This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
After the appetizer Saturday's two playoff games provided, we have a proper entrée from the NHL on Sunday with four matchups and the first starting at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Looking for some DFS help? Look no further!
SLATE PREVIEW
No team is on the first or second leg of a back-to-back. All eight clubs are seemingly locked into their primary goalie. These are all Game 1s. Yeah, this is all fairly straightforward.
GOALIE
Igor Shesterkin, NYR vs. WAS ($8,500): Purely on the matchup, this is an easy call. The Jets finished 15th in the NHL at 3.16 goals per game, which ranks them seventh of Sunday's eight teams. In eighth, we have the Caps at 28th overall as they only averaged 2.63 goals. I'd be taking any playoff netminder at home with such a favorable opponent, but it also happens Shesterkin is a former Vezina winner who rebounded from a slow start to finish with a 2.58 GAA and .912 save percentage.
VALUE PLAY
Sam Bennett, FLA vs. TAM ($6,000): Bennett centers Florida's second line, which also includes Matthew Tkachuk and Carter Verhaeghe. He enters the playoffs having tallied four goals, three assists, and 24 shots over his last eight games. Andrei Vasilevskiy was never able to consistently find his usual form after returning from injury and ended up with a 2.90 GAA and .900 save percentage. And even across his last 20 appearances, he only marginally improved with a 2.83/.903 line.
FORWARD LINE STACK
Jets vs. Avalanche
Sean Monahan (C - $5,800), Nikolaj Ehlers (W - $6,600), Tyler Toffoli (W - $6,400)
After the Jets fizzled out in the playoffs last year, they didn't stand pat. And when they still weren't happy, they made deals during the season. Two of these trades brought in Monahan and Toffoli, who helped give the Winnipeg offense a boost. The Avs carry the iffiest goaltending situation of the eight teams on Sunday. And if Justus Annunen wasn't 24 who's only logged 16 NHL games, he might get the nod over Alexandar Georgiev. The latter posted an .897 save percentage on the season, though all signs point to him starting against the Jets in Game 1.
Monahan was playing well with the Canadiens, but saw an uptick in production once he was surrounded by better talent racking up 13 goals and 11 assists from 34 games - including two and one of each when Winnipeg routed Colorado 7-0 last week. Ehlers has suffered a lot of injuries throughout his career, so I want to shout him out for playing in all 82 games and for his 25 goals on 233 shots alongside 36 assists. He seems to be enjoying time with his new teammates with 16 points in his last 17 matchups. Toffoli has moved around so much and seemingly never has an issue acclimating, so it makes sense the Jets acquired him around the deadline to bolster the attack. And he's been able to register his second straight season with at least 30 goals, including seven on 50 shots since joining the Jets.
DEFENSEMAN
Quinn Hughes, VAN vs. NAS ($7,100): "Hey, how about rostering the player who'll probably win the Norris?" is not necessarily bold or insightful, but of course salary considerations come into play. In this instance, I feel like having Hughes on your roster makes sense. What does he do best? He produces on the power play. This year, he set a new personal-best with 38 points while up a man. Nashville managed the 22nd-ranked penalty kill, so Hughes has a real opportunity here. I think you'll get plenty of value for the DFS salary.
