This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The Avalanche smashed the Lightning in Game 2. Now, don't expect Game 3 to be more of the same. Lest we forget in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Rangers handled the Lightning by a score of 6-2. Over the final four games of that series, the Rangers scored five goals total. We're in Tampa for Game 3, and that changes the dynamic. The single-game DFS rules over at DraftKings remain the same. You have $50,000 to dish out to six players. Your captain gets you 1.5 times the points, but DraftKings is also the one DFS site that makes you give extra salary to your captain. Here's a lineup for Monday you may want to consider.
CAPTAIN
Gabriel Landeskog, COL at TAM ($11,700): With the elevated salary required for a captain, I tend to try and find the right balance of upside and salary for the role. Landeskog provides that Monday. He had 59 points in 51 regular-season games. In the playoffs he has 19 points in 16 games. The Swede gets to play on the top line and on the top power-play unit, and you can't argue with the success Colorado's offense has had in the postseason, or in this series.
FLEX
Cale Makar, COL at TAM ($9,800): Even as somebody who has been avidly watching the NHL playoffs and is well aware of the numbers because I write articles like this very one you are reading, it still doesn't fully click when it's noted that Makar is leading the Avalanche in playoff points. However, that is indeed the case. He has 24 points in 16 games, and he's had some incredible outings as well. On five separate occasions Makar has had three or more points in a game. Even though you don't need defensemen in your single-game lineup, this is one you want.
Steven Stamkos, TAM vs. COL ($8,200): The Lightning aren't going to get shut out at home in Game 3. I feel confident in that fact. Stamkos doesn't have a point yet in this series, but points usually aren't hard to come by for him. He has tallied 15 points in the playoffs, and that comes after he had 106 in the regular season. If Tampa does anything offensively, it likely goes through Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov.
Valeri Nichushkin, COL at TAM ($7,200): Nichushkin has two points in both games in this series. In fact, he has had two points in three of his last four outings. The Russian forward had been wayward in his career prior to this season, but the Avalanche stuck him on the top line with Landeskog and Nathan MacKinnon and it completely turned things around for him. I also like the fact Nichushkin has already put 11 shots on net in this series.
Ondrej Palat, TAM vs. COL ($7,000): Palat is Tampa's equivalent of Nichushkin, but with a longer track record. He skates on the top line and that's helped him tally a point in nine of his last 11 outings. Palat has also had over 40 points in each of his last three seasons, proof that he's a reliable secondary scoring option.
Nick Paul, TAM vs. COL ($6,000): To round out the lineup I was hoping to grab a Lightning player in order to have somebody who would be at home in Game 3. I think Tampa is going to really step up Monday. Paul has a decent amount of upside at this salary. He had 14 points in 21 games after joining the Lightning in a trade, and he is skating with Brayden Point as his center, and Point should get himself better acclimated as the series goes on.
