This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
The Islanders did their job, as they say, winning a road game in Tampa Bay to split the first two contests of this series. Now, these two teams move to New York, where the Islanders have home-ice advantage. For DFS purposes on Yahoo you get $130 to spend on five players, one of which is your Superstar worth 1.5 times the points.
Personally, I'm skipping the goalies Thursday. The Lightning scored 3.21 goals per game during the regular season without Nikita Kucherov, and they are up to 3.31 in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Islanders have allowed a surprising 36.9 shots on net per contest in the postseason. Hence, the lack of confidence in Semyon Varlamov. On the other hand, Andrei Vasilevskiy has a 2.21 GAA and .933 save percentage in the playoffs, which are unimpeachable numbers. That being said, the Islanders have scored 3.36 goals per game in the postseason, and this series is moving to their home arena. The Russian netminder has the highest salary of any player at $38, and that's a big chunk of change to live up to. Plus by eschewing the goalies you can really stack a lineup, which I have done below.
SUPERSTAR
Nikita Kucherov, TAM at NYI ($34): Unlike other sites that use a similar format for single-game DFS, you don't pay extra salary for your Superstar on Yahoo. As such, why not go with the guy who has had the best postseason of anybody from a scoring perspective? Kucherov has 22 points. Nobody else has more than 15. The math adds up.
FLEX
Steven Stamkos, TAM at NYI ($29): I was initially a little hesitant on Stamkos at this salary, but ultimately I decided to buy in. He's a proven commodity, has averaged over a point per game over the last four seasons and had 34 points in 38 games in an injury-laden campaign this year. Stamkos has been healthy in the playoffs though, and has 14 points in 13 games. Also, if Tampa's power play gets going, Stamkos is likely to benefit.
Brayden Point, TAM at NYI ($24): Kucherov has the most points in the playoffs, but Point has the most goals with 10. In fact, he's on a five-game goal streak. It's helped he's gotten a ton of power-play time. Point has averaged 3:32 with the extra man, and nine of his points have come on the power play.
Victor Hedman, TAM at NYI ($23): Hedman finally got his first goal of the playoffs in Game 2 of this series. Not that the Swedish defenseman was struggling. He has 12 assists in the postseason, and a goal was bound to come. Hedman is shooting at a 3.2 percent clip in the playoffs, and his career mark is 6.8 percent.
Mathew Barzal, NYI vs. TAM ($19): I'm rounding things out with the Islanders' best player. See, I told you that you can stack a lineup if you avoid a goalie. Barzal has been on fire for a while, with a point in six of his last seven games, tallying eight points overall in those contests. The 24-year-old also has 22 shots on net in those seven games.
