This article is a  FREE Preview of our Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS content package, which is a part of our overall Fantasy Fix Front Office package. For a complete list of all the benefits of a FULL Front Office subscription, please view this page. If you are eager, and simply want to jump straight to the signup page, please visit this page, and select the $9.99 Premium Content plan if you wish to just purchase access to these and many other articles during the week.

Thoughts and Musings:

There is no doubt that the best match-up tonight is: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Edmonton Oilers. However, one cannot simply stream players from the Penguins into a full lineup due to high prices for Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, and Sidney Crosby.

Game Pick #1: Penguins send Environmental Protection Agency agents after the Oilers, sending them scattering, all while winning 5-1. The Oilers have Devan Dubnyk in net, so expect the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey higher-ups to be in attendance for this one. The Oilers are going to go with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall, and Sam Gagner on the first line. This is the first time that Gagner and Nugent-Hopkins will see even strength time together, because they normally play the same position. Now, this should cause strife not only on this newly formed line,  but on the second line as well.

Now, obviously the goal here is to get as many members of the Penguins in our lineups as possible:

Here are some quick deviations that work:

Crosby $9,200, Neal $9,900, Malkin (Utility), $9,100, Niskanen $3,800. + cheapest goaltender will give you $3,050 left to work with for the remaining spots.

Now, since the Oilers are the ones with home ice, it’s difficult to predict whether Nugent-Hopkins’s line will match-up against Crosby or Neal. I would expect the Oilers to throw their grind line of Boyd Gordon – Ryan Smyth – Ales Hemsky against one of those lines, but it’s impossible to predict precisely which one. I will assume they will throw that line against the Crosby line.

The biggest problem for the Oilers is on the right wing. Gagner will be playing that side on the top line, while Nail Yakupov and Ales Hemsky man the right wing position on the second and third lines. All these players are horrendous defensively, so I’m actually leaning towards using both Neal and Chris Kunitz ($7,000). Then, flipping a coin between Crosby and Malkin. You can use Jeff Zatkoff ($8,500) with those three, but you will be left with minimum cost players for the rest of your lineup, much like the earlier scenario.

*Note, there are multiple goaltenders tonight that will likely not be revealed until game-time.

These goaltenders include Dan Ellis/Kari Lehtonen for Dallas (@ New York Rangers), Philipp Grubauer/Braden Holtby/ Michael Neuvirth???? for Washington, and Justin Peters/Anton Khudobin for the Carolina Hurricanes.

The majority of these guys are very cheap, so if you will be able to make lineup adjustments between 6:30 pm and 7:00 p.m, I would use one of the Dallas goaltenders (both are $5,800), or Eddie Lack ($6,100) who is facing the red-hot (but likely to be tired) St. Louis Blues. It will leave you more money if you go with the heavy-hitters from the Penguins.

If you don’t go with three heavy hitting Penguins, you will have enough money for Jussi Jokinen whom I like a lot tonight as well. Jokinen plays with Neal and Malkin on the Penguins second line.

Game Pick #2: The Capitals rake in the Maple Leafs 5-3: Eventually one of the Maple Leafs goaltenders will turn in a good performance, a fact that scares me to some degree. If Braden Holtby gets the start in goal for the Capitals, this game could easily be 4-3 in favor of the Leafs, but they are struggling so much right now. After a back-to-back, the Capitals will be playing match-ups, but also using smarts when it comes to who gets the nod against the Leafs top line of Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel – James van Riemsdyk. I expect Joel Ward, Jason Chimera and Marcus Johansson (the Capitals checking line) — which received just 19.2% even strength time-on-ice last game across all three lines for Washington. Expect that line to get more work tonight. I’m intrigued by Chimera tonight, as well as Johansson. Chimera is just $3,300, while Johansson is $3,400. Johansson will see more power-play time, but Chimera will benefit from a cozy match-up against the Leafs right wingers.

The cheap defensemen should also come from this game: I like Karl Alzer and Steve Oleksy who are $3,000 a piece. I’d mostly use the Caps in cheap supplemental roles to your star Penguins.

*AUTHORS NOTE* , as of 5:04 p.m, Adam Vingan, Caps beat writer confirms Neuvirth to start!

Michal Neuvirth to start, his first since Nov. 22. #Caps

— Adam Vingan (@AdamVingan) January 10, 2014

Game Pick #3: The Carolina Hurricanes button up the Blue Jackets 3-2. Everything in this game hinges on whether or not white-hot goaltender Anton Khudobin gets the nod for the Hurricanes. If he does, I like the Hurricanes chances to put up a win in a game where they likely won’t be the best team on the ice. The Blue Jackets have a distinct advantage on the top two lines, but a distinct disadvantage in the bottom two lines. With Blake Comeau recently being diagnosed with a serious injury that will leave him on the shelf for 4-6 weeks, i look to the newly formed Brett Sutter – Elias Lindholm – Zach Boychuk line to be excellent once again. Both Lindholm and Boychuk recorded multi-point nights against the Leafs in their 6-1 victory.

 Game Pick #4: The New York Islanders quiet the Avalanche 4-3. Something doesn’t smell right about this game. The Islanders are arguably the team with more speed, and the two refs coming into this game Francois St. Laurent, and Don VanMassenHoven are notoriously for calling a ton of hooking/holding/tripping minors. Paul Stastny has been guilty quite a few times of such infractions this year, and this game just has a “hard to predict” feel to it. If for some reason you aren’t going to use Penguins, then definitely use John Tavares. 

STAY AWAY:
Dallas Stars @ New York Rangers

Much like the Islanders game, both of these have bad stenches to them. The Rangers could win by a couple goals because their depth lines are significantly better than those of the Stars, but Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin could overwhelm the top line of the Rangers, which is Chris Kreider – Derek Stepan – Rick Nash. The Rangers also have been poor and home, and Henrik Lundqvist has been bad in back-to-back’s. Stay away.

St. Louis Blues @ Vancouver Canucks

The hot nature of the Blues right now suggests another smooth-sailing win. A tough-at-home Vancouver team that blew a late two goal lead to the Pittsburgh Penguins says that this game could be much closer than people realize. I’m expecting a 3-2 game in this one, and it could go either way. Best to avoid this game.

Official Lineup:

C- Sidney Crosby

LW- James Neal

RW- Troy Brouwer

D- Steve Oleksy

D- Karl Alzner

G- Jeff Zatkoff

U- Chris Kunitz

U- Elias Lindholm

U- Zach Boychuk