does have a goal and an assist since being put back with his line mates from earlier this season

Boo Nieves ($3,000) – Nieves is providing amazing value for the Rangers with 4 assists in his last 3 games while averaging nearly 3 FPPG. He doesn’t see PP minutes so that is a down side, but for only $3,000 he doesn’t to do more than get 3-4 SOG to make value, and if you can get another assist out of him it would be golden.

NHL DFS Line Stacks:

Let’s start with a game stack of Toronto and Tampa Bay. Both teams top 6 and top PP units are in play in this game and I am recommending trying to get some exposure to this game, but be careful how much you do get for cash games because if you over expose yourself to this game and it turns into a dud your night is shot.

Boston 1

Winnipeg 1 – HOT! HOT! HOT!

Nashville 2

Minnesota 2

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