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FanDuel NHL Lineup Advice: Thursday (12/01)

FanDuel NHL Lineup Advice: Thursday (12/01)
Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin is hard to fade, even on Thursday’s large NHL slate

If you are a fan of massive NHL DFS slates, then tonight is your night. Only six teams get the night off as tonight’s slate contains 12 games and one of the deepest draft pools you will see on any given night in the NHL. A slate like this one deserves extra attention. Let’s see what tonight’s FanDuel NHL lineup looks like!

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Center

Nicklas Backstrom (WAS): $6,600 vs. NYI
After beginning the season on the second line and away from Alex Ovechkin, Backstrom has been reunited with his battery mate and the results have been encouraging to say the least. He enters play tonight with 20 points in 21 games and ten points in his last six contests. Unsurprisingly, he has centered Ovechkin during his recent hot streak. The Capitals take on an Islanders team tonight who may not have their legs under them right away after a hard-fought 5-3 victory last night against the Penguins. The Capitals should also see Jaroslav Halak in goal for the Isles who has struggled all season long.

Leon Draisaitl (EDM): $5,600 vs. WPG
Although listed as a center, Draisaitl will flank Connor McDavid on the right wing tonight in Winnipeg. Needless to say, that is a large boost to his fantasy prospects. Draisaitl broke out with 51 points in 72 games last season and looks to be improving on that mark this season with 17 points in 24 games. Playing with McDavid can only help his production and he could be a sneaky good play tonight thanks to his promotion to the team’s top line.

Wing

Alex Ovechkin (WAS): $8,800 vs. NYI
You could probably see this one coming. Ovechkin seems to be shooting the puck more these days as opposed to earlier in the season. Whether he is getting more opportunities with Backstrom as his center is debatable, but he now ranks 2nd in the NHL with 86 shots behind only Brent Burns of the Sharks. As mentioned in the Backstrom section, the Islanders are on the second half of back-to-back games tonight and could be a vulnerable team, so Ovechkin becomes a must-have as a result.

Corey Perry (ANA): $7,000 vs. VAN
Someone is going to be a victim of a Corey Perry breakout very soon. It is simply amazing that the former Hart Trophy winner hasn’t found the back of the net since October 26th and has just four goals in 23 games this season. Keep in mind this is a guy who hasn’t scored less than 33 goals over a full season since the ’09/’10 campaign. He’s actually seeing more ice time than ever this season too with an average of over 19 minutes per game while playing on the team’s top line and top power play unit. A huge onslaught from this guy is imminent and I’m looking to catch a piece of that tonight.

Vladimir Tarasenko (STL): $8,400 vs. TB

Another shot on goal machine is this Russian sniper who has a Rocket Richard trophy in his future. Tarasenko ranks 4th in the NHL with 83 shots on goal and he is one of 20 players league-wide to have double-digit tallies on the season with ten. He has three goals over his last three games as the Blues have once again found their offensive rhythm. Tarasenko makes this offense go and the Blues are an excellent team on home ice. This is a combination that could prove profitable tonight at home against the Lightning.

Bryan Rust (PIT): $3,300 vs. DAL
Welcome to tonight’s value play up front. Rust isn’t an offensive force by any means, but Evgeni Malkin is and he has flanked the Russian center on the right side for the last couple of games. Rust does have six points and 37 shots on goal in 20 games this season while finding some chemistry with one of the game’s top pivots. His ownership is guaranteed to be very low tonight so a big game from Rust could be very beneficial for this lineup.

Defense

Olli Maatta (PIT): $3,200 vs. DAL
With plenty of fire power up front, a couple of cost-effective rear guards enter this lineup. While Maatta has just a single assist on the season, he contributes enough off of the scoresheet to remain a decent value play on many nights. For example, last night he tallied 8 fantasy points thanks to three shots on goal and two blocked shots. That makes it back-to-back games with three shots for the Fin and the fact he skates with Kris Letang at even strength is encouraging. Keep in mind Maatta had 19 points and 95 shots on goal last season and nine points in 20 games the previous year, so he does have some offensive upside moving forward.

Julius Honka (DAL): $4,100 vs. PIT
Honka had been one of my value plays the night he made his debut on November 21st and he contributed an assist and five shots on goal that night. He now has three assists in five games on the season while recording 16 shots (3.2/game) as well. He has essentially taken the spot of John Klingberg as the Stars’ top offensive defenseman and quarterback of the team’s top power play unit. He is a name to keep an eye on moving forward for sure.

Goalie

Steve Mason (PHI): $7,900 vs. OTT
Mason is a little bit of a risky play here as his season has been anything but consistent so far. However, he is coming off of a 3-2 shootout win over the Bruins in which he stopped 45 of 47 shots in regulation plus overtime and also stopped nine shootout attempts by the Bruins. We have seen Mason stand on his head in spurts when he becomes the number one goalie and this is now the case with Michal Neuvirth on the shelf. As a member of the Flyers (four seasons) he has not finished with a save percentage below .917. He enters play tonight with a .898 mark, so improvement is on the horizon. The Senators rank 28th with just 2.26 goals per game so Mason could provide big value tonight as his ownership will be very low with such a big slate this evening.

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Kemper is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Kemper, check out his site www.doubleupsports.com and follow him @KemperDoubleUp.

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