Ben Bishop has a great shot at a win and even a shutout Saturday

If the first couple of nights are any indication, this is going to be one crazy season in the NHL. Every game and every point matters as teams battle for a playoff spot. The first Saturday night slate of the season has 13 games, which can be very overwhelming with 26 teams and plenty of players to choose from. Here is my approach to building a cash game lineup and especially with such a big slate of games.

Eliminate the clutter by taking a look at the Vegas line, which can be found on various sites, and identify the teams with the highest probability of a win. Then select a goalie from one of the high favorites because the three points for a win and a possible two points for a shutout can be the difference in cashing or not.

Here are tonight’s goalies with high win probabilities in order of Vegas Line favorite.

• Ben Bishop (TB): $8,600 vs. NJ -175 favorite
• Braden Holtby (WAS): $8,300 vs. NYI -160 favorite
• Roberto Luongo (FLA): $8,000 vs. DET -145 favorite
• Devan Dubnyk (MIN): $7,600 vs. WPG -145 favorite

For skaters, I look at the Vegas line for games that have an over/under at 5.5 or higher. Here are the teams that I will use tonight when selecting my lineup.

• Washington
• San Jose
• Toronto
• Boston
• Colorado
• Dallas
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• Vancouver

At this point, there are four goalies that I am interested in using for tonight’s lineup and I have nine teams to sort through when selecting my skaters instead of looking at all 26 teams which definitely simplifies the process.

For cash game lineups such as 50/50s and double-ups I like to select pairs of players on the same line from the teams that I have identified. Because hockey can be very random, it gives me a chance to cash even if that team doesn’t perform well that night or runs into a hot goalie. When building tournament teams, take more of a risk and stack three or more skaters from the teams you like.

Here is my cash game lineup for tonight.

Center

Nicklas Backstrom (WAS): $5,900 vs. NYI
I like the Capitals to have a big night tonight in their home opener against the Islanders and Backstrom will be centering the second line as well as the number one power play unit. He had a nice game in the season-opening game versus Pittsburgh with two assists and five shots while playing over 20 minutes.

Joe Thornton (SJ): $5,600 @ CLS
The Sharks will be hungry after losing in the cup finals and should have a nice night against a Columbus team that gave up six goals on opening night to Boston. Thornton centers the number one line and power play units for the Sharks and comes at a real good price for someone who scored 82 points in 82 games last season.

Wing

Andre Burakovsky (WAS): $4,400 vs. NYI
Burakovsky  will be on the second line for Washington with Backstrom and makes for a natural pairing in my lineup tonight. He scored 17 goals last season and netted two goals in the opener against Pittsburgh. He could be on the verge of a breakout season so take advantage while his price is so low.

Joe Pavelski (SJ): $7,200 @ CLS
Pavelski will be on both top lines tonight with Thornton and both should provide plenty of scoring opportunities tonight in my lineup. He is a very consistent player, scoring at least 35 goals and 70 points in each of the last three seasons.

David Pastrnak (BOS): $4,900 @ TOR
He had a great night in the season opener with two goals and two assists against Columbus. While he likely won’t do that tonight, his opponent in Toronto is very young and doesn’t play very good defense either. He will be on the Bruins top lines tonight and see plenty of ice time.

Defense

Brandon Carlo (BOS): $2,700 @ TOR
Normally I pay up for stud defensemen but when a player has a price so low he becomes hard to ignore. Carlo will be on the top defense pairing with Zdeno Chara and Carlo played almost 18 minutes while getting an assist and producing 3.5 fantasy points. I will take that return on investment anytime.

Jake Gardiner (TOR): $3,900 vs. BOS
Like Brandon Carlo, Gardiner’s price is too low to ignore. He had an assist in over 21 minutes in the season opener versus Ottawa and while young, will be on the ice a lot tonight and see power play time in what will likely be a high scoring game on both sides. Last season he posted seven goals and 24 assists.

Goalie

Ben Bishop (TB): $8,600 vs. NJ
Getting Bishop in my lineup is the reason that I went for value defensemen. The Lightning will be a Stanley Cup contender once again this season and face a New Jersey Devils team that struggles to score goals. I really like Bishop’s chance for a win and possibly a shutout tonight. He posted a 35-21-4 record last season with an amazing 2.06 GAA and a .926 save percentage and will likely contend for most goaltender awards this season. 

Utility

Nathan MacKinnon (COL): $6,600 vs. DAL
The Dallas at Colorado matchup is one game I wanted exposure to tonight and I am using my utility spot to identify a player from this game based the budget I have left. Most of the Stars big guns like Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are too expensive, so MacKinnon is a nice option. He will be centering the top lines and playing at home against a Stars team that gives up plenty of scoring chances.

Make sure to double check lineups and particularly the starting goalies prior to the first puck drop as they can be subject to change.

Rob Klein is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Rob, check out his archive and follow him @RobK37.