We have one game today that features two teams with a ton of elite talent. The New Jersey Devils came out flat in Game One, but can they turn things around tonight? The Carolina Hurricanes put on a clinic and are hoping to leave Carolina with a 2-0 series lead. Who’s going to make the difference in this one? You can build daily fantasy hockey lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo Fantasy for Friday, May 5th, but before you build those NHL daily fantasy lineups, don’t forget to check out our NHL DFS projections, the NHL Value Finder, and the NHL DFS lineup generator. Let's now take a closer look at the daily fantasy hockey top plays for tonight's NHL DFS Showdown slate.

 

Highest Expected Goal Totals 

New Jersey Devils: 2.8

Carolina Hurricanes: 2.8
 

Carolina Hurricanes Vs. New Jersey Devils


Players to target: Frederik Andersen, Jack Hughes, Akira Schmidt, Sebastian Aho, Brent Burns, Jesper Bratt, Seth Jarvis, Ryan Graves, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Luke Hughes

The New Jersey Devils were #NotGood in game one of this series, but they have a chance to forget all about that game with a strong performance in this one. They had just one shot on goal after the first period, which just isn’t good enough. They need to be ready right out of the game or they risk going back home down 0-2.

I don’t think we see a ton of goals scored in this one, so you can certainly target a goalie in the captain spot. It’s going to cost you an arm and your firstborn child, but it gives you a significant advantage in a low-scoring game. Frederik Andersen is the obvious choice, but he may not face enough shots to hit value. Akira Schmid has been solid in the playoffs, so I have no problem playing either one.

If you want to target a forward, Jack Hughes is the way to go. We know what kind of skill he has and he loves to shoot the puck. Even if Timo Meier were to return to the lineup, that wouldn’t take shooting chances away from Hughes. He’s going to find space because that’s what elite players do.

As for the rest of my lineup, I’m looking to target as many value plays as possible. Ryan Graves is a favorites of mine because he’s going to get chances to block shots and play a healthy amount of minutes. His $7K price tag is more than I’d like to pay for him, but it is what it is. I’m holding out hope that Luke Hughes will get a chance to play tonight. The younger brother of Jack hasn’t seen any action so far, but maybe he breaks the lineup for this game. He’s $2800, which is the kind of value we need right now. Other names I’m interested in are Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jesper Bratt. I don’t love Bratt’s price tag, but he’s too good to be this bad. Something is going to change and maybe it happens tonight. As for Kotkaneimi, $5000 for a second-line centerman is just too cheap to pass up on. If you’re spending $7K on Graves, then you should have no issue saving $2K on Kotkaniemi.