Below are game breakdowns for each of Wednesday’s four NHL games. Optimal lineups for tonight’s NHL DFS slate will be posted later this afternoon.

PIT @ PHI

Pittsburgh leads the series 2-1 and is a -145 favorite in Philadelphia tonight. Game 1 was over before it started with Pittsburgh taking an early three-goal lead. The teams traded 5-1 wins in Games 2 and 3, but Pittsburgh outplayed Philly in the shot share battle in both games. Matt Murray was awful in Game 2, but the Penguins controlled play in every period. In Game 3, the Flyers played a hell of a first period, but the Pens dominated play in the last two frames. Pittsburgh is clearly the better team, but Matt Murray, who ranked 53rd of 69 qualifying goalies in Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) in the regular season, is shaky enough that Flyers also have some GPP appeal.

Philly’s best possession line in the regular season was its top line centered by Sean Couturier, and Couturier’s line has primarily matched up with Sidney Crosby’s line in each game. Crosby’s line bested the Coots line possession-wise in each of the first two games, but the Flyers top line was better in Game 3 at home. Evgeni Malkin’s line, on the other hand, has been a plus possession line in all three games as they’ve seen little of Couturier’s line. Phil Kessel should be with Malkin at even with Patric Hornqvist out for Game 4, and they’re also together on the top PP unit.

We should note that Couturier took a nasty hit in practice yesterday, and his status for Game 4 is very much in question. The Malkin/Kessel pair is still the safer play, but if Couturier can’t go, the matchup for Crosby’s line isn’t as bad. It’s also worth noting that Dominik Simon was with Crosby’s line at practice, and he may take the Hornqvist-vacated spot on the top PP unit, so he could be a good salary relief option.

A cheaper option would be the third line pair of Derick Brassard and Conor Sheary, who both see some work with the second PP unit. They were Pittsburgh’s best possession players at even strength in Game 3 (score and venue adjusted) as they dominated Philly’s bottom six. They’re priced well on both sites but especially on DK. Another cheap-ish option is defenseman Justin Schultz. He plays on the top PP unit, so he gets you some exposure to both top six lines, and he plays with the Malkin line at even strength, which is the line we like better.

If you want to go with some Flyers in a GPP, second liners Nolan Patrick and Jakub Voracek were Philly’s best possession players in Game 3. That pair stays together on Philly’s top PP unit, which adds to their mini-stack appeal. If Couturier can’t go tonight, it seems pretty likely that Claude Giroux would play with Voracek and Patrick.

The goalies in this game were below average during the regular season, so they’re not great options tonight. However, Murray is the cheapest of the four favored goalies on FD, so he could be a cheap cash game option there.

TB @ NJ

Tampa leads this series 2-1 as they won the first two games at home but lost Game 3 in New Jersey. The Bolts, who have been the better possession team in all three games of the series, are a -150 favorite for Game 4.

Going in to Game 3, we anticipated that New Jersey’s third line, centered by Travis Zajac, would match up with Tampa Bay’s top line. Zajac’s line was New Jersey’s best possession line in the regular season and frequently matched up with opposing top lines in home games with Nico Hischier’s line handling opposing second lines. However, the Devils didn’t stick to their regular season pattern in Game 3 and let Hischier’s line take on Steven Stamkos’ line while Zajac’s line got Brayden Point’s line.

Point’s line has been a good possession line this season, but Zajac’s line was better in Game 3 as that was New Jersey’s only plus possession line in the game. Zajac’s wingers, Stefan Noesen and Blake Coleman, both found the back of the net as well, so if you want to get contrarian with some Devils in a GPP, that’s the line to go with. Zajac is also a viable one-off option as he plays on the top PP unit, and he’s priced reasonably on both sites.

As for the Bolts, we obviously don’t love the matchup for Point’s line, who had a much better matchup back in Tampa against an offensively dangerous but weak possession line in New Jersey’s top line. Instead, Stamkos’ line is the play on the road. We should note that Tampa mixed and matched a bit as they trailed in Game 3, but we expect they’ll go back to the lines they’ve been deploying for several weeks now with J.T. Miller and Nikita Kucherov on Stamkos’ wings.

The Stamkos line all stays together on the top PP unit, which makes them very stackable. For one-off exposure in cash games, Kucherov is the better option on FD as he and Stamkos are inexplicably the same price there, but Stamkos is more affordable on DK. Alex Killorn is a good way to get some indirect exposure to the Stamkos line as he joins them on the top PP unit. That’s especially true on FD where Killorn’s $4,200 price tag is silly.

Another way to get some cheaper exposure to the Stamkos line would be to roster Ryan McDonagh or Anton Stralman, who are the D-men that play with the Stamkos line at even strength. Neither guy sees PP work, but they’re priced well enough on either site to be considered as salary relief, especially Stralman.

In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy is an interesting GPP option. He has plenty of upside as the Devils have put over 40 shots on goal in each of the last two games of the series. He’s priced a bit better on DK.

NSH @ COL

Like Tampa, the Preds lead their series 2-1 after winning the first two games at home but dropping Game 3 on the road. However, like the Bolts, the Preds were arguably the better team in Game 3 and at worst it was a draw in the possession game. Also like the Bolts, the Preds are a road favorite tonight, but the Preds are an even bigger favorite at -170.

The best Colorado line in Game three was unsurprisingly Nathan MacKinnon’s line, which has been one of the best in hockey for the last couple months. MacKinnon’s line saw plenty of both of Nashville’s top six lines in Game 3, and they saw the Roman Josi/Ryan Ellis pair that was on the ice for four of Colorado’s five goals. MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen are cash game options tonight, though they don’t have to be forced into cash lineups, and their real appeal is in GPPs. Defenseman Tyson Barrie skates with that line at even strength and on the top PP unit.

Nashville’s top line only accounted for two combined points in Game 3, but they were all easily on the plus-side of the possession ledger and combined for 11 shots on goal. They saw as much of Carl Soderberg’s line as they did MacKinnon’s, so if you figure they get that much ice again against non-MacKinnon line Avs, they can do more damage than just two combined points. You’ll want exposure to that line in cash games, and Filip Forsberg, who has six SOG in Game 3, is preferable if you can afford him. But if Forsberg is too pricey, Viktor Arvidsson is priced more reasonably on both sites.

The Preds have been frustrating in the way they match their D pairs up with their forward lines this season. They’ve often had Josi’s pair skating with the top line at even but with the second line on the PP, and P.K. Subban playing with the top line on the PP but with the second line at even. However, in Game 3 Subban was the D-man that skated most with the top line at even, and he was still with them on the top PP unit, so he’s in play tonight.

Both goalies in this game are options in certain contest types. Pekka Rinne is obviously a cash game option with the Preds being a big favorite, especially on DK where he’s the cheapest of the favored goalies. Jonathan Bernier has GPP upside as he’s seen 31, 32 and 33 shots on goal in this series. If you’re going to stack the MacKinnon line, it might make sense to pair them with Bernier.

ANA @ SJ

The Sharks are going for the sweep tonight and are the biggest favorite of the night at -175 (they’re also the only home favorite). The Sharks won the first two games in Anaheim by a combined six goals to two, and they won the possession battle in each game on the road. Then they came home for Game 3 and put an 8-1 drubbing on the Sharks. It’s no wonder they’re the biggest favorite of the night.

Because they’re the big home favorite of the slate, you’ll have to have some Sharks exposure in cash. Ryan Kesler’s line is Anaheim’s best possession unit, and, as was the case in the regular season, Joe Pavelski’s line handled the opposing second line (Kesler’s) in Game 3. It was Logan Couture’s line who took on Anaheim’s top line, and that’s the matchup we prefer to pick on for cash games. Couture and winger Tomas Hertl stay together on the top PP unit, and they have eight combined points through three games.

Anaheim has all of three goals in three games in this series, but if you’re playing on DK tonight, they have a lot of GPP appeal due to their pricing. Every forward on Anaheim’s top three lines is arguably underpriced, and guys like Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Jakob Silfverberg, Adam Henrique and Ryan Kesler are grossly underpriced relative to their past production.

If you only wanted to stack one line, the Getzlaf, Perry, Rickard Rakell line is the most stackable as they all stay together on the top PP unit. Brandon Montour is the D-man with them on the top PP unit. But with their price tags, you could easily run five or six Ducks deep with a full team stack and spend big elsewhere. Given how San Jose has controlled this series, the Ducks figure to see very low ownership and are a great contrarian option.

Martin Jones is the most expensive goalie on both sites, but as the goalie on the biggest favorite of the night, he’s worth paying up for in cash if you can afford it. That said, it’s not something you have to force, and cheaper favored goalies are perfectly acceptable. Whoever starts in net for the Ducks, whether it be John Gibson or Ryan Miller, could be worth a look in a GPP lineup, especially if you go the Ducks stack route on DK.