After a big night of hockey yesterday, the schedule slows to somewhat of a crawl tonight as there is just five games on the NHL slate.

Let’s take a look at the matchups. I’m using two lineups, and I’ll reveal both.

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Thoughts and Musings:

The Edmonton Oilers host the Phoenix Coyotes tonight, and I really like the Edmonton top line of Taylor Hall – Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Jordan Eberle since Martin Hanzal is likely out again tonight. For Phoenix, I like Mike Ribeiro, Shane Doan and Radim Vrbata. They are very likely to draw the fruitful matchup tonight. Stay away from both goalies in this game. Phoenix wins 4-3.

The Colorado Avalanche visit the Florida Panthers following a disappointing blowout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nathan MacKinnon looked great, but the rest of the team was awful. I love that line to bounce back tonight, although it should be a fairly low scoring affair — provided the refs don’t get heavily involved. Therefore, Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny are on the table for me tonight in addition to MacKinnon. Also, I like Jan Hejda tonight as well. He blocks shots and he’ll most likely get an assist. Avs win 3-1.

The Nashville Predators visit the Calgary Flames in what should be a close tilt. The Predators are the better team, but Calgary can play teams (especially low scoring ones) very close. I love Shea Weber tonight. Also, at $3,300, Seth Jones isn’t a bad play. He’s kind of sneaky, and he scored yesterday. Karri Ramo is a decent goalie play tonight, but they are far from a lock for a win, so you must make a second lineup if you use him. Mark Giordano is another good play tonight for the Flames, as is Jiri Hudler and Mikael Backlund. Flames win 3-2.

The Detroit Red Wings play host to the Montreal Canadiens and this game really looks unpredictable. Both of these teams are so Jekyl and Hyde that it’s so tough to predict where the scoring for either of these teams will come from. Therefore, I am avoiding this game in my cash games. However, a GPP lineup with a Max Pacioretty – P.K. Subban – Gustav Nyquist – Henrik Zetterberg stack certainly can’t hurt. Your guess is as good as mine, but I think the Red Wings win 3-2. 

The Washington Capitals visit the New Jersey Devils tonight, with the Devils coming off a 7-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. I expect the Devils to come out flat to start the game. The good news for them though is that Alex Ovechkin will miss his second straight game with a groin injury. The Capitals offense has been in a myriad of trouble lately, but don’t count them out. This game can easily go either way, and while I’m staying away from Michal Neuvirth in cash games, I’m throwing him out in a couple GPP’s since Washington still has Mike Green, John Carlson and Nicklas Backstrom to score. Ryan Clowe, Jaromir Jagr, Marek Zidlicky and Andy Greene are nice plays tonight. Devils win 3-2.

Lineup #1: GPP

C- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

LW- Taylor Hall

RW- Jordan Eberle

D- Shea Weber

D- Mark Giordano

G- Michal Neuvirth

U- Mikael Backlund

U- Mikkel Boedker

U- Nathan MacKinnon

Lineup #2: Cash Games:

C- Nathan MacKinnon

LW- Gabriel Landeskog

RW- Shane Doan

D- Jan Hejda

D- Andy Greene

G- Semyon Varlamov

U- Mike Ribeiro

U- Paul Stastny

U- Taylor Hall

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