This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
The first two series of the second round began Tuesday. The other two drop the puck Wednesday. Here are my recommendations for your DFS lineup...
GOALIE
Jacob Markstrom, CGY vs. EDM ($8,000): Jake Oettinger stole the show in round one, but Markstrom also had a 1.53 GAA and .943 save percentage in the opening series of his postseason. That follows a season in which he had a 2.22 GAA and .922 save percentage. Calgary also had the sixth-ranked penalty kill, which could give Edmonton's power play a bit of trouble.
Antti Raanta, CAR vs. NYR ($7,500): Though Raanta is a backup goalie, he has a lot going for him. He's at home, and the Hurricanes ranked first in shots on net allowed and penalty-kill percentage. The Rangers, meanwhile, ranked 17th in goals per game.
VALUE PLAYS
Frank Vatrano, NYR at CAR ($4,900): After he was dealt to the Rangers, Vatrano was placed on the first line pretty much right away. There, he picked up 13 points in 22 outings during the regular season, and he's added five points in the postseason. Raanta looked good in the first round, and the Hurricanes have a stout defense, but the Finnish goalie is still a backup. Honestly, I'm not down on any of the four expected starting goalies. There's no easy matchup to target.
Mikael Backlund, CGY vs. EDM ($4,800): Backlund is Calgary's second-line center, and in the first round he scored three goals on 21 shots on net and added an assist. While he only had 12 goals during the regular season, he put 214 shots on goal. His 5.6 shooting percentage was a career low. Mike Smith has been great recently, but the Oilers allowed 32.3 shots on net per contest in the regular season.
LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Hurricanes vs. Rangers: Sebastian Aho (C - $6,900), Andrei Svechnikov (W - $6,400), Seth Jarvis (W - $4,700)
Igor Shesterkin is going to win the Vezina. He's a Hart finalist. That being said, he had a bad first round. Across seven games he posted a 3.66 GAA and .910 save percentage. In three road outings he had a 6.51 GAA and .835 save percentage. The Hurricanes have been helping their first line out, as they are the top three on the team in offensive-start-zone percentage in the playoffs.
Aho's first round wasn't great, but he was red hot heading into the playoffs. Over his last 16 games he has six goals and eight assists, and on the season he had 81 points in 79 contests. Svechnikov had his first 30-goal season, and he put a career-high 249 shots on net as well. Jarvis started 61 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone during the regular season, which was highest on the Hurricanes. That helped the rookie tally 40 points in 68 games.
DEFENSE
Jaccob Slavin, CAR vs. NYR ($5,200): Slavin was arguably the star for the Hurricanes in the first round. He tallied eight points from the blue line, and had at least one point in six out of seven games. That came after he had 42 points during the regular season, a personal best. As I noted, while Slavin was having a great first round, Shesterkin had 3.66 GAA and .910 save percentage.
Rasmus Andersson, CGY vs. EDM ($5,000): Andersson had 19 power-play points this season. He averaged 2:49 per game with the extra man this year, and in the playoffs he's averaged 2:38. The Oilers had the 17th-ranked penalty kill, and while Smith wasn't in net for most of those games, that's still mediocre.
