This article is part of our FanDuel NHL series.
SLATE PREVIEW
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos needed just 2:47 of ice time to give his team an emotional lift in Game 3, scoring on his first shot in his first game in over 200 days to give his team a two-goal lead. The Lightning have been excellent in closing out games, and this was another lead they never relinquished. While Stamkos' involvement in future games remains unclear, the Lightning now head into back-to-back games today and Saturday with a 2-1 series cushion.
The Stars controlled the play early on, with a 16-8 edge in shots in the first period, but a late penalty to end the period and another one early in the second put them in a 5-1 hole. They've been a physical team that refuses to go away, and just as they did in their losses to Vegas and Colorado, they tried to rough up the Lightning before the final buzzer.
GOALIES
As usual, no goalies are available for FanDuel's slate. Presumably, Andrei Vasilevskiy will start for the Lightning and Anton Khudobin for the Stars. Noteworthy: the last time Khudobin was pulled was Jan. 18 against Minnesota, but he promptly rattled off three straight wins with a combined .930 save percentage. We've talked a lot about how Khudobin battles for every puck; he should come out strong in Game 4.
VALUE PLAYS
Jason Dickinson, DAL vs. TB ($6,500): His two playoff games have both come against Tampa and finished second in TOI among Dallas forwards, soaking up the minutes after Jamie Benn was assessed a misconduct. Rick Bowness trusts him, and it's paid off so far.
Denis Gurianov, DAL vs. TB ($7,000): It's a toss-up which depth forward for the Stars will find the score sheet, but unlike Joel Kiviranta's line of zeroes, Gurianov managed to at least put two shots on net.
Roope Hintz, DAL vs. TB ($7,500): He's the safest bet because of his offensive ability and role, but he also hasn't scored a goal in nearly a month. The upside is there but what you're hoping for is a few shots and maybe an apple if you're lucky.
LINE STACKS
Tampa Bay
Brayden Point (C - $14,000), Nikita Kucherov (W - $15,000), Ondrej Palat (W - $10,500)
After a big Game 3 the total salary for this stack has gone up, but they haven't disappointed as Tampa's top line. While the Stars have needed scoring from unlikely sources, Tampa's stars have performed like it.
Yanni Gourde (C - $9,500), Blake Coleman (W - $8,000), Barclay Goodrow (W - $7,000)
If the top line takes up too much salary, this line is one of Tampa's more consistent. They won't put up a lot of points, but they get their chances and all three received some power-play time in Game 3.
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman, TB vs. DAL ($12,500): Kucherov or Point for Conn Smythe? How about Hedman? He's second in goals (10), third in points (20), third in shots (71) and first in ice time (26:00). He's as good as any Tampa forward.
Kevin Shattenkirk, TB vs. DAL ($9,000): Okay, so he got another point, but I'm still shying away from Shattenkirk. No doubt he's done very well on his revenge tour since his Broadway exit, but he's still too inconsistent relative to the production you might get from forwards.
Miro Heiskanen, DAL vs. TB ($8,500): Heiskanen is still a better value play than John Klingberg ($11,500), who finished with just 1.6 FP. Klingberg and D partner Esa Lindell were a combined minus-6 in Game 3.
