Under the wire: Dec. 12 NHL value plays

The NHL has a small four-game slate on tap for Wednesday night. Here are three predominantly available players with favourable matchups who could provide your team with a midweek spark.

Elias Lindholm, Flames (70.4 per cent owned)

Seventy per cent may seem like a high ownage rate for a player who’s supposed to be available, but it’s also low because it should be a lot closer to 100. Lindholm is a staple on both the top line and the top power-play unit alongside Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Through 31 games he has 16 goals and 34 points, including five goals and 11 points in his last seven. The Flames face the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday which is an incredibly enticing matchup. The Flyers sit third last in the league with 3.61 goals against per game and are expected to start rookie netminder Anthony Stolarz. Through six games (four starts) Stolarz has a 3.39 goals-against average and an .898 save percentage. Lindholm, along with the rest of the Flames’ high-powered offence, should be able to take full advantage.

Brandon Saad, Blackhawks (15.8 per cent owned)

It’s tough to pick a Blackhawk for your fantasy team who isn’t named Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane, but Saad is in a good spot to succeed. He’s been a bit cold lately (two points in his last seven games) however he’s still on the top line as well as the second power-play unit. Through 30 games he has eight goals and 16 points and a matchup against the Penguins could be exactly what he needs to elevate his production. The Penguins are in the bottom half of the league in goals against per game (3.10) and it appears as though they’ll potentially start Matt Murray since he was activated Wednesday morning. Murray is coming off an injury that has kept him sidelined for about a month and whether or not he’ll get the start over Casey DeSmith remains to be seen. If he does, it’s all systems go as Murray’s goals-against average for the season is just north of four.

Tanner Pearson, Penguins (1 per cent owned)

The Pens’ undoubtedly have defensive inadequacies, but they’re still better at keeping pucks out of their net than the Blackhawks. The latter is great news for Pearson as he finds himself on the second line with Evgeni Malkin as well as on the second power-play unit. He’s extremely low-owned for a reason as his season has been far from productive, but the young winger also has a modest five points in 13 games since joining the team. The Blackhawks present an incredibly opportune matchup as they allow 3.75 goals against per game and 33.5 shots per game. Their goalies’ combined save percentage of .888 is simply icing on the cake as Pearson and the Pens should be all over the Blackhawks all night long.