Written by LineStar Fantasy Wizard @ZeroInDenver

Welcome back to the NHL Hat Trick.

Is anyone playing NHL tonight with NBA back? It will be interesting to see how this affects pay lines and overall participation in NHL contests.

Personally, I won't be changing my strategy at all. Like I've mentioned before, I think cash games are a bad move on a small slate and it's ok to get a little weird on 4 game slates for GPPs. There are several top lines in play, so I don't think we should worry too much about ownership. Trust your gut and play who you like. If you feel like getting a little weird, it's a good slate for it too.

Of course, if you have any other questions, be sure to tag me in chat at @ZeroInDenver

Goaltending

My three favorite goaltenders on the night:

Braden Holtby, WAS (vs NYR) (DK: $8.4K, FD: $9.1K)

I'm not interested in Rask and Gibson is unconfirmed at the time of this writing (and probably won't be confirmed until later today). Holtby gets a good matchup at home against a Rangers team that played a close game last night. So if you're chasing a win bonus, this is the way to go.

Carey Price, MON (vs STL) (DK: $7.8K, FD: $8K)

I don't love the matchup, but Montreal is at home. Price should see plenty of shots, which should help him make value even if he lets a goal or two in.

Robin Lehner, NYI (@ANH) (DK: $7.1K, FD: $7.7K)

Lehner has been good (93.7 Save%) and faces an Anaheim team that's been plagued with injuries and just isn't scoring many goals (2.59 goals/game). This biggest risk to Lehner is that he won't face enough shots to make up for a goal or two that get by him.

#BiscuitInTheBasketWatchList 🚨

For those of you who aren’t familiar with hockey, “biscuit in the basket” is a term for scoring a goal. Here I’m going to give a center, wing, and defensemen for the top and value pricing tiers that I think has a good chance to score a goal. Remember - I gave some tips last week on numbers that I look for, and these players check most (if not all my boxes):

Evgeny Kuznetsov: WAS- C (DK: $7.3K, FD: $7.4K)

Outstanding production over the past 5 games and plays the Rangers on the tail-end of a back to back.

Johnny Gaudreau: CGY - W (DK: $6.3K, FD: $7.6K)

Key to the Flames offense. Individual high-danger Corsi of 3.8 per game with 3.8 shots on goal per game (8 shots on goal last game against Colorado)

Mark Giordano: CGY- D (DK: $5.1K, FD: $5.5K)

I think John Carlson is the top play tonight at D, but he's also $6400. The next best thing tonight is Mark Giordano. Averaging a combined 4.2 shots and blocks per game, gives you a solid floor for someone on the top pairing and top powerplay unit.

Value Sticks 💲

Similar to the biscuit-in-the-basket watch list, in this section I’ll provide a center, wing, and defensemen who are priced in the value tier. If I can find someone under priced on both sites, I’ll highlight them. But in some cases, it could be site specific.

Phillip Danault: MON– C (DK: $4.6K, FD: $4.7K)

Danault doesn't have a goal yet this season, but I'm mostly interested in his ability to pick up assists (3 assists in last 4 games).

Chris Kreider: NYR - W (DK: $5.3K, FD: $6.3K)

Top line and top powerplay unit while averaging 3 shots on net a game.

Brandon Montour: ANH - D (DK: $4.2K, FD: $3.9K)

Top defensive pairing with Lindholm and plays on the second powerplay unit. Averages 3.2 shots plus blocks per game and sees over 20 minutes a game.

Bottom of the Barrel

I did this last season, and I’ll do it again this season. These are the players in the bottom of the salary barrel but are in a good spot.

Mikael Backlund: CGY - C (DK: $3.9K, FD: $4.9K)

Anders Bjork: BOS- W (DK: $3.6K, FD: $3K)

Matt Niskanen: WAS - D (DK: $3.9K, FD: $4.2K)

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. Here are some of my favorites today:

These stacks shouldn't surprise anyone, as they're the top lines for the three teams with the highest implied totals tonight:

CGY:  Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm (DK: $18K, FD: $20.5K)

WAS:  Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Stephenson (DK: $19K, FD: $19.5K)

BOS: Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak (DK: $22.7K, FD: $24.3K)

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stack 🍪

MON: Tatar-Danault-Gallagher: (DK: $16.6K, FD: $15.6K)

Jake Allen has had some really bad nights in net this season. In 3 of 4 starts, he's given up at least 4 goals. On the other side of that, I really like the top line for Montreal. Gallagher is almost always in play and Tatar is coming off a really good game that I think this is a sneaky stack that could be used in some large field GPPs tonight.

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