Both of these matchups went into overtime in Game 1, with the Carolina Hurricanes beating the New York Rangers, and the Calgary Flames defeating the Edmonton Oilers. We could have another pair of classics on our hands with a two-game NHL DFS slate. We could see big performances again from Connor McDavid and Chris Kreider. Don’t forget about our award-winning tools either when you are building your lineup with the NHL Matchup Report, NHL DFS Projections, and the NHL Value Finder with all tools working with DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo!.

 

 

 

 


The Hurricanes were able to completely shut down the Rangers' offence in Game 1. They didn’t have a single player with more than three shots on goal, and they scored just one goal total. This isn’t to say that their top players aren’t worth using, as we could still see big games from Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but they should be seen as GPP plays only. 

The Hurricanes didn’t necessarily fare much better, but we did see good performances from Sebastian Aho, and we should continue to see good values from Nino Niederreiter and Jordan Staal — who both played 19 minutes or more in Game 1.

The Rangers saw Jacob Trouba play nearly 30 minutes in Game 1, put up three shots on goal, and block five shots. If he continues to play that kind of volume of minutes, he should continue to be a solid value. Adam Fox didn’t have a great game, but he does have a lot of upside. Jaccob Slavin continues to be a solid value, and it was encouraging to see Tony DeAngelo blocking shots in Game 1, that will really help his floor if he continues to block shots.

Goalies were the real stars in Game 1. Igor Shesterkin showed why he was nominated for the Hart Trophy — stopping 24 of the 26 shots he faced, which kept the Rangers in the game. 

Antti Raanta ensured he will get the Game 2 start after having a phenomenal game stopping 27 of 28 shots, and he is a player who is capable of being consistently good when he can stay healthy.

 

 


Holy schnikes — 15 goals were scored in Game 1 between these two teams! The Oilers got four points from Connor McDavid to go along with five shots on goal, and Leon Draisaitl had three points and four shots. We also saw nice performances from Zach Hyman who had two goals, and Kyler Yamamoto who chipped in two points himself. The only real disappointment on the Oilers' side was that Evander Kane didn’t get a point, who didn’t shoot the puck much either.

For the Flames, we saw multi-point games from Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, Andrew Mangiapane, Blake Coleman, and Elias Lindholm. I would expect all of those players to be worth look today with the emphasis being on the top-line players Gaudreau, Tkachuk, and Lindholm.

We didn’t see a lot of useful performances from the Oilers' defence in Game 1. Evan Bouchard scored a goal, and Kris Russell blocked three shots, but otherwise, there wasn’t much there to speak of. I’m not sure I would make much of an investment in the Oilers' defence today. 

For the Flames, we got three points from Rasmus Andersson, who also added two shots. We also got an assist and four shots from Noah Hanifin, who has shown consistently strong play. 

The safest bet for goalies in this game is likely to avoid them. Yes, Jacob Markstrom is a very good goalie, but even with the win he wasn’t worth his price. I would likely avoid Mike Smith in this series unless he proves otherwise. 

 

 

 

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