This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
The much-anticipated Capitals-Penguins III showdown will begin in Washington on Thursday, with the Caps looking to avoid a third straight defeat at the hands of their hated rivals in the salary cap era. The Senators, meanwhile, will face the Rangers for just the second time in history, having lost their previous matchup in seven games in 2012. Let's pick some players from those matchups for our DraftKings lineups.
GOALIE
Braden Holtby, WAS vs. PIT ($8,100) – The Capitals are at home, their defense is much deeper and stronger, and when their offense is going, they're the best team in the league. After getting through Round 1, the Caps admitted that they underestimated the pesky Leafs, who were one goal away from forcing a Game 7, and perhaps that was the wake-up call they needed. Holtby didn't outplay Frederik Andersen in goal, but he's historically has been very strong at home and should outperform the guy at the other end of the ice in round two. Defensive lapses allowed the Penguins to pile up the goals against the Blue Jackets, but the Caps have much more experience and definitely won't be giving them such easy chances. When the two teams met last year, the Caps won two of their three home games.
CENTER
Evgeni Malkin, PIT at WAS ($8,000) – He heads into the second round as the top playoff scorer, and he's shouldered much of the offensive load with Sidney Crosby drawing the tougher matchups. Malkin now has 29 points in 28 playoff games going back to the previous season, and he's also scored 51 points in 36 career games against the Caps. Assuming Nicklas Backstrom draws Crosby, it means Malkin will likely go head-to-head against Evgeny Kuznetsov, who's a liability on defense and will find it difficult to take Malkin off the puck. That may force the Caps to match Jay Beagle against Malkin, but again it's obvious which player has the advantage there.
Derick Brassard, NYR at OTT ($4,900) – The Sens' leading scorer returns to face his former team and has taken his game to another level in the playoffs. With Kyle Turris mired in a slump, Brassard has been Ottawa's No. 1 center, leading the team with eight points in six games, including four on the power play. After averaging 17:22 per game during the season, Brassard's ice time has jumped to 20:43 in the playoffs, partly due to the five overtime periods the Sens played, but the same can't be said for Turris, who is averaging just four more seconds per game in the playoffs than the regular season.
WING
Jake Guentzel, PIT at WAS ($6,400) – In yet another star-studded matchup between the Pens and Caps, it's likely that the star players will cancel each other out, meaning that the series will be won by role players and the unlikeliest of heroes. Guentzel won't catch anyone by surprise anymore, but it's still surprising just how good he is, leading the Pens with five goals and trailing only Crosby and Malkin in average ice time. It'll be a close series, and Guentzel's shown a knack for scoring some pretty big goals, including two on special teams (one each on the power play and penalty kill) and two game-winners.
Mike Hoffman, OTT vs. NYR ($6,000) – He's scored just two goals despite leading the Senators with 19 shots on goal, but he's still a far more effective player than Bobby Ryan, who has four more points. Hoffman is a very underrated two-way player who doesn't always need a playmaking center to set him up, and he (along with usual linemate Mark Stone) should be able to take advantage of the Rangers' poor puck control. Stone, Hoffman and Jean-Gabriel Pageau combined for 19 takeaways against the Bruins, while the Rangers coughed up the puck 113 times in six games against the Habs.
Tom Wilson, WAS vs. PIT ($3,200) – He'll never be mistaken for a goal scorer, but with three goals in the first round, Wilson is playing some of the best hockey of his career. Wilson loves the big stage and relished being the enemy in front of his hometown crowd in Toronto, and this series will be no different as the Caps seek to eliminate their hated rivals. You can easily expect Wilson to get in the mix early, and you can bet that he'll be looking to hit anything that moves. He was one of the Caps' best players in Round 1, and as long as he continues to do the dirty work, the hockey gods will continue to gift him the odd goal. He provides a lot of fantasy value in peripheral categories in a series that features two very good goalies.
DEFENSE
Erik Karlsson, OTT vs. NYR ($7,500) – General manager Pierre Dorion already described Karlsson as a god's creation, and even Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault agreed, admitting that Karlsson is simply on another level. Karlsson is the best defenseman remaining in the playoffs by far now that Brent Burns is out, and there's simply no logical argument to exclude him from daily fantasy rosters.
Justin Schultz, PIT at WAS ($5,300) – The bad news is that Schultz has yet to register an even-strength point during the playoffs even though he's the Penguins' No. 1 defenseman, but the good news is that he hasn't completely disappeared from the scoresheet, with all three assists coming on the power play. Even better? The Caps spend a lot of time in the penalty box, having finished the season with 337 penalties (21 more than the Pens), and have already accumulated 25 penalties in the playoffs – that's 12 more than the Pens despite Washington having played just one more game.
