Wednesday is not merely the last day of January. It’s the last day of NHL action before the All-Star break. I’ll see you Monday! For now, there are three NHL games on the docket. Here are your players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
John Gibson, ANA vs. SAN ($30): Gibson’s getting a gift heading into the break. While Chicago is now vying with San Jose as the worst offense, San Jose is strikingly poor on that end of the ice. Not only that, but the Sharks are actually on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back to boot!
GOALIE TO AVOID
Alex Lyon, DET vs. OTT ($29): Lyon has a .924 save percentage, and he’s been a boon to the Red Wings. However, the Senators are poor defensively, but fairly strong offensively. Ottawa has averaged 3.35 goals and 32.8 shots on net per game. Lyon is a goalie you might consider, but this is not a matchup to roster him for.
CENTER
J.T. Compher, DET vs. OTT ($15): Compher has tallied a point in four of his last five outings. He’s been streaky, but right now, he seems to be in form. I mentioned the Senators are poor defensively, and indeed this has the makings of a high-scoring affair. The Senators have a 3.65 GAA, third-highest in the NHL.
CENTER TO AVOID
Logan Couture, SAN at ANA ($15): Well, Couture has only been back for a couple weeks, so he’s well-rested. Even so, being on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back is not ideal. Neither is the fact there is so little talent around him, especially with Tomas Hertl banged up.
WING
Troy Terry, ANA vs. SAN ($27): The new year has been a great one for Terry. Well, he missed Anaheim’s first two games of 2024, but since then he has 13 points in 11 games. While Chicago is competing with the Sharks for last in goals per game, the Sharks are still comfortably last in GAA.
Gustav Nyquist, NAS vs. LOS ($16): Nyquist has the good fortune of skating on Nashville’s top line next to Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg. That’s helped him tally 37 points in 50 games. David Rittich has taken over for Cam Talbot in net after Talbot began to slip. Well, Rittich came into this season with a career .904 save percentage. To that end, he has an .885 save percentage over his last three outings.
WINGS TO AVOID
Trevor Moore, LOS at NAS ($19): Nashville’s 3.12 GAA is smack in the middle of the rankings. That’s with the 27th-ranked penalty kill, though. As such, it seems clear that if you want success against the Predators, you want to see time with the extra man. The issue for Moore is that he’s on the second power-play unit, and he doesn’t have a power-play point in his last 29 games.
Vladimir Tarasenko, OTT at DET ($18): Tarasenko has moved down to the third line, and over his last four games he’s averaged 14:08 in ice time. He’s still getting power-play time, and six of his 32 points have come with the extra man. However, due to the play of Lyon, the Red Wings have raised their penalty kill to 13th, which is above average.
DEFENSE
Drew Doughty, LOS at NAS ($22): Alright now, I did mention the Preds have the 27th-ranked penalty kill. That isn’t up Moore’s alley, but it very much is for Doughty. In addition to being hot – six points in his last seven games – Doughty has tallied 11 points with the extra man in 47 contests. The defenseman has averaged 3:29 per game on the power play, and that bodes well against Nashville’s penalty kill.
Olen Zellweger, ANA vs. SAN ($11): The Ducks have called up the 20-year-old Zellweger, and now three games into his NHL career he’s paired with Cam Fowler and even on the top power-play unit. The Sharks are last in GAA, shots on net allowed per game, and penalty-kill percentage, so the young defenseman could tally his second point, and perhaps even his first goal.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Roman Josi, NAS vs. LOS ($28): The Kings’ goaltending has slipped, but they have still only allowed 28.0 shots on net per game and have the top penalty kill. Now, with Nyquist, I’ll take a shot given his salary. Josi, though, is a bigger gamble, since his salary is so high. Given that, and with a few good matchups available even with only six teams playing, I would look elsewhere and save Josi for another day’s lineups.
Jakob Chychrun, OTT at DET ($21): Chychrun has notched 11 of his 28 points on the power play, including his last two goals. The Red Wings have an above-average penalty kill, as I noted, and also Lyon does have a .924 save percentage.
