This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Wednesday turned out OK for Canada. Toronto and Edmonton won. However, can they do it again Friday? We've got two games on the docket! Here are the players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Stuart Skinner, EDM at VGK ($29): Skinner bounced back nicely in Game 4 for the Oilers, and he's not exactly facing stiff competition among these four teams. Three of these teams finished in the top nine in goals per contest. The Golden Knights, though, were 14th. Hey, you have to pick somebody.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Joseph Woll, TOR vs. FLA ($29): Woll came up big in Game 4, and it seems it has earned him another start. However, I don't want to bet on a goalie who has played in 13 total NHL games. The Panthers averaged 3.51 goals and 36.8 shots on net per contest during the regular season and was able to chase likely Vezina winner Linus Ullmark in round one. Don't test this offense.
CENTER
Sam Bennett, FLA at TOR ($20): Bennett was injured heading into the playoffs, but he's been on his game in the postseason. In addition to having four goals and four assists in 10 games, he's put 33 shots on net. Woll has looked good in his limited NHL action, but the key word there to me is "limited." He was down in the AHL when the season began for a reason, one assumes.
CENTER TO AVOID
John Tavares, TOR vs. FLA ($26): Cold players with high salaries are a little risky in the playoffs. That's Tavares right now. He doesn't have a point in this series, and only one goal in his last eight games. Sure, Tavares has a track record, but a lot of players do by this time of the year. I'm not rolling the dice.
WING
Zach Hyman, EDM at VGK ($26): The Oilers switched around the lines again to see if separating Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl would work better. After a win, I expect the configuration to remain the same, which gets Hyman back on McDavid's wing for now, not to mention his spot on the top power-play unit. Hyman had five assists over the first two games of this series, and while he doesn't have a point in the last two games, he's put seven shots on net.
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK vs. EDM ($20): Marchessault has been absolutely peppering the net in this series. He's tallied 23 shots on goal through four games. Now, he's only lit the lamp twice, but an 8.7 shooting percentage is low for the wing. If he can keep shooting like this, and he had 234 shots on goal in 76 games, more goals could, and perhaps should, follow.
WINGS TO AVOID
Reilly Smith, VGK vs. EDM ($17): Smith has five points in the playoffs, but all assists. Also, he's been kind of inactive in this series. The veteran has only five shots on net, and he's been held to a single shot on target three times. That's going to make it hard to score goals, and it seems like he is down on the third line now for Vegas.
Eetu Luostarinen, FLA at TOR ($12): Luostarinen has been the one guy for the Panthers to really fall off in the postseason. While he had 17 goals and 26 assists during the regular season, the Finn doesn't have a point in this series. In fact, he's only put two total shots on goal.
DEFENSE
Morgan Rielly, TOR vs. FLA ($21): Rielly's eight-game point streak ended in Toronto's win, but I'm still good with him in my lineup. He's averaged 2:52 per contest on the power play in the playoffs after he averaged 3:01 during the regular season. The Panthers had the 23rd-ranked penalty kill, so that could pay off Friday.
Shea Theodore, VGK vs. EDM ($19): Theodore had a significant Game 4, picking up an assist and also playing 5:51 on the power play. In fact, he's played over three minutes with the extra man in the last three games, and now Alex Pietrangelo has gotten himself suspended. The Oilers had the 20th-ranked penalty kill, and this series has moved back to Vegas, so Theodore gets to be at home.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Aaron Ekblad, FLA at TOR ($17): Ekblad returned from injury to find himself in a lesser role. He's not really on the power play right now, and in his last game, the defenseman played a mere 16:51. Ekblad may have picked up 14 goals this season, but he has zero in his last 12 games. Less power-play time won't help on that front.
Jake McCabe, TOR vs. FLA ($10): McCabe has an assist in each of his last two outings, but I don't expect that to turn into a streak. He had zero points in the playoffs prior to that, and with 13 blocked shots in 10 games, he's not doing enough on that end to make up for it. Also, while I don't fully trust Sergei Bobrovsky, he's only allowed two goals in each of the four games in this series.
