Join Daily Faceoff’s Nick Martin as he handicaps the best NHL player props available on Monday night.

Pierre-Luc Dubois Over 0.5 Points: -120 Sports Interaction

In the time since I wrote this piece on the Washington Capitals winning the Presidents’ Trophy, their play has been far less consistent, which has led to a record of 6-4-1. Many of the team’s closest observers (and those with futures tickets involving the Capitals like myself) have noticed a drop off in the team’s overall game, as a number of players look to be coming down to earth after red-hot starts to the year.

Key forwards Dylan Strome and Connor McMichael’s play, in particular, has fallen off considerably, and as a whole the team has not been as sharp defensively.

One strength that continues to hold true for the Capitals is the resurgence of Dubois, as he has remained consistently dominant at both ends of the ice, and has found the positive offensive regression which he appeared to be deserving of earlier on in the season. Dubois has put up 14 points in his last 14 games, with a +6 rating.

Dubois has worked recently alongside Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson at even strength, a line which has been highly effective at both ends of the ice. In 93.6 minutes together, the trio has scored 5.13 goals per 60, and outscored opponents 8-3.

In a matchup versus the Buffalo Sabres, Dubois looks to have a better chance of netting at least one point than his current price of -120 suggests.

Since Rasmus Dahlin returned to the lineup on December 20th, the Sabres have still allowed 3.38 goals against per game. Over the last month of play, they have allowed 3.93 goals against per game, which is the highest mark in the NHL.

Nathan MacKinnon Over 1.5 Points: -115 Sports Interaction

Due to an incredible stretch of recent play coupled with an injury to former favorite Kirill Kaprizov, MacKinnon is now the betting favorite to become the first back-to-back Hart Trophy winner since Alex Ovechkin in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons.

Over the last 11 games, MacKinnon has put up 24 points in 11 games, and gone over 1.5 points seven times.

A matchup versus the defending champion Florida Panthers is certainly a tough one, as Panthers head coach Paul Maurice will look to line match three of the league’s best defensive players in Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Gustav Forsling against MacKinnon as much as possible.

The Panthers have not been entirely dominant in suppressing opponents offensively this season as you might expect though. They have allowed 3.10 goals against per game, which is the 15th-highest mark in the NHL. Over the last month, they have allowed 2.93 xGA/60, and received a .906 save percentage from Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight.

Maurice won’t have last change in this road matchup, which will make it tougher to get the Forsling pairing out head-to-head versus MacKinnon.

At -115, I see value backing MacKinnon to continue his torrid stretch of play in an exciting matchup versus the Cup champions, which he will surely be up for.

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