This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
Florida failed to win its series against Carolina on Monday, but with a 3-1 lead, the Panthers will get another shot tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals. If you want to construct a FanDuel lineup for the game, then you'll be working with a budget of $60,000 to spread around six players. Five will be utility players and a sixth will be your MVP, who will provide you with 1.5 times the points with the drawback of costing 1.5 times the salary relative to what the player would have cost in a utility spot.
SLATE PREVIEW
FanDuel odds are painting Florida as a mild favorite tonight with a -128 on the Moneyline. The Over/Under is set at 5.5 goals with a +110 for the over. Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky has been dialed in during this series with a 1.25 GAA and a .950 save percentage across four games, while Frederik Andersen is coming off a 20-save shutout, so it wouldn't be surprising if we see the under tonight.
MVP
Evan Rodrigues, FLA at CAR ($11,700): I'm anticipating this being a goaltending duel, and because of that, I want to take a balanced approach to my budget because I don't anticipate any one player jumping ahead with a huge offensive night. For that reason, Rodrigues stood out to me as a great value option in the top spot. Like the rest of the Panthers, he was held off the scoresheet Monday, but Rodrigues registered six assists across three outings to open the series and is in a prime position to continue to contribute on Aleksander Barkov's wing. If you want to slot a bigger name as MVP, then Carolina's Sebastian Aho ($16,800) and Florida's Barkov ($17,400) are solid, albeit significantly more expensive, alternatives.
UTIL
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA at CAR ($12,000): Tkachuk has been among the Panthers' top performers in the playoffs, contributing four goals and 14 points across 16 appearances. That includes a goal and five points in four outings against Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Aleksander Barkov, FLA at CAR ($11,600): Barkov has been another key part of Florida's attack with six goals and 15 points through 16 playoff outings this year. He has three goals and five points in this series and provides some nice synergy with Rodrigues if you're taking the latter as your MVP.
Aaron Ekblad, FLA at CAR ($9,200): Ekblad has been a steady contributor from the blueline, supplying three goals and 10 points over 11 playoff appearances this year. That puts him in a tie for third place in the defensemen scoring race, which is impressive given that he's missed four playoff games while serving suspensions.
Jaccob Slavin, CAR vs. FLA ($7,400): Slavin probably won't show up on the scoresheet, but he'll still provide points at a discount rate. He recorded 10 shots and 25 blocks across his past six games and is likely to be big in the block category again tonight with Carolina's playoff run on the line.
Logan Stankoven, CAR vs. FLA ($7,000): The Hurricanes have struggled to get much done offensively, but Stankoven has been an exception to that with two goals and three points across his past two games. Notably, he was the only player to beat Bobrovsky on Monday – Carolina's other two markers in the 3-0 victory were empty netters.
