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This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Check here for daily NHL starting lineups, including DraftKings and FanDuel salaries for that day's daily fantasy sports contests. 21 hours ago For Saturday, one of McClure's top NHL DFS picks is Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid at $8,600 on DraftKings and $8,900 on FanDuel. Part of McClure's optimal NHL DFS strategy for Feb. 6 includes rostering Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews ($8,400 on DraftKings, $8,600 on FanDuel), who is on a six-game goal-scoring streak where he. NHL DFS expert Aaron White provides strategy advice and tips for winning daily fantasy hockey contests on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Friday's NHL slate begins at 7:00 p.m. EST and features five games. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
SLATE PREVIEW
Red Wings-Lightning and Bruins-Flyers are rematches from Wednesday's action, during which Tampa Bay players in general and the Bruins' stars delivered superb performances. Predators-Panthers is a rematch of Thursday's wild 6-5 Nashville overtime win, while the Sharks-Ducks and Kings-Golden Knights matchups provide some fresh west coast action. Tampa Bay and Vegas are both massive favorites, so those teams should supply most of the lineup building blocks, but there are plenty of enticing options across the remaining three games as well.
GOALIES
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB vs. DET ($8,500): Assuming he gets the nod again, Vasilevskiy will be the safest goalie option against a hapless Red Wings offense that he held to one goal on 16 shots Wednesday. He remains in the conversation for the league's best goalie, with a 6-1-1 record, 1.99 GAA and .927 save percentage, though a lack of work could limit his upside if Detroit is stifled by the Lightning's superior skaters but avoids being shut out, which is what happened Wednesday.
Robin Lehner, VGK vs. LA ($8,400): Lehner's the other obvious choice in net. His start (2-1-1, 2.95 GAA, .885 save percentage) has left a lot to be desired, but Lehner should get rolling at home against a Kings team that's scoring 2.89 goals per game after averaging only 2.53 last season.
Martin Jones, SJ at ANH ($7,400): Jones will be fresh with the Sharks having last played Jan. 28, and he has three wins in five tries despite ugly underlying numbers. While Jones' floor is low in any matchup, he won't have a better opportunity to post a strong performance than this matchup with an Anaheim offense that's scoring a league-low 1.73 goals per game.
Chris Driedger, FLA vs. NSH ($7,700): Driedger figures to get the second half of Florida's back-to-back set against Nashville after Sergei Bobrovsky started Thursday. The backup has been outstanding so far this season, with a 2-0-1 record, 1.95 GAA and .937 save percentage. Driedger has a nice opportunity to build on his strong start against a Predators team that was averaging only 2.33 goals per game through its first nine before scoring six on a shaky Bobrovsky.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Brayden Point, TB vs. DET ($7,700): Point's tied for the team lead with four goals through eight games and is one point shy of the 10 that Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman have racked up. The top-line center also leads the Lightning with 26 shots and should continue to build on his strong start against the lowly Red Wings.
Jakob Silfverberg, ANH vs. SJ ($4,000): If Jones' poor play (3.91 GAA, .871 save percentage) persists, even the dreadful Ducks offense should produce some value here. Silfverberg is tied for the team lead with three goals and five points through 11 games, and he reached the 20-goal mark in four of the previous five seasons.
Joel Farabee, PHI vs. BOS ($3,700): Farabee's goal in Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Bruins was his fourth in the last two games and pushed his line to 6-3-9 through 11 games. The 20-year-old Syracuse native is coming into his own in his second NHL campaign, and Farabee's valuation should only keep climbing from here.
Filip Forsberg, NSH at FLA ($5,500): Forsberg was dominant in Thursday's meeting between these teams, racking up two goals, three assists and eight shots, including the overtime winner. He was leading the Predators in scoring even before Thursday's outburst, and the Swedish winger now sports a 6-5-11 line through 10 games. Expect his valuation to get a substantial bump once Forsberg's five-point night gets factored in.
Patric Hornqvist, FLA vs. NSH ($5,900): Teammate Jonathan Huberdeau stole the show Thursday with three goals and two assists, but Hornqvist quietly had another strong performance, dishing a helper and tying for the team lead with six shots. The veteran winger has fit in tremendously with his new team, posting a 5-3-8 line and 27 shots through seven games.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Bruins at Flyers
Patrice Bergeron (C - $8,300), Brad Marchand (W - $7,900), David Pastrnak (W - $9,000)
There may not be a better line in hockey than this one, and Philadelphia had no answer for it when these teams met Wednesday. Pastrnak recorded a hat trick and an assist in that one, bringing his season totals to five goals, two assists and 19 shots in just three games. Bergeron also had a four-point night to bring his season line to 6-9-15 in 10 games, while Marchand only had one assist but is right on Bergeron's tail overall with a 6-8-14 line. This trio can dominate any matchup and is worth going right back to for this rematch.
Golden Knights vs. Kings
Chandler Stephenson (C - $4,100), Max Pacioretty (W - $6,900), Mark Stone (W - $6,400)
The last time the Golden Knights were in action was Jan. 26, when Pacioretty scored a hat trick on eight shots against the Blues. Overall, the veteran winger has six goals on 32 shots through seven games after ranking third league-wide with 307 shots last season, and a Kings team that's allowing 3.22 goals per game will be hard-pressed to slow him down. Stone had three helpers in Vegas' last game and is off to a stellar start, with 11 points through seven games. Stephenson brings some affordability to this line and can chip in offensively, with a 9-16-25 line in 48 games since joining the Golden Knights.
Lightning vs. Red Wings
Anthony Cirelli (C - $5,100), Alex Killorn (W - $4,600), Tyler Johnson (W - $3,200)
Tampa Bay's affordable second line carried the mail in Wednesday's 5-1 win over Detroit, as Cirelli and Killorn both lit the lamp while Johnson dished out a helper to go with a team-high four shots. Going right back to this unit can help clear out cap space for some of this slate's other stars while still capitalizing on Tampa Bay's favorable matchup against a 2-7-2 Red Wings team that's getting outscored 3.64 to 1.91 on average. Overall, Cirelli's two points off the team lead with eight in as many games, Killorn has a 2-4-6 line and Johnson has a 1-3-4 line in seven appearances.
DEFENSEMEN
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Ryan McDonagh, TB vs. DET ($4,000): If Victor Hedman's ($7,600) too rich for your blood, McDonagh's a solid low-cost alternative. While he lacks Hedman's elite offensive capabilities, McDonagh brings a high floor for the heavily favored Lightning. The three-time 40-point scorer potted a goal Wednesday against Detroit and is a consistent source of both shots and blocks, with 15 and seven respectively, over his last five games.
Keith Yandle, FLA vs. NSH ($5,000): With so many pricey forwards in this slate, it's important to carve out cap space where you can, and Yandle has delivered comparable production to teammate Aaron Ekblad despite coming in $1,500 cheaper. Ekblad's the more proficient goal-scorer, but Yandle's an excellent source of assists and power-play points, with a 2-5-7 line and six points with the extra man through seven games. He should continue to find success against the struggling Predators penalty kill.
Cam Fowler, ANH vs. SJ ($3,500): Fowler led all Ducks defensemen in goals (nine) and points (29) last season, and he has scored at least 28 points in eight of 10 previous NHL campaigns. He's off to a slow start with just one goal and one assist through nine games, but this matchup with a Sharks team that has been the most generous to opposing defensemen from a fantasy perspective offers a nice buy-low opportunity on Fowler.
Alec Martinez, VGK vs. LA ($5,200): Martinez is playing tremendous two-way hockey, with five assists, eight shots and 25 blocked shots through seven games. He should play an even larger role against his former team with fellow Vegas blueliner Alex Pietrangelo still in the COVID-19 protocol.
This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Due to the postponement of the Panthers-Hurricanes game, there will be only five contests Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. ET. This article will focus on the later four games, which begin at 7 p.m. ET.
SLATE PREVIEW
Among the eight teams in the four-game evening slate, three teams are on the first leg of a back-to-back, namely the Blues, Kings and Jets. Keep an eye out for goalie confirmations as a result, as the starting goalie is a coin flip in each outing. We'll be leaning hard on favorites in this slate, specifically the Blues, Jets and Bruins, but there's a ton of value plays among the other clubs.
GOALIES
Jordan Binnington, STL vs. LA ($8,400): Binnington put together his best performance of the year Wednesday, turning aside 37 of 38 shots but ultimately losing in a shootout. Meanwhile, the Kings rank 24th in the league with just 1.85 xGF/60 at even strength, per Natural Stat Trick. Binnington should be the top start in this slate, but with a back-to-back set on tap, keep an eye on the starting goalie confirmations, as Ville Husso ($8,100) could get his first start.
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG vs. OTT ($8,200): Hellebuyck lost his shutout with less than three minutes remaining in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Senators, but he could have a chance to finish the job Saturday. The 27-year-old has picked up right where he left off in last year's Vezina campaign, as he sports a .935 save percentage through three games.
Jaroslav Halak, BOS vs. PHI ($7,600): Between Halak and Carter Hart ($7,600), it's a lot easier to trust Halak. It's been a shaky start for Hart, to say the least, as he's posted a .902 save percentage and a 3.66 GAA through four outings. The Flyers' defense is partially to blame, but Sean Couturier (ribs) is still out. The Flyers simply lose their identity without him.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Elias Pettersson, VAN vs. MON ($6,000): Pettersson's cold streak – he's gone five games without a point – is starting to get some airtime with the media airtime, but the 22-year-old is getting plenty of opportunities, beginning a whopping 79.1 percent of shifts in the offensive zone. He's fired 11 shots on net during his pointless stretch. He scored 27 goals last year. He's knocking on the door, so take a flier while his roster percentage is low.
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Paul Stastny, WPG vs. OTT ($4,600): The Jets have piled on against the Senators over the last two games, ringing up eight goals. Stastny didn't get in on the fun, but he fired five shots on net Thursday and centers the top power-play unit. The veteran pivot has enjoyed a solid 52.9 Corsi For percentage at even strength, too.
Andreas Athanasiou, LA at STL ($4,100): Athanasiou has been an immediate gamechanger for the Kings, recording a point in each of the first four games and totaling three goals in that stretch. He's not going to keep scoring at that rate, but he's playing inspired – something that hasn't been consistent in the past. His skills can keep the production rolling as long as he doesn't lose interest.
Zach Sanford, STL vs. LA ($3,600): Sanford has a strong wrist shot and his 6-foot-4 frame serves as a strong net-front presence. The 26-year-old is getting plenty of playing time on the top line alongside Ryan O'Reilly and David Perron, boosting Sanford's ceiling against the Kings.
Jakub Voracek, PHI at BOS ($3,700): Part of the theme in this article is the Flyers' defensive woes, but they still have plenty of offensive firepower, especially deep in the lineup. Voracek is a prime example, as he's accrued six points over the past four games while on the third line.
LINE STACKS
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Canadiens at Canucks
Tomas Tatar (C - $5,900), Phillip Danault (W - $4,000), Brendan Gallagher (W - $5,800)
Tyler Toffoli ($5,100) has been remarkable in this series against the Canucks, scoring three points in each of the last two games. It's time to fade him but stick with the Canadiens stack. The revenge narrative is fair at this point, but part of Toffoli's effectiveness stems from how deep the Canadiens are at forward. Gallagher and Tatar both hit 20 goals last year; the first line could be a boon.
Bruins vs. Flyers
David Krejci (C - $5,000), Jack Studnicka (W - $3,200), Nick Ritchie (W - $3,300)
As we went over before, the Flyers' defense has taken a significant hit without Couturier in the fold, and the Bruins exploited those weaknesses in Thursday's win, ringing up four goals. This line flies under the radar, but they combined for five points in that outing. Ritchie and Krejci working on the same power play is a bonus.
Blues vs. Kings
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Robert Thomas (C - $3,000), Mike Hoffman (W - $4,000), Tyler Bozak (W - $2,800)
This is a deep dive, but it's a great differentiator in the small slate. The Kings allow a ton of chances at 5-on-5, ranking 30th in the league with 2.75 xGA/60. Thomas has already flashed his playmaking ability with two assists in the opener, and he's been relatively quiet since. However, his pairing with Hoffman has immense upside, as he combined for 65 goals over the previous two seasons.
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DEFENSE
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Shea Weber, MON at VAN ($6,500): Weber's four-game point streak ended Thursday, but he still managed to contribute two shots on net and a blocked shot. The veteran is always in the mix, and he provides a concrete floor for DFS purposes. The Canadiens' offense has solved the Canucks, so Weber and Jeff Petry ($6,500) are robust options to stack with the aforementioned forward line.
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Matt Grzelcyk, BOS vs. PHI ($4,900): Grzelcyk is not Torey Krug. But he plays that role now in Boston. He's produced two assists and 13 shots on net through four games, and he quarterbacks the Bruins' dominant power play. The opportunity is apparent, too, as the Flyers have given up nine power-play goals in the young season.
Vince Dunn, STL vs. LA ($3,000): Dunn floats between the second and third pairing, but he's a staple on the power play and has started 81.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone. The 24-year-old is a smart playmaker, and he's just two seasons removed from registering 12 goals and 35 points.