There are 12 games in the NHL on Thursday. Toronto plays in Buffalo, Florida hosts St. Louis, Columbus is home to Washington, Nashville travels to Philadelphia, Carolina takes on Pittsburgh, Vegas plays the Lightning in Tampa Bay, Edmonton travels to New Jersey, Dallas hosts Vancouver, Montreal is in Minnesota, Ottawa plays Colorado, Anaheim hosts Calgary and Arizona plays in San Jose. Below, you’ll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
GOALIE
Filip Gustavsson, MIN vs. MON ($23): Gustavsson was terrible through the first month of the season, culminating in a Nov. 4 start in which he gave up three goals on four shots before being pulled. The netminder has since turned his season around, giving up more than three goals on only one occasion. Gustavsson is 8-8-2 with a 2.91 GAA and .906 save percentage, a huge improvement over the 4.89 GAA and .871 save percentage he was sporting Nov. 5. The Canadiens have found the back of the net 84 times in 31 games, good for 28th in the NHL.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Ilya Samsonov, TOR at BUF ($22): Samsonov has been horrible of late, as a matter of fact he has been so bad the Maple Leafs have started Martin Jones (who was a backup with AHL Toronto before his recall) the previous two games. Samsonov has given up 10 goals on 64 shots over his last two starts and while his record is 5-1-5, he has a 3.51 GAA and an .878 save percentage. The Sabres are 20th in NHL scoring, with 94 goals this season.
CENTER
Auston Matthews, TOR at BUF ($35): Matthews leads the NHL in goal scoring with 25 in just 28 games, including nine goals in his five-game goal-scoring streak. Matthews totaled 100 goals in his previous two campaigns and is in line for his second 60-goal season in his career. That would make Matthews only the ninth player in NHL history to accomplish that goal. Matthews is on a hot streak and I recommend that you jump aboard the bandwagon while he is hot.
CENTER TO AVOID
J.T. Miller, VAN at DAL ($35): Miller has been held off the scoresheet in two of his last three games. He is having a fabulous season offensively with 15 goals and 45 points in 33 games, but he has only 76 shots on goal which is below his pace over the last two seasons. Miller is pricey and I would rather take Matthews or MacKinnon at their prices than Miller. Miller was held without a point against the Stars in their only game this season.
WING
Nikita Kucherov, TB vs. VGK ($36): Kucherov has been outstanding this season as he leads the NHL with 54…