This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
We've had a great run of four NHL playoff games every day of the postseason. That ends Tuesday. Not because a series is over! No, I assume there is a scheduling conflict in Boston, moving the Bruins-Panthers to Wednesday. Instead, we have three games Tuesday. Here are my players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. MIN ($30): It hasn't been the best series for Oettinger, but he came up huge in a must-win Game 4. It's not the first time the Minnesota native has stepped up when needed, and during the regular season he had a 2.37 GAA and .919 save percentage. The Wild ranked 23rd in goals per game, lowest of any playoff team. I can see Oettinger playing the hero once again.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Joonas Korpisalo, LOS at EDM ($29): After joining the Kings, Korpisalo had a 2.13 GAA and .921 save percentage. In the playoffs he has a .918 save percentage, but his GAA is 3.00. Why? Because the Oilers have broken through the Kings' defense to pound the net with shots (playing three overtime contests has goosed the numbers as well, to be fair). Korpisalo has faced 158 shots on goal in four games, and do you think Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are about to take their foot off the gas at home in Game 5?
CENTER
Brock Nelson, NYI at CAR ($21): Obviously, in the playoffs the matchups are often less fruitful, and when you drop down from four games to three (and remove the Panthers from the mix), picks get trickier. Nelson has been good in this series, tallying three points and 11 shots on net. Raanta had a 2.23 GAA this season, but a .910 save percentage. If shots get to him, good things can happen, and Nelson has been able to do that thus far.
CENTER TO AVOID
Bo Horvat, NYI at CAR ($20): Welcome to the postseason, when you might recommend one center from a team but face another from the same squad. Horvat has not been the addition the Islanders hoped for, at least in the playoffs. He has one point, and it was a short-handed goal, so even that is a little fluky. The former Canuck has also only put seven shots on net, so he has been kept in check more than Nelson.
WING
Viktor Arvidsson, LOS at EDM ($22): Arvidsson put Vincent Desharnais in the wash so bad in Game 4 that Jay Woodcroft nailed the defenseman to the bench the rest of the night. The Swedish forward has been on fire in this series, tallying five points and 15 shots on net. That includes three points with the extra man, and the Oilers had the 20th-ranked penalty kill this year.
Martin Necas, CAR vs. NYI ($20): Necas finally got himself a playoff goal in Game 4, but he's been consistent. He has three shots on goal in all four games of this series, and he did have two assists in Game 1. Ilya Sorokin is a great goalie, but he did have a .911 save percentage on the road during the regular season.
WINGS TO AVOID
Jason Robertson, DAL vs. MIN ($35): Robertson has been good, but at his salary, any potential slip is notable. On that front, he has registered fewer shots on net game by game, culminating in zero shots on net in Game 4. Wisely, Marc-Andre Fleury sightings are presumably done for the playoffs, which means Filip Gustavsson and his .931 save percentage in net for the Wild from here on out.
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN at DAL ($34): Kaprizov only returned from injury just before the playoffs began, so maybe he's not fully healthy? His salary is indicative of his usually great level of play, but he has all of one point in this series. Oettinger has had his issues in this series too, but he is coming off his best start, and he did have a .919 save percentage this season.
DEFENSE
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. LOS ($22): No defenseman in the NHL is hotter than Bouchard right now. He has a seven-game point streak and has seven points in the playoffs. Six of them have come with the extra man, and that could continue. The Kings had the 24th-ranked penalty kill this season.
Matt Roy, LOS at EDM ($17): Though he does not see time on the power play, it's Roy, not Drew Doughty, who has been the best defenseman for the Kings. He has a point in three of the four games, and he's blocked 10 shots as well. Stuart Skinner got pulled in Game 4, so it's not like the Oilers are loving their goaltending situation right now.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Noah Dobson, NYI at CAR ($21): What does Dobson do well? Put pucks on net and tally power-play points. Well, the Hurricanes were first in shots on net allowed per game, and second in penalty-kill percentage. On that front, Dobson only has two points in this series, both assists in Game 2 when he didn't play a second on the power play.
Jared Spurgeon, MIN at DAL ($16): Spurgeon has two points, both assists, in this series. Both points came on the power play, but that kind of success may be hard to sustain. The Stars had the third-ranked penalty kill, and with Oettinger in net obviously things look even better for the squad.
