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Desperate hockey. That’s the name of the game on tonight’s playoff slate. The Rangers find themselves down 3-1 in the series and back on home ice to try to extend the series for one more game. We are cut down to a three game slate tonight, thanks to the Avalanche sweeping the Predators out of the first round. We will be starting to get more condensed from here on out, and these slates will continue to get smaller.
With these smaller slates, you can always start to think about playing showdown. The DraftKings showdown contests are getting nicer, and they will continue to moving forward. You can always use our Showdown Strategy Guide to help you build showdown lineups if you prefer that over the classic contests. Let’s find the best NHL DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel. Good luck!
Goalies
Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames: Markstrom has been the best goalie in the first round so far, and he is probably the only goalie we can rely on tonight. He is good at home, and the Stars tend to struggle on the road, so this is a very solid play tonight.
Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers: Igor is going to bounce back tonight. So are the Rangers. When your coach puts full confidence in you and announces you as the starter right after a game where you were chased for a second time, you have to respond well. This team will be playing desperate hockey tonight, and they will look to make a series out of it once again. The key will be the defense. They have kind of left Igor hanging out to dry lately, and he can’t do it on his own. This is a huge spot for him and the Rangers, and they need to come through.
High Risk GPP Goalie Pick – Jake Oettinger – Dallas Stars OR Ilya Samsonov – Washington Capitals: Both of these plays offer some decent upside, as they are on the road tonight. Florida will be looking to use home ice to their advantage, and there have been a ton of goals scored in that series, so the lean here is Oettinger. Oettinger has been playing really well and his numbers look fantastic. On top of that, this has been a very tight series, and the goals have been hard to come by. Those factors make him a very intriguing high risk play.
Lines to Build Around
These NHL DFS lines are considered top plays for the night and can be considered the focal point of your builds. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
New York Rangers Power Play – Mika Zibanejad/Ryan Strome/Chris Kreider/Artemi Panarin/Adam Fox: As mentioned above, the Rangers are going to be fired up tonight, and they should be able to get it going. Domingue has been surprisingly very good for the Pens, which suggests that we may see a little bit of regression in his play. He has been good when he needs to be, but the Penguins’ defense has been helping him a lot. If the Rangers can pull off a big win tonight, the guys in this unit are going to be the ones to make it happen.
Florida Panthers Power Play – Aleksander Barkov/Jonathan Huberdeau/Sam Reinhart/Anthony Duclair/Claude Giroux: Florida is one of the few teams that deploys five forwards as their top power play unit. You don’t have to full stack them here, and Barkov/Huberdeau is a great pairing. The Panthers should be able to put a win together on home ice, and that duo has been doing some damage so far this series. Verhaeghe is a good pair with Barkov/Huberdeau as well, as he correlates top line, but not on the power play, creating a contrarian crossover stack.
High Risk Lines
These are NHL DFS plays that carry significantly more risk, but could pay off at low ownership. They will be listed by position in the following order: Center/Winger/Winger/Correlating Defenseman (if applicable).
Calgary Flames 1 – Elias Lindholm/Matthew Tkachuk/Johnny Gaudreau/Rasmus Andersson: The top line for the Flames feels like they are always in play, and tonight is no different. This series is finally starting to open up a little bit, but is still overall pretty tight. These guys have been good this series, but they are not exploding like they are capable of. For that reason, we consider them high risk, but certainly playable.
Pittsburgh Penguins Power Play – Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel/Bryan Rust/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang: This unit for Pittsburgh has been absolutely dominant in this series. As much as the Rangers should win tonight, we cannot ignore what these guys are doing. They have a combined 23 points between them, and that is a trend worth following. They are a good hedge against the Rangers power play tonight, and are definitely worth playing if you think the game goes in Pittsburgh’s favor.
NHL DFS Honorable Mentions: PIT2, WSHPP, DAL1, NYR3
Value Options – DraftKings
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on DraftKings. Be sure to stack!
Center: Filip Chytil ($2800) – New York Rangers
Wing: T.J. Oshie ($3800) – Washington Capitals
Defense: Mike Matheson ($3700) – Pittsburgh Penguins
Value Options – FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays to help save you some salary in your lineups on FanDuel. Be sure to stack!
Center: Filip Chytil ($3900) – New York Rangers
Wing: Kasperi Kapanen ($3600) – Pittsburgh Penguins
Defense: Nick Jensen ($3600) – Washington Capitals
Cash Considerations – DraftKings and FanDuel
Consider these NHL DFS plays for your cash lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel. Cash lineups do not need to be stacked, and it is recommended to play no more than two players from a given team.
Center: Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
Wing: Jonathan Huberdeau – Florida Panthers
Defense: Rasmus Andersson – Calgary Flames
Goalie: Jacob Markstrom – Calgary Flames
Player Props
In this section, we will highlight some NHL player props that we like for the upcoming NHL slate.
Jake Guentzel (PIT): anytime goal scorer
Carter Verhaeghe (FLA): anytime goal scorer
Chris Kreider (NYR): over 0.5 power play points
Rasmus Andersson (CGY): over 0.5 points
Make sure to hop in our Expert Discord Chat for FREE! Jon and the NHL team will be there answering questions right up until lock! Be sure to be on the look out for future articles at https://windailysports.com/daily-fantasy-hockey/
All line combinations are courtesy of www.dailyfaceoff.com, and any advanced rates referenced in the above article are pulled from www.naturalstattrick.com.
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