This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
The NHL regular season is over! Now, normally I don't get to say that in the middle of the first round, but this is a weird year. The Canucks and Flames finished off their series of games on Wednesday, and so now it's all playoffs, all the time. The Canadiens and Maple Leafs join the fray Thursday, and the first game starts at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Here are my DFS lineup recommendations.
GOALIE
Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK at MIN ($37): Fleury had a stellar season, posting a 1.98 GAA and .928 save percentage. He's continued that in the postseason, having allowed only one goal in both of his outings against the Wild. Even moving out onto the road, I am not worried about Fleury. He's locked in, and he has a team that only allowed 27.3 shots on net per contest in front of him.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Chris Driedger, FLA at TAM ($31): The Panthers swapped Driedger in for Sergei Bobrovsky for Game 2, which isn't surprising. Driedger had a 2.07 GAA and .927 save percentage this year. Still, on the road against Tampa Bay, I am not enthused about this matchup. Sure, the Lightning finished "only" eighth in goals per game this season, but Nikita Kucherov missed the whole season and Steven Stamkos missed a chunk of it as well. Kucherov already has four points in this series. This is a different offense.
CENTER
John Tavares, TOR vs. MON ($25): It's easy to get overshadowed by Auston Matthews, but Tavares had 50 points in 56 games himself. The former Islander also really got on a tear down the stretch with 18 points and 48 shots on net over his final 16 outings. It's expected Carey Price will return to start Game 1 of this season, but is that really a good thing for Montreal? After all, he had a .901 save percentage this year.
CENTER TO AVOID
Aleksander Barkov, FLA at TAM ($31): Barkov had a point on the lone goal Florida scored in Game 2, which isn't surprising. He's the key cog in this offense. On the other hand, Florida did only manage one goal in Game 2, and that doesn't surprise me. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a 2.21 GAA and .925 save percentage this season. With this series moving to Tampa on top of everything else, I don't see Barkov having his usual upside, which makes it tough to justify this lofty salary.
WING
Tyler Toffoli, MON at TOR ($23): Toffoli notched a career-high 28 goals this season, even though he only played in 52 games. Seven of those goals came with the extra man, and the Maple Leafs had the 24th-ranked penalty kill. Toronto is starting Jack Campbell in net, which makes sense given the regular season he had. However, the 29-year-old will be making his playoff debut. That's worth noting.
William Nylander, TOR vs. MON ($23): I'm going with Tavares' linemate here, as Nylander had a seven-game point streak going before being held scoreless in Toronto's season finale. He also started 59.1 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, third most on the Maple Leafs and behind only veterans Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza, who need sheltered minutes at their age. Even if Price and his .901 save percentage isn't in this game, I still like the matchup. Jake Allen only had a .907 save percentage himself.
WINGS TO AVOID
Jake Guentzel, PIT at NYI ($27): This series has featured more offense than I anticipated, but perhaps being at home is what Barry Trotz needs to clamp down defensively. The Islanders only allowed 28.4 shots on goal per contest, so it's not like they typically let a lot of pucks on net. Semyon Varlamov allowed a weird goal early in Game 2, but he ended up making 43 saves on 45 shots and he had a 2.04 GAA and .929 save percentage in the regular season. Guentzel could be kept in check.
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN vs. VGK ($26): Given that the Wild have only two goals in this series, it's not a surprise Kaprizov has zero points. Then again, in a way it is, as the Russian had 51 points this year. During the regular season you don't have to face a team like the Golden Knights every game, though. Vegas had the lowest GAA, the highest penalty-kill percentage, and finished in the top five in shots on net allowed per contest.
DEFENSE
Shea Theodore, VGK at MIN ($23): Theodore ended the regular season in a bit of a point drought, and that's continued into the playoffs. However, the 25-year-old has stayed active, as he's notched eight shots on net over these two postseason games. Theodore is a prolific shooter, as he fired 161 shots on net in 53 games. Playoff teams often don't cede a lot of shots, and indeed the Wild finished right in the middle of the league in shots on goal allowed per contest. That being said, Minnesota allowed more shots on net per game than any other team in action Thursday.
Morgan Rielly, TOR vs. MON ($19): Rielly is probably never going to score 20 goals again, but 35 points in 55 games is plenty impressive. Additionally, he averaged 2:55 per game with the extra man and notched 12 power-play points. The Canadiens had the 23rd-ranked penalty kill, so there is not a lot of reason to fade Rielly and the Leafs here.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Kris Letang, PIT at NYI ($22): Like Rielly, Letang racked up a lot of his production on the power play. The defenseman had 15 of his 45 points come with the extra man. The difference is that the Canadiens ranked 23rd on the penalty kill, while the Islanders ranked sixth. So far, Letang has been held off the scoresheet by New York, even with plenty of power-play time.
Jared Spurgeon, MIN vs. VGK ($17): Spurgeon was the top points producer on the Minnesota blue line with 25 in 54 games. He's also a guy who had double-digit goals in each of his previous two seasons, as well as double-digit power-play points. Of course, the Golden Knights had the best penalty kill in the NHL, so points with the extra man could be hard to come by.
