The weekend begins with a phenomenal night of NHL playoff hockey and with two teams facing elimination. Meanwhile the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues will fight to get the upper hand in a tied series that looks to be the most even on the board. Here is our Friday Fantasy Pick Six and Sleeper. We’ll use Draft Kings prices.
C – Thomas Plekanec – Montreal
Plekanec opened at $7,600. The Canadiens host the Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m. ET with coverage on CBC and CNBC. Montreal leads the best of seven series 3-1 and can clinch it tonight with a win on home ice. Plekanec is one of the most underrated players in the game and had a strong regular season with 26 goals, 34 assists, and a plus-eight. So far in the playoffs Plekanec has scored one goal with one assist and a plus-one.
RW – T.J. Oshie –St. Louis
Oshie opened at $4,800. The Blues host the Minnesota Wild at 9:30 p.m. ET with coverage on NBCSN. This best of seven series is tied at 2-2. The U.S. Olympic hero has been very quiet so far and has to get into gear if the Blues are to survive their opening series with the Wild. Oshie has just one assist so far in the series after a regular season in which he scored 19 goals and 36 assists with a plus-17. The Blues have been building and prepping for the past three years to make a deep playoff run and this year appears to be their best shot at making the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since all the way back in 1970.
LW – Max Pacioretty -Montreal
Pacioretty opened at $8,500. The Canadiens top scorer and offensive threat has bene relatively quiet in the playoffs so far with just one goal and a minus-one. This leaves plenty of potential upside for the Canadiens sniper who had 37 goals and 30 assists on the season with a whopping plus-38. We expect Montreal to close the series out tonight and with Pacioretty reaching the score sheet.
D – Andrei Markov – Montreal
Markov opened at $5,000. Markov remains one of the top offensive defensemen in the game at the age of 36. So far Markov has also had a quiet playoff series with just one assist and a plus one. Markov also has plenty of potential upside as evidenced by his regular season numbers on 10 goals and 40 assists.
D – Keith Yandle – New York Rangers
Yandle opened at $5,500. The Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m. ET with coverage on NBCSN and SN. Yandle is another top offensive defenseman that is yet to break out. Yandle has just two assists so far in the playoffs with a plus-two after a regular season in which he scored six goals and 46 assists. The Penguins lack secondary scoring and defensive depth which may leave the door wide open for a big night by Yandle.
G – Jake Allen – St. Louis
Allen opened at $8,500. We come right back with Allen after going with him successfully in St. Louis’ 6-1 win in game four. Allen and the Blues could be facing the most pressure of any goalie and team in the NHL. Allen has been strong in the playoffs with a .935 save percentage and a 1.51 goals against average playing as the equal to Minnesota’s heralded goaltender Devan Dubnyk. Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock showed a lot of nerve risking his job and playoff failure by starting the young and inexperienced 24 year old Allen but the payoff is potentially large for the Blues and for us.
Sleeper – Brandon Sutter – Pittsburgh
Sutter opened at $4,300. The gritty Sutter is the type of heart and soul character player that thrives in the post season. Sutter had a solid regular season with 21 goals and 12 assists with a plus-six. The Penguins are facing elimination tonight and Sutter is the type of player that will not go away quietly and could figure large. Sutter has one goal and one assist with a minus-one in the playoffs so far.
