This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Hopefully you're managing the weather well wherever you are. Hockey is, of course, a sport build for the cold with seven NHL games on the slate starting at 7 p.m. EST or later. Here are my Saturday DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
We have three teams on the second day of a back-to-back Saturday. The Blues will be at home to Los Angeles while Tampa and Washington are on the road against the Blue Jackets and Oilers, respectively.
GOALIES
Darcy Kuemper, LOS at STL ($7,900): The Blues sit last in goals and shots and will also be on the second night of a back-to-back, so rostering the Kings' starting goalie seems like a solid selection. The only question is who starts as Kuemper left the last game while it was also announced the injury isn't serious where he could go on Saturday. So don't be surprised if Anton Forsberg gets the call given the matchup.
John Gibson, DET at WPG ($6,900): Arguably no goalie has been as locked in as Gibson the last couple of months having posted a 1.87 GAA and .934 save percentage the last 16 outings where he's gone 14-2. The Jets are 20th at 2.96 goals per game and bottom-10 with an average of 26.2 shots. Gibson can hopefully stay hot for your DFS lineups (and for my Red Wings).
VALUE PLAYS
Adrian Kempe, LOS at STL ($6,300): Kempe has registered a goal in each of his last two outings to give him 17 on the campaign. He's surprisingly only supplied seven points with the extra man having averaged 3:17 there. The Blues sit bottom-10 in GAA and penalty-kill percentage and I've already noted they also skated on Friday.
Nikolaj Ehlers, CAR at OTT ($6,000): Ehlers tallied 22 power-play points last season for the Jets, which kind of came out of nowhere. Maybe this led the Hurricanes to both want to sign him and give him a large man-advantage role. And that's panned out as Ehlers has so far recorded 15 PPPs. Meanwhile, the Sens have a bottom-three penalty kill.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Bruins vs. Canadiens
Elias Lindholm (C - $6,300), David Pastrnak (W - $7,900), Marat Khusnutdinov (W - $4,500)
The Bruins have made a habit of pairing Pastrnak with some other players who may not quite be on his level with the hope he can raise their game. Not only has this worked reasonably well, it also makes it easier to stack a line he's on than if he were skating alongside Pavel Zacha and Morgan Geekie. The Canadiens come in with a 3.27 GAA, and it's only that low as Jacob Fowler produced a 2.62 GAA during his 10 NHL appearances. Montreal's goalie of the future is back in the AHL, leaving two options in net with GAAs below .890.
Lindholm has benefited from skating with Pastrnak tallying 12 points in his last 11 outings, five of those coming on the power play. And Montreal carries a below-average penalty kill. Pretty much everything I've said about Pastrnak has been selling him as a DFS option, but I can also point out he's potted at least 40 goals during the previous five full NHL campaigns and is currently at 21 goals with 160 shots. Khusnutdinov had a four-goal performance two weeks ago, yet he's more than just one game as he's supplied seven to go with seven assists from his last 18 appearances.
Wild vs. Panthers
Ryan Hartman (C - $5,600), Kirill Kaprizov (W - $7,800), Mats Zuccarello (W - $5,900)
Minnesota's top line has been as hot as any, but did you also know Florida ranks bottom-10 in GAA? Or that Sergei Bobrovsky has slumped to an .848 save percentage over his last 11 outings? Things are looking a bit iffy for the two-time defending champs, making things look better for the Wild on Saturday.
Hartman has benefited from his linemates and from some decent puck luck with eight points in nine games and multiple shots from seven of his last eight. Kaprizov has recorded at least two points during each of his last four outings to get him back on a similar pace to where he was last season prior to getting hurt at 62 points and 182 shots. Zuccarello getting healthy has lifted Minnesota's offense with 15 points across 14 appearances and also on a four-game scoring streak.
DEFENSEMEN
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. WAS ($6,800): Bouchard is already at double-digit goals, one point away from 50, and one power-play point from reaching 20 for the third straight season. I'll also note he's tallied 134 shots on the campaign. The Capitals will be closing out a back-to-back on the road after going with No. 1 Logan Thompson on Friday, leaving Charlie Lindgren and his .888 save percentage for Saturday.
Damon Severson, CLM vs. TAM ($4,300): Zach Werenski is the Blue Jackets' blueline star, but I figured I'd recommend Severson to save you some salary. He's been recently skating next to Werenski while averaging 23:11 in his last nine games with two points over his last four. Tampa is on the road for the second consecutive day where Jonas Johansson and his .893 save percentage the last three seasons is slated to start.
