I’d like to apologize to all of our loyal readers for the lack of NHL articles the past week. I was enjoying a Thanksgiving vacation in Albany NY with my extended family. I hope all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving as well.

We have five games to look at in the NHL today, so let’s break them down.

Game Breakdown:

Tampa Bay Lightning @ New York Rangers – Start Time – 7:00 PM

The Bolts bring their league best 3.50 goals per game into Madison Square Garden, looking for a season sweep of the Rangers. Former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan ( $6,200 ) has scored twice in each of the two games he has played against them this year, and overall the American is riding a three game point streak ( 3G, 3A). He’s a great cash game play as the white hot Lightning look to keep their winning ways going against the Rangers and the rest of the league. Alex Killorn ( $4,600 ) has been really enjoying his time on the Lightning’s top line. He has four goals in his last five games. He’s an excellent cash play as well.

The Bolts have gotten elite defenseman Victor Hedman back, but sadly he’s not in the player pool yet, as his first game back from injury was against Ottawa on Saturday. His return pushes Jason Garrison ( $4,600 ) off the top power-play unit. 

I’m fading Steven Stamkos ( $8,800 ) in cash so that I can use the Ducks, especially Getzlaf — who is at a much better price point.

Nikita Kucherov ( $4,500 ) and Tyler Johnson ( $5,100 ) are decent cash plays, and a potential sneaky GPP mini-stack, but I’m tentative about them due to the fact that season sweeps are so rare in the NHL.

Interesting stat:

Referee Brad Watson leads the NHL in Home team winning percentage at 74%. (Home Teams are 14-5 when he refs). I’m staying away from both of these goalies.

Florida Panthers @ Columbus Blue Jackets – Start Time – 7:00 PM

This one seems like a “move along nothing to see here” game on paper, but it contains some intriguing hidden value. For example, the Blue Jackets have allowed an average of 10 shots per game to opposing defensemen in their last eight games. Dylan Olsen ( $2,600 ) is a third-line defenseman that doesn’t play the power-play, however…. since being a healthy scratch against the Wild, Olsen has done the following:

Olsen Activity Stats ( Hits + Blocked Shots + Shots on Goal)

Two games since benching = 13 activity events: ( 7 hits, 6 SOG)

Five game stretch prior to benching = 13 activity events: ( 1 hit, 6 blocked shots, 6 SOG)

While we don’t get points for hits in DFS, Olsen’s activity level has seen a significant uptick since the benching. He is a talented puck moving defenseman, albeit in a not so wonderful situation as a third-liner without power-play time. The good news here though, is that the Blue Jackets third line have a combined Corsi-On-Ice of  (-44.5), which is really atrocious. Columbus has depth issues now with the injury to Artem Anisimov. Third line forwards for Florida, Vincent Trocheck ( $3,700 ) and Jimmy Hayes ( $3,600 ) have a combined Corsi-On-Ice of (+8.30). Their individual Corsi-On-Ice ratings are 5th and 6th best on the team. Hayes and Trocheck have a combined 18 points in 26 games, which is a level of production rarely seen from third line players. This combo of Olsen, Trocheck and Hayes is a sneaky GPP combo in lets say a $2 GPP. You need a lot of differentiation to win those, and absolutely nobody will have these guys.

I know this sounds scary to some, but I do like Goaltender Al Montoya ( $6,400 ) in cash games, and GPP’s. He’ll get the start in net for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 19 goals total in his last five games for Columbus, so it’s safe to say he’s really scuffling. Montoya brings a .924 save percentage into this contest.

Finally, another sneaky combo for Florida is Sean Bergenheim ( $3,900 ) and Brad Boyes ( $4,000 ). The “Killer B’s” line is back intact, and these guys both shoot a good amount. Having brilliant passer Aleksander Barkov ( $3,400 ) in between them, just makes things even better.

Montreal Canadiens @ Colorado Avalanche – Start Time 9:00 PM

Calvin Pickard ( $7,200 ) or “Jean-Luc Picard” as I call him, will be in net tonight for the Avalanche. He brings in a sparkling .931 save percentage into this contest. He has allowed just five goals in the last 94 shots he has faced. The only guys I’m interested in for cash games in this one are Montreal’s right wingers. Both Jan Hejda and Nate Guenin (Colorado’s two top left defensemen) are extremely slow, and the speedy Brendan Gallagher ( $4,800 ) should benefit from this very nicely. P.A. Parenteau ( $4,000 ) is not only the #1 line winger, but he plays the left point on Montreal’s top power-play unit. If I have to choose one to like better though, it’s Gallagher. His speed and willingness to shoot make him a very tough player for Colorado’s slow left defense to deal with.

A player I am interested in for GPPs is RW Jiri Sekac ( $2,800 ). Sekac plays on the top power-play unit for Montreal, as well as right wing on their third line. 

Arizona Coyotes @ Edmonton Oilers – Start Time 9:30 PM

This game could feature a ton of penalties, as referee Dave Jackson calls the highest percentage of penalties on the home team (56%), and Justin St. Pierre calls the highest percentage of penalties on road teams (66%). Home teams are 13-6 with St. Pierre refereeing, while home teams are just 8-10-1 with Jackson refereeing. 

Add in the fact that these referees both have biased whistles on each side of the spectrum, to the already suspect goaltending/defense that these teams provide, and we could have a high scoring affair here.

Edmonton allows the third most goals per game (3.38) and Arizona allows the 7th most (3.04 per game).

The most obvious line stack here is Taylor Hall ( $6,800 ), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ( $4,700 ) and Jordan Eberle ( $5,200 ). In cash games, I like Hall as a “stand-alone” that you can use without needing to combo with the other two. Hall has 17 career points in 14 games against the Coyotes, including four in two games this year.

Tobias Rieder ( $3,000 ) has been extremely active for the Coyotes, averaging 4.3 shots per game over his last four contests. He’ll skate with Martin Hanzal ( $5,200 ) and Shane Doan ( $4,800 ) on the second line for Arizona. Hanzal has seven points in eight road games, and all of Doan’s seven goals have come on the road (10 points in 13 road games). This is a good stack, and Rieder is safe for cash. Connor Murphy ( $2,700 ) is a good cheap defenseman to use in both cash and GPPs. Despite his points slump, his “activity stats” (hits, blocked shots, and shots on goal) are strong lately, which shows he is still mentally and physically engaged in every game. In two games against the Oilers, Murphy is a combined (+3) with a goal, three hits, four blocked shots and five shots on goal (3.8 fantasy points per game).

Further reasoning for liking Hanzal, is the fact that he has played 19.2 minutes per game on average, in the two games against the Oilers this year. He averages 17.6 minutes per game on the road (compared to 16.6 at home). Head Coach Dave Tippett clearly likes the matchup Hanzal has against Edmonton.

Boston Bruins @ Anaheim Ducks – Start Time 10:00 PM

Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask ( $9,400 ) is currently sporting some incredibly large home/road splits. So far in 13 home games, Rask has a 1.99 goals-against-average and a .931 save percentage. This compared to a 3.31 GAA and a .879 save percentage in five road games. The Ducks are finally getting back into the groove of scoring, as Corey Perry ( $7,500 ) and Ryan Getzlaf ( $6,600 ) each collected three points a piece in their loss to the Sharks on Saturday. They are brilliant cash game plays against an ailing Bruins team. Finally, I like Hampus Lindholm ( $3,400 ) for value on defense. He takes on a more offensive-minded role at home ( 27 shots on goal in 13 home games and just five blocked shots) compared to on the road where he has just 8 shots on goal in 13 games, but 17 blocked shots.