The Eastern Conference Finals get started tonight with the Washington Capitals traveling to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning. Tampa Bay comes in as big series favorites (-190) and they are -180 tonight for Game-1. We’ll have a quick refresher on rules for the Single Game/Showdown slates on FanDuel and DraftKings, then I (Tommienation1) will talk stacks and individual plays I’ll be rolling out in GPPs.
Scoring
The scoring system on FanDuel will essentially be the same outside of no goalie, but you will want (what you think will be) your top scorer to be in your “Captain” spot where you’ll get all of his scoring times 1.5. On DraftKings, Goals (8) and Shots on Goal (2) are weighted more than they are in the traditional scoring, but the faceoff bonus (0.2) is a little bit of a game-changer, making centers and guys who take face-offs a little bit more valuable. Winning goalies will (in general) also score very well, which is similar to traditional scoring.
Stack
TB2: Palat-Point-Johnson ($25,300 DK/$28,500 FD)
It’s hard not to be impressed with what this line did against Boston in the Conference Semifinals, especially in the home games where they matched arguably the best line in the NHL (BOS1). They should go up against the high-paced Capitals top line that will have Tom Wilson back from suspension — a trio that allowed almost 13 High-Danger Chances Against per 60 minutes in the regular season. The Tampa top line will get most of the attention, but the second line will have a great matchup at even-strength and is much cheaper.
Skaters
Nikita Kucherov ($11,700 DK/$11,600 FD)
If we’re talking highest raw-point projections, Kucherov has to be at or near the top tonight for a 1-game slate. In 10 playoff games this postseason, Kucherov has 69 shot attempts, 39 Scoring Chances, and 12 High-Danger Chances. He should be put in favorable matchups all night, and it may be even more favorable if the Capitals are without Nicklas Backstrom, who is great at shot suppression. As a one-off, you can’t do much better than Kucherov tonight.
Victor Hedman ($8,500 DK/$9,600 FD)
Hedman is averaging over 26 minutes per game in the playoffs over the Lightnings’ first 10 games. We should see huge minutes for him once again tonight in Game-1, and he’s attempted the most shots these playoffs (57) on his team outside of Nikita Kucherov. Hedman will quarterback the top power-play unit where he could have a bunch of opportunities at 5v4, as the Capitals have been short-handed 43 times in 12 playoff games this postseason.
Lars Eller ($6,700 DK/$7,900 FD)
Eller was bumped up to the 2nd line in Backstrom’s absence for Game-6 against the Penguins and in the event that Backstrom misses tonight, he should slot in there again. In the conference semi-finals, Eller had 25 shot attempts, 11 Scoring Chances, and 5 total points. He even played on the top power-play in Game-6, so he would get a major boost if the Caps are down their best shutdown center. Regardless, Eller is priced very nicely on DK and will get extra points for face-offs.
