We have a two-game slate tonight as both the Flyers-Canadians and Canucks-Blues will play in a Game 6. Vancouver came back to post a 4-3 win in Game 5 and can advance with a win here. Vladimir Tarasenko being out has caused the Blues to juggle their top lines as of late, which is something to keep an eye on for fantasy. The Canucks have also had injury issues with Tyler Toffoli still not having suited up for a game in this series. Tyler Myers is out for them on defense, too.
Montreal suffered a massive loss when Brendan Gallagher (broken jaw) was cross-checked last game by Matt Niskanen. Gallagher is a pivotal part of Montreal’s offense, having scored 22 goals in 59-games this year, and losing him is a massive blow to their chances of advancing.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: NHL $35K Twine [$10K to 1st]
Top Line Stacks
PHI at MTL
Kevin Hayes ($5,600) – Travis Konecky ($5,400) – Joel Farabee ($3,600)
The Flyers’ second line was productive during the regular season with both Hayes and Konecky collecting over 20 goals before the stoppage occurred. However, since the restart, both men have gone cold, failing to score a goal in any of the Flyers’ contests in the bubble. While that may make them a tough sell, it also ensures low ownership on this small slate where recency bias will make some players’ ownership enormous. There were also some signs last game that this line could be close to breaking out, as Hayes and Konecky were able to fire nine shots on goal combined.
The Flyers’ power play has been bad since the restart, but with Montreal now dealing with some injury issues up front, its possible a breakthrough could be had here, as well. Hayes and Konecky should stick together most of the game for stacking purposes and were joined last game by Joel Farabee at even strength, who has been an opportunistic scorer in the bubble. The 20-year-old has recorded three goals in his last five games and makes for a nice cheap asset in this trio.
Superstar to Target
Ryan O’Reilly ($5,900), STL at VAN
We only have a two-game slate with few big salaries, so salary flexibility won’t be an issue. O’Reilly’s salary has come up $700 since his last game, but he remains just the fourth-highest priced centre on the slate. One of the Blues’ heroes from last season’s Stanley Cup run, O’Reilly is one of the only reasons the Blues are still lurking in this series, as he’s now collected four goals and seven points in the last four games. The versatile center is playing all of the minutes he can handle right now, averaging well over 22 per night in this series. While he’s more expensive here than on recent slates, there’s little doubt that the Canucks remain one of the best matchups left for forwards in this postseason. They allow the fourth-most SOG and have the third-worst penalty-kill of any of the teams left in the bubble. Even with high ownership, getting exposure to this higher scoring VAN-STL series feels like a must and — at under $6K — O’Reilly feels too cheap to fade. He’s a great core piece once again.
Value on Offense
Joel Armia ($4,200), MTL vs. PHI
The Canadiens lost RW Brendan Gallagher to a broken jaw in their last game, meaning there will be more opportunity for someone down the depth chart to make an impact for them in Game 6. Armia was a streaky scorer during the regular season and seemed to come alive for Montreal last game, recording four SOG and two goals in the 5-3 win. It’s not certain who will replace Gallagher on the top-line as of yet, but Armia is at least a candidate and is also a player likely to get more ice-time after his sterling Game 5 performance. He’s no lock to reproduce his last DFS output, but he is aggressive with his shot — he’s averaging three SOG per game over his last 10 starts — and should benefit from an increased role. He’s a solid GPP target and potential everywhere target if he does get officially bumped up into one of Montreal’s top two lines.
Stud Goalies
Carter Hart ($7,500), PHI at MTL
Hart is coming into this game off a poor five-goal loss. However, DFS players should likely look past the one game blip, as Hart has proved to be a good bounce-back player for most of the year. He came back from a 5-0 drubbing in Game 2 to record back-to-back shutouts and now gets a Montreal team that will be without one of its best scorers in Gallagher. From a price perspective, the Flyers’ goalie being the cheapest starter on the slate makes him pretty attractive, especially as Philadelphia enters this game as the favorites. St. Louis has similar odds in its match-up with Vancouver but, considering that Montreal has scored one goal or fewer in three of the games so far against Philly, the chances of a big performance here from Hart seem stronger than anywhere else. Taking the discount for a bounce-back from the 22-year-old against an ailing offense makes sense.
Value on Defense
Shayne Gostisbehere ($3,600), PHI at MTL
Gostisbehere has sat for the Flyers in each of the last three games of this series, but he seems likely to get the call tonight with Matt Niskanen suspended. The defenseman came back from injury just prior to this series so don’t expect a ton of minutes; but with the Flyers shorthanded and Gostisbehere still one of their most talented defensemen from an offensive perspective, he could easily slide into some power play work in Game 6. In the three games he’s played since returning, the former 65-point scorer has hit 14.0 or more DKFP in two of those starts, landing four SOG and four blocked shots in just 17 minutes during Game 2 of this series. Make sure you check the final lineups and ensure he’s playing if you roster him, but at this price-tag there’s no one with better upside on this slate.
Power-Play Defensemen
Alex Pietrangelo ($6,700), STL at VAN
As mentioned above, the matchup here for the St. Louis skaters remains the one to target. Pietrangelo comes into this game having recorded 12.0 or more DKFP in five of his last six games and he’s recorded 23 SOG and five points — four on the PP — specifically in this series. In short, he’s been one of the main offensive catalysts for the Blues, who have scored three goals in each of the last four games. He also seems almost certain to be out in every crucial situation on Friday, as St. Louis tries to save their season with a win. Teammate Colton Parayko ($5,600) also makes for a great upside candidate as he’s recorded 21 SOG against the Canucks, but hasn’t scored in the bubble since recording two goals against Vegas on Aug. 6. Pairing the two in DFS might actually be a solid contrarian play as both possess upside similar to any forward on this slate.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: NHL $35K Twine [$10K to 1st]
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