Saturday’s schedule is quite a doozy as we come down the homestretch of the NHL season. With but a few exceptions, virtually every game has a varying degree of playoff implication. Unlike many Saturdays, there are enough early games to really make the full day playable – check out FanDuel’s offerings. We’ll focus on players and teams for both early and late games, but if you play any “all day” games you can mix and match the top plays and weight them as you see fit. The risk, of course, with playing an all day tournament is that rosters lock at 12:30 EST and that leaves a long time for scratches and late announcements to destroy your day before it gets started.
One thing to keep in mind for the early games – and take this with a grain of salt – is that they tend to favor skates at the expense of goalies, who seem more prone to have bad games. Just food for thought.

Top Teams to Target Tonight for Daily Fantasy Hockey

EARLY GAMES
1.    Pittsburgh Penguins – Without two of their top six forwards (and arguably one of the best centers in the league), Pittsburgh has been a been a bit inconsistent over the last few weeks. Assuming Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist are healthy enough to log close to normal minutes, the Coyotes will have little resistance against Pittsburgh’s top six. Oliver Ekman-Larsson has done a phenomenal job in shutting down opposing top lines, but Sidney Crosby has such elite puck possession numbers that both top lines should be able to move at will. On top that, Arizona’s penalty kill is just 19th in the NHL away from home, while Pittsburgh’s power play ranks 10th. With a healthy Malkin and Hornqvist, Arizona would be wise to stay out of the sin bin.

2.    New York Islanders – I went back and forth here with the Isles and Lightning, but I’m going to roll with the Islanders at home. The Ducks are across the country and playing in the early slot is the equivalent of 10am on the west coast – they’ve probably acclimated to the time zone due to the road trip but it’s still not close to the game time they’re used to. With a CF% of 54.4% in March, Anaheim bests the Islanders’ declining rate of 51% over the same time period. That said, the Islanders have several lines with a season long CF% that is positive; outside of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry the Ducks do not. Ryan Kesler, for example, has been horrible this year in puck possession which should lead to opportunities for the Islanders secondary scoring. Further, Anaheim’s road power play has been about equally bad as New York’s home penalty kill, but Anaheim’s 76% road penalty kill is 28th worst in the league. With inconsistent goaltending lately, Anaheim should struggle against the Islanders deep forward core.