Montéal Canadiens at Winnipeg Jets

 

Winnipeg comes into tonight looking to head back to Montreal even in the series, and also get out from under the shadow that has been created by the Mark Scheifele story.

 

Jake Evans will be out tonight. Artturi Lehkonen and Jon Merrill are listed as day-to-day.

 

Nicely for the Canadiens, their best players have been on the same line recently. You have Tyler Toffoli and Nick Suzuki who will come at a higher price tag, and come with more certainty, and Toffoli on his own should hold value, due to his shot volume. Then you have the lower-cost pair of Eric Staal and Corey Perry . They will come in at value prices but have equal point production, but their floors are much lower.

On Defence, we continue to have three players of interest. Shea Weber and Jeff Petry , who both come with high floors and high ceilings, and then you have Ben Chiarot who comes in with a nice floor with his blocked shots, but a significantly lower ceiling.

In goal, Carey Price wasn't great in game one, but in each of his three sub-standard performances in the first round he bounced back nicely each time. I expect that trend to continue.

For the Jets, losing their top centre is going to hurt. They will look for Blake Wheeler to step up, and their forward depth is enough that while they will have less firepower, they won't be completely hampered, as we will likely see Paul Stastny jump into the 1C spot. The other player I look to see more from is Pierre-Luc Dubois . The Jets will need him to step up and be more of a presence with Scheifele out. You will also want to make sure you don't lose sight of the usual suspects for the Jets as well with Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers .

In five games these playoffs Logan Stanley has been blocking a lot of shots, with sixteen blocks in five games. His offensive ceiling is limited, as are his minutes but he is a nice value play. Josh Morrissey has also been effective in blocking shots, and also offers you more offence, and Neal Pionk is also a candidate for usage as he provides more shot volume and point upside.

Connor Hellebuyck had his first bad start of these playoffs in game one, and in some ways was the difference between these two teams. Look for Hellebuyck to be better tonight and is usable in cash games, but he isn't ideal in GPP as he likely won't see a lot of shots tonight.

 

Colorado Avalanche at Vegas Golden Knights

 

Vegas heads home tonight after losing two games in Denver. They will need a win tonight if they want to stay in this series.

Looking at injuries tonight, Vegas has Brayden McNabb listed as day-to-day as he is still in COVID-19 protocol, additionally, Mattias Janmark is listed as day-to-day as well after having to leave game two.

Outside of Max Pacioretty , the forward group has been tough to predict. We haven't seen as much production from Mark Stone or Chandler Stephenson recently, but with Vegas at home, it should be easier to get them going. William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault have two points in their last three games, and Marchessault is also a useful target as a one-off with his shot volume.

On the backend, Shea Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo are the primary targets. Theodore leads all players in points over the team's last three games with four points. Both players provide similar shot volume, but Pietrangelo has many more shot blocks, so keep that in mind if you're looking at them. Alec Martinez at this point has become a lock for DK's block bonus. He is averaging 3.7 blocks per game.

Fleury wasn't fantastic in game two from a stats perspective, but most surprisingly he only saw 25 shots. If Vegas continues to limit shots it will severely limit his value.

Even on the road, it will be hard to deny the value of Nathan MacKinnon . He has had eleven shots in the first two games, to go along with four points. I wouldn't lose sight of Mikko Rantanen though. He is a great pair with MacKinnon, especially on a night like tonight where there are fewer certain quantities in the player market. Brandon Saad is an interesting player tonight though on the road having scored a goal in five straight games.

From the backend, it will be hard to look past Cale Makar 's point production. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative you can look at Samuel Girard , and Devon Toews .

Philipp Grubauer continues to be a stud for the Avs. He has been a difference-maker night in and night out and should be considered in cash and GPP games especially if he is going to see nearly 40 shots again.