This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
A double-overtime winner in Game 5 saw Dallas stave off elimination for another day and push the series to Monday's Game 6 matchup. After suffering through a 19-game goal drought in the postseason, veteran Corey Perry clinched the game with his second of the night while fellow member of the 35-plus club Joe Pavelski scored the other goal in the 3-2 victory.
GOALIES
Anton Khudobin, DAL ($15,300/$10,200): Any time you play an extra 29 minutes of hockey, save numbers are going to be inflated, though Khudobin continues to outpace his counterpart, making 39 of 41 shots in Game 5. It was certainly a bounce-back performance for the Russian netminder after having posted a combined 5.65 GAA in his prior two outings, including getting the hook in Game 3.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM ($15,900/$10,600): In his last eight outings, Vasilevskiy has faced 30 or more shots just twice, and both of those were overtime contests. While Khudobin's high volume of saves could offer some fantasy value even if he doesn't secure the win, Vasilevskiy has to be nearly perfect in order to provide high-end production. Consider the fact that the backstop is 3-1 in his last four appearances, yet has earned less than 20 fantasy points in each of those outings.
Captain Options
Goalies (See Above): To utilize a netminder as the captain, you'll need to get creative throughout the rest of the lineup given their high price tags. Still, if the keeper can limit the goals allowed, or even record a shutout, they are likely to be near the top in fantasy points, though you'll obviously have to pick the winning goaltender.
Joe Pavelski, DAL ($12,000): It continues to be Captain America leading the way for the Stars, as he has racked up four goals and one assist in five Stanley Cup Finals contests. While his salary has increased steadily, he remains a cheaper option than teammates Jamie Benn ($12,300) and Tyler Seguin ($13,200) and has produced with significantly more consistency in the postseason.
Ondrej Palat, TAM ($12,600): Through the previous five Finals contests, Palat has notched three goals and two helpers, including a pair of power-play points. His linemates Brayden Point ($14,100) and Nikita Kucherov ($16,200) have produced slightly more points with seven apiece, yet the steep discount to utilize Palat as the captain option will allow fantasy players to spend up in other areas of their lineups.
STACKS
Tampa Bay Lightning
Brayden Point (C - $9,400), Nikita Kucherov (W - $10,800), Ondrej Palat (W - $8,400)
There is just no way to avoid utilizing this trio given how hot they have been of late. They combined for Tampa's first goal in Game 5 with Point also picking up an assist on the second. Given the high salaries, the only really viable way to pull of this stack is to utilize Palat as the captain and then fill out the rest of the six-man lineup with value players like the aforementioned Corey Perry ($4,000)
Dallas Stars
Tyler Seguin (C - $8,800), Corey Perry (W - $4,000), Joel Kiviranta (W - $3,400)
Coach Rick Bowness shuffled the lines up a little heading into Game 5, no doubt in the hopes of getting Seguin and Jamie Benn going. It certainly paid off for Seguin, who registered a playmaker with his trio of assists, though he remains bogged down in a 14-game goal drought. The new line combos also paid off for Perry, who now has three goals in his previous two contests. Kiviranta has cooled significantly with no points in his last four outings, so much so it could open the door for Mattias Janmark ($3,000) to jump back into the top-six, making him the third wheel in this stack.
DEFENSE
Since classic contests require you to utilize defensemen, looking for players that can contribute with blocks certainly is a solid strategy. However, that's unlikely to bring home the bacon when you get into the open flex format of showdown contests. As such, finding the offensive contributors will be a necessity for fantasy players.
Below are recommendations not named Victor Hedman ($9,000) or Miro Heiskanen ($7,800), as those guys figure to have high draft utilization albeit the production to back it up.
Jamie Oleksiak, DAL ($3,000): This season, Oleksiak has registered 10-plus fantasy points on just 15 occasions and 10 of those have been in the playoffs. In fact, his top eight fantasy point totals have come in August and September. The towering defenseman is unlikely to be talked about much in fantasy circles heading into the 2020-21 season, but he has found something in the postseason and DFS players should strike while the iron is hot.
Mikhail Sergachev, TAM ($7,200): It was Sergachev, not Hedman, who scored a goal in Game 5, giving him three points in the Stanley Cup Finals. A quick glance at the youngster's power-play ice time from Game 5 might seem like a concern as he logged just eight seconds with the man advantage yet the Stars took just one penalty in the game, so there wasn't a lot of minutes to go around. He should get more opportunities in Monday's contest, assuming the referees haven't already swallowed their whistles for the rest of the series.
