DraftKings NHL: Saturday Breakdown

DraftKings NHL: Saturday Breakdown

This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.

Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was an exciting double-overtime affair. Now, the Oilers will try to take a second game on the road from the Stars. The game begins at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday. For DFS purposes, you get $50,000 in salary from DraftKings for six players. One will be your Captain, and he will earn you 1.5 times the points, but he will also carry an elevated salary. With all that in mind, and also Roope Hintz's potential (but far from guaranteed) return as well, here is the lineup I landed on.

CAPTAIN

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM at DAL ($11,400): When you look at the top scorers in the NHL postseason, there are four Oilers in the top five. One of those is Nugent-Hopkins, and his salary is the lowest. Granted, his 17 points are also the lowest, but also, the dude has 17 points in 13 playoff games. He's on the top power-play unit, and he skates next to Connor McDavid when the Oilers aren't loading up the triumvirate of McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman. That's a great place to be.

FLEX

Leon Draisaitl, EDM at DAL ($10,400): I just mentioned Draisaitl, and he is a must have in your lineup. I only passed over him at Captain to save some salary. He's leading the postseason in points, and as you may have heard, the German has at least one point in every single playoff game thus far. Unless you are betting on that changing Saturday, why would you avoid him?

Jason Robertson, DAL vs. EDM ($8,000): Robertson's salary has dipped a bit, probably because he hasn't scored a goal since Game 6 of the first round. However, he has eight assists in his last seven games. Oh, and he has two 40-goal seasons to his name, so we know he can light the lamp. In the battle between Jake Oettinger and Stuart Skinner, the Stars have the clear advantage. Skinner has a career .909 save percentage and was pulled for Calvin Pickard in the last round.

Tyler Seguin, DAL vs. EDM ($7,400): On the flip side, Seguin has been as hot as he's been all year recently. He had both Dallas goals, and put six shots on net, in Game 1, giving him five goals and two assists over his last six outings. Seguin has put 45 shots on goal through 14 playoff games, so he should give Skinner a challenge or two again in Game 2.

Matt Duchene, DAL vs. EDM ($6,400): Duchene has six points over his last 11 games. This season, his first with Dallas, he had 65 points. Skinner has an .888 save percentage in the playoffs. Again, the goaltending edge is clear in this series.

Evander Kane, EDM at DAL ($6,200): Game 1 was fairly even, and my roster for Game 2 is also even. Three Oilers and three Stars, ending with Kane to close out the roster. He's skating next to Draisaitl at even strength, and gets some second-unit minutes on the power play. Kane had a four-game point streak against Vancouver, and over his last three games he's tallied 11 shots on target as well.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Morgan
Chris Morgan is a writer of sports, pop culture, and humor articles, a book author, a podcaster, and a fan of all Detroit sports teams.
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