This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Among the three series taking place Wednesday we've gotten Alex Ovechkin's first-ever playoff overtime goal, the Stars scoring in overtime to even their series with the Avalanche, and an incredible Oilers comeback falling just short thanks to a last-minute Kings goal. Yeah, I'm hyped for Wednesday's hockey. First puck drops at 7 p.m. ET. Here are my lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Goaltending wise, it's not implausible that the Oilers might swap in Calvin Pickard, though at present I have heard nothing to that effect. Injury wise, it's possible Miro Heiskanen will return for the Stars and Aliaksei Protas will return for the Capitals. I stress "possible" on both fronts.
GOALIE
Mackenzie Blackwood, COL vs. DAL ($8,000): I considered Logan Thompson, now that we know he's healthy, but I'll go with Blackwood at home against the Stars. He had one great start and one pretty-good start in Dallas. On the season, after he joined the Avalanche the former Shark had an 1.98 GAA and .921 save percentage at home. On top of that, Jason Robertson is still out for the Stars.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Artturi Lehkonen, COL vs. DAL ($5,100): Lehkonen has a point in each game of this series, though his goal in Game 1 comes with an asterisk given the flukiness of that soccer-style tally. He has put 28 shots on net over his last eight games, though. The Stars allowed 29.0 shots on goal per contest during the regular season, which was in the bottom 10 in the NHL. Also, this season Jake Oettinger had a 3.15 GAA and .896 save percentage on the road.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Kings vs. Oilers
Quinton Byfield (C - $5,300), Kevin Fiala (W - $6,000), Alex Laferriere (W - $3,800)
Only two teams, the Wild and the Canadiens, had higher GAAs this season. Also, the Wild had a 2.88 GAA and the Oilers had a 2.87 GAA, so they were neck-and-neck. Oh, and Minnesota can blame Marc-Andre Fleury for some of that, while the Oilers have two questionable netminders. Stuart Skinner just allowed six goals in Game 1, so he'd have to bounce back in a major way to even be solid Wednesday. For a team that had such a good season, the Kings did a lot of line shifting. However, this is the second line right now, and I'm a fan.
Byfield had something of a lateral move of a campaign after he broke through last season. He had 55 points last year and 54 this year, but his goal total went from 20 to 23. The one-time second-overall pick also has been hot, with 16 points in his last 15 contests. That includes a goal and an assist in Game 1. Fiala's point total also went down, but he was a fine finisher this season. He tallied 35 goals, a career high, and had one in Game 1. The Swiss wing also put six shots on net in Game 1, and that's no surprise. He tallied 244 shots on target this season. Laferriere was solid, or at least playable, as a rookie, but he definitely took strides as a sophomore. He played more than three minutes more per game in terms of ice time, and in that time he notched 19 goals, 23 assists and 193 shots on net. All of those were improvements upon last season in four fewer games. Laferriere also had seven points over his last seven games of the regular season.
DEFENSEMAN
Jakob Chychrun, WAS vs. MON ($5,400): Chychrun didn't have a point in Game 1 of this series, but fret not. He put four shots on net and blocked two shots, which shows he was plenty active. The 27-year-old is coming off a 20-goal season, so he did plenty of producing this year, even though he only played in 74 games. The Canadiens finished in the bottom 10 in GAA and shots on net per game, making them clearly the worst defensive team to make the postseason.
