Written by LineStar Fantasy Wizard @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

This is a bit of a weird week for NHL in that we get some pretty good sized slates this week. Tonight we get a 6-game slate where the last undefeated team, the Colorado Avalanche, takes on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG arena.

First, let's look at last night. On DraftKings, Ezellmt took the top spot in the Hats Off tournament with a 4-3 stack of Vancouver and Toronto with a Martin Necas one-off.

On FanDuel, boggslite took the top spot in the Breakaway tournament (he was actually in 2nd in the Hats Off on DraftKings) with a 4-3 Vancouver and Toronto stack that ALSO had a Necas one off.

If you haven't guessed it, if you stacked Toronto and Vancouver, you probably did well last night. I think it's also worth noting that we've seen various stack types win over the last two weeks. We've seen examples of 3-3, 3-3-2, and 4-3s win. I think that if you really like a team and you're playing multiple lineups, you might want to try different stack types to see if you can get the top spot with one of those lineups. What do you think? Hit me up in chat.

Tonight's Targets

Like I said at the beginning, we have a great six-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.

Goaltenders

John Gibson - ANH (DK: $7800, FD: $8500)

Gibson gets a tough matchup but he's one of the most talented goaltenders on the slate. I like his price on DK a lot too, as that gives some flexibility to put a solid lineup together. Buffalo hasn't been afraid to shoot the puck either, so I see some upside if he's able to keep the puck out of the net.

Centers

Sebastian Aho -CAR (DK: $5700, FD: $7300)

I'm going back to the well with Aho tonight. For some reason, his price dropped on DraftKings. I think he's a great value at this price for someone who shoots the puck a lot and is facing a San Jose team that is giving up 3.67 goals a game so far this season.

Wingers

Alex Ovechkin - WAS (DK: $7600, FD: $8700)

He's expensive for sure, but Ovi shoots the puck A LOT. With the shot bonuses on DraftKings, someone like him could rack up a bunch of points without picking up a goal or assist. He also gets a good matchup against a Toronto team that's on the tail of a back-to-back and is giving up 3.29 goals a game.

Defensemen

Kris Letang -PIT (DK: $6100, FD: $7100)

Despite being undefeated, Colorado is giving up 2.4 goals a game and allowing 34 shots. Pittsburgh should score a few times and I think Letang picks up an assist or two in the process.

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.

Adam Henrique: ANH - C (DK: $4.6K, FD: $4.6K)

Kevin Labanc: SJS - W (DK: $4K, FD: $4.9K)

Radko Gudas: WAS - D (DK: $3.7K, FD: $3.5K)

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.

I'm going to do stacks a little differently moving forward. I'm going to provide you with the top projected owned stacks, my favorites, and the "risk it for the biscuit" stacks (high-upside, low ownership stacks. Along with these stacks you can compare their prices, see how LineStar projects them, as well as their combined average fantasy points per game over the last 5 games.

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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