Yahoo NHL: Wednesday Picks

This article is part of our Cap Compliance series.

What to make of Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final? Up to this point, the Canadiens have defied expectations. Alas, expectations happen for a reason. The Lightning took down the Habs by a score of 5-1 to open the series. It does not feel like there’s much of a hope for Montreal, and you might want to make the most out of playing DFS hockey while you still can this season. For Game 2, you get $135 in salary to spend on five players. One of them is your “Superstar” worth 1.5 times the points. Here’s a roster you might put together.

SUPERSTAR

Nikita Kucherov, TAM vs. MON ($34): This is a no-brainer to me. After missing the entire regular season, Kucherov has 30 points in the playoffs. He’s going to lead the postseason in scoring. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have also had back-to-back playoff campaigns with at least 30 points. That’s with him missing the bulk of a game with an injury too! The Russian had three points in Game 1. I expect an impressive encore.

FLEX

Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM vs. MON ($38): How good has Vasilevskiy been? Kucherov has 30 points in 19 games and there are still those who think the netminder will take home the Conn Smythe. He has a 1.94 GAA and .936 save percentage. In Game 1 he didn’t just merely allow one goal, he only faced 19 shots on net. Montreal has only averaged 28.6 shots on net per game in the playoffs, so that isn’t terribly surprising on the road against a team like Tampa.

Brayden Point, TAM vs. MON ($25): Point hasn’t scored a goal in his last two games. What a slacker. Of course, before that he had a nine-game goal streak, a mark bested by only Reggie Leach. Oh, and he had three assists in Game 1 of this series. Point has been an elite goal scorer in his NHL career – 139 goals in 351 regular-season games – so there’s no reason to think he won’t light the lamp again this postseason.

Nick Suzuki, MON at TAM ($20): Meet the lone Canadien in my lineup. It won’t be easy for Suzuki, but I think he could be up to the task. He does have 13 points in the playoffs. That includes five points in six games against the Golden Knights, the team that won the Jennings trophy.

Alex Killorn, TAM vs. MON ($17): Killorn missed most of the third period of Game 1 after being hit with a puck, but that may have been a precaution in a game that was in hand. I’m betting on Killorn being back in the lineup Wednesday. Killorn has eight goals this postseason, second only to Point on the team, and he usually plays on the top power-play unit. Assuming he’s healthy, I like his upside at this salary.