This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Wednesday brings us one Game 2 and one Game 1, the first of the former and the last of the latter. The Maple Leafs hosts the Panthers at 7 p.m. ET, and then the Jets host the Stars at 9:30 p.m. ET. Exciting stuff! Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations for Wednesday.
SLATE PREVIEW
The phrase that pays is apparently "game-time call." Five key players across these four teams were given that label. The Stars players, Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen, are not surprises at this point. They missed the entire first round, but the Stars kept claiming Heiskanen was primed to return any day now. Meanwhile, for the Jets, the team has to wait and see if Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey are ready to return. Then, there's Toronto's goaltending situation. At first, it seemed like there was no way Anthony Stolarz would be able to play. He was hospitalized Monday with his upper-body injury, but was discharged on Tuesday, and Craig Berube said he might be able to play. If he can't, it'll be Joseph Woll.
GOALIE
Connor Hellebuyck, WPG vs. DAL ($7,600): Yes, Hellebuyck was the story of the Jets-Blues series. However, his issues were really on the road. While he had an .885 save percentage at home, he also had a 2.20 GAA and, crucially, picked up a win in every game. You don't have to be as hesitant as you might think about Hellebuyck, especially if Robertson and/or Miro Heiskanen can't play.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Cole Perfetti, WPG vs. DAL ($4,900): Going back to the end of the regular season, Perfetti had been on a stretch of having a point in every other game. He changed that by scoring two crucial goals in Game 7 of the first round. Perfetti was really engaged down the stretch of that series, tallying 15 shots on net over the final five games against the Blues. Jake Oettinger came up big in a couple contests against the Avalanche, but over his last 11 starts he has an .897 save percentage.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Panthers at Maple Leafs
Aleksander Barkov (C - $6,400), Sam Reinhart (W - $6,500), Carter Verhaeghe (W - $5,500)
The goaltending situation with Toronto is obviously playing a role here. If it's Stolarz, he likely won't be 100 percent. If it's Woll, he had a .909 save percentage this season. The Maple Leafs finished the regular season in the bottom 10 in shots on net allowed per game. Florida's top line is worth the stack regardless of which Leaf gets the call in goal.
Barkov missed Game 1 of the first round, but then he hit the ground running once he took the ice. After returning to action, he's had five points in six games, and he put 14 shots on target. For the fifth season in a row, the Finn averaged more than a point her game. For the fourth season in a row Reinhart tallied more than 30 goals. Also, for the third time in four campaigns he had at least 30 power-play points. The Maple Leafs had the 17th-ranked penalty kill this year, and by this point in the playoffs that stands out. Verhaeghe only had 20 goals this season, but his shooting percentage fell to 8.3. He was more unlucky than anything else. Verhaeghe has been undeterred in the playoffs, though. He's tallied two goals on 17 shots on net and added four assists.
DEFENSEMAN
Thomas Harley, DAL at WPG ($5,100): The combination of Hellebuyck's first-round struggles and the potential for Heiskanen to miss another game has me looking to Harley. He came up huge in the first round, as he averaged 28:09 per contest in ice time. The 23-year-old notched five points, 10 shots on net and 21 blocked shots with all that ice time. Even if Heiskanen returns, Harley had 50 points this season.
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