This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
All four games will be available for daily fantasy play with no morning games. The first one will be Lightning-Blue Jackets at 3 p.m. EDT, followed by Avalanche-Coyotes, Bruins-Hurricanes and Blues-Canucks. Despite long overtimes, Round 1 has progressed faster than usual with back-to-back games. All four matchups feature teams that could be pushed to the brink of elimination with a loss.
GOALIES
Petr Mrazek, CAR vs. BOS ($7,600): He'll likely be the starter after a strong performance in Game 3 despite the loss. Rod Brind'Amour said he'd rotate goalies but James Reimer already had his turn, and there's no good reason to sit Mrazek right now. The worry about Mrazek is Jaroslav Halak's strong play and a Carolina offense that's missing Andrei Svechnikov.
Darcy Kuemper, ARI vs. COL ($7,500): A win is unlikely, but the saves will be aplenty. The Avs have dominated the Coyotes throughout the series only to run into a brick wall in Kuemper, who made 49 saves in Game 3.
Jake Allen, STL vs. VAN ($7,400): He extended his strong play in the regular season to a very good performance in Game 3 last night, stopping 39 shots. With the win, there's little reason to go back to Jordan Binnington, especially with the Canucks likely to start Jacob Markstrom again. Allen only has to fear one line, though it's a very good one.
Joonas Korpisalo, CBJ vs. TB ($7,300): Like Kuemper, Korpisalo's fantasy points will largely come from making a lot of saves. The Lightning have dominated possession in this series but only lead by one game due to Korpisalo's otherworldly performances. In Game 3, the Jackets looked noticeably more tired than previous games, which means Korpisalo's going to see a lot of rubber and probably not get a lot of goal support.
VALUE PLAYS
Andre Burakovsky, COL vs. ARI ($4,500): He doesn't shoot much, but Burakovsky now has a point in four of his six playoff games, including three goals on just five shots.
Nino Niederreiter, CAR vs. BOS ($3,800): Svechnikov's return is doubtful, and Niederreiter stands to be one of the benefactors. He was already moved to the top line in order to balance out the scoring, but expect him to take a couple shifts with the second line, as well. His expanded role and relatively low salary makes him an ideal candidate to outperform.
Ondrej Kase, BOS vs. CAR ($3,500): There were some doubts if he could be an effective second-line winger having played only once during the round robin, but three strong games and 11 shots on goal have eliminated much of the doubt. With David Pastrnak's return still uncertain, Kase has been tasked with picking up the slack, and so far has been more effective than Anders Bjork ($3,200).
STACKS
Avalanche vs. Coyotes
Nathan MacKinnon (C - $8,800), Mikko Rantanen (W - $7,700), Gabriel Landeskog (W - $6,600)
If you want to basically use all of your salary space on one line stack, it might as well be this one. They absolutely dominated Game 3, attempting 30 shots and allowing just six at even strength, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Bruins vs. Hurricanes
Charlie Coyle (C - $4,800), Sean Kuraly (W - $3,400), Jack Studnicka (W - $3,000)
Kuraly and Coyle combined for three points, and Boston's more balanced scoring is giving them the edge against Carolina. Studnicka is a rookie so he's boom-or-bust, but it's worth noting that two minutes of his 9:18 came on the power play last game. This line generated the most shots at even strength in Game 3.
Canucks vs. Blues
Elias Pettersson (C - $6,900), J.T. Miller (W - $6,400), Brock Boeser (W - $6,000)
It's an expensive stack but well worth it. Allen looked good, and expect him to start again, but Pettersson and Miller were the only guys who were able to score on him. The Canucks power play has gone 6-for-11 in the series.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman, TB vs. CBJ ($6,500): Whatever injury ails him clearly isn't affecting him that much because he's been a huge difference-maker in this series. When he joins the rush, there's not many that can stop him, and if fatigue starts to set in, the Jackets' D-zone coverage will surely suffer. He's a shots and blocked-shots machine with a big role on the top PP unit.
Cale Makar, COL vs. ARI ($5,800): He's been quietly effective with three assists in three games, but Game 3 also saw a series-high seven shots for Makar, who's finally using the wrist shot that powered him to a Calder nomination. Expect the Avalanche to keep piling on with most of the offense generated from the back end coming from Makar's stick.
Dougie Hamilton, CAR vs. BOS ($5,800): He's been quite good since returning the lineup and remains a puck-possession, shot-generating beast. After a quiet Game 1, Hamilton registered 12 shots over his next two games, and with their forwards struggling on offense, look for Rod Brind'Amour to activate his defense more often -- music to Hamilton's ears.
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. STL ($5,500): Hughes has been arguably the Canucks' MVP in a hard-fought series against the Blues, and even when he's not on the power play, he's been fantastic at even strength, leading the team with 123 shot attempts and ranks second with 54.9 SAT percent.
Justin Faulk, STL vs. VAN ($3,500): He was noticeably more involved on offense, finishing last night's game with a goal and four shots. With Vladimir Tarasenko out and David Perron doing most of the scoring, the Blues have to find ways to generate offense, and part of that will be getting Faulk to jump up a lot more.
