Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver

Welcome back to the NHL Hat Trick.

We've got 9 games on the main slate tonight and 6 of those have an over/under of 6. It could be a high scoring night. Here's how today's slate looks from a high-level, looking at numbers for each team over the past 10 games:

Let’s dive into the slate:

Goaltending

Playing cash games? Fill in your goalie spot first. Playing tournaments? Fill your skater positions and pick the goaltender with the biggest upside for the least amount of salary. Here are my three favorite goaltenders on the night:

Thomas Greiss, NYI (@LAK) (DK: $8K, FD: $7.8K)

He's not confirmed at the time of this writing, but he's my favorite on the night. He's been solid over the past month with 1.5 goals against and a .941 save percentage.

Jimmy Howard, DET (@OTT) (DK: $8.1K, FD: $8.4K)

This newsletter's broken record: He's been very consistent in fantasy terms over the past month. I'm going to continue to ride this consistency despite a surprisingly tough matchup against an Ottawa team that is scoring 4.2 goals a game over its past 5 games.

Pekka Rinne, NSH (@ ARI) (DK: $7.9K, FD: $9.2K)

Another matchup that is tougher than you'd usually expect. Arizona is scoring 3.49 goals over its past 10. However, Rinne has a 1.2 goals against average and a .958 save percentage over the past month.

#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):

Sean Monahan: CGY - C (DK: $6.9K, FD: $7.6K)

I'm generally onboard with playing Calgary at home and tonight is no exception. Monahan is averaging 3.6 shots and he's on the top line and powerplay unit for Calgary in a great matchup against Montreal.

Taylor Hall: NJ - LW (DK: $7.6K, FD: $7.7K)

Averaging 4.4 shots on net a game with a 65 CF% and an outstanding (though unsustainable) 25% shooting percentage.

Andreas Athanasiou: DET - RW (DK: $6.9K, FD: $4.8K)

Much better bargain on FanDuel, who hasn't caught up with his recent production. Averaging 3.4 shots on and almost a goal a game over the past 5 games.

Mark Giordano: CGY - D (DK: $5.6K, FD: $5.6K)

Giordano is averaging 3.6 shots and 2.4 blocks in over 24 minutes on the ice per game over his last 5 games. Meanwhile, Montreal is allowing 4.8 goals a game over the last 5 games.

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.

Sean Couturier: PHI - C (DK: $5.6K, FD: $6.2K)

Only averaging 2.2 shots a game, which is lower than what I usually target, but he's got a good matchup against a New Jersey team that is allowing 17.7 FFPG on DraftKings and 64.3 FFPG on FanDuel to opposing centers.

Jonathan Drouin: MON - LW (DK: $5.4K, FD: $5.7K)

Averaging 4 shots on net a game over the past 5 games and gets time on the top powerplay unit for Montreal.

Craig Smith: NSH - RW (DK: $5.1K, FD: $5.1K)

Averaging 6.4 shot attempts with 4.2 shots on net over the past 5 games and plays on the top powerplay unit for Nashville.

Ryan Pulock: NYI - D (DK: $4.7K, FD: $4K)

Solid bargain on FanDuel. Averaging 2.6 shots on net with 2.4 blocks a game and grabbing over 23 minutes over the past 5 games.

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 tonight.

Colin White: OTT - C (DK: $4.1K, FD: $3.2K) **GTD**

Brendan Perlini: ARI- LW (DK: $3.3K, FD: $3.5K)

Alex Killorn: TB - LW (DK: $3.7K, FD: $4.2K)

Radko Gudas: PHI - D (DK: $3.7K, FD: $3.6K)

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.

I’m going to try something a little bit different with stacks. I’m going to present my personal favorite, as well as a value stack, and one with the best matchup. Here are my three favorite stacks on the night:

NOTE: There are several key players with illnesses, so lines will most likely change between now and lock. Keep an eye on the chat for updates.

TOR:  Hyman-Tavares-Marner (DK: $19K, FD: $20.4K)

PHI: Giroux-Couturier-Konecny: (DK: $16.1K, FD: $18.4K)

CGY: Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm: (DK: $19K, FD: $21.9K)

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stack 🍪

OTT: Tkachuk-White-Stone (DK: $15.7K, FD: $13.6K)

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