This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
It's a quick turnaround for the Golden Knights, who eliminated the Wild on Friday and will visit the Avalanche for Game 1 (8 p.m. EDT) of the second round. It's the matchup everyone predicted for the West Division before the season and it should be close with the Avs leading the season series 4-3-1. There's no lack of star power and Max Pacioretty's return comes at the perfect time as Vegas's leading scorer against Colorado this season with six goals and eight points in seven games. It could very well come down to goaltending as Marc-Andre Fleury (.931) and Philipp Grubauer (.936) rank fifth and fourth in save percentage during the playoffs.
The Hurricanes and Lightning (5 p.m.) meet for the first time in the postseason in the all-weather matchup with the Canes holding the edge in the season series 4-3-1, five of which were decided by one goal games and all without Nikita Kucherov. Both teams struggled at times with their previous opponents even though they were heavily favoured while this matchup should be high scoring based on the combined scoring talent.
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer, COL vs. VGK ($8,500): The Avs didn't have much trouble dusting off the Blues and have had a long break having last played Sunday. The Golden Knights will be a very tough opponent, but Grubauer was excellent against them during the season sporting a 1.86 GAA and .935 Sv%. For much of the series against the Wild, Vegas settled for perimeter shots that should easily be stopped by Grubauer. Given the long rest and home-ice advantage, he should have the edge.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB vs. CAR ($8,000): Vasilevskiy produced a .933 Sv% against the Canes during the season, even though he only managed a 3-3-1 record. Carolina's adept at generating offense and the reason why the Lightning earned a few wins was due to Vasilevskiy's excellence that included a shutout and four appearances where he had to make at least 32 saves. The Canes may come in with a little momentum with their overtime win against the Predators, but the Lightning should have the slight edge having won the most games on home ice in the division (21).
VALUE PLAYS
J.T. Compher, COL vs. VGK ($3,500): Nazem Kadri is appealing his eight-game suspension - of which he's already served two - but it's safe to assume he'll be unavailable for Game 1. Compher will play a big role because both sides heavily rely on their top two lines and he'll be playing next to Joonas Donskoi, who scored four points in seven games against Vegas during the season and three across four playoff contests.
LINE STACKS
Golden Knights at Avalanche
William Karlsson, (C - $5,100), Reilly Smith (W - $4,500), Jonathan Marchessault (W - $6,500)
Karlsson and Marchessault combined for nine points against the Avs during the year and should be the better line head-to-head against Vegas's second unit. We don't know if Max Pacioretty is 100 percent healthy, which may hurt his effectiveness.
Lightning at Hurricanes
Yanni Gourde (C - $4,800), Barclay Goodrow (W - $3,200), Blake Coleman (W - $4,300)
Both clubs boast plenty of high-end talent, so the difference may come down to depth. And with Goodrow returning, the Lightning have reunited their checking line that led them to a title last season. They showed a little rust in the last game against the Panthers, but still generated 10 shot attempts in 12:04 5v5 TOI - second most on the team after Steven Stamkos' line, according to Natural Stat Trick. The trio also combined for six goals against the Canes during the season.
DEFENSEMEN
Dougie Hamilton, CAR at TB ($6,300): Perhaps Hamilton is heating up? Even though he only produced one shot in Game 6 – uncharacteristically low for him – he made it count by scoring his first of the playoffs. Hamilton continues to be a shot-generating machine and his upside continues to be quite high with five assists across eight appearances against the Lightning this year.
Cale Makar, COL vs. VGK ($5,800): Makar tallied three points against the Blues, but his impact on the ice was arguably much bigger with a 60.56 5v5 CF% and 86 shots attempts in 74:34 TOI, according to NST. Only Samuel Girard was better, but he doesn't create offense quite like Makar, who remains their top offensive blueline option.
Jaccob Slavin, CAR at TB ($3,800): Slavin represents a solid value play for a defenseman who regularly logs major ice time and seems to be hitting his stride after missing the first few against Nashville due to injury. He's averaging 25 minutes over the last two and contributed two assists in the clincher. Slavin's role is no less important than Hamilton's or Brett Pesce's ($3,900), who has seen his minutes decrease with Slavin's return and has gone scoreless in three straight.
