3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for Tuesday 5/18/21

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, as if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists as well. Ideally, we'll want players that 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 up-to-date line information.

We've got three Game 2s on this Tuesday after all three of these series began with an intense first game. Let's look at some stacks for these games.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning reminded everyone why they are the defending champions. They went down 2-1 and 4-3 at different points in Game 1 and were able to come back and win 5-4. They are now at full strength after having players return from injuries. They are a fully operational battle station that makes them very dangerous and definitely stackable.

The headline-maker in Game 1 was Nikita Kucherov ($8,400) in his return. He didn't play in the regular season but was able to put up three points in his first game back. He led the playoffs in points last season and is a candidate to do the same if Tampa goes far again.

His linemates for the run were Brayden Point ($7,600) and Ondrej Palat ($5,400), the same linemates that he played with in Game 1 and will play with again tonight. Point had two goals in the third period to lift Tampa to victory. He led the playoffs with 14 goals last season, so the pairing of him and Kucherov is definitely one to use.

Victor Hedman ($6,400) is also a good player to throw in with this stack, as he had three power play assists, all on goals by Kucherov or Point.

The Lightning will face the Florida Panthers in the second game of the battle of Florida. Game 1 was a back-and-forth affair that finished 5-4. It also had some nastiness to it, which allowed Tampa's power play to go to work. They clearly are a different unit with Kucherov back with them, as they went three of four. If they get the power play chances tonight, the results could be similar.

The Lightning have the highest implied team total on tonight's slate at 3.28. With the players back in the lineup, this appears to be closer to the team that had dominated for three straight regular seasons and not the one that has struggled down the stretch.

Florida Panthers

The Panthers were the other side of that high-scoring Game 1. This was nothing new for Florida as they finished with the fourth-most goals in the NHL. They got contributions from their star players and the depth guys both in Game 1 and throughout the season. They'll have to adjust to a new lineup again for the second game, but it's nothing they can't handle.

Once again, Aleksander Barkov ($8,100) was a star for the Panthers on Sunday. He had a goal and an assist, along with five shots on goal. He hasn't had any trouble producing against a team as good as Tampa, as he now has 10 points in nine games against them.

Carter Verhaeghe ($6,100) has played two games since returning from injury and scored against his former team in both. Anthony Duclair ($4,100) is a nice value piece to add to this line. Verhaeghe and Duclair play on the second power play, with Barkov being on the first.

That first unit consists of the Panthers' other star player in Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,700), who had a goal and two assists in Game 1. His center will be different for this game, as Sam Bennett is suspended tonight. Instead, it will be Alexander Wennberg ($4,400) taking Bennett's spot on this second line and on the top power play. Wennberg had a career-high 17 goals in this short season, including a hat trick against the Lightning just 10 days ago.

Florida may be underdogs in this game, but they are still one of the best teams to stack if the game goes anything like the first one. Their implied team total only trails the Lightning, so this game is projected to be much more fantasy-friendly than the other two on the slate.

On these small slates, it's a good strategy to get creative with how you stack a team. Playing Barkov with Huberdeau and another center in Wennberg could be unique. You could also add in Keith Yandle ($4,000) as the power play defenseman to create a four-man stack. However you choose to do it, the Panthers are a good stacking candidate tonight.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins dropped Game 1 at home on Sunday in overtime. They did play decently well, however, as they created more scoring chances and had more expected goals than the New York Islanders, according to Natural Stat Trick. We know the kind of firepower the Penguins possess, and it will need to be on full display on Tuesday if they want to even the series.

Despite some people writing negative articles about him, Sidney Crosby ($8,400) was the Penguins' best player on Sunday. He had a goal and five shots on goal, and he drove possession for his team.

Jake Guentzel ($7,400) had an assist and four shots. Guentzel has 25 goals in 46 career playoff games, as he's been Crosby's main wing for the past few seasons. Bryan Rust ($5,700) quietly had 22 goals this season, which was in the top 25 in the league.

These guys all play on the first power play together, along with Kris Letang ($6,100). Playing these guys with full correlation provides upside on a small slate because if you can get a line that goes for two or three goals, it will be hard for any other stack to match the fantasy output they record.

Pittsburgh is still favored in this game despite the Game 1 loss. They were the second-highest scoring team in the NHL, so they definitely are capable of doing damage in any matchup.

This one is not an easy one, as the Islanders are one of the best defensive teams in the league. However, we've seen the Penguins put up six goals once and four goals two other times against the Islanders this season, so it's a matchup where they can still score goals.

The Penguins may go overlooked with the teams from Florida taking up most of the attention, so this is a nice contrarian stack that could pay off if it hits.

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.