Joel Dorcas | January 4th, 2020
A couple of hot teams lead the way along with a couple powerhouse teams in favorable matchups for this Saturday’s edition of Ice Picks. The Maple Leafs and Canucks are stringing together wins like nobody’s business while the Lightning and Avalanche look to pounce on teams of a lesser caliber. Time to grind and dig, time to make some Ice Picks!
CORE MUST-HAVES ⭐
William Nylander W TOR $5,600
We just can’t ignore how red-hot the Leafs are right now. Just a single set-back over the last nine games(an O.T. loss to the Rangers). How are they getting it done? How about a rediculous 4.80 goals per contest in their last 10. The Islanders are a formidable opponent, they rank 4th in goals against per game on the season. Normally it’s best to steer clear of NYI but they are in a bit of a funk, five wins in their last 10 with a goals against per game of 3.20. Willy Nylander is priced lower than Matthews and other star Leaf players but has been extremely productive. He is in the midst of a five-game point streak in which he has 11 points.
Bo Horvat C VAN $5,800
Make it six straight victories for the Vancouver Canucks after Thursday night’s wild 7-5 win versus the Blackhawks. In those six games, the Canucks have put up 28 goals. Bo Horvat has been a big part of the charge. As well as putting up six points, he has a team-leading combined total for shots and blocks of 24 in the last five games. The New York Rangers will stumble into this one with four wins in their last 10. The over or push has hit in each one of the ten games resulting in a goals-against-average of 4.10.
Nathan MacKinnon C COL $8,100
Just like the Leafs can’t be ignored, Nate MacKinnon is just too hard to pass up right now. In his last five games, he has four goals and five assists while averaging an eye-popping five shots on target per game. The Avalanche had just a single victory in their last five before defeating the defending Cup champ St.Louls Blues Thursday despite averaging 4.0 goals over the mini-slump. Let’s see if the Avs and Mackinnon can use the big victory last time out as momentum against a much lesser of a team in the New Jersey Devils.
VALUE PLAYS
Alexander Kerfoot C TOR $3,800
Since Kerfoot has been bumped up to the second line he has found the scoresheet more often. This shouldn’t be a surprise given the fact that he is playing with John Tavares and Nylander. Kerfoot has eight points in his last nine games and will get more offensive chances as long as he keeps his spot on the wing with these linemates.
Tyler Myers D VAN $3,700
Myers has certainly played some good hockey during the Canucks solid run. Myers is logging just over 21 minutes of ice over his last 10 games trailing only Quinn Hughes. Myers gives us nice shot and block totals, he is third on the team over the last 10 with a combined total of 40. Kick in seven points and we’ve got some excellent value with Myers.
Anthony Cirelli C TB $4,500
Are the Lightning back? Five straight victories tell us that they are at least trending upward. They will get a nice matchup with their visit to Ottawa despite the fact that the Sens are much better on home ice. The Sens will be without the services of goalie Anders Nilsson, he is on the shelf due to a concussion. The replacements have struggled. Marcus Hogberg and Craig Anderson have combined to go 2-2-3 with 27 goals against in just seven starts since Nilsson went down. If you need value to pair with top guns, Anthony Cirelli profiles well. He centers the second line with Stamkos and Killorn and all three have at least five points in their last five games.
STACK ‘EM
- Toronto Maple Leafs– Nylander(W), Tavares(C), Kerfoot(W), Barrie(D)
- Vancouver Canucks– Horvat(C), Pearson(W), Myers(D), Miller(W)
- Tampa Bay Lightning– Stamkos(C), Cirelli(W), Kilorn(W), Hedman(D)
*All prices listed are from DraftKings*
Good luck to everyone tonight, keep grinding out those lineups!
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