3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Friday 3/4/22
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 seven games on Friday, which is more than usual. Let's see which stacks we can use to attack this fun slate.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning had something rare happen to them on Thursday. They got embarrassed 5-1 by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even coach Jon Cooper lost his cool and got ejected, a rarity for an NHL coach. They get a chance to immediately bounce back on Friday.
The Lightning's top line had been great until Thursday. Nikita Kucherov ($9,800) had a goal and an assist in each of the previous four games. Brayden Point ($8,400) had four points on Tuesday before the rough game on Thursday. Ondrej Palat ($5,500) has chipped with 15 goals this season and is a fine piece to add to this stack. Point and Kucherov will combine on the first power-play, as well. Victor Hedman ($6,700) is a nice addition to this stack, as he's second on the team with 51 points.
Tampa takes on the Detroit Red Wings today. Detroit has been porous defensively of late, allowing 64 goals in their last 14 games. That 4.57 goals-per-game average would be the worst in the league by a wide margin.
The Lightning are the best stack on the board. They should be able to get back to winning ways against this young Detroit team. We've seen over the past handful of seasons that when Point and Kucherov really get going, they have as much upside as any pairing.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild were rolling and then got into a bit of a funk. That changed last night with a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Tonight, they will face another soft Eastern Conference opponent.
The Wild's top line hasn't been as good recently, but they've still been productive. Kirill Kaprizov ($9,100) has a point in three-straight games and 12 points in his last 10. Mats Zuccarello ($7,300) also has 12 points in his last 10 games. Ryan Hartman ($5,700) broke out of a long drought with two goals last night. It was especially encouraging to see him put six pucks on net in that game.
We've also seen some success from the second line here lately. Kevin Fiala ($6,100) had two assists on Thursday, and he's bounced back nicely from a slow start to record 46 points in 52 games. Matthew Boldy ($6,400) has been impressive as a rookie, tallying 19 points in 21 games. Frederick Gaudreau ($4,800) has three goals in his last four games and is now seeing power-play time with Fiala.
Minnesota will face the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres have allowed the third-most shots on goal per game and the sixth-most goals per game. With Minnesota being third in goals per game, this should be an exploitable matchup for them.
The Wild's implied total comes in behind only the Lightning's on this slate.
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings have been a surprise team in the West. Their rebuild has accelerated, and they now sit in second in the Pacific. They've been on a hot streak, going 7-3-0 in their last 10, and have some interesting lines to stack.
The Kings' first line will see a change today. It's still centered by Anze Kopitar ($6,400), who leads the team in points with 50. Adrian Kempe ($5,500) will remain on the line, as well, and it's nice to get a guy with 25 goals at a friendly salary. The new addition is Jaret Anderson-Dolan ($3,200), who was just called up after posting 37 points in 39 AHL games this season. He'll get his chance to play with this top line and offers huge salary relief. With that, you should be able to fit in Drew Doughty ($6,400) on defense.
The Kings will face the Columbus Blue Jackets in tonight's game. The Jackets have been leaking goals all season, allowing the second-most per game. They also surrender the most shots on goal per game, which doesn't bode well for them against a Kings team that is third in shots per game.
We've seen nice fantasy performances from the Kings this season even if they don't have the most star power. This matchup favors them, and their implied total of 3.50 goals suggests that the oddsmakers expect them to do well in this spot.
Others to Consider: New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, 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.
