Daily Fantasy Hockey DFS Value Update – March 2

I generally do not pick two players playing against each other in the same game for a daily fantasy hockey lineup. The same applies for a goalie and a player from opposite teams. You might see two players among the “value picks” from opposite teams, but that doesn’t mean you should take them both. No matter the value, you’re also likely cannibalizing points, so any gains made below a certain price point – the point where production and cost intersect – can be lost if production declines overall as well.

There are many things that determine value: The player’s history (both short and long-term), the price, recent production, opponent, line matching at even-strength, power play time and injuries are just some of the factors to consider. The “Top Value” doesn’t necessarily mean the cheapest player, either.

Finally, as far as goalies go, it’s the one position I’ll pay through the nose for if I really like the match-up. The same applies for back-ups with good match-ups. In a given night, with a full slate of games, I won’t have more than three different goalies across all my lineups, usually two. I’ll name the goalies I like specifically in the match-ups they appear in.

Here is today’s slate of games (and DraftStreet values). Reminder: check Left Wing Lock for up-to-the-minute information on starting goalies.

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 Games are color-coded as follows:

Green means stack for GPPs. Yellow means targets for cash games. Red means value plays only.

 Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals

The Flyers bounced back from their drubbing by San Jose with a 4-2 win yesterday against the New York Rangers. In a weird twist of fate, goaltender Steve Mason looked pretty sharp in net for the Flyers just a couple days after getting pulled. As a team, the Flyers have gone 6-3-0 in the second of back to back games this year, an extremely solid mark. The problem is that with Ray Emery hurt, Mason will have to start just his second back to back situation of the year. Add a very not-mobile defense in front of him and this has the making of a ton of goals today.

Washington went up to Boston yesterday and surprised the Bruins with a 4-2 win. A huge part of that was the Washington power play which went 2-for-6. In fact, in the two games since returning from the break, the Capitals are 4-for-8 with the man advantage. It’s like teams forgot Alex Ovechkin played hockey over the Olympic break. Quick note: it is now Brooks Laich on the top line in Washington alongside Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

There have been 22 goals scored in the three games these two teams have played this year so it’s not a bad bet to expect a fair amount of goals today. With Washington coming back so strong off the break and Philadelphia forced to play Steve Mason on a back to back, I would be inclined to lean the Capitals here though I will likely be avoiding both goalies in net today regardless of the DFS game.

Michael Clifford

Michael Clifford was born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and is a graduate of the Unviersity of New Brunswick. He writes about fantasy hockey and baseball for XNSports and FantasyTrade411.com. He can be reached on Twitter @SlimCliffy for any fantasy hockey questions. Follow @SlimCliffy !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');

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