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'll close out the week with a five-game slate, so we'll have to dig deep to find some spots we like on this smaller slate.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a much-needed break after they lost back-to-back games last weekend. They aren't in any kind of trouble in terms of the playoffs, as they still are in first place in the North Division despite not having a game since Sunday. The rest is rare in this condensed season, so it could provide a huge respite for the players.

The player the time off might benefit the most is Auston Matthews ($8,800), as it hopefully gave him a chance to get his wrist healthier. It hadn't slowed down his shooting much, as he has 30 shots on goal in the seven games since returning from the wrist injury. He still leads the league with 21 goals, as well.

His partner in crime, Mitch Marner ($7,600), has a four-game point streak, and he also has been shooting more frequently, with over five shots on goal in four of his last five games. Joe Thornton ($4,200) is back on the first line and top power play unit with these guys, so he's a nice form of salary relief if wanting to stack Toronto.

The Leafs are playing the Calgary Flames on Friday night. The Flames have had an up and down season, which led to a coaching change two weeks ago. They are 13th in the NHL in goals against per game but have had games in which they've allowed seven goals twice, including on Wednesday night.

Toronto has performed well in four meetings with Calgary this season, winning three of them. More importantly for fantasy, the players we want to target have done well. Matthews had five points and Marner had four, and the power play quarterback that we'll want to use with them, Morgan Rielly ($5,500), also had five. It has been tough for the Flames to match up with the Leafs' star players, and that will continue in this game.

Toronto has the highest implied team total on the slate at 3.57. They have the league's second-best power play, so getting the full top line with Rielly in a stack that will be together on the power play could have huge upside on this slate.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are a team that has suffered a lot of injuries, but they now appear to be getting close to full health. When their forwards are healthy, they have one of the deepest groups in the league.

It looks like Jaden Schwartz ($5,500) will return from injury tonight. He should slot on a line with Brayden Schenn ($5,900) and Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,200). This was the first line for the Blues when they won the Stanley Cup in 2019, and they haven't played together much since then due to injuries to Schwartz and Tarasenko. It remains to be seen exactly how they will deploy their power play, but at least two of these three guys should be on the same unit, which is a nice correlation given the talent of the players.

The other way you could stack the Blues would be with the line that's listed as the first line. David Perron ($7,000) is having a great season and leads the team with 29 points. The second-leading scorer is the center on this line, Ryan O'Reilly ($6,700). These two have great chemistry and will almost certainly be on the same power play no matter how they reshuffle things with Schwartz returning.

Torey Krug ($5,100) is the defenseman who would run the power play unit, and while we haven't seen him hit the heights that he did with the Boston Bruins, he is still capable of putting up points on the man advantage.

The Blues will face the San Jose Sharks in this game, which is a great matchup. The Sharks have allowed the second-most goals per game this season. We've seen fireworks when these teams have played this season, with two 5-4 games and one 7-6 game. If we can get another high-scoring game, it's likely that one of the Blues' top two lines will have a great game for fantasy purposes.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals keep chugging along and seem to have flown a bit under the radar. They have won six games in a row and nine of their last 10. They are up to second in goals per game, even if they don't have individual players putting up the gaudy numbers that some of the league's best players are this season.

We know where to look with the Capitals, as it has been the same way for years. Alex Ovechkin ($8,100) is getting in one of his grooves and has goals in four straight games. He continues to fire the puck at will, as he has the second-highest shot attempt rate in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Nicklas Backstrom ($6,700) is having a great year himself, with his 33 points being the most on the team. T.J. Oshie ($5,800) rounds out this line and is a great complimentary piece to add with them as he plays on the power play, as well.

John Carlson ($6,600) is also a key part of any Washington stack. He is second on the team with 25 points. We know that his job is to set up Ovechkin on the power play, and he's very good at it, as he had the fourth-most assists of any player in the league last season. If you have to choose, Carlson is more of a priority in the stack than Oshie, because he is more likely to set up an Ovechkin goal given the way they set up their power play.

The Capitals will go up against the New York Rangers on Friday. This week has told the story of the Rangers season. On Monday, they lost 5-4, while on Wednesday, they won 9-0. A lot of their defensive metrics are in the middle of the pack, but they are certainly exploitable.

The Capitals have an implied team total of 3.46 goals tonight, so it doesn't seem like the oddsmakers are too concerned about the matchup in this game.

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.