Wednesday tends to be a lighter day of the NHL, so the fact there are five games on the schedule for the league this particular Wednesday is not too shabby. The first pucks drop at 7 p.m. ET. Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations to try and help bring you some DFS success.
SLATE PREVIEW
Tuesday was quite busy, which leaves us with a few teams on the second leg of a back-to-back. The Ducks are at home for both games and play the Islanders on Wednesday. New Jersey also gets to be at home for both games and faces Toronto. Only Vegas, which will be in Detroit, is on the road. In terms of teams on the first leg of a back-to-back, while David Rittich hasn't been bad this year, he's no Ilya Sorokin, so we shall see on that front.
GOALIES
Brandon Bussi, CAR at VAN ($8,400): The Hurricanes, as per usual, are stingy defensively. They've allowed a mere 24.4 shots on net per game. Bussi, the feel-good rookie, has a .904 save percentage, but thanks to his teammates he has a 2.23 GAA (and 24 wins in 28 appearances). The Canucks are in the bottom 10 in goals and shots on net per contest, but also in terms of Bussi getting another win, the Canucks are last in GAA.
Joey Daccord, SEA vs. STL ($8,200): Is Daccord the guy for the Kraken again? Philipp Grubauer has been surprisingly good this year, but Daccord has made three of the four starts for the Kraken since the end of the Olympic break. Over his last seven outings, Daccord has a 2.00 GAA and .934 save percentage. Meanwhile, the Blues are in the bottom five in both goals and shots on goal per game.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Alex DeBrincat, DET vs. VGK ($7,500): DeBrincat has yet-another 30-goal season already, and he's put 212 shots on net through 61 games. The Golden Knights have a strong defense, but questionable goaltending, so they are middling in terms of GAA. On top of that, they are on the road for the second game of a back-to-back Wednesday.
Mathew Barzal, NYI at ANA ($6,500): Barzal is on a seven-game point streak, and he has 25 points in his last 20 contests. The Ducks are playing their second game in as many days, and Ville Husso is in line for the start Wednesday. Husso has an .893 save percentage over the last four seasons.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Hurricanes at Canucks
Sebastian Aho (C - $7,100), Seth Jarvis (W - $7,200), Andrei Svechnikov (W - $6,900)
I mentioned that the Canucks are last in GAA. However, Vancouver has a 3.70 GAA, and no other team is over 3.50. This is, comfortably, the worst defense in the NHL. The Canucks also have the league's worst penalty kill, which is perhaps not surprising. All three members of this Carolina line play on the top power-play unit.
Aho has 59 points in 60 games, including 19 with the extra man. The Finn has also tallied 23 shots on net in his last eight contests. Jarvis has 26 goals in 52 games, so he's likely to get to 30 goals for the third season in a row even with missing time with injuries. Additionally, eight of his 13 power-play points have come in his last 13 games. Svechnikov is having a bounce-back season, as he has 21 goals and 30 assists in 60 games. That includes a robust 20 points on the power play.
DEFENSEMEN
Shayne Gostisbehere, CAR at VAN ($5,400): Gostisbehere had 27 power-play points with the Hurricanes last season. He has 14 this year, and that's with missing time and only playing in 43 games. As I noted above, the Canucks have the league's worst penalty kill, so this is the ideal matchup for Gostisbehere.
Morgan Rielly, TOR at NJD ($4,300): Rielly missed the final two games before the break, but since then he's put multiple shots on net in all four games Toronto has played. Sure, he only has one goal in that time, but Rielly has been active offensively. He also seems to be back ensconced on the top power-play unit. Given that the Devils are playing their second game in as many days, I'll take a shot on Rielly getting on the score sheet (and maybe boosting his trade resume).
