The Western Conference Finals wrapped up Tuesday, and now the Golden Knights are waiting to see who they'll face in the Stanley Cup Finals. Carolina has a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, but Montreal will be fighting to even the series at home, starting at 8 p.m. ET. Here are my recommendations for tonight's matchup. FanDuel will limit you to a $60,000 budget for six players, including the MVP, who will cost 1.5 times the price but provide 1.5 times the points.
SLATE PREVIEW
Although Montreal (plus-125) is the home team, the Hurricanes (minus-150) are the favorites, based on FanDuel's moneyline. The over/under is set at 5.5, so this is expected to be more of a goaltending duel. The previous two games were 3-2 overtime wins by Carolina.
MVP
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR at MON ($13,800): There haven't been any forwards who have consistently stood out offensively in this series, so I believe the best course is to go with a somewhat more affordable MVP to have a more balanced lineup. Svechnikov got off to a slow start in the playoffs, but he's started to heat up with two goals and four points across his past five outings, including the overtime winner Monday.
UTILITY
Cole Caufield, MON vs. CAR ($12,200): You could also go with Nick Suzuki ($12,400) in this slot, but Suzuki has been held off the scoresheet over the past two games. Caufield has a goal and three points in this series as well as four goals and eight points across his past eight appearances. He's been particularly effective with the man advantage, which has accounted for five of those eight points.
Seth Jarvis, CAR at MON ($11,200): Jarvis hasn't been a standout performer in recent days, but he has accumulated a respectable two goals and six points over his past eight outings. He's expected to play alongside Svechnikov, so there is some synergy for taking both of them.
Lane Hutson, MON vs. CAR ($10,600): Hutson was held off the scoresheet for the opening two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but he snapped that cold spell with a power-play goal Monday. The 22-year-old defenseman has accumulated an impressive three goals and 15 points in 17 playoff appearances this year.
Taylor Hall, CAR at MON ($7,200): Hall has been one of the Hurricanes' top playoff performers this year with four goals and 13 points in 11 outings. He was absent from the scoresheet over the first two games of this series, but Hall bounced back with a goal on seven shots in Monday's 3-2 overtime victory.
Phillip Danault, MON vs. CAR ($4,800): Danault is an affordable forward to make the rest of the players fit in the budget. That said, he's also been superb recently, providing two goals and nine points over his past nine outings, so there's reason to take him beyond his low price.
