This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The first weekend of the NHL playoffs is in the books. On Monday we have our biggest day of games yet as two more series kick off, plus two Game 2s. The Lightning and Panthers are really dragging their feet, as they don't play Game 1 until Tuesday. You know what that means: a whole game's worth of data! Okay, you can only pull marginal takeaways from a single game in a series, but something is more that nothing. First puck drops at 7 p.m. EDT. Here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
We know Leon Draisaitl is in. We know Jason Robertson and Gabriel Vilardi are out. What we don't know, though, is whether Miro Heiskanen can play for the Stars, or if Logan Thompson can start for the Capitals. Thompson is notable, because he would be a pretty strong choice in net in a way Charlie Lindgren simply is not.
GOALIES
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL at DAL ($8,000): The thing about the postseason is that I watch most games, and so I have more firsthand, but therefore somewhat anecdotal, feelings about the series in question. This can yield "prisoner of the moment" type results, but also can provide viable information. All that is to say while I have the slightest of reason to be concerned about rostering Connor Hellebuyck at his salary, I don't have that for Blackwood. He looked stellar in making 23 saves on 24 shots against the Stars. Also, the Stars didn't look all that good. Maybe with their backs against the wall in Game 2 at home they pick it up, but right now I like the Avalanche, and I like Blackwood, in this series.
Darcy Kuemper, LAK vs. EDM ($7,800): I went back-and-forth here. The Kings have a great defense, and Kuemper posted a 2.02 GAA and .921 save percentage. However, the Oilers have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. The Kings were middling offensively, 14th in goals per game and 18th in shots on net per game. However, the Oilers have Stuart Skinner. Ultimately, the fact Los Angeles is at home, and the fact Kuemper's numbers were excellent, won out.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Alex Iafallo, WPG vs. STL ($4,700): Nikolaj Ehlers is out, and Vilardi will be out barring something unforeseen (and it's a little early for anybody to get their Willis Reed on). That leaves Iafallo in a wonderful place to be, alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor on the first line and top power-play unit. He scored a goal in Game 1, and he has a point in six of his last eight outings. As long as this is Iafallo's spot in the lineup, his DFS value is outsized.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Capitals vs. Canadiens
Dylan Strome (C - $5,600), Alex Ovechkin (W - $7,800), Anthony Beauvillier (W - $3,500)
Kudos to the Canadiens for grabbing a playoff spot, but they more than any other team stumbled into it in a very "here, you take it" sort of way. As the Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Islanders all fizzled, the Habs were able to outlast the Blue Jackets even though they finished in the bottom 10 in GAA and shots on net allowed per game. Now, they have to face the best team in the Eastern Conference, and it likely won't go well. I was a bit wary about relying on Pierre-Luc Dubois and Connor McMichael in a postseason stack, so I opted to lay out a bit more salary to go with the top line and get Ovechkin and Strome in the mix.
Strome really revamped his career with the Capitals, but he took things to a new level this season. After two campaigns in the 60-point range, he had 82 points this year. Strome also had 14 points in his final 10 games of the regular season. Nothing says "Will never shrink from the moment" like Ovechkin chasing down Wayne Gretzky's goal record with gusto. He didn't want to do it on an empty net because he knew in his bones he was going to light the lamp soon enough. Oh, and he heads into the playoffs on a nine-game point streak. Beauvillier is along for the ride with Aleksei Protas out, but he had 15 goals this season (though mostly with the Penguins). Last season was rough, but prior to that he had at least 15 goals in five out of six campaigns.
DEFENSEMEN
Jakob Chychrun, WAS vs. MON ($5,200): Chychrun crossed a threshold few defensemen do by getting to 20 goals this season. He also put 179 shots on net through 74 games. Sam Montembeault had a .901 save percentage this year, and given that he has a career .899 save percentage, that's not surprising, and an impressive run of play is not to be expected.
Devon Toews, COL at DAL ($4,800): I've developed an affinity for Toews as a player in recent years and a lot of it owes to writing these DFS articles and thinking to myself, "The Avalanche have a strong matchup, but Cale Makar's salary is so hefty…" And so, here's Toews, a dude with double-digit goals in three of the last four seasons. He hit 50 points in each of his prior three campaigns, and while he "only" had 44 this year, he missed six games. Toews sees a ton of ice time, and has numbers akin to a No. 1 defensemen on some teams. To that end, in Game 1 of this series he played 24:19 and had a goal on three shots on net and added three blocked shots.
