After a two-day absence I’m back to the daily fantasy grind. Today I really like Boston against Winnipeg so I’ll take Brad Marchand and Dougie Hamilton. And it’s not just because I’m an unapologetic Boston homer. I would never commit such a daily fantasy sin. My reason is simple: Winnipeg has allowed 42 goals this year (sixth worst in the NHL) and Boston has had an entire day to think about their disaster of a third period on Friday. Just for kicks, I’ll throw this little nugget out there: Winnipeg has only killed off 67.4 percent of their penalties.
I don’t like to stack one team (so I won’t) but starting Boston players in your daily fantasy lineups could be one way to go. Keep in mind Milan Lucic is not playing today. According to Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe Rich Peverley practiced with Boston’s top line on Saturday. Peverley is $5,100 on FanDuel and suddenly becomes an intriguing play.
As for me, I’m still going to try to spread out my scoring across multiple games.
This lineup only works for the early daily FanDuel games as the PIT/BUF game starts at 12:30.
LW: Patrick Kane $8,100–Kane has scored seven of his nine goals in the month of February. He feels automatic for a point or more right now.
LW: Brad Marchand $6,000–Marchand looked indecisive at times against Buffalo. He decided to take a pass first approach and ended the night without even recording a shot on net. In his two games before that he had two goals and six shots on net—I expect him to be much more active against Winnipeg.
RW: Jarome Iginla $6,400–I like the fact Iginla is shooting the puck (46 shots on goal this year) so I’m not hesitant to use him even though only one of those 46 shots has found the back of the net. He does have three assists over his past two games and has eight on the year—but I keep waiting for the big Iginla breakout game.
RW: Marian Hossa $7,300–Like Iginla, I’m taking Hossa because he’s been offensively active even though he doesn’t have much to show for it recently. He has nine shots over his past two games. And if your daily fantasy sports superstition means anything to you, just remember his stat line bears the mark of the beast: 6 goals, 6 assists, plus-6 rating.
C: Cody Hodgson $4,900–I like Hodgson’s price here and he seems to have some of his groove back with six shots and one goal over his past two games.
C: Sidney Crosby $9,000–Four points in two games … and he’s Sidney Crosby.
D: Dougie Hamilton $3,200–I just can’t pass him up at this price. He had a goal and one assist against Buffalo on Friday and continues to see power play ice time.
D: Kris Letang $7,100–He sees power play ice time, lots of power play ice time—almost four minutes of power play ice time against Winnipeg on Friday. That’s good enough for me.
G: Jake Allen $3,000–Allen is the confirmed starter against Vancouver. I can’t … I just can’t pass up a goaltender at $3,000. You are allowed to yell at me later if he lets in his first four shots. His save percentage of .879 leaves much to be desired—but St. Louis is 2-0 when Allen sees action.
Note: you could sub Thomas Vanek in for Kane and still be under the cap.
Note two: This article was written with enough milligrams of Benadryl in my blood where, according to one site, I may start to get severe delusions or “talk to people who aren’t really there.” Please, take that into consideration when plugging in a $3,000 goalie.
