NHL Daily Plays: March 12, 2014
After a busy start to the week on the ice, things slow down a bit today with only four games on the schedule. However, all is not lost as there are several compelling games to look at headlined by a battle between bitter rivals in Montreal.
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Goalie
Jonas Hiller – Anaheim Ducks – As per my normal philosophy with goalies, I aim to secure a win and Hiller (or Frederik Anderson for that matter) is in a great spot tonight against Calgary. While Anaheim has dropped three straight games, they’re still fighting for the #1 seed in the Western Conference and the President’s Trophy. They’ve beaten Calgary in both prior meetings this year without using Hiller in either contest. Anaheim’s recent struggles have been in no way Hiller’s fault, as he’s posted a 1.63 GAA and a 93.55% save percentage over his last games despite posting only a 2-2-2 record. Calgary has scored the least goals in the Western conference and Hiller is the pick that will make me the most comfortable tonight.
Forwards
Brendan Gallagher – Montreal Canadians – Exciting things tend to happen when these two teams meet, but it’s been Montreal having all the fun so far this season. The Canadians have won both prior meetings and Brandan Gallagher’s three assists in those games has been a big reason why. With this game being in Montreal, he and his linemates on the Hab’s top forward line should be able to see plenty of ice-time away from Zdeno Chara (who’s nearly a foot taller than Gallagher). Gallagher has a rough night in San Jose in his last game but had posted 2 goals, 6 assists and a +7 in the eight games prior.
Matt Duchene – Colorado Avalanche – While his teammate’s (Nathan MacKinnon) point streak was just snapped at 13 games, Duchene enters tonight’s game riding his own eight game scoring streak. Over the course of his point streak, he’s racked up 4 goals, 8 assists and is a +7. He’s also tallied two assists in the three prior meetings with the Blackhawks this season. One of Chicago’s only weaknesses this season has been their penalty kill and Duchene centers Colorado’s top power-play unit where he’s tallied 15 power-play points on the season.
Bryan Little – Winnipeg Jets – While the Jets have had their share of struggles, they’ll be salivating to welcome the struggling Canucks into the MTS Centre tonight. The Canucks are fresh off of a 7-4 embarrassing loss to the New York Islanders and clearly have nothing left to play for this season. In their last visit to Winnipeg, the Jet’s scored four times and fired 34 shots on net on their way to a 4-3 victory. Little has tallied a goal and two assists over the last two games and thrives on home-ice, where he’s amassed 12 goals, and 18 assists in just 33 games.
Defense
Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks – Keith has been oddly quiet lately, picking up just a pair of assists over the last nine games. However, we’ve all seen what he’s capable of so this recent slump has just pushed his price down on several sites. With 50 points and a +23 on the season, Keith is still in the mix for the Norris Trophy. Tonight, he’ll head to Denver to take on the Colorado Avalanche and for all the good things that can be said about what Patrick Roy has done with this Colorado team, they continue to struggle with their penalty kill. Keith quarterbacks the very dangerous #1 power-play unit and leads all Chicago defenseman with 19 power-play point on the season. In the four prior meetings with the Avalanche this season, Keith has racked up five assists.
Mark Giordano – Calgary Flames – While I rarely recommend taking any players against a goalie is recommend, I think Giordano makes for a very nice contrarian GPP play tonight. He’s been playing tremendously well lately, grabbing a goal and six assists over the last six games. Also, he’s posted very solid numbers all year at home (7 goals, 13 assists and a +5 in 24 games). He’s logging over 25 minutes per game on the season and should continue to see huge ice-time numbers with Dennis Wideman out of the lineup. The matchup versus Anaheim is obviously far from ideal, but with the rest of the DFS word will likely be fading the Flames here.
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