The NHL has a loaded schedule on Thursday night, which includes 11 games and many of the league’s powerhouse teams in action. There are some very large favorites, and the players from those teams will be very popular in daily fantasy hockey for both cash games (50/50, head-to-head) and tournaments. With so many teams in good matchups to score big, it will be important to diversify the lineups for cash games. For tournaments there is a lot of choice for how to build lineups that could go off, and using a double-stack might be the best strategy to win, with several combinations of teams/lines stacked in different lineups for the same tournament (for example, FanDuel’s $2 Breakaway tournament).

In today’s article we’ll break down the teams to target and recommended players to use to build winning FanDuel lineups, and include a few sample FanDuel lineups.

Top Teams to Target Tonight for Daily Fantasy Hockey

Pittsburgh Penguins – The Penguins/Oilers game is a major mismatch, with Pittsburgh and their high powered offense playing at home and facing a weak Edmonton team (ranked bottom five for goals scored, goals against, shots, powerplay and penalty killing percentages). The Oilers have lost five straight games, including blowout losses in their past two games, and the Penguins should add another game to those tallies tonight. The Penguins have two lines that can score and either could be stacked in daily fantasy hockey tournaments tonight. For cash game lineups, it would be a good strategy to get at least one player from each line.

Recommended Players for FanDuel

TOP DEFENSEMEN PLAYS

Marek Zidlicky ($3,600) – Zidlicky has everything we look for in a value defensemen, including a favorable matchup, plenty of ice time and powerplay time, and offensive upside. Since being dealt to Detroit at the deadline, Zidlicky has taken over as the powerplay quarterback for the Wings, who have the #1 powerplay in the league (and facing Columbus’ 25th ranked penalty kill).

TOP RIGHT WINGER PLAYS

Patric Hornqvist ($7,500) – Hornqvist is a goal scoring machine (including seven goals in his past eight games), and it helps that he plays alongside superstar Sidney Crosby. He also plays on the team’s (and perhaps the league’s) top powerplay unit with Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz and Letang. Pittsburgh’s high powered powerplay will look to do damage against Edmonton’s 27th ranked penalty kill. Look for Hornqvist to have a strong game with at least a goal and a few shots, and he could even go off for a monster game.

Teuvo Teravainen ($3,500) – As a VALUE play on Right Wing, take a look at Teravainen who plays on Chicago’s second line and second powerplay unit. Although his point production has been limited this season, his ice time has been increased gradually, including a season (and career) high 17:11 in Chicago’s last game. In a game against the struggling Coyotes on Thursday night, the rookie has a good opportunity to hit the scoresheet.

TOP LEFT WINGER PLAYS

Jaden Schwartz ($7,400) – The Blues’ second line has been heating up, and Schwartz has points in each of his past four games, including back-to-back multi-point games. We’ve seen this line get hot at different times this year, and when they are you just have to ride them. Schwartz is a great play tonight for both cash games and tournaments, either as part of a line stack or even as a single Blues player in a lineup.