This article is part of our DraftKings NHL series.
Game 4 of the Western Conference Final between the Golden Knights and Stars is Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The Stars are slight favorites on home ice despite trailing 3-0 in the series. All game lines and odds used below are pulled from DraftKings Sportsbook.
SLATE PREVIEW
With only one game on the schedule Thursday, this will be a DraftKings Showdown contest. Your lineup will consist of one Captain that scores 1.5 times as many fantasy points and costs 1.5 times as much, in addition to five flex plays. The salary cap is $50,000. There are no positional requirements for your lineup, but the breakdown below will be organized by position.
GOALIES
Adin Hill, VGK at DAL ($9,400): Hill has been exquisite during his five-game winning streak, and Game 3 marked his best performance yet, as he stopped all 34 Dallas shots in a 4-0 shutout win. Both he and the Golden Knights are rolling, and after rewarding anyone who used the Captain slot on him with 50.7 fantasy points Tuesday (33.8*1.5), Hill should be a strong choice for that spot again Thursday as the Golden Knights try to complete the sweep.
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. VGK ($10,400): Oettinger has been terrible in this series, allowing 10 goals on 66 shots for a pitiful .848 save percentage. He was pulled after giving up three goals on five shots in Game 3, so while Oettinger has already been named the Game 4 starter, he'll likely be on a short leash with Scott Wedgewood ($10,200) waiting in the wings. At this point, both Stars goalies have little fantasy appeal outside of against-the-grain lineups.
VALUE PLAYS/ONE-OFFS
Roope Hintz, DAL vs. VGK ($10,600): Hintz leads all skaters with 22 points this postseason, and his 10 goals are the most among players still left in the playoffs. Dallas' first-line center has had a remarkable playoff run and remains a strong play, even though his team has yet to win a game against Vegas.
Chandler Stephenson, VGK at DAL ($5,400): Stephenson has been a key contributor in Vegas' balanced lineup. The nominal third-line center is tied for the team lead with seven goals, and he skated over 19 minutes in Game 3 after missing the morning skate due to an illness, suggesting that Stephenson's fully healthy and ready to keep outperforming his modest $5,400 valuation.
FORWARD LINE STACKS
Golden Knights at Stars
Jack Eichel (C - $9,600), Jonathan Marchessault (W - $8,400), Ivan Barbashev (W - $4,600)
Eichel is Vegas' leading point scorer this postseason, as the first-line center has a 6-10-16 line through 14 games. Marchessault lit the lamp again in Game 3 and now has a 5-4-9 line in his last five games. The diminutive winger has caught fire at the right time, and he leads the Golden Knights with 54 shots on goal, eight more than second-place Eichel. Barbashev's coming off a three-point night in Game 3, and he's been a great value throughout the postseason. He's just one point shy of averaging a point per game with five goals and eight assists.
Stars vs. Golden Knights
Wyatt Johnston (C - $6,000), Mason Marchment (W - $4,000), Ty Dellandrea (W - $2,000)
Dallas' third line has a nice mix of skill and toughness, and these guys will be relied upon even more for secondary scoring with Jamie Benn suspended. Johnston has contributed some big goals this postseason, and the rookie's 4-2-6 line has been accompanied by 48 shots, which puts him just one shot shy of Hintz's team-leading total. Marchment has an identical 4-2-6 line in one fewer game. Dellandrea has been limited to one goal while bouncing in and out of the lineup, but Benn's absence should ensure he plays. He had a few incidents with running goalies in the regular season, and Dallas may need to resort to similar tactics here to turn things around.
DEFENSEMEN
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK at DAL ($8,200): Pietrangelo's a standout all-situations blueliner who provides a high floor with a balanced stat line while frequently getting on the scoresheet to boot. He missed one of Vegas' 14 games but has still produced nine points. Since the start of the second round, Pietrangelo has 14 shots and 21 blocks in eight appearances.
Ryan Suter, DAL vs. VGK ($4,200): Suter's munching major minutes in a first-line role with power-play time, and while he hasn't been all that productive outside of two assists in Game 2, his significant usage makes the veteran blueliner a low-risk, high-reward play. He's a strong choice to round out your lineup at just $4,200, especially if you lock in a pricey player like Hintz or Hill as your Captain.
