Daily Fantasy Hockey Morning Coffee: 11/27/17

Welcome to the Monday morning edition of the daily fantasy hockey morning coffee. Today we have a tidy five-game slate to go through for our DFS needs. Although not in action tonight, until further notice, we’re riding the St. Louis first line of JADEN SCHWARTZ/BRAYDEN SCHENN/VLADIMIR TARASENKO in all formats. In the SAT NHL Wrister on Fanduel we got the following ownership: 

Brayden Schenn: 12.1% owned —  0 points
Jaden Schwartz: 8.9% owned  — 30.9 points
Vladimir Tarasenko: 9.4 % owned — 27.7 points

Even with the goose egg by Schenn the trio was able to produce a cashing lineup in the tournament.

Tonight’s Slate: 

Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins (Pittsburgh, -155, 6 over/under)
Florida Panthers @ New Jersey Devils (New Jersey, -125, 5.5 over/under)
Columbus Blue Jackets @ Montreal Canadiens (Columbus, -115, 5 over/under)
Minnesota Wild @ Winnipeg Jets (Winnipeg, -120, 5.5 over/under)
Anaheim Ducks @ Chicago Blackhawks (Chicago, -185, 5.5 over/under)

The team I have the most interest in tonight is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tonight the Penguins get a Philadelphia team that has lost seven straigh games and has allowed 19 goals over their past four games. Furthermore, the Philadelphia penalty kill has been mind-numbingly bad over their current seven game skid. Philly has allowed at one power play against in five straight games and a total of nine power play goals against in their past five games.

Things don’t get any easier for Philadelphia as they head to Pittsburgh where the Penguins average 3.20 goals per game, have a power play that clicks at a reasonable 20.5 percent and recently ended their own three game skid with an impressive 5-2 victory over the tough Tampa Bay Lightning.

While we will certainly be rolling with Pittsburgh in our cash games, this a time where I feel it is prudent to ride the underdog in tournaments. The Flyers actually have a slightly higher CF% at 50.92 percent than Pittsburgh’s 50.46. While Pittsburgh’s SCF/60 of 29.67 puts them as the ninth-best team in the NHL in that category they also allow their fair share of scoring chances with a SCA/60 of 30.85 — third highest in the league. Pittsburgh’s HDCA/60 of 11.62 is also the eighth-highest in the NHL.

Of course Pittsburgh generates plenty of quality scoring chances of their own with a sixth-best HDCF/60 of 11.89 — and tonight Pittsburgh gets a team allowing goals in bunches with a suddenly hot Sidney Crosby. While certainly not a highly likely scenario, riding Philadelphia’s top line in tournaments could pay off. Sam Carchidi of philly.com pointed out this morning, “The Flyers have gotten most of their production from the top line of Claude Giroux (10 goals, 25 points, plus-10), Sean Couturier (13 goals, 25 points, plus-14), and Jake Voracek (seven goals, 29 points, plus-6).”

On the season the Giroux/Couturier/Voracek line even ranks just above the St. Louis first line (per LeftWingLock) with 21 goals and 325 shot attempts for. While I’ll list a snapshot just for the Penguins, keep the Flyers in mind as a tournament option tonight — especially that first line.

Our Pittsburgh Snapshot