This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
It's the final day of April, and we get to celebrate on Sunday with two NHL Game 7s with the first one starting at at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The second round will start soon, but let's first look at the players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Alexandar Georgiev, COL vs. SEA ($35): I feel like the two home teams, Boston and Colorado, offer the best chances of winning. The Panthers boast a formidable offense that's been clicking in the playoffs. I fear the Kraken less. As such, I'm going with Georgiev with his 2.53 GAA and .918 save percentage this season.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Linus Ullmark, BOS vs. FLA ($34): Ullmark is going to win the Vezina, but he's had a tough time with the Panthers allowing at least four goals in three starts in this series. Florida finished sixth in goals per game, but also ranked first in shots, so Ullmark will have to work for it.
CENTER
Pavel Zacha, BOS vs. FLA ($17): With David Krejci returning for Game 6, Zacha's minutes went down, but he still picked up an assist. He's also registered five helpers and 15 shots this series. Sergei Bobrovsky took over from Alex Lyon, but he's given up five goals in two of three appearances against the Bruins.
CENTER TO AVOID
Aleksander Barkov, FLA at BOS ($28): Barkov has enjoyed a solid series, but I don't know if I want to shell out for his salary on the road. The Bruins did post the league's lowest GAA and best penalty kill, after all. Barkov has notched a power-play point in each of his last two games, but it's hard to bet on that happening again.
WING
Artturi Lehkonen, COL vs. SEA ($20): The Avs swapped their lineup around for Game 6, so Lehkonen ended up on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen and proceeded to register two goals and five shots. Assuming this trio stays together Sunday, that bodes well for Lehkonen.
Tyler Bertuzzi, BOS vs. FLA ($19): After one scoreless game, Bertuzzi got back on the scoresheet with three points Friday to give him 19 points in his last 14 outings. Bobrovsky posted a GAA over 3.00 during the season, making high-scoring matchups the norm for the Panthers.
WINGS TO AVOID
Carter Verhaeghe, FLA at BOS ($24): With only two games on the schedule, I'm probably going to be avoiding high-salary players from the team on the road against the NHL's best defense. I know the Bruins haven't looked like that this series, but they did post a 2.12 GAA this season and the second-best team was at 2.56. Boston could clamp down on Verhaeghe, who's been dishing out the assists during the playoffs but only has one goal.
Jordan Eberle, SEA at COL ($17): Eberle just had a three-game point streak snapped with two of those games at home. In Denver, he's only managed one assist and six shots from three outings. And Jared McCann isn't on Eberle's line anymore.
DEFENSE
Devon Toews, COL vs. SEA ($20): Toews was paired with Cale Makar in Game 6, and he racked up three assists in the big win. He was actually hot heading into the postseason with 19 points across 15 appearances. While the Kraken were decent at preventing shots this season, Philipp Grubauer struggled to an .895 save percentage.
Dmitry Orlov, BOS vs. FLA ($18): Orlov, like Bertuzzi, got back at it on Friday. He's posted six assists this series while only failing once to register a point. Bobrovsky had a 3.07 GAA and .901 save percentage during the regular season, so there's a reason why Lyon was used when the playoffs began.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Aaron Ekblad, FLA at BOS ($18): Ekblad has mostly been involved defensively since returning from injury. While he's notched eight blocked shots from his last two games, he also has zero points and only two shots. And while Ullmark has experienced issues of late and my confidence has been diminished when it comes to his play, he did produce an 1.89 GAA and .938 save percentage.
Bowen Byram, COL vs. SEA ($18): The shifting of Colorado's lineup hit Byram the most. Over the first five games, he averaged 22:40 in ice time. But on Friday, Byram only saw 18:04 with one shot on net. His upside feels lower than Makar or Toews, or even Samuel Girard. I'm looking elsewhere on the Colorado blue line.
