Daily Fantasy Hockey Playoff Preview: 04/15/18

Each day of the NHL Playoffs, Dylan and Brock will be collaborating on a full preview of that night’s playoff action. Dylan will break down each game from a Daily Fantasy Hockey perspective, giving you some of his favourite targets. Brock will provide his Daily Fantasy Notebook after morning skates, including Projected Lineups, Injury Updates, Goalie Rankings and DFS Value Plays. Enjoy playoff hockey and the best time of the year!

By: Dylan Berthiaume

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

After being lit up for four goals on 19 shots in game 1, Brian Elliot came back with an outstanding performance on Friday night, stopping 34 of the 35 shots he faced en route to a 5-1 victory over the Penguins. The game made for a low scoring night in DFS after the chalky Penguins failed to produce more than a single goal. After being torched by Sidney Crosby and the Pens’ top line on Wednesday, Sean Couturier answered with a goal and two assists of his own in game 2. It was a much needed bounce-back performance from Couturier and the Flyers’ top line who were virtually invisible in game 1 of the series.

Despite the strong showing from the Flyers on Friday the biggest mismatch in this series remains to be the Penguins’ league-best powerplay against the Flyers’ abysmal penalty killing. Again, much of that has been driven by a .812 shorthanded SV% from Elliot, but it’s hard to imagine the Penguins going 0-for-5 on the powerplay again in game 3. As such, a powerplay stack continues to be the optimal DFS build for the Penguins in this series, though you might want to consider fading Crosby, who will be hard-matched against Couturier again on Sunday. Evgeni Malkin and/or Phil Kessel should draw the easier matchups at 5v5.

Minnesota Wild vs. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets have displayed an otherworldly level of dominance at 5v5 in the first two games of the series, posting a 66.15 CF% and outproducing the Wild in scoring chances 75 to 28 (72.81 SCF%). While they’ve done a respectable job keeping the top line of the Jets in check, the Wild have been unable to maintain the second and third lines of the Jets, and there’s reason to expect more of the same as the series shifts back to Minnesota.

All season long Bruce Boudreau has opted to match his second line of Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, and Zach Parise against the top line of his opponent. It’s been an effective strategy as the three of them have allowed just 17 scoring chances against per 60, and they’ve been able to hold Winnipeg 1 off the scoresheet at 5v5 in the first two games of the series. As such you should continue to fade the Jets’ top line, whose only goal this series came with the man advantage, in favour of Winnipeg 2, made up of Paul Stastny, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Patrik Laine. If you can afford to add Dustin Byfuglien to the build you’ll be giving yourself three out of five pieces of the Jets’ top powerplay without having to deal with the Koivu line at 5v5.

Washington Capitals vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets’ top line figures to be the chalk of the main slate after an outstanding performance in game 1 on Thursday. Artemi Panarin posted a 63.41 CF% and was credited with 13 scoring chances for at 5v5 and just 6 against. He capped off a three-point night with the game-winner just six minutes into overtime, and his linemates Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson were gifted three points just for skating in his general vicinity. Columbus 1 makes for another great stack tonight featuring favourable 5v5 and powerplay matchups.

Despite the terrible matchup at 5v5 against the Panarin line, the Capitals’ top line was able to convert on a pair of powerplay opportunities in game 1, albeit without any input from Alexander Ovechkin. As I mentioned heading into game 1, Ovechkin does not need a favourable 5v5 matchup to put up some crooked numbers. With the Blue Jackets posting a bottom-five penalty kill rate in the league this year, Ovechkin can absolutely hit his value in this matchup on the powerplay alone, and he could make for a strong play on a night where he’s bound to see some low ownership.

Los Angeles Kings vs. Vegas Golden Knights

I said it before this series began and I’ll say it again; you should be fading the top lines of both the Kings and Golden Knights for the entirety of this series. The matchup has played out as an absolute wash at 5v5, and neither team has a strong enough powerplay unit to offset a lack of production at 5v5. If you heeded my advice and stayed away from this series you’ve been rewarded through the first two games, as the two teams have combined for just four goals in nearly eight periods of hockey. There’s no reason to expect anything different as the series heads back to LA; the matchups at 5v5 should be identical to what we saw in Vegas.

Jonathon Quick has received a slight bump in price for tonight’s game as he sits at $7,900 on DraftKings. He’s allowed just three goals on 84 shots (.964 SV%) through the first two games in the series, hitting value in back-to-back games despite not registering a win. If the Kings are able to steal one tonight the sky is the limit for Quick, who remains a great GPP play even with the raise in price.

By: Brock Seguin

Injury Updates

IN

– Kris Letang (hand) is expected to be in the Penguins lineup for Game 3.

– Drew Doughty (suspension) will be back in the Kings lineup.

– Mathew Dumba (undisclosed) will play in Game 3.

– Jay Beagle (upper-body) will draw into the Capitals lineup for Game 2.

GAMETIME DECISIONS

– Jake Muzzin (upper-body) will be a game-time decision for Game 3.

– David Perron (undisclosed) will be a game-time decision for Game 3.

OUT

– Alex Wennberg (upper-body) is doubtful for Game 2.

Projected Lineups

Philadelphia Flyers vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Michael Raffl Oskar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Jakub Voracek Travis Konecny – Valtteri Filppula – Wayne Simmonds Scott Laughton – Jori Lehtera – Matt Read Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gostisbehere Travis Sanheim – Andrew MacDonald Brandon Manning – Radko Gudas Brian Elliott ????	Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust Carl Hagelin – Evgeni Malkin – Patric Hornqvist Conor Sheary – Derick Brassard – Phil Kessel Zach Aston-Reese – Riley Sheahan – Tom Kuhnhackl Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang Olli Maatta – Justin Schultz Jamie Oleksiak – Chad Ruhwedel Matt Murray ????

Minnesota Wild vs. Winnipeg Jets

Jason Zucker – Eric Staal – Mikael Granlund Zach Parise – Mikko Koivu – Nino Niederreiter Jordan Greenway – Matt Cullen – Charlie Coyle Marcus Foligno – Joel Eriksson Ek – Daniel Winnik Jonas Brodin – Mathew Dumba Carson Soucy – Jared Spurgeon Nick Seeler – Nate Prosser Devan Dubnyk ????	Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler Nikolaj Ehlers – Paul Stastny – Patrik Laine Mathieu Perreault – Bryan Little – Joel Armia Andrew Copp – Adam Lowry – Brandon Tanev Josh Morrissey – Jacob Trouba Joe Morrow – Dustin Byfuglien Ben Chiarot – Tyler Myers Connor Hellebuyck ????

Washington Capitals vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Tom Wilson Andre Burakovsky – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie Brett Connolly – Lars Eller – Devante Smith-Pelly Chandler Stephenson – Jay Beagle – Alex Chiasson Michal Kempny – John Carlson Dmitry Orlov – Matt Niskanen Brooks Orpik – Jakub Jerabek Philipp Grubauer ????	Artemi Panarin – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Cam Atkinson Boone Jenner – Nick Foligno – Thomas Vanek Sonny Milano – Brandon Dubinsky – Josh Anderson Matt Calvert – Mark Letestu – Oliver Bjorkstrand Zach Werenski – Seth Jones Ian Cole – David Savard Markus Nutivaara – Ryan Murray Sergei Bobrovsky ????

Los Angeles Kings vs. Vegas Golden Knights

Alex Iafallo – Anze Kopitar – Dustin Brown Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli Tobias Rieder – Adrian Kempe – Trevor Lewis Kyle Clifford – Nate Thompson – Torrey Mitchell Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty Oscar Fantenberg – Alec Martinez Dion Phaneuf – Christian Folin Jonathan Quick ????	Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith Alex Tuch – Erik Haula – James Neal Ryan Carpenter – Cody Eakin – David Perron Tomas Nosek – P-E Bellemare – Will Carrier Brayden McNabb – Nate Schmidt Deryk Engelland – Shea Theodore Jon Merrill – Colin Miller Marc-Andre Fleury ????

Goalie Rankings

✅ – Confirmed
????️ – Probable
????️ – Projected

*PHI/PIT Goalies are not ranked because that game is not on the DraftKings Featured Slate*

Value Plays