Below are breakdowns of Thursday's four Staney Cup Playoff games followed by example cash and GPP lineups for DK and FD.

NYR @ MTL

Montreal has won the fancy stat possession battle so far in this series, which isn’t surprising given that they were the better possession team in the regular season. That plus Carey Price makes it difficult to be too on board with Rangers. If you were going to roster any Rangers, the third line pair of J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes would be your best bet. They’ve seen the most of Montreal’s fourth line in the first two games in Montreal, and they play together on the second PP unit. New York’s top line was dominated possession-wise by the Tomas Plekanec line in Game 2, so they’re a specific line to avoid.

It’s the Habs that are the better play tonight. The Plekanec line, as mentioned, will get New York’s top line, which is the toughest possession matchup the Rangers offer. So it’s Montreal’s top line of Philip Danault, Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov that’s the best option. Pacioretty is priced best relative to production, but if you can’t afford him, Radulov is an acceptable alternative. Danault should be used more for stacking the whole line. Defensemen Shea Weber and Andrei Markov will be with Patch and Rad on the top PP unit and some with that line at even strength. Markov is much more reasonably priced and thus probably the better option.

CBJ @ PIT

Sidney Crosby’s line almost always matched up with opposing top lines in home games during the regular season, which often meant they were drawing the tougher matchup. But Cam Atkinson’s line, which is the line they saw in Games 1 and 2 in Pittsburgh, is the weaker of Columbus’ top six lines possession-wise. It’s no surprise that Crosby’s line led Pittsburgh forwards in Corsi For Percentage in the first two games of the series, due in large part to a dominating performance in Game 1.

Crosby’s wingers, Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary have seen their pricing flip recently. Guentzel was the cheaper player on both sites all year, but now it’s Sheary that is the cheaper option. Sheary is priced noticeably better on FD, which is also where it’s easier to pay up for Crosby given the generally softer pricing there.

On the back end, Justin Schultz plays on the top PP unit with Crosby and with the top line some at even. And in net, Marc-Andre Fleury is a cash option with Pittsburgh being the biggest favorite of the night at -200. Fleury is priced better on FD than DK.

Columbus is hard to rely on, but the Alexander Wennberg line would be the option if you like Blue Jackets as that line should avoid Crosby. Boone Jenner is playing with Wennberg and seeing work on the second PP unit, and he is priced well on both sites if you’re looking for salary relief.

CHI @ NSH

You want absolutely no part of Hawks that will match up with Nashville’s top line or the Subban/Ekholm D pair. That’s an excellent five-man possession unit, and it was Jonathan Toews’ line who drew that unfortunate matchup in Game 3 in Nashville. That means if you want Hawks, you want the Anisimov line. Patrick Kane’s price tags have dipped just enough that he’s priced about right relative to his normal production. If you’re going to pay up for someone tonight, it’s Kane or Crosby. Artemi Panarin rounds out that line, which stays together on the top PP unit along with defenseman Duncan Keith.

Both of Nashville’s top six lines were good in the possession game in Game 3, but the top line was straight dominant. Both wingers, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson are priced reasonably on DK, though Arvidsson is the only one priced reasonably on FD. If you can’t afford the top line, there’s value on the second line in James Neal, who plays on the top power play unit, and salary relief in Calle Jarnkrok and Kevin Fiala, who play on the second PP unit. 

On the blue line, Roman Josi tends to skate with the second line at even but with the top power play unit, while P.K. Subban plays with the top line at even but on the second PP unit. Given that Subban is cheaper, he’s probably preferable.

In net, Corey Crawford could make for an interesting GPP option on DK where he is priced very well. Nashville put 40 shots on goal in regulation in Game 3, so Crawford should see the volume to have serious upside in GPPs.

SJ @ EDM

Edmonton’s top six is full of solid possession players, and those six were positive in possessive margins in Games 1 and 2 in Edmonton. But the bottom six is exploitable, so Sharks seeing bottom six are worth a look. Edmonton largely went top six against top six in their first two home games of the series, so San Jose’s third line is where to look here. Tomas Hertl in particular is a nice salary relief option.

When picking Oilers you’d prefer the line that avoids Joe Thornton’s line, but Edmonton’s first and second lines alternated the top line assignment in Games 1 and 2. But the guess is that the second line centered by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins draws the tougher matchup. RNH’s line drew SJ’s top line in Game 2 after losing Game 1, and the RNH line was very good possession-wise in Game 2. If you can’t afford McDavid, you can get exposure to him with Leon Draisaitl on FD . Oscar Klefbom is another way to get that exposure as he works on the top PP unit. Klefbom is priced well on FD.

In net, Cam Talbot is a cash alternative to Fleury on DK where Talbot is $500 cheaper. The Oil are a -130 favorite tonight, and Talbot still has a .925 SV% for the series despite allowing five goals in Game 4.