DraftKings’ top Wednesday Fantasy NHL Playoffs picks include defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who’s on a four-game point streak in the Ducks’ series with Edmonton.
Wednesday brings us our first Game 3s of this year’s NHL playoffs, which means our first changes in venue. Then, we have one Game 2 in the mix as well. That leaves us with three games Wednesday. The first starts at 7 p.m. ET, and it’s the only early evening start. Here are my NHL DFS lineup recommendations.
SLATE PREVIEW
Nothing that has happened leads me to believe there will be any goaltending changes Wednesday. Roope Hintz has already been announced as out for Game 3 for the Stars, leaving Mats Zuccarello for the Wild as the only notable injury question.
GOALIE
Dan Vladar, PHI vs. PIT ($7,800): Vladar did something in Game 2 that he didn’t do the entirety of the regular season: post a shutout. Not that he was bad this year, as he had a .906 save percentage and 2.42 GAA. Over his last eight outings he has an .930 save percentage. My only question here is whether the Penguins, now on the road, find some sort of now-or-never level of intensity. It feels just as possible the writing is already on the wall for the Penguins, though. Youth has bested veteran experience in this series thus far.
VALUE PLAY/ONE-OFF
Vasily Podkolzin, EDM vs. ANA ($2,900): With Leon Draisaitl back and serving as his center, Podkolzin had two assists in Game 1. However, even with the future Hall of Famer missing from the line, Podkolzin had seven points and 30 shots on net in the 14 games Draisaitl missed. The Ducks comfortably had the highest GAA of any playoff team, and allowing four goals in Game 1 doesn’t lead me to believe they have figured out how to lock it down.
FORWARD LINE STACK TO CONSIDER
Flyers vs. Penguins
Christian Dvorak (C – $3,900), Porter Martone (W – $5,400), Travis Konecny (W – $5,200)
Two games into this series, two home losses for the Penguins. It may be a good time to remember the Penguins finished with a 3.15 GAA, in the bottom 10 in the NHL. It’s also a good time to remember that Stuart Skinner has an .897 save percentage over the last three seasons. The Flyers got an infusion of talent late in the season, which has set up this second line nicely.
In his first season with the Flyers, Dvorak took his game to a new level. He tallied 18 goals and 33 assists, and he was a plus-11. In each of the first two games of this series he had an assist and two shots on net. Unless you’ve been living in a cave on Mars with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears (shout out to Cecil Terwilliger) you’ve heard effusive chatter around Martone. He was the sixth-overall pick in 2025, he crushed it at Michigan State, and he’s lit a fire under the Flyers since joining them. The big wing (his size generates a lot of the effusiveness) had 10 points and 32 shots on net in nine regular-season games, and so far in this series he has a goal in each game and has put seven shots on target. Konecny had an assist in both of the first two contests in this series as well. At 29, he’s bridging the old Flyers with the new Flyers, and this was his fourth 60-point season in a row.
DEFENSEMAN
Jackson LaCombe, ANA at EDM ($4,500): I went with LaCombe in Game 1 thinking he’d be up the task of being the top defenseman for a playoff team, and indeed he was. The native Minnesotan played 26:34 and had an assist, a shot on net and four blocked shots. LaCombe is on a four-game point streak, and it’s not unreasonable that he might make it five. After all, the Oilers’ 3.23 GAA this season is second-highest among playoff teams, behind only the Ducks.Â
The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it’s possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Chris Morgan plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: cmorgan3, DraftKings: cmorgan3.