NHL DFS Plays: August 17th

Line Stacks

Colorado 1 — Landeskog ($5,800) – MacKinnon ($8,500) – Rantanen ($7,100)

The Avalanche have dominated at 5v5 through the first three games of this series, outshooting the Coyotes 102-to-53. Colorado has put their top-3 players together on the top-line and they absolutely dominated Game 3, posting an 83.3 CorsiFor% and 70.6 ScoringChancesFor%.

COL1 is expected to go head-to-head with the Carl Soderberg line for the majority of the game and they should destroy them yet again. ARI3 is giving up 31.8 ScoringChancesAgainst/60, opening the door for MacKinnon and Co. to run wild and help Colorado to a 3-1 series lead.

In the series, MacKinnon and Rantanen are tied for the team lead with eight scoring chances. If you can only fit two of them in your lineup, leaving Landeskog out of the stack would be the play.

Tampa Bay 1 — Palat ($4,800) – Point ($6,700) – Kucherov ($8,000)

Tampa Bay is coming off of a dominating performance in Game 3 but Joonas Korpisalo turned in another great game and limited them to three goals. In the series, Tampa Bay’s top-line has a CF% and SCF% over 65 percent and should continue to feast on the Blue Jackets’ top-9.

Palat replaced Tyler Johnson on the top power-play unit in Game 3, making them an even better full-stack. Throughout the postseason, TBL1 is averaging nearly 37 SCF/60 and the Blue Jackets’ top-6 is struggling to limit those chances.

Like Mackinnon and Rantanen, Point and Kucherov are leading their team in Scoring Chances, Point with 14 and Kucherov in 12.

St. Louis 1 — Schwartz ($5,100) – O’Reilly ($4,900) – Perron ($5,300)

In Game 2, the Blues put O’Reilly, Perron and Schwartz together and they have been a dominant force. They led St. Louis to a win last night and are a terrific option in Game 4. In a small sample size, they have averaged over 52 SCF/60, which is absolutely absurd. They will go head-to-head with the Elias Pettersson line for most of the game and they destroyed them last night.

O’Reilly’s shot volume leaves a lot to be desired but both Perron and Schwartz are volume shooters, making it likely that O’Reilly will pick up an assist on any potential goal.

With Vladimir Tarasenko out last night, Schwartz joined O’Reilly and Perron on PP1, giving them an even higher ceiling.

Boston 2 — DeBrusk ($4,200) – Krejci ($4,100) – Kase ($3,900)

Besides David Pastrnak, who is unlikely to play in Game 4, Boston’s second line is averaging more playing time than any other forwards on the Bruins roster. BOS2 has performed very well and have clearly become the go-to line for head coach Bruce Cassidy.

Their DraftKings prices have not caught up to their play, making them a terrific value option on Monday. Kase remains under $4K but comes in averaging 3.7 shots per game in the series. Krejci has been even better, picking up two goals, three assists and nine shots vs. the Hurricanes. Jake DeBrusk was moved off of the top PP unit in Game 3 but remains a solid option while he’s playing over 15 minutes at even-strength on a line with Krejci.

With Andrei Svechnikov out, the Hurricanes lineup will be in flux, making BOS2 and even more intriguing option tonight.

Defensemen

Cale Makar — COL ($5,900)

In Game 3, COL1 and Makar skated together almost exclusively. MacKinnon spent over 15 minutes of his 5v5 ice-time on the ice with Makar, making him a must-play with COL1 if you can fit his salary. Makar had a quiet round-robin but has an assist in all three games vs. Arizona, while averaging 3.33 shots and 11.9 DraftKings Points per game.

Charlie McAvoy — BOS ($4,600)

McAvoy may not play on the top power-play unit but it seems like he rarely comes off of the ice at even-strength. In the series, he has two assists and is averaging 3.0 shots and 1.0 blocks per game. He has a decent floor because of his ice-time and spends the majority of that with BOS2.

Mikhail Sergachev — TBL ($4,000)

Sergachev continues to quarterback the Lightning’s top power-play unit and his $4,000 price tag makes it a lot easier to stack him with TBL1 than Victor Hedman, who is $5,700. Against the Blue Jackets, Sergachev has one assist while averaging 4.0 shots, 2.3 blocks and 12.7 DK Pts per game.

Zach Bogosian — TBL ($2,500)

If you can’t squeeze Sergachev into your TBL1 stack, Bogosian is a solid value option at the minimum price. Bogosian is playing on the top-pair with Hedman and is playing 17-to-20 minutes per game. Bogosian has been getting enough shots on net to easily hit value at $2,500, averaging 4.0 shots and 1.0 blocked shots per game in the series.

Goalies

Jaroslav Halak — BOS ($8,000)

With Tuukka Rask option out of the NHL Playoffs a few hours before Game 3, Halak started and stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 3-1 win. In the series, Carolina has averaged 28 shots per game, giving Halak plenty of save potential. The Bruins have done a really good job at limiting the Hurricanes in the series and Carolina will have an even more difficult time generating offence without Andrei Svechnikov.

In the series, Boston has a 2.77 ExpectedGoalsFor/60 (all situations) while Carolina is at 1.88. They’ve been the better team in the first three games and have shown the ability to win without Pastrnak.

Jake Allen — STL ($7,600)

With Jordan Binnington struggling mightily in Games 1 and 2, the Blues turned to Allen in Game 3. The veteran netminder was terrific, stopping 39 of 41 shots in the 3-2 overtime win. In his only two starts against Vancouver this season, he’s stopped 62 of 66 shots (.939 SV%). Even with a back-to-back, St. Louis is expected to go back to Allen in Game 4. Allen has had great success in the playoffs in his career, posting 2.02 GAA and .926 SV% in 21 starts.