In a Pacific Division battle on Thursday, Stuart Skinner stole the show. Against the Kings, Skinner saved all 43 shots he faced in the 2-0 win. We all know about the firepower the Oilers possess, but they made the conference finals last season in large part because of Mike Smith getting hot as he was known to do. The Oilers replaced him with Campbell, but that has been an epic disaster. Skinner has established himself as the clear #1 and will be going into the playoffs. His numbers are that of a #2 in fantasy, and while I do like the 24 year old long term, I don't really see upside past that unless the Oilers completely revamp their defense. That said, for the Oilers to get on a run, they'll need solid goaltending, and Skinner has shown that he's capable of that. He's the goalie of the future and more importantly, the present. Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights:
Last week our Sabres stack took it on the chin a bit, but this week MarmosDad is back with a new list of names to help you fill out your DFS lineups on this cold mid-December Saturday. Chalk forwards? Check. Value play D-men? Yep. A strong goalie play? MmHmm. A filler named after a color that a lot of you might not be able to identify on a paint palette? Uh…yes?
One of these hot hands to start our lineups is winger Mark Stone, (DK: $5,200). Late 90’s WWE fans will undoubtedly get the Stone Cold reference, but this Stone is definitely anything but cold. Vegas’s captain has scored 3 goals in his last 3 games and has managed to put up some healthy FPTS over at least two of those games (23.0 and 15.6). Regular readers of this spot (yes, both of you) will know that the kicker for these types is time on the first line and PP1. Check both of those boxes for Stone at home against the Isles today...and feel free to smash and empty some beer cans down your gullet if that’s your kind of Saturday thing too.
Patrice Bergeron became the eighth active NHL'er to reach 1,000 career points on Monday, assisting on a Marchand goal in the 5-3 win over Tampa. The best defensive forward for the last decade, Bergeron has long since been a lock for the Hall of Fame, but being the 94th player to ever reach 1,000 points puts him in truly elite company. It sounds crazy to say that he's underrated, but I do feel like his career is underrated. He's never been a top five player in the league, but he was close for an extended period, his line was consistently one of the best in the league, and if you could pick any skater to be on the ice with one minute left up one to save the planet, he's the guy. Congrats to this hockey wizard. Let's see what else happened on Monday night:
