FanDuel NHL: Thursday Targets

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Published on June 3, 2021

SLATE PREVIEW

The Islanders battled back and evened it up at one game apiece as the series against the Bruins shifts to Long Island for Game 3 (7:30 p.m. EDT). The difference? Semyon Varlamov's 39-save effort, the power play clicked and they got scoring from their depth players, although their top line remains mostly invisible. The play was also much more open featuring 81 shots, which probably favours the Bruins a little more.

It's tough to see the Hurricanes down 2-0 in the series when they outshoot the Lightning but ended up losing 2-1 in both games. They deserve a better fate, but Vezina-finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy has been difficult to beat. Tampa was excellent at home during the season with a 21-7-0 record.

GOALIES

Semyon Varlamov, NYI vs. BOS ($8,000): Varlamov's last home start was not good, allowing five goals on 27 shots in a loss, but Game 2 was one of his best performances and he should get the nod again. Tuukka Rask's injury has become a topic again, and while Game 3 should feature the same goaltending matchup, you wonder if it'll be an issue. Note the Isles won 21 games at home during the season -- second-most in the league -- with Varlamov in net for 12 of them.

Alex Nedeljkovic, CAR at TB ($7,800): Nedeljkovic is a good value play as the least expensive goalie among the starters. His stats in Game 2 didn't look good, but it's hard to stop pucks when they come at you so infrequently, and the Canes have come thisclose to winning both Games 1 and 2. If the Canes can just do a slightly better job at finishing, they should still have a good chance of winning.

VALUE PLAYS

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, NYI vs. BOS ($4,800): Pageau scored two points in Game 2 to spearhead the offense and it's good value for a third-line center who plays top-six minutes and also plays on the top PP unit with Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier.

Martin Necas, CAR at TB ($4,400): Necas has yet to score a point in Round 2 but he still has considerable top-six upside and one of the cheaper Hurricanes forwards available. With both of his regular linemates – Vincent Trocheck and Nino Niederreiter – probably unavailable for Game 3, Necas will have to bear even more of the offensive responsibility. The Canes have not revealed their lines but interesting to note Necas' third-most common linemate behind Trocheck and Niederreiter during the season was Sebastian Aho.

LINE STACKS

Islanders vs. Bruins

Brock Nelson (C - $5,500), Anthony Beauvillier (W - $6,700), Josh Bailey (W - $5,800)

This might as well be the Isles' top line with the way things have been going for Barzal and Jordan Eberle. Beauvillier's speed will come in handy against the Bruins, and both Nelson and Bailey chipped in with a point apiece in Game 2.

Lightning vs. Hurricanes

Anthony Cirelli (C - $4,900), Alex Killorn (W - $5,500), Steven Stamkos (W - $7,600)

The only player with questionable value on this line is Stamkos, who is the second-most expensive forward on the Lightning even though he's playing on the second line, ranks fourth in playoff scoring on the team and doesn't score quite like he used to. However, Cirelli and Killorn are both good plays, and the Canes have done a good job limiting the Lightning's top line to just one goal and nine shots through two games.

DEFENSEMEN

Charlie McAvoy, BOS at NYI ($6,000): McAvoy has stepped up his offense in the playoffs and scored a point in each of the first two games. He plays a huge role for the Bruins and continues to quarterback the top PP. He's likely the best option among the elite defensemen given how surprisingly low-scoring the Canes-Lightning series has been.

Brett Pesce, CAR at TB ($4,000): Jaccob Slavin ($3,800) is also a similar value play because both defensemen play a lot of minutes for the Canes at even strength and on the penalty kill. Hamilton, Slavin and Pesce are the only Canes defensemen to have scored more than one point in the playoffs, and both Slavin and Pesce are their best shot blockers. The edge that Pesce may have over Slavin is health; Slavin missed three games earlier against the Predators.

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