This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
There are two NHL games Monday. The Avalanche and Stars are playing the second day of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, the Lightning could eliminate the Bruins. If that happens, both teams from last year's Stanley Cup Finals will be out of the playoffs. Here are my recommendations for players to pick for your lineup, and also players to avoid.
GOALIE
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM vs. BOS ($35): I don't want to be tapping into the Avalanche or Stars given that it's been an offense-heavy series and it's the second day of a back-to-back. Vasilevskiy has allowed exactly one goal in each of his last two games. That may be partially why the Bruins have only managed 2.36 goals per contest in the playoffs. I will happily select the Russian netminder with a Vezina to his name.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Anton Khudobin, DAL at COL ($33): Khudobin had an excellent regular season (2.22 GAA, .930 save percentage), but the playoffs has been a different story. Maybe because he's not been able to share the net with Ben Bishop much, as Bishop has been unfit to play. The Avalanche scored 3.37 goals per game during the season, and in the playoffs they have scored the most goals per contest.
CENTER
Tyler Seguin, DAL at COL ($22): Seguin had a rough regular season, but his 6.9 shooting percentage was a big reason for that. It was terrible puck luck, the kind you expect to turn around eventually. Even the playoffs were rough at first, but he has two goals in his last three games. Seguin also has put 33 shots on goal in 11 playoff contests. Pavel Francouz, who has allowed at least four goals in his last three games and got pulled in Game 4.
CENTER TO AVOID
Patrice Bergeron, BOS at TAM ($28): I would try and generally avoid Bruins in Monday. Vasilevskiy has an 1.98 GAA in the playoffs, after all. As for Bergeron, he doesn't have a point in his last three games and he only has one goal in his last seven outings.
WING
Andre Burakovsky, COL vs. DAL ($17): Burakovsky had the first 20-goal campaign of his career this season. That's probably partially because of all the talent around him, but also because he started 55.4 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone, fourth highest on the team. Additionally, the Russian forward averaged 2:23 per game with the extra man on Colorado's high-flying power play, and the Stars had the 17th-ranked penalty kill.
Tyler Johnson, TAM vs. BOS ($14): Johnson dropped from 29 goals last season to 14 this season, but he still has things going for him. For example, he's on Tampa Bay's second line. Second, he's on their top power-play unit. He's coming off a game where he played 5:07 with the extra man and picked up a power-play assist. Jaroslav Halak has not excelled since taking over for Tuukka Rask, as he has a 2.75 GAA and .906 save percentage in the playoffs.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex Killorn, TAM at BOS ($15): Killorn had 26 goals this year, but with a 20.0 shooting percentage that will be hard to sustain. Indeed, he only has points in one of his last six outings. Eight of his 26 goals also came with the extra man, and the Bruins had the third-ranked penalty kill.
Jake DeBrusk, BOS at TAM ($14): DeBrusk scored in Boston's last game, but that gives him all of four points in the playoffs and only one point in this series. As I noted, Vasilevskiy has a 1.98 GAA in the playoffs, but he also has a .927 save percentage.
DEFENSE
Cale Makar, COL vs. DAL ($23): Yes, Makar had a big gaffe Sunday night, but he also started 62.3 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone this season. That led the Avalanche. He also almost made up for giving away a goal by notching a goal, an assist, and five shots on net. The rookie was a power-play maven this year, and the Stars had the 17th-ranked penalty kill. On the second leg of a back-to-back, that could be a recipe for success.
John Klingberg, DAL at COL ($18): Miro Heiskanen is starting to steal the spotlight, but Klingberg is no slouch. He's got 10 points in 11 playoff games, including two Sunday. Francouz's issues the last three games doesn't bode well for him, and with Philipp Grubauer hurt they aren't likely to turn to Michael Hutchington, even on a back-to-back.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Torey Krug, BOS at TAM ($19): Krug has had a good series with three points in four games but they are all assists. In fact, the defenseman doesn't have a goal in the playoffs. He's also not a defenseman that adds fantasy value with blocked shots. Krug only had 48 of those in 61 games this year.
Mikhail Sergachev, TAM vs. BOS ($17): If you don't want to pay Victor Hedman's salary usually Sergachev is a decent option. Not so far in these playoffs. He has four points all postseason, and three of those came in the 7-1 shellacking of Game 3. That's not likely to happen again, even without Tuukka Rask around. When the Bruins are collapsing, Sergachev is being kept off the score sheet.
