In daily fantasy hockey, stacking is a key strategy in tournaments. We want to correlate our lineups with up to four players to maximize our upside -- if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists, as well.
Ideally, we want players who will get a lot of ice time together on an even-strength line and a power-play line. Two good resources for line combinations are LeftWingLock.com and DailyFaceoff.com, so be sure to check those sites for updated line information.
We've got a massive 13-game slate tonight, with tons of options on who to stack. Let's try to find three that make sense tonight.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been on a roller coaster in the month of March. They've got 5-4-2 in their 11 games, but tonight's favorable matchup should see them be able to dominate.
The Lightning have used different line combinations this month to try and find the right one, and it looks like they may have found it. They've gone back to Brandon Hagel ($6,200) playing with Brayden Point ($8,700)and Nikita Kucherov ($9,400). Hagel scored a hat trick on Saturday, which brought him up to 27 goals this season, a career-high. Point also has reached a career-high in goals with 43. Kucherov became the third player to hit 100 points this season, doing so for the third time in his career.
Tampa will face the Montreal Canadiens, who have been leaking a ton of goals. Last week, they allowed a stunning 26 goals in four games, including five to the Lightning on Saturday. The Canadiens have a ton of players missing time, and it's led to them having to ice a weakened roster that has been getting torched.
The Bolts have an implied team total of 3.88 goals tonight, and can easily strike for more if things go their way.
Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are struggling big time of late. They went from leading the Central Division to clinging on to the last wild card spot in the West. They'll need a win tonight, and have an opponent they can definitely get one against.
Winnipeg's top line is fully correlated on the power-play, and contains three dangerous players. Kyle Connor ($7,900) leads the team in points with 73. He's somewhat swapped roles with Mark Scheifele ($6,900), as Connor had been the goal scorer in previous seasons, but now Scheifele leads the team with 38 goals. Nino Niederreiter ($5,100) is now on this line and quietly has 22 goals this season in his time with the Jets and the Nashville Predators. This line is affordable for a top-line stack that has full correlation.
The Jets are at home tonight and facing the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona has been more difficult for some strong teams to beat, but a lot of those performances have come at home. On the road, they are the worst team in the league by points percentage and also are a bottom-seven team in goals allowed and shots on goal allowed per game.
Winnipeg desperately needs this game, so it doesn't seem like the weak opponent will cause a lack of motivation. They have the second-highest implied team total tonight, and this first line should be easy enough to stack when building lineups.
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are on pace for a historic season. They currently have the best points percentage since the shootout was introduced in 2005. They don't seem to be taking their foot off the gas, which could mean they do some damage tonight.
The Bruins have two viable line stacks on most slates. The first one has full correlation on the first power play. Brad Marchand ($7,100) and Patrice Bergeron ($6,700) have played on the same line for years and are still dominant in terms of possession metrics. They're playing with Jake DeBrusk ($7,000), who has been a key contributor this season despite asking for a trade last year.
The second line is usable because it includes one of the best scorers in the league. David Pastrnak ($10,200) is second in the league with 48 goals, and will likely hit 50 for the first time in his career. He's playing with two Czech buddies in David Krejci ($5,700) and Pavel Zacha ($5,000), who play together on the second power play. This line isn't fully correlated and doesn't save salary from the first line, but could come in with less popularity.
Boston will face the Ottawa Senators tonight. Ottawa is coming off a win last night, but one that their goaltender absolutely stole. They allowed 49 shots on goal and 4.14 expected goals. That does not bode well for them against a rested Bruins team.
Boston is the only team with an implied total above four tonight, and either of their top two lines can really explode in this spot.
Others to Consider: Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights
Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.