This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
The Lightning struck early in Game 2, jumping to an early 3-0 lead and evened the series at one game apiece. They've been a resilient bunch, something that couldn't be said last year, and have trailed in a series just twice this postseason. They've done this without captain Steven Stamkos, who seems unlikely to play at all, and top players Brayden Point and Victor Hedman nursing injuries at different points.
To their credit, the Stars never gave up and managed to make it a one-goal game. Had John Klingberg not fanned on a last-minute shot attempt, perhaps Game 2 would've needed extra time to determine a winner. The Stars didn't stray too far from their usual script, getting scoring from unlikely heroes with Mattias Janmark scoring his first playoff goal and strong goaltending from Anton Khudobin (.960 Sv% at 5v5), though they played a little looser defensively because they took more risks on offense.
Puck drop for Game 3 is at 8 p.m. EDT, and it's a vital game because Games 4 and 5 will be back-to-back.
GOALIES
No goalies are available for selection, as per usual on FanDuel for the Finals. Of course, Khudobin and Andrei Vasilevskiy will be the starters, though Khudobin has the clear edge in Sv% at even strength (.964 vs. .862) per Natural Stat Trick.
VALUE PLAYS
Mattias Janmark, DAL vs. TB ($6,500): Just about every Stars forward near the bottom of the salary list is a potentially good value play because you never know who's going to score for them. However, Janmark now has two points in two games after registering zero against Vegas, and he's shown pretty good chemistry with Joe Pavelski.
Jason Dickinson, DAL vs. TB ($6,500): Same idea with Janmark, though Dickinson's offensive upside isn't as high, but Dickinson's a very good shot blocker and remains one of Rick Bowness' most trusted guys at even strength. He has four shots and five blocked shots this series already.
Patrick Maroon, TB vs. DAL ($6,500): He's extremely boom-or-bust because he's too slow and takes bad penalties, but manages to redeem himself occasionally on the power play as the net-front forward.
LINE STACKS
Tampa Bay
Brayden Point (C - $13,500), Nikita Kucherov (W - $15,000), Ondrej Palat (W - $9,500)
They've been dominant since Jon Cooper put them together and they're slightly cheaper than the Stars' top line ($38,000 vs. $39,000). Tyler Seguin's struggles also makes them far less palatable. The new Triplets line posted an astonishing 92.31 FF% in Game 2.
Yanni Gourde (C - $8,500), Blake Coleman (W - $8,000), Barclay Goodrow (W - $7,000)
This line remains a favorite due to its relatively low salary total. Coleman and Goodrow are a very good pairing and both finished with a point apiece.
Dallas
Joe Pavelski (C - $8,500), Mattias Janmark (W - $6,500), Denis Gurianov ($7,000)
Gurianov moves in and out of this line and frustratingly still doesn't shoot the puck enough, which sometimes opens the door for Joel Kiviranta ($8,000) to join this line. The Stars' top two lines have scored three points apiece (Alexander Radulov has all three) though obviously the top line gets more minutes.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman, TB vs. DAL ($12,000): He needs no introduction by now. He's arguably as strong a play as any Tampa forward in a FLEX spot.
John Klingberg, DAL vs. TB ($11,000): He's been on a roll with a four-game point streak even though he has just three shots on goal during that span. He's been their top producer from the blue line and he's proven he can do it consistently.
Miro Heiskanen, DAL vs. TB ($9,500): I still think he's the stronger value play over Klingberg, and both have been very good for the Stars. Heiskanen edged Klingberg in blocked shots (4 to 3) and PP TOI (4:08 vs. 3:10). Unsurprisingly, at least one of them was on the ice for each of Dallas' two goals.
Kevin Shattenkirk, TB vs. DAL ($9,000): He made me eat my words with a goal but he also scored on his lone shot of the game, which came through heavy traffic. It's just difficult to justify his salary given his inconsistency.
Mikhail Sergachev, TB vs. DAL ($8,500): He's a better bet than Shattenkirk, if only because he tends to provide more consistent value via blocked shots. With FLEX spots, however, reaching for a depth forward in the $6,000-8,000 salary range is probably a better bet because the talent level falls off a cliff after Hedman, Klingberg and Heiskanen.
