Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver

Welcome back to the NHL Hat Trick.

Finally we get a solid Friday slate with 6 games going tonight. Here's how it looks from a high-level, looking at numbers for each time over the past 10 games:

A few thoughts on the slate overall:

I'll make the argument that the top line for Toronto will be the chalkiest line on the slate. I wouldn't try to talk anyone off of them because New Jersey has allowed a slate-highest 3.88 goals per game over the past 10 games with over 62.9 shot attempts.

I was way off on PIT-WAS on Wednesday. In the interest of being wrong again, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this will be one of the highest scoring games on the slate tonight. Both teams are not great on the penalty kill, but Washington has been really good on the powerplay. With two viable top lines for Washington, I like them as a PP1 stack.

With all that said, 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:

Frederik Andersen, NJD (vs NJD) (DK: $8.1K, FD: $8.5K)

Andersen has been outstanding over the past month, with a 1.8 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. He's got a solid floor with some GPP upside, as he has been putting up over 30 shots a game over the past 10 games.

Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (@ DET) (DK: $7.9K, FD: $7.8K)

Lundqvist has won three games in a row and he landed in a lot of my early builds today. He has a .920 save percentage over the past month. My biggest concern is that he won't see enough shots to make up for a puck or two that gets past him.

Sergei Bobrovsky, CLS (@ WAS) (DK: $7.1K, FD: $8.7K)

This is purely a GPP play on DraftKings because he's so cheap. He was better in his last outing against Dallas. He has a tough challenge tonight against Washington, but it brings a lot of upside at possibly very low ownership.

#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):

John Tavares: TOR - C (DK: $7.2K, FD: $8.1K)

I already mentioned my interest in Toronto tonight. They'll be chalky, but based on their matchup, are worth playing tonight. Tavares has been averaging 3.8 shots on net with 2.4 high danger shot attempts a game over the past 5 games.

Alex Ovechkin: WAS - LW (DK: $7.8K, FD: $9K)

Yes, I like Bobrovsky tonight, but Ovechkin is averaging a slate-best 4.8 scoring chances with 8.6 shot attempts per game over the past 5 games. Washington is also best on the slate on the powerplay. I don't believe in "must-plays" but Ovechkin calls for serious consideration in your lineups tonight.

Vladimir Tarasenko: STL - LW (DK: $7.1K, FD: $7.9K)

Tarasenko has been averaging 3.8 shots per game with 1.6 high-danger shot attempts and almost a goal per game over his past 5 games.

Brent Burns: SJS - D (DK: $6.7K, FD: $7.3K)

Brent Burns is starting to look like the fantasy god of years past again. He's averaging 3.4 shots and over 24 minutes a game over the past 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.

Nazem Kadri: TOR - C (DK: $5.3K, FD: $5.6K)

Kadri hasn't been shooting the puck much lately, but he plays on the top powerplay unit for Toronto and has a respectable 57 CF%.

Nikolaj Ehlers: WPG - LW (DK: $5.2K, FD: $4.8K)

Ehlers has been moved up to the top line for Winnipeg with Scheifele and Wheeler. Ehlers has been averaging 3.4 shots on net a game and faces a Colorado team that is allowing 4.6 goals per game over the past 5 games.

Jakob Silfverberg: ANH - RW (DK: $5.5K, FD: $5.5K)

Silfverberg has been averaging only 2 shots a game over the past 5 games, but plays on the top powerplay line for Anaheim.

Matt Dumba: MIN - D (DK: $5.1K, FD: $5.1K)

I love Dumba for the late night defensive hammer. He's averaging 3.4 shots and 2.4 blocks a game. Solid floor with upside.

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.

Adam Henrique: ANH - C (DK: $3.7K, FD: $4.6K)

Brian Boyle: NJD- LW (DK: $3.6K, FD: $3.6K)

Tyler Bertuzzi: DET - RW (DK: $3.8K, FD: $4.2K)

Ryan Murray: CLS - D (DK: $3.8K, 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.

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 they are for tonight:

TOR:  Hyman-Tavares-Marner (DK: $18.K, FD: $20K)

Chalk, but worth chasing tonight. New Jersey has allowed more fantasy points to the opposing top line than any other team on the slate.

SJS:  Meier-Couture-Labanc: (DK: $17.6K, FD: $17.4K)

I would like this line more if Allen was starting for St Louis, but this line has 14 shots and 2 goals with a 55 CF% in 29 minutes of ice time at 5v5.

WPG: Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler: (DK: $17.9K, FD: $19.8K)

Good history against Colorado and the Avs have had trouble keeping the puck out of the net recently. Favorite stack of the night.

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stack 🍪

NJD:  Hall-Hischier-Palmieri (DK: $19.7K, FD: $20.1K)

Remember last night when I was all over Halak the the Canucks scored more goals than they have in 8+ years? Yeah, so I'm not going to overlook New Jersey tonight, especially as talented as this line is.

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