We end the week with a tidy six-game slate to work with for our daily fantasy hockey needs. There are three games I’ll target tonight in my tournaments:
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Carolina Hurricanes (Pittsburgh, -135, 6 over/under)
Chicago Blackhawks @ Boston Bruins (Boston, -140, 5 over/under)
Detroit Red Wings @ Buffalo Sabres (Buffalo, -125, 5.5 over/under)
This month Pittsburgh has averaged an NHL third-best 4.00 goals per game, and on the road Pittsburgh averages 2.86 goals per game — sixth-best in the NHL. Adjusted for score and venue Pittsburgh has xGF/60 on the road of 2.74 — fifth-highest in the league. With those same adjustments, at home, Carolina has an xGA/60 of 2.75 — fourth-highest in the NHL. I wouldn’t shy away from Pittsburgh’s power play at all as they have scored seven power play goals this month (27.8 percent success rate). Patric Hornqvist/ Sidney Crosby/Phil Kessel/Evgeni Malkin/Justin Schultz should make up the Penguins top power play unit.
Personally, I want shares of Pittsburgh’s top two lines tonight:
Line 1:
Conor Sheary $5.6K (13G, 16A, 2 PPP, 88 PPP)
Sidney Crosby $9.4K (27G, 23A, 15 PPP, 126 SOG)
Bryan Rust $4.1K (11G, 8A, 74 SOG)
Line 2:
Jake Guentzel $3.4K (4G, 2A, 9A)
Evgeni Malkin $8.8K (21G, 29A, 17 PPP, 134 SOG)
Patric Hornqvist $6.9K (10G, 16A, 11 PPP, 133 SOG)
I’d also have no problem playing the