Welcome to March! We’re finally hitting the home stretch of the NHL season. The trade deadline passed yesterday –some teams got much better, some much worse. It’ll definitely be a huge factor as we do our daily diligence to analyze the matchups on the schedule. Tonight we have nine games on the slate, and a few promising angles to exploit for DFS players. Lets get right to it with our matchup of the night: Boston at home against Calgary.

All shot attempt numbers discussed are at even strength and score-adjusted unless otherwise noted.

And as always, make sure to check Twitter for any injury news, and check LeftWingLock for starting goalies and line combos.

TEAMS TO TARGET

Boston Bruins at home against Calgary

The last time these two teams met they combined for nine goals, but that was in Calgary –where the Flames are a completely different team, and in December when they were actually playing decent hockey. The Flames have lost five straight and are 2-7-1 in their last ten overall, and yesterday at the trade deadline, they basically mailed in their resignation from the 2015-16 season by trading away David Jones, Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell –though many would argue Russell is addition by subtraction.

Boston, conversely, acquired defenseman John-Michael Liles from the Carolina Hurricanes and forward Lee Stempniak from the New Jersey Devils prior to the deadline. Each could be in the lineup Tuesday, but even if they are not, the Bruins should have no trouble with the Flames at home despite a 13-16-3 record this season at TD Garden.

They only two players to avoid for Calgary when thinking stack options are T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano. They matched up exclusively against the Bruins top line back in December, and I don’t expect that to change tonight. That said, I love the Bruins second line of Loui Eriksson, David Krejci and David Pastrnak because 1.) the matchup, and 2.) they will also see a significant amount power play time against a Flames PK that is at the bottom of the barrel. Find a way to stack them up with Torey Krug and either Bergeron or Marchand, and you should have yourself a good night of DFS.

[cointent_lockedcontent article_labels=”hockey”]

New York Islanders on the road against Vancouver

Take this one with a grain of salt. The Islanders are a far superior team at home as opposed to being on the road. New York ranks toward the bottom of the league with 2.31 per game while going 14-12-3 on the road this season. However, they are 3-1 to start their current seven-game road trip, coming off a 3-1 loss in Edmonton that saw them 0utshoot the Oilers 37-26, so they are definitely turning it around. The last time these two teams met, New York outshot the Canucks 48-26 on Jan. 17, but ended up falling 2-1 in a shootout. At some point good teams begin to be rewarded for their play, something tells me that could happen tonight for the Isles.

Target the Isles second line tonight, specifically Frans Nielsen (one point and four shots in the last meeting) and Kyle Okposo (four points in his last two games in Vancouver) as they should be the beneficiaries of more favorable matchups throughout the evening, and will also see significant time with the top power play unit. Anders Lee will be with them on that unit and makes for a good value play if you need a cheap option to fit into your lineup tonight.

NOTES

St. Louis Blues at Ottawa

The Blues have had a lot of success recently in Ottawa, and though Alexander Steen, Jori Lehtera, Steve Ott and Brian Elliott are all battling injuries, you have to like their chances tonight. The Sens not only take a lot of penalties, they are also very bad at killing them off, so the Blues power play is definitely the route to take –especially if Craig Anderson doesn’t get the start for Ottawa. Keep Backes, Berglund, Schwartz and Tarasenko on your radar tonight, along with Shattenkirk from the St. Louis back end.

Florida Panthers at Winnipeg

We take a lot of statistics and information into consideration when laying these projections out, and typically we begin to see trends when comparing lines, special teams, possession and so on. Very rarely will one team hold an overwhelming edge in each category, but that is definitely the case for Florida tonight.

Check this out from LeftWingLock…

Yikes.

All things considered, the Panthers play a more defensive style on the road, so I’m not going on the ledge to suggest any particular line or matchup (Jagr scored twice in their last meeting), but keep the Panthers in mind if you have some holes in your lineup that you need to fill. Also, Roberto Luongo, who has a 1.78 goals-against average in his last four appearances, beginning with a win over the Jets last month.

PLAYER RANKINGS

Center

1.) David Krejci – Boston Bruins

2.) Patrice Bergeron – Boston Bruins

3.) Frans Neilsen – New York Islanders

4.) John Tavares – New York Islanders

5.) Vincent Trocheck – Florida Panthers

Winger

1.) Brad Marchand – Boston Bruins

2.) Vladimir Tarsenko – St. Louis Blues

3.) Alex Ovechkin – Washington Capitals

4.) Kyle Okposo – New York Islanders

5.) Filip Forsberg – Nashville Predators

6.) David Pastrnak – Boston Bruins

7.) Jamie Benn – Dallas Stars

Defense

1.) Erik Karlsson – Ottawa Senators

2.) Torey Krug – Boston Bruins

3.) Kevin Shattenkirk – St. Louis Blues

4.) Nick Leddy – New York Islanders

5.) Roman Josi – Nashville Predators

Goaltender

1.) Tuukka Rask – Boston Bruins

2.) Roberto Luongo – Florida Panthers

3.) Robin Lehner – Buffalo Sabres

4.) Cory Schneider – New Jersey Devils

[/cointent_lockedcontent]