This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Hopefully you enjoyed a fun weekend of playoff hockey action, but why leave all that fun behind? There are four NHL games Monday, giving you another opportunity to play daily fantasy hockey. We've seen all these teams play one another twice now. Here are some players to target for Monday's four Game 3s.
GOALIE
Pekka Rinne, NAS vs. CHI ($8,100): Hey, what's a postseason without a hot goalie? Rinne has blanked the Blackhawks twice in as many games, and now Nashville heads home with a two games to none advantage. At home, the Predators only allowed 2.46 goals and 28.9 shots on net. Plus, Rinne's recent success isn't limited to the playoffs. In his last 11 games, he's posted a 1.27 GAA and a .954 save percentage.
CENTER
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS at TOR ($6,000): The Maple Leafs have not buckled down defensively in the postseason. Through two games, they've allowed 94 shots on goal. Granted, both of those games went into overtime, but Toronto also allowed 32.6 shots on net during the regular season, third most in the league. Anecdotally, Kuznetsov has looked quite impressive during the first two games of this season. If you want to look at the numbers, he started 37.1 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, second most of Washington's forwards. He has an assist and seven shots on goal in this series and in his last six games he has four points and 19 shots on net.
Ryan Johansen, NAS vs. CHI ($5,800): Johansen had himself a nice regular season, as he played 18:50 per game and notched 61 points. He was particularly impressive on the power play, where he averaged 2:58 a night and tallied 23 points. Chicago allowed 31.4 shots on goal per game this year, and they had the 24th-ranked penalty kill. This series has gone particularly well for Johansen already to boot. He's tallied four points thus far.
WING
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY vs. ANA ($6,300): This isn't an easy matchup for Johnny Hockey, but what matchup is easy in the postseason? However, it may be a more favorable matchup than it seems at first glance. The Ducks actually allowed 2.80 goals and 30.4 shots on net on the road. Gaudreau started a whopping 43.4 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, and in this series he's averaged 4:11 per game with the extra man. The Ducks have a strong penalty kill, but if you get that much power-play time it's likely to pay off. To that end, Gaudreau already has an assist with the extra man.
Rickard Rakell, ANA at CGY ($5,800): Brian Elliott seems to be in the middle of another downswing in performance. In his last 11 games he has a 2.93 GAA and a .906 save percentage. After scoring 33 goals in 71 games this season, he already has a goal in each game in this series so far. He started 36.4 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone this season, and in his last 17 games he has 16 points and 48 shots on net.
Justin Williams, WAS at TOR ($5,100): Game 2 didn't go quite as well as Game 1 for Williams, but he still picked up an assist. That gives him a five-game point streak, and he's notched 13 points in his last 13 games. Toronto gave up 32.6 shots on goal per game, and the Leafs also allowed 2.85 goals per tilt. They were the worst defensive team to make the postseason, and so far they haven't done anything to really change their reputation.
DEFENSE
P.K. Subban, NAS vs. CHI ($5,100): Even in a year that was perhaps not up to his usual standards, Subban has averaged 3.1 fantasy points per game. He tallied 10 goals in 66 games, and he notched 16 power-play points to boot. After the All-Star break, the Blackhawks allowed 31.9 shots on goal, and they just gave up five goals at home in Game 2. That's only one game, but Nashville is certainly riding high heading home for Game 3.
Dion Phaneuf, OTT at BOS ($4,200): Sure, Phaneuf had three points in Game 2, but that's only one game. However, on the season he notched 156 shots on goal, and in particular 156 blocked shots. That latter number is notable in this matchup. The Bruins averaged 61.3 shots on goal per 60 minutes, which topped the NHL. Phaneuf should have the opportunity to get in front of a few pucks, and indeed he already has five blocked shots in this series.
