This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Will the Panthers return to the Stanley Cup Final? Or will the Rangers force a seventh game in New York? That's what is on the line Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Well, that, and your DFS contests. You have $50,000 in salary for your six-player lineup. One is your Captain, who earns 1.5 times the points, but at an elevated salary. Here is the lineup I landed on for, potentially, the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals.
CAPTAIN
Carter Verhaeghe, FLA vs. NYR ($13,200): Both of these teams have high-quality goalies with Vezina trophies to their names and strong playoff performances on their resumes. However, the Panthers are at home and are an elite shot-suppression team, which includes allowing a mere 24.5 shots on net per game in the playoffs. Thus, I wanted a Panther for my Captain. Verhaeghe, a "clutch playoff performer," has had two five-game point streaks in the playoffs, and had at least one point in the first four contests of this series.
FLEX
Artemi Panarin, NYR at FLA ($9,200): Against teams that are great at preventing shots, you want players who are great at generating shots. Sure, such a player may not be as productive on that front as usual, but they will likely outperform their teammates and, you know, you only have two teams worth of players to pick from. Panarin is the best Ranger at getting pucks on goal. He has 40 shots on net in 15 playoff games and he led the team with a whopping 303 shots on goal in the regular season. The Bread Man hasn't delivered a goal in his last eight games, but he scored 49 goals with a 16.2 shooting percentage this year, so he's hard to keep in check for too long.
Vincent Trocheck, NYR at FLA ($8,400): In the playoffs, Trocheck leads the Rangers with 43 shots on goal. He also leads the team with 19 points. Only Adam Fox has averaged more ice time per game. Trocheck has been New York's best player this postseason. Thus, you want him in your lineup.
Sam Bennett, FLA vs. NYR ($6,800): Bennett has posted three 40-point seasons in a row, but he's also not played more than 71 games in any of those seasons. He also missed time this postseason due to injury. Bennett is not an Iron Man like former Panther Keith Yandle, but when he plays, he produces. Case in point, he has four goals and three assists in nine playoff games since returning, including getting on the score sheet in four of the five games in this series.
Brandon Montour, FLA vs. NYR ($6,600): Montour only has one point in this series, but he has so much opportunity. He's averaged a whopping 4:27 per game with the extra man in the playoffs. The defenseman had 17 power-play points in 66 games this season. Even against a good penalty kill, if you get over four minutes of power-play time, your chances of getting a point go up a good amount.
Anton Lundell, FLA vs. NYR ($5,800): Since the Panthers are at home, and have been slightly better in this series, I decided to go with four Panthers for my lineup. Lundell is back on the third line with Bennett healthy, but this team is so stacked that it's not like he lacks talent around him. Plus, he's on the second power-play unit. Lundell had a goal on three shots on net in Game 5 and had two multi-point games against the Bruins, so he's by no means a low-ceiling flier to fill out the roster.
