Fantasy Notebook: Malkin and Thornton are good center picks for Tuesday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Evgeni Malkin

Centers:

High Salary: Evgeni Malkin

Malkin has been playing very well as of late. In his last game, he scored a hat trick, and is currently up to 48 points on the season. He has eight points in his last five games. Even though facing New Jersey will make getting the win for Malkin and the Penguins harder, Malkin should still have a good showing and should most likely score one or two goals in the game.

High Value: Joe Thornton

Thornton has been on fire recently, currently being on a nine-game point streak. He has 20 points in his last 15 games and will have a fairly easy matchup tonight against the Colorado Avalanche. Thornton is your pick if you want a center that does not have an expensive fantasy salary and can produce fantasy points for you.

Wingers:

High Salary: Patrick Kane

Kane has definitely been a key player for the Blackhawks this season, most likely the best player of all 30 teams currently in the NHL. Kane leads the league this season in goals (30), assists (43), and points (73). With Kane facing the struggling Hurricanes tonight, he should add to his stats of the historic season he is currently having.

High Value: Mikkel Boedker

Boedker is having a decent season currently with 12 goals and 22 assists. Although he failed to show up on the scoresheet on Monday, and the fact that he is having an up-and-down season, he should be a very good matchup as he faces Winnipeg tonight.

Defensemen:

High Salary: Erik Karlsson

Karlsson has proved in many recent seasons that he is one of the best defensemen in the entire NHL, and that he can definitely produce fantasy points in almost all of his games. If you are looking for an expensive defenseman for Tuesday night that can also pick up plenty of points, Karlsson is your man.

High Value: Aaron Ekblad

Ekblad is currently on a two-game point streak after recently coming back with an injury. Ekblad, the 2014-15 Calder Trophy winner for the league's top rookie is showing that he is capable of earning fantasy points at a non-expensive fantasy price.

Goaltenders:

High Salary: Roberto Luongo

Luongo has proven all season and throughout his long NHL career that he is truly one of the best goalies currently in the NHL, and he and the Panthers have shown that they can play really well. They have surprised many with their great play this season.

High Value: John Gibson

Gibson has proven so far in his rookie season that he is one of the best backup goaltenders currently in the league. He currently has a record of 11-7-2.

Nielsen a good value center for Monday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Frans Nielsen

Frans Nielsen is one of the New York Islanders' top forwards.

Right now, Nielsen is on a two-game point streak, but before that, Nielsen was on a four-game point drought.

Nielsen may not be able to help you in penalty minutes, however, as he only had 10 this season.

Nielsen has 14 goals and 16 assists in 46 games on the season, making him a wise choice if you want a non-expensive, high-value center on your lineup.

Goalie Pick For Sunday: Lundqvist is wise choice as he faces Ottawa

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Henrik Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist is hot right now.

Lundqvist was the winning goaltender in the New York Rangers' last two games. The first was a 3-2 overtime victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, and a 4-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.

Lundqvist was the starting goaltender both of the Rangers' wins against the Senators so far this season, as the Senators are yet to beat the Rangers in 2015-16.

Lundqvist has won four of his last five games. He has 22 wins on the season in 39 games played and 38 games that he started in net. He currently has a .922 save percentage (SV%) on the season so far.

Henrik Lundqvist is a very wise fantasy goaltender pick for Sunday's NHL action.

Fantasy Notebook: Kuznetsov and Stepan good centers for Friday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Derek Stepan

Centers:
High Salary: Evgeny Kuznetsov
Kunetsov managed to get four assists in a win over Columbus and then led to a hat trick against the New York Rangers in what was a 5-2 Capitals win. If Kunetsov keeps up his great play, his salarys on DraftKings and FanDuel will surely rise. Be sure to add him into your lineup for tonight.
 High Value: Derek Stepan
Stepan is currently on a w3-game point streak in which in those three games he has 4 points. In his last game on Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks, Stepan notched one goal and an assist. Stepan is definitely a center that should do very well against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight.

Wingers:
High Salary: Patrick Kane
Kane may have had a slow night against the Lightning last night, but he did manage to get an assist in his team's loss. With the assist, Kane now has 42 on the season, along with 30 goals with those assists. Kane will sure be a challenge for the Florida Panthers to go against tonight.

High Value: Justin Williams
Williams' salary on DraftKings and FanDuel has risen tremendously because of recent spark in play. On Jan. 17 he notched a hat trick and on Jan. 19 he notched two assists. Williams has been playing very well as of late.

Defensemen:
High Salary: Erik Karlsson
Karlsson has proved in recent seasons that he is clearly an all-star defensemen, one of the best that the league has seen in recent years. If you want an all-star d-man in your lineup tonight you must pick Karlsson

High Value: Ryan McDonagh
McDonagh is the best high-value defenseman available toniight because he is currently on a three-game point streak and has six points in his last six games.
 
Goaltenders:
High Salary: Braden Holtby
Holtby has shown this season and in recent seasons that he is a tremendous all-star goaltender that deserves his high fantasy salary. He and the Capitals are absolutely on fire, so there is no doubt if you want an all-star goaltender in your lineup for tonight you have to pick Holtby.

High Value: Petr Mrazek
Mrazek mave have lost his last two starts but he does have a record of 16-9-4. He will get a nice chance to rebound tonight against the Buffalo Sabres.

Fantasy Notebook: Good lineup picks for Thursday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hocky Report

LW:
High Salary: Milan Lucic

So far in 2015-16, Lucic has 12 goals and 17 assists, which makes him a strong forward. He averages 2.7 fantasy points a game.

High Value: Jeff Skinner

Like Lucic, Skinner is also high on the goals category with 17 goals so far this season. He has eight assists to go along with that. He averages 2.5 fantasy points per game.

RW:
High Salary: Patrick Kane

Kane is leading the league in scoring currently this season with 30 goals in 49 games played and has an amazing 41 assists to go along with that, and 177 shots on goal as well. He averages 5.8 fantasy points per game.

High Value: Loui Eriksson
In 45 games played, Eriksson has 38 points. He averages 3.2 fantasy points per game.

C:
High Salary: Ryan Johansson

Johansson has 2 goals and 5 assists in his first six games as a Nashville Predators. He averages 4.6 fantasy points per game.

High Value: Joe Thornton

Thornton has 35 points in 44 games played this season and averages 3.1 fantasy points per game.

D:

High Salary: Erik Karlsson

Karlsson has 9 goals and 38 assists in. 46 games played this season. He averages 3.6 fantasy points per game.

High Value: Shayne Gotisbehere

Gotisbehere has 8 goals and 9 assists so far this season, and averages 5.3 fantasy points per game.

G:

High Salary: Corey Crawford

Crawford has a save percentage of at least .900 in nine of his last ten games. He has a .931 SV% so far in 2015-16. He has a league-best six shutouts this season. He averages 4.7 fantasy points per game.

High Value: Connor Hellebuyck

Hellebuyck has a .931 SV% in 19 games so far in 2015--6. He has a .940 SV% in 6 of his last 10 games. He averages 5.3 fantasy points per game.

Fantasy Notebook: Lundqvist is a good high-salary goalie pick for Tuesday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Henrik Lundqvist is a wise fantasy goalie pick for Tuesday.

(PHOTO: Adam Hunger/USA Today Sports)

Center:
Tyler Seguin - Dallas Stars: Seguin went two games without picking up a point but managed to get back on track on Saturday with a goal and an assist against the Sharks in San Jose. Seguin has 25 goals and 28 assists for 53 points so far in 2015-16. He’s been one of the best centers in fantasy hockey with an average of five fantasy points a game. Seguin against the Kings tonight is a good target if you are looking to spend high fantasy salaries for a center.

Wingers:
Patrick Kane - Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane is absolutely hot on the ice right now. He notched a hat trick on Friday and followed up in his last game on Sunday by scoring a goal and notching an assist. Kane is averaging 5.5 fantasy points per game, but it's hard to pick good players at the other positions because Kane's salary is so high. Therefore, if you pick Kane, you must be wise with your other choices at your other positions.

Alex Ovechkin - Washington Capitals: Ovechkin is averaging 5.1 fantasy points per game so far in 2015-16. He netted his 27th goal of the season on Sunday, which broke a two-game scoreless streak. The only reason not to pick Ovechkin is that sometimes he doesn't really show up on the scoresheet, but on the contrary he does produce amazing stats when he is playing at his best.

Defensemen:
Mark Giordano - Calgary Flames: Giordano saw his six-game point streak come to an end on Saturday. Tonight’s matchup with New Jersey will be very tough for him because the Devils are ranked 1st in points allowed to opposing defensemen. But Giordano has proven that he is capable of racking up fantasy points, and has proven this season that he is definitely fantasy-worthy.

PK Subban - Montreal Canadiens: Subban notched an assist on Sunday and extended his point streak to five games. He has put up eight points over the last nine games and has finally heated up after a slow start to the season. Tonight's matchup against the struggling Bruins makes Subban a wise defensive pick.

Goaltenders:
Henrik Lundqvist - New York Rangers: Lundqvist hasn’t been his usual dominant self this season, but he’s still been able to post 20 wins for the Rangers. His 2.50 GAA is higher than one would expect, but he can still be counted on most nights. Tonight, Lundqvist goes up against the Vancouver Canucks, who so far this season average 2.3 goals per game, where they are currently ranked 26th in the league.

Rookie Eichel has goal and assist in game against Coyotes

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Jack Eichel

Buffalo Sabres rookie Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist For two points in a game against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday, Jan. 18 in Arizona.

Eichel had 17:01 of ice time in the game. Eichel currently has 14 goals and 15 assists so far through 46 games with the Sabres in his 2015-16 rookie season.

The Sabres defeated the Coyotes ihe contest by a score of 2-1.

Talbot is a good goalie pick for Monday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Cam Talbot

Cam Talbot may have only won two of his last five games, and he may be going against a hot Florida Panthers team on Monday night, but our Fantasy Hockey Staff here at "The Neutral Zone" still think that the Oilers goaltender is a good pick as your goaltender for Monday night.

In his last five games, Talbot has two wins, two losses, and one shootout loss, but we still feel that he has been playing well as of lately, making some key saves.

Going against Talbot will be Panthers goaltender Al Montoya.

Anderson is a good High-Salary goalie pick for Wednesday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Craig Anderson

Anderson had a strong showing during his last outing on Saturday, making 33 saves in a win over Boston. That game was his second start in-a-row so he was given off on Sunday in Washington. 

Anderson is not the confirmed starter for the Senators tonight but Andrew Hammond left the team earlier in the week to deal with a personal issue. 

Should Anderson be in net, he makes for a solid target against Anaheim.

The Ducks are the lowest-scoring team in the league, setting Anderson up to be a good play tonight.

Some High-Value Centers for Wednesday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri - Toronto Maple Leafs: Kadri faces a great and (almost) easy matchup tonight with Columbus. He enters the game with points in four of his last five games and 11 points in his last 11 games. Kadri is hot right now and needs to be in your lineup.

Ryan Spooner - Boston Bruins: Spooner notched an assit on Monday night and now has recorded at least a point in five of his last six games. He has raised his fantasy points per game average to 2.7 and is still available at a decent price. An extremely favorable matchup with Philadelphia makes Spooner someone who needs to be in your lineup tonight.

Mikael Backlund - Calgary Flames: Don't let the fact that Backlund and the Facing the Florida Panthers, who are basically one of the best teams in the league right now. Backlund has a great price tag and is coming off a two-assist game on Monday against the San Jose Sharks. His latest performance may be a sign that he’s starting to pick up momentum.

Jagr is the best pick for Monday night

Jaromir Jagr

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report


Jaromir Jagr:
DraftKings: $5.8K
FanDuel: $5.1K

Jaromir Hagr is racking up points at a crazy fast rate.

Just look at Jagr in his past five games: four goals and one assist.

On the entire season so far, Jagr has 15 goals, 16 assists, and 31 points. His plus-minus is an impressive +9.

Jagr is on a Panthers team that is currently on a 12-game winning streak.

Jagr is no doubt the hottest player on the Florida Panthers, scoring and getting assists almost at as fast of a rate as Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin achieved his 500th and 501st-career goals on Sunday in a 7-1 victory hosting the Ottawa Senators.

Jaromir Jagr is a definite pick for Monday night's NHL Fantasy Games.

No surprise: Pick Ovechkin for Sunday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin:

Draft Kings: $8.6K

FanDuel: $9.4K

There is no surprise that Alex Ovechkin is absolutely dominating the NHL right now.

He had two goals in his 800th-career NHL game on Sunday, those two goals led him to 499-career goals.

If Ovechkin even scores one goal on Sunday night against the Ottawa Senators, then he will have 500 goals in his NHL career.

Ovechkin has four goals in his past five games, yet he has no assists. He has 24 goals and 13 assists so far on the season.

The only thing that you must watch out for if you put Ovechkin in your lineup is that he is one of the most expensive players on DraftKings and FanDuel, so that may leave you picking other players who may not be up to par with what you want on your team, for example, lower-skill forwards and defenseman to fit the salary cap on your team.

But still go for it when it comes to picking Alex Ovechkin, but be wise of your other picks.

Ben Bishop is a good fantasy goalie pick for Friday night against Edmonton

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Ben Bishop

Bishop's Fantasy Salaries: DraftKings: $7.5K; FanDuel: $8.5K

Ben Bishop, goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning, will be going against the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

Bishop and the Lightning are clearly a team capable of defeating the Oilers, as Edmonton has had struggles almost all season that were happening last year.

Although Edmonton's struggles this season are no where near as bad as last season, Bishop and the Lightning should have an impressive showing against the Oilers.

Tonight will be the first time this season that these two teams have met in a matchup. Last season, each of these teams won their home game against each other, each game ending with a 3-2 final score.

In his NHL career against Edmonton, Bishop has played five games with three wins and oner regulation loss, and one game where he was not credited with a loss. Bishop has a .941 save percentage against the Oilers, along with a 1.98 Goals Against Average against the team. Those may not be the best stats against a single team in a career, but they are certainly not the worst either.

The Oilers are currently last place in the Pacific Division, currently with 37 points.

Although Bishop has lost four of his last five games, he should still rebound and defeat one of the NHL's struggling franchises.

How did our forward picks do last night in the NHL?

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Ryan Getzlaf (Left) and Corey Perry (Right)

On Wednesday, "The Neutral Zone" and its Fantasy Hockey division chose Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf to be good picks as forwards for your daily fantasy hockey teams for Wednesday against Toronto.

Well, neither one of them had a goal, or an assist. In fact, both their +/-'s were -1. Getzlaf had 2 PIM and 1 SOG, and Perry had 4 PIM and 5 SOG.

Still, that's not enough to be able to earn money on the leading Fantasy sports sites with those stats in a game.

With that said, our forward picks from Wednesday did not do as well as we expected.

Why Corey Perry or Ryan Getzlaf are good picks for tonight

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf are two of the NHL's all-stars, both on the Anaheim Ducks.

Tonight, Getzlaf, Perry, and the rest of the Ducks face the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs, who are 15-15-7 so far this season have to go against the much stronger and much more well-developed Ducks.

Perry has three goals and one assist in his last five games. So far through 2015-16, Perry has 14 goals, 11 assists, and 25 points.

Getzlaf has two goals and one assist in his past five games. He also has three goals, 20 assists, and 23 points having played 34 games so far in 2015-16.

These two Ducks forwards may lead your fantasy team to victory tonight as the Ducks face the struggling Toronto Maple Leafs.

Fantasy Forward Analysis: Two Rangers forwards that can help you earn fantasy points

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

When you look at the New York Rangers, you see a young team (for the most part) with a lot of speed and talent. But there are two Rangers forwards that if you were to add them to your daily fantasy hockey team that would really help you rack up those fantasy points.

Tha Rangers don't play their next game until Saturday against the Washington Capitals. But we should still check out these two forward on their team that can help your team.

1. Rick Nash - FanDuel: $8.6K; DraftKings: $7K

Nash had three assists in the Rangers' 6-2 victory against the Dallas Stars. Nash has 12 goals and 17 assists on the season so far, along with 29 points. He has two goals in his last five games, and his assists were those three achieved in the Dallas game in his last five games. Nash is showing that he truly is an NHL current great.

2. Mats Zuccarello - FanDuel: $6.2K; DraftKings: $5.7K

Zuccarello is currently leading the Rangers in goals this season with 16. He also has 15 assists and 31 points this season to go along with all of those goals. He has two goals and one assist in his last 5 games.

How did our goalie picks from Tuesday do?

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Roberto Luongo

On Tuesday, "The Neutral Zone" and its Fantasy Hockey team chose two goalies that would definitely help your fantasy hockey team for Tuesday's NHL games, assuming you were playing DraftKings or FanDuel.

Here's how the goalies performed:
Roberto Luongo: Result: won game (5-1); EV: 25-25; PP: 6-7; SH: 0-0; Saves-Shots: 31-32; SV%: .969 PIM: 0, TOI: 60:00

Devan Dubnyk: Result: won game (4-2); EV: 28-30; PP: 1-1; SH: 0-0; Saves-Shots: 29-31; SV%: .935; PIM: 2; TOI: 59:24

Players' Storylines:

Devan Dubnyk

Panthers' Roberto Luongo: Stops 31 as team wins 10th straight: Luongo turned away 31 of 32 shots Tuesday in Buffalo for his eighth consecutive win -- and the Panthers' 10th in a row. This upstart Florida team sure is something, and Luongo's been their backbone in net. He's now pushed his save percentage to .930 -- a mark he hasn't reached since back in 2003-04 in his first stint with Florida. Of course, there's a long way to go, but the 36-year-old netminder certainly isn't showing his age.

Wild's Devan Dubnyk: Denies 29 in victory over Columbus:
Dubnyk got back in the win column Tuesday with 29 saves in a 4-2 victory over the Jackets. He just keeps on cruising -- Dubnyk hasn't put up a save mark lower than .931 in his last five outings. That's good, as the recently lackluster Minnesota forward corps hasn't been a reliable source of offense, so they need all the help they can get on the back end. Dubnyk's not the breakout stud of last year, but he's quietly putting up some of the better goalie stats in the league.

Luongo and Dubnyk should be good goalie picks for Tuesday

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Report

Roberto Luongo

Roberto Luongo: Luongo has a salary of 8.2K on DraftKings. He is going against not a struggling Buffalo Sabres, but definitely a team that Luongo and his Florida Panthers can definitely come out on top against. Expect Loungo not to have a shutout, but to definitely walk away with the win on Tuesday night. Luongo's Panthers are on a 9-game winning streak.

Luongo's Salaries: DraftKings: $8.2K - FanDuel: $9.6K

- - - - -

Devan Dubnyk

Devan Dubnyk: Dubnyk is going against the last-place Blue Jackets. Not only are the Blue Jackets last in their division in points, but they are last in the league in points as well. Having said that, Dubnyk should have an excellent night between the pipes tonight against Columbus.

Dubnyk's Salaries: DraftKings: $7.7K, FanDuel: $8.7K