Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey: Thursday picks
By Chris Morgan
It’s a busy Thursday with a lot of options for your daily fantasy team. There are nine games on the slate, giving you 18 teams worth of players to choose from. That may be daunting, but we’re here to hopefully make it a little easier for you…
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GOALIE
Peter Budaj, LOS vs. STL ($33): The Kings only allow 25.8 shots on goal per game, while the Blues take a mere 27.9 shots on goal per contest. St. Louis is also 5-10-1 on the road, and the Blues are giving up 2.98 goals per game. Budaj isn’t likely to face many shots, which increases his chances of having a good fantasy outing.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Ryan Miller, VAN at PHI ($31): The Canucks are only 5-13-2 on the road, so it doesn’t seem likely they are going to pick up a win in Philadelphia. The Flyers are also ranked in the top 10 in goals per game and power-play percentage. Vancouver has the 20th-ranked penalty kill, so that combination isn’t likely to work out well for Miller.
CENTER
Ryan O’Reilly, BUF at TAM ($19): Ben Bishop says he’s ready to play, although that doesn’t mean he will start Thursday. Even if he does, he has a .907 save percentage, which is still better than Andrei Vasilevskiy. Since returning from his latest injury, O’Reilly has six points in three games, and overall he’s averaging 8.0 fantasy points per game.
CENTER TO AVOID
Patrice Bergeron, BOS at NAS ($22): The higher-priced pivots in action Thursday largely look like good options, which means Bergeron is the first player to raise questions given his price. Bergeron has been unlucky this season and is only averaging 6.6 fantasy points per game; plus, this isn’t a great matchup, so there are a couple reasons to be skeptical of Bergeron here.
WING
Jordan Eberle, EDM vs. NJD ($19): The Devils are giving up 2.90 goals and 31.3 shots on goal per game. Eberle only has eight goals this season, but that’s with a 7.5 shooting percentage. Over a full season, he’s never had a shooting percentage lower than 11.4. Yes, like Bergeron, Eberle has been unlucky, but Eberle is not as expensive, and also he has a better matchup Thursday.
Thomas Vanek, DET at DAL ($16): Vanek has been quite impressive recently, notching five goals and six assists over his last 10 games. Since the beginning of December, he has 16 points. The Stars are giving up 3.02 goals per game, and their penalty kill ranks 29th in the NHL. Vanek plays 2:48 per game with the extra man, so this is a matchup he can take advantage of.
WINGS TO AVOID
Max Pacioretty, MON at MIN ($26): Pacioretty has been very good, but he will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back. More concerning, though, is the fact he has to go up against Minnesota. Devan Dubnyk leads the league in GAA (1.80) and save percentage (.939), making this as tricky a matchup as you can find. Pacioretty is (rightfully) expensive, but it will be hard for him to live up to that against the Wild.
Jaden Schwartz, STL at LOS ($20): As previously mentioned, the Kings give up the fewest shots in the league (25.8), and they are only giving up 2.49 goals per game. Schwartz only has one point in his last seven, and overall he’s only averaging 5.7 fantasy points per contest. He only has 78 shots in 37 games, so a shot-suppressing team like the Kings is a particularly poor matchup for him.
DEFENSEMEN
Sami Vatanen, ANA at COL ($17): The Avalanche give up the most goals in the league (3.31 per game) and also allow 32.4 shots per contest. Most pertinent to this matchup, Colorado is 25th in penalty-kill percentage. Vatanen has 11 points with the extra man, and he plays 3:15 per game on the power play. He should be able to take advantage of Colorado’s woeful penalty kill.
John Klingberg, DAL vs. DET ($15): After a slow start, Klingberg has picked up his play. He’s notched eight points in his last 10, and is now averaging 5.4 fantasy points per game. The Wings are giving up 2.90 goals per game, and their two healthy goalies have been worse than that, so they are an even better matchup than they appear on paper. Klingberg’s price has come down because of his slow start — now he represents a good value.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Roman Josi, NAS vs. BOS ($22): The Bruins are only giving up 26.9 shots on goal per game, and Tuukka Rask has a 1.97 GAA. That makes this a tricky matchup for Josi, who also doesn’t have a goal in his last 14. At this price, Josi has a tough mountain to climb to be a good value.
Kevin Shattenkirk, STL at LOS ($20): The Kings give up even less shots than the Bruins, and Los Angeles has the seventh-ranked penalty kill. 15a of Shattenkirk’s 26 points have come with the extra man, so if the Kings shut him and St. Louis’ power play down, it could be a tough game for him. Plus, Shattenkirk has a 9.9 shooting percentage, which is the highest of his career, and probably unsustainable.
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