NHL Stacking to Win 12-22-15

The Chalk

I'm not a huge fan of their Fanduel pricing, but all of the Flames are in play on Draftkings tonight. Joe Colborne has moved onto the top line, or at least he was skating their during the morning skate today (via Daily Faceoff), and he is a good value play. I love the Calgary defense core tonight, with Giordano being the best of the bunch. He's averaging over 24 minutes of ice time in his last four games, and has had over four fantasy points in three of those contests. TJ Brodie and Dennis Wideman also make great plays on the back end tonight, in a game that should see a lot of goals. Mike Hutchinson is confirmed in net for the Jets tonight against the Flames, and his adjusted save percentage of 90.41% (via War on Ice) is good for 9th worst in the league for goalies who've played at least 300 minutes this season. The Jets have also given up 28 power play goals this year, most in the NHL, so load up on Flames power play skaters. Sam Bennett, Kris Russell and Jiri Hudler are all great under the radar plays that are in solid positions to provide value tonight.

It's tough to predict ownership levels for this line, but I expect them to be very popular tonight, and for good reason. The Canucks are at the end of a long road trip, and may be looking ahead to returning home for the holiday break. This will be their fourth game in six nights, while the Lightning are well rested and starting to play better hockey as of late. The Canucks will have a hard time dealing with Tampa's speed, and I expect goalie Jake Markstrom to get peppered with shots. The Canucks have given up 25 power play goals, third most in the NHL, and Stamkos, Namestnikov and Kucherov all play on the top power play unit, with defenseman Anton Stralman who I also really like tonight. Over their last three games, this top line has combined for five goals, tied for most in the league over that span (via Left Wing Lock). I expect that trend to continue tonight.

Contrarian Corner

This line has been on fire lately, and gets to face a Flames team that's given up the most goals in the NHL. Granted, the Flames have been getting much better goaltending as of late, but I still expect this game to be a shootout and you'll want to have exposure to both teams. This line has five goals over their last three games, and a solid season long five on five Corsi For Percentage of 55.8% (via Puckalytics). They will likely see a heavy dose of the Giordano-Brodie pairing, which is a bit concerning, but they've proven to be almost match up proof lately. I also love the second line of Scheifele, Perrault and Stafford who've combined for nine goals over their last ten games, the most during that span. Their respective prices also make it possible to stack just about any other line with them easily. Dustin Byfuglien also makes for a great play on defense, along with any skater who gets power play time for the Jets against the worst home penalty killing unit in Calgary.

This is another tough game to predict, but I think the masses may overlook the Bruins due to the perceived tough match up against the Blues. The Blues will be playing their fourth game in six nights, third game in four nights, and on a back to back. The Bruins will look to take care of a tired team in their final game before the break, and will utilize their league best home power play unit that scores at a ridiculous 34% clip. I like the Bergeron line more on Draftkings, as they will be deployed against the Tarasenko line which could present +- problems on Fanduel. Other skaters to consider on Boston include, David Krejci, Loui Eriksson, Matt Belesky, Brett Connolly and Zdeno Chara. The Krejci line is an interesting one, as they will assureadly be low owned, and have combined for six goals over their last ten games.