Every Thursday I will be providing my recommended player picks for your daily fantasy hockey lineups. The goal is to help you to the top of the leader boards in FanDuel and DraftKings tournament play.
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We have a smaller eight-game slate for a Thursday. In addition, it is opening day for MLB so the contests are much smaller than we are used to for a Thursday night. Anyway, there are a few spots worth targeting in the Montreal Canadiens who are fighting for their playoff lives and three teams that are out of it in the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers that have premium matchups.
GOALTENDER
NOTE: Make sure to check the “RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page":https://rotogrinders.com/lineups/nhl?site=fanduel page prior to game time, to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting.
Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens – This is an absolute must-win game for the Montreal Canadiens this evening. They head to Columbus to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets — a team that is two points behind them for the final wild card spot and have a game in hand. Getting the four point cushion would go a long way for the Habs playoff chances. Since the calendar turned to 2019, Carey Price has been absolutely incredible. He has put up a 2.15 goals against average and a .930 save percentage — both of which are among the top 3 in the NHL since January 1st. He has been perfect against Columbus this season with a 2-0-0 record and a 1.51 GAA and .956 SV% and looks to continue his elite play in the most important game of the Canadiens season.
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FORWARDS
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers – Connor McDavid has been a man on a mission in the month of March. He has picked up a modest 6 goals but an insane 25 points in just 12 games. He has also picked up two short-handed points and a game winning goal along the way. Tonight, the Edmonton Oilers take on the Dallas Stars who are on the tail-end of a back to back. And while Dallas has been solid recently from a possession standpoint, the back to back is certainly an advantage to an Oilers team that has scored at least three goals in 7 of their last 8 games including an 8-spot against the Los Angeles Kings last game.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers – Another player on fire since March 1st is Jonathan Huberdeau, as he has picked up 19 points in 14 games including 7 goals. The Florida Panthers have an elite matchup as they take on the Ottawa Senators — albeit on the road — in what could be a fast-paced, high-scoring game. Over the last month, Ottawa has an abysmal 45.17 CF% which ranks 28th in the NHL and they have given up 64.44 CA/60 which is the third-most over that time. While Florida hasn’t been much better in terms of possession, they’ve averaged 3.7 goals per game over their last 10 including 6 games with 4-plus goals.
Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres – Remember all of the early-season Jeff Skinner hype? Well that has certainly died off as he has just one goal in 13 March games. He also has just one assist to go with that, so it has been quite the slump for Skinner. He’s still firing the puck a bunch with 46 shots in the process, but he really needs to get things going if he wants to get paid the numbers that were being floated back in December. If there is a matchup to turn things around it is a home game against the lowly Detroit Red Wings. Detroit, over the last month, have a league-worst 43.01 CF% and have given up a league-worst 65.99 CA/60. This could help Skinner get back on track.
DEFENSE
Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens – Shea Weber has 9 points in 13 March games which ranks 11th in the NHL among defensemen. Nothing special, but it’s pretty solid. However, his 57 shots on goal lead all defensemen in the month of March and it’s not even close as second-place Mark Giordano has 45 in the same amount of games. As mentioned above, this is a huge game for the Habs season so expect Weber to continue to fire the puck at an absurd rate. The shot volume gives him a high floor but the points give him elite upside as well.
