NHL Daily Plays: Wednesday, December 3rd
We’re back to a typically slow Wednesday on the ice in the NHL, with just eight teams hitting the ice this evening. However, if you’re like me you’ll be playing anyways! Nights like these can often be dominated by “off-the-wall” stacks in GPPs, but this piece will solely focus on players I’m considering for my cash game lineups.
Goaltenders
Ondrej Pavelec – Winnipeg Jets – When an NHL team has lost ten straight games, you have to take notice and that’s why i’m giving the slight nod to the reasonably priced Pavelec as my top cash game option in net (over the more expensive Frederik Anderson). Pavelec was solid in his last start, picking up a 2-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres and now owns a respectable 8-8-2 record with a 2.23 GAA and .919 SV% on the young season. The Oilers have only won two of their eleven road games thus far this season and have scored just 2.27 goals per game in those games, making Pavelec a strong bet for the very vital “W” tonight.
Others To Target: Frederik Anderson, Darcy Kuemper
Forwards
Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks – With Jonathan Toews likely being asked to show off his defensive prowess against the St. Louis Blues, Chicago will likely rely a bit more heavily on Kane to produce offensively tonight. Kaner picked up an assist when these two squared off earlier this season and picked up two goals and added four assists in four games against St. Louis last season. He just wrapped up a month of November that saw him post seven goals and nine assists in 14 games. Games between these two teams often turned into barn-burners during last year’s regular season which obviously fits Kane’s preferred style of play.
Zach Parise – Minnesota Wild – On a short slate, I always find myself targeting consistency more than usual, and few NHL players have been more consistent that Zach Parise over the last few seasons. He’s really picked up the scoring pace lately, tallying five goals and adding three assists over the last seven games and was a one-man-wrecking-crew in his last outing, scoring a goal and firing nine shots on goal at Jake Allen. Parise has flourished at the Xcel Energy Center this season, posting five goals, six assists and a +7 in nine home games. Facing Montreal is usually no easy task, but the Canadians have been struggling lately and Minnesota is 7-2-1 at home thus far.
Matt Beleskey – Anaheim Ducks – Finding value tonight will likely be key, and Beleskey is the best value on the board in my opinion. He clearly loves life playing alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf on the Ducks top forward line as he’s now lit the lamp in three of the last four games to raise his goal total to 12 on the young season. The Flyers enter tonight’s game having lost five consecutive games and now sport an ugly 2-9-1 road record this season where they’ve allowed 3.42 goals against per game. As an added bonus, and considering Philly’s league worst penalty kill, Beleskey draws a decent amount of playing time on the wing of the Duck’s second power-play unit. Pair him with Getzlaf and/or Perry and I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Bryan Little – Winnipeg Jets – Little avoided injury after taking a puck off the leg and will be in the lineup for the Jets tonight when they welcome the Edmonton Oilers to town. With Edmonton having dropped ten straight games and consistently having defensive breakdowns, you’ll want some exposure to the Jet’s this evening. Little centers their very dangerous top scoring line as well as their #1 power-play unit and is flanked by both Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler in both situations. Little was held off the scoresheet against the Bruins in his last game, but had scored goals in three straight games prior. He’s very reasonably priced and will likely find his way onto nearly all of my cash game rosters tonight.
Defensemen
Sami Vatanen – Anahiem Ducks – I mentioned earlier that the Philadelphia Flyers owned the league’s worst penalty kill, so who better to target than the guy who leads all NHL defenseman in power-play points thus far this season? Vatanen scored Monday night and now owns five goals and six assists in just 14 home games this season. He still finds himself reasonably priced on many sites ($4,300 on FanDuel, for instance) and should be hard to pass up on tonight in your cash games.
Jacob Trouba – Winnipeg Jets – After a stellar rookie campaign last season, Trouba has gotten out of the gates slowly offensively this season. However, he’s starting to show signs of life as he’s picked up four assists over the last five games. He’s a workhorse on the blue-line for the Jets as he’s logged over 20 minutes of playing time in every game this season and is now averaging 23:16 per game. He sees ample time on the point of the team’s second power-play unit and had great success against the Oilers last season, where he scored three goals, added an assist and was a +4 in their three meetings.
Others To Target: Duncan Keith, Cam Fowler, Brent Seabrook, Kevin Shattenkirk