Welcome to the Stanley Cup Playoffs! We’ll continue covering NHL DFS during the playoffs on days with slates of four games or bigger. Below are breakdowns of each of tonight’s games, and Optimal Lineups will be added to this post later in the day. Optimals should be posted by 3:00 PM CT but likely earlier.

New York Rangers @ Montreal Canadiens

Of the playoff teams in action tonight, the Rangers are the best matchup for opposing skaters. They finished the season with the fourth most shot attempts allowed per 60 at even strength (ZS adjusted), and they have one of the shakier goaltenders among playoff teams. Henrik Lundqvist finished the season with the lowest save percentage among goalies expected to be their team’s primary starter in the postseason.

The Rangers top line is a solid possession unit, but past that they’re exploitable. Montreal tends to let Tomas Plekanec’s line handle opposing top lines in home games, so avoid Montreal’s second line tonight. But the first and third lines for the Habs are certainly in play. Max Pacioretty is the guy you want it you can afford him, and Alexander Radulov is the cheaper alternative from the top line. The third line provides value options in Andrew Shaw and Artturi Lehkonen. On defense, Shea Weber should be good to go, and the games he missed late in the regular season have his prices at reasonable levels.

The matchup with the Habs is a tough one for New York, so for the most part you should avoid Rangers. But Rick Nash has been underpriced on DK most of the season and remains so.

Boston Bruins @ Ottawa Senators

The Senators finished the season with the eighth most shot attempts allowed at even strength, though the difference between them and the Rangers was just .3 shot attempts per 60. Of the playoff teams, New York, Ottawa, Toronto and Pittsburgh are separated from the pack a bit in terms of shot attempts against. The Bruins led the league in even strength shot attempts per 60, so the B’s figure to put quite a few pucks on net in this series.

We talked about it here all season long, but Boston’s top line is one of the best possession lines in hockey and are the main reason Boston led the league in shot attempts. Ottawa doesn’t have a line or defensive pair capable of matching up with the Patrice Bergeron line possession-wise, so they’re essentially matchup-proof in this series. If you can pay up for Bergeron or Brad Marchand, feel free. David Backes joins them on the top line (though typically not on the power play), so he’s a cheaper alternative.

It’s going to be very interesting to see what Boston’s power play units look like with Torey Krug unlikely to go tonight. Krug plays more than 75 percent of Boston’s power play minutes, so someone is in line for a big jump in PP work. The Bruins have called up hot prospect Charlie McAvoy, and he manned the point on the top PP unit at practice on Tuesday. McAvoy is not in the player pool on FD, but he’s a value option on DK.

In net, both Tuukka Rask and Craig Anderson are options tonight. Boston is a slight favorite on the road, and Rask is priced very well on DK, so he could be a cheap cash option there if you need salary relief. Anderson is a bit riskier given that Boston is the favorite, but the high shot volume of the Bruins gives Anderson a lot of upside. Anderson is a GPP option on both sites.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh is a -155 favorite tonight, but it’s hard not to be wary about Pens skaters with Sergei Bobrovsky in net for the Jackets. Bob was the best goalie in the league this year finishing with a .931 SV%. It seems especially risky to spend on studs like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Instead, it might be safer to get exposure to them with cheaper line mates like Jake Guentzel or Phil Kessel. Guentzel is priced well on FD and Kessel on DK. Patric Hornqvist is also priced well on DK (better than Kessel) If he ends up playing in the top six. Justin Schultz is in play on the blue line as he plays with Pittsburgh’s top PP unit.

If you’re considering Jackets, stay away from Alexander Wennberg’s line as Crosby matched up with that line the last two times Columbus visited Pittsburgh. Brandon Dubinsky’s line will see some of Crosby as well but less of him most likely. Boone Jenner is a nice value option from that line, and Cam Atkinson is the team’s most reliable fantasy option. Atkinson is priced better on FD as he has been all season.

Both goalies from this game are in play as well. Matt Murray is priced well on DK, and with the Pens being a healthy favorite, he can be considered in cash games there. But a cheaper option might be preferable, and he’s too expensive on FD. As for Bobrovsky, DK has this strange habit of moving his salary around massively depending on his opponent. In his last two starts of the season his price tags were $7,200 (vs. Pittsburgh) and $8,300 (vs. Philadelphia). He’s at $7,300 tonight, so he makes for a GPP option on DK and might be the better GPP option than Anderson there.

St. Louis Blues @ Minnesota Wild

Devan Dubnyk makes this series very interesting. On the one hand, Dubnyk was a well above average goalie this season with a .923 SV% for the year. On the other hand, he finished the season horrifically with a .886 SV% in his last 15 games of the year. My inclination is to not risk paying up for Vladimir Tarasenko but perhaps to get some exposure to his line mates if you’re considering picking on Dubnyk. Jaden Schwartz is priced reasonably on FD and finished the season strong, averaging a point per game over his last 10. And if Ivan Barbashev ends up centering that line, he’d be a very nice value on DK.

As for the Wild, St. Louis doesn’t have the depth that Minny does, so whoever gets St. Louis’ bottom six will have favorable matchups. Mikko Koivu’s line is unlikely to see any bottom six as they tend to get the opposing top line in home games. But Eric Staal’s line was seeing quite a bit of depth lines in home games, down the stretch. Staal is expected to play with Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise who all see PP work. Parise is priced better on DK and Staal on FD. If Jared Spurgeon is in the lineup, he’s the D-man to be most interested in from the Wild.

Dubnyk is an option on net on DK given his price tag there and because the Wild are a -165 favorite. But he’s only $100 cheaper than Murray, and Rask provides more salary relief than Dubnyk.

San Jose Sharks @ Edmonton Oilers

San Jose is beat up right now with Joe Thornton and Logan Couture questionable to play tonight. The Sharks also have one of the shakier goaltenders of the postseason with Martin Jones finishing the season with a .912 SV%. There really aren’t any specific Sharks to target when picking Oilers unless perhaps Thornton is back and you’re avoiding whoever gets SJ1. But if you can afford it, Connor McDavid and line mates are in play tonight. Well, McDavid is worth paying for and Patrick Maroon is a cheaper alternative, but Leon Draisaitl is probably too expensive on both sites. There is some value on the second line in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle, but they’re not ridiculously underpriced or anything.

As far as Sharks go, Couture has some value on DK if he ends up playing, and Tomas Hertl could be a value option if Couture and/or Thornton are out and Hertl plays up the lineup. Shot-machine Brent Burns is always worth considering, but with so many other appealing expensive options, it’s a bit tough to justify him. That’s especially true on DK where he’s overpriced, but he could be fit in on FD where he’s priced better and the pricing is softer.

In net, Cam Talbot is a nice cash game option on FD. He’s priced quite well there, and the Oil are a healthy favorite at -150 tonight. Dubnyk is priced the same as Talbot on FD, but based on recent performance, Talbot is the much safer bet.