Written by LineStar Fantasy Wizard @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

We get a great 7-game slate tonight, but first I want to look at winning lineups from yesterday's slate.

On DraftKings, Ahitspat took the top spot in the Canadian Thanksgiving Special with a 3-3 stack of Boston and Colorado with New Jersey and Minnesota one-offs. There was no correlation with goalie, as he took Carter Hutton who pitched a 25 save shutout.

On FanDuel, recchiforthehall (what a great screen name) won the Breakaway with a 3-3-2 stack of Boston, Florida, and Colorado. He did have correlation with his goalie in including Halak with his Boston stack of Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Krug.

You'll notice that 3-3 stacks are pretty popular. They're probably the most popular combination in NHL DFS. Some people run full line stacks where they run the complete forward line (Marchand, Pastrnak, and Bergeron, for example) and some will take a mix of two forwards and a D, like what was done on the winning FanDuel lineup with Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Krug. Like most things in DFS, there's not a single "right way" to do anything. Personally, I've shifted a bit this year to do a mix of more C-W-D stacks than straight C-W-W stacks. I think the key is to build good lineups. Whether you're using an optimizer or hand-building your lineups, don't stretch to fit anyone in. Everyone needs to contribute.

Tonight's Targets

Like I said at the beginning, we have a great seven-game slate tonight. Here's a high level look of team numbers for tonight:

First - a lot of this data might be foreign to most of you, so let me break it down (numbers over the last 10 games):

• W and L: Wins and Losses

• CF%, CF60, CA60: This is Corsi For %, Corsi For/60 minutes, Corsi Allowed/60 minutes: Corsi is shot attempts that the team has taken and allowed. "Shot attempts" include shots that are blocked or miss the net. CF% is the ratio of shot attempts made to shot attempts allowed. Elite teams and lines will have a CF% of 60% or greater.

• HDCF60, HDCA60: This is High Danger Corsi For/60 minutes and High Danger Corsi Allowed/60 minutes. "High Danger" means shot attempts in the area closest to and in front of the goalie.

• SF60, SA60: This is Shots For/60 minutes and Shots Allowed/60 minutes. These are actual shots that hit the goal (or went in).

• SOT: Shots on target. This is the percentage of shots attempted that end up being a shot on goal.

• Sh%: The percentage of shots on goal that are goals.

• SCF60, SCA60: Scoring chances for and allowed per 60 minutes

• GF60, GA60: These are goals for and goals allowed per 60 minutes. This is an average of the goals scored or allowed over the last 10 games (in this case 1-3 games).

I'm overgeneralizing, but I want teams that aren't afraid to shoot the puck. More shot attempts the better. Then I narrow it down more based on teams that are hitting the net and getting goals. Again, really high level stuff. Don't go all in based on one or even a few numbers, but I think it's more useful than just going off of implied goals.

Now let's dig into this slate.

Favorite Goaltender

Connor Hellebuyck - WPG (DK: $8300, FD: $7900)

After a rough outing in the season opener, he's been pretty solid since. He gets a good matchup against an Arizona team that is having trouble putting the puck in the net. I like the win equity in Hellebuyck and think he'll go overlooked at that price tonight.

Favorite Center

Sebastian Aho -CAR (DK: $6600, FD: $7300)

The Kings have given up an amazing 5.2 goals per game so far this season, so I'm going to have a lot of exposure to Carolina tonight. For me, it starts with Sebastian Aho, as he's been putting 4.2 shots on net a game on 6.6 shot attempts (1.4 high danger).

Favorite Winger

Brendan Gallagher - MON (DK: $6300, FD: $7100)

He has a tough matchup tonight, but Tampa has also been giving up over 3 goals a game so far this season. I just love that Gallagher shoots the puck a lot. He's averaging 7.4 shot attempts (1.2 high danger) with 4.4 shots on net a game.

Favorite Defensemen

Alexander Edler -VAN (DK: $5800, FD: $5600)

His price has dipped and he didn't have a great game his last time out, but I'll always put Edler in my lineups. Any time I can get a defenseman that gets over 25 minutes on the ice and gets 5 plus shot blocks a game for under $6,000, I'm going to find a way to fit him into my lineups.

If you take anything away from this, keep in mind that hockey is a high-variance sport. The top ranked player in each category could be a great play or be a dud tonight. Going all in on any player probably isn't a great move.

With DFS, I try to think of these things:

• Who makes the most sense to play?

• Where is the field leaning?

• Who has been the most consistent?

• Who has the most upside?

• Who will benefit me most if others are wrong?

Bottom of the Barrel

Some people call these "value" plays or "salary savers." I hate both terms. These are players that I like for tonight that fit at the lowest salary tier. It could be they're playing on one of the top forward lines or it could be that they've been playing well, but these are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

Nikko Koivu: MIN - C (DK: $3.9K, FD: $4.9K)

Jeff Carter: LAK - W (DK: $4K, FD: $4.4K)

Alex Goligoski: ARI - D (DK: $3.9K, FD: $3.9K)

Line Stacks

Line stacking is a common strategy in GPP. You’ll see a lot of winning lineups where players are stacked from the same forward lines or power play lines. DraftKings allows a maximum of 6 skaters from the same team (with skaters from at least 3 teams) and FanDuel allows a maximum of 4 skaters from one team. In tournaments, you'll often see 3-3 stacks (meaning 3 players from one team and 3 from another team), 4-3, and 3-3-2 stacks.

Here are some of my favorite stacks for tonight:

RISK IT FOR THE BISCUIT STACK

This is my low ownership, high risk, and high upside stack. BIG SAVE DAVE has not been that for Calgary so far this year. Until they improve, I'm going to continue to stack against the Flames.

Keep in mind, these are my favorites. You should all do your own research and you might (and probably should) disagree with me in some spots. Don't be afraid to go your own way.

Good luck today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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