3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for 3/30/21
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.
With a game being added to the schedule, we've now got seven games on the slate. This gives us some more options, so let's see which teams are the best to stack tonight.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes had an impressive win on Saturday. They beat the Tampa Bay Lightning after being down 2-0 in the first period. This brought them to within one point of first place in the Central division. The Hurricanes have been a good offensive team all season, as they generate the fifth-most shots on goal per game and have scored the seventh-most goals per game, according to NHL.com. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the Hurricanes season has been the power-play, as it ranks as the best in the league. So let's look at some players who we can use to stack the Canes' power play.
The breakout player for the season on Carolina has been Martin Necas ($5,200). He was also the star of Saturday's game, as he scored two power-play goals. He plays at even-strength with Sebastian Aho ($7,800), who is the team's star offensive player and now is up to 33 points in 33 games. Maybe the most interesting piece of the power-play is on defense. Dougie Hamilton ($6,600) is riding a 14-game point streak, the longest in the NHL this season. He also leads all defensemen in shots on goal this season, and he's clearly a top play at the position tonight. Getting him in a power-play stack is a great strategy. You also could play Jordan Staal ($4,700) and Andrei Svechnikov ($5,700) together, as they both play on the same line and on the top power-play unit.
Carolina will face the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night. It's a good matchup for the Hurricanes' power play, as the Blackhawks have the fifth-worst penalty kill in the league. They also allow the most shots on goal per game, so Carolina should have plenty of chances to get the puck on net tonight. The Hurricanes have the highest (3.49) implied team total on the slate tonight, which could mean their power-play is one of the best stacks of the night.
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins have had a strange two-week period. They had some games canceled due to COVID protocols and then had to settle for only a split in a weekend series with the two worst teams in their division. Most people considered them to be contenders to win the East, but thus far they are just holding onto the last playoff spot in the division. They'll face the same New Jersey Devils team that beat them 1-0 on Sunday after the Bruins had a goal disallowed with 1:10 left, and then had another shot that nearly went in before the replay showed it never fully crossed the line. They'll get an immediate chance for revenge, and have one of their big guns back in the lineup.
The Bruins were without Brad Marchand ($7,500) over the weekend due to the COVID list but was back on the ice on Tuesday. He leads the team with 34 points and should rejoin the top line. That line consists of David Pastrnak ($8,200) and Patrice Bergeron ($7,300). Pastrnak leads the team with 14 goals and also has the highest shot-attempt rate in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick. Bergeron is third on the team in points behind only these two players, so they form a dangerous trio. The power-play quarterback that plays with these forwards on Boston's first unit is Matthew Grzelcyk ($4,300), and he's proven that he's pretty capable in that role so for this salary he makes for a great fourth piece to play in Bruins' stacks.
The Bruins had 65 shot attempts on Sunday against the Devils and didn't score a goal. That is highly unlikely to happen again if they are able to generate close to the same amount of shots. The Devils are not exactly a team that will shut down their opponents, as they have allowed the fifth-most expected goals per 60 minutes, and have the third-worst penalty kill in the NHL. With Marchand back in the lineup, the highly-powered perfection line has a great chance to live up to their name tonight.
Tampa Bay Lightning
It's pretty surprising when a team as good as the Tampa Bay Lightning drops two games in a row, as they only have eight losses all season. They are still the top team in the NHL, as they are tied for the most points and tied for the best goal differential in the league. For fantasy purposes, they are a good team to target because they lead the league in goals per game with 3.59. They tend to spread the scoring around more than we would like for fantasy, as they have eight players with at least 20 points this season. That doesn't mean there aren't some good ways to stack them, so let's take a look.
There has been some tinkering with the lines over the past few games for Tampa. What has stuck for most of the season is Brayden Point ($7,400) playing on the top line with Ondrej Palat ($6,000). They also play on the top power-play together and have both eclipsed the 30 point mark on the season. They are now joined at even strength by Tyler Johnson ($3,800), so he's an affordable piece to throw into this stack if you need it. The leading goal scorer on the team is Steven Stamkos ($7,800), as he continues to be one of the better goal scorers in the league. He is down on the second line with Alex Killorn ($4,800) and Anthony Cirelli ($5,300). Killorn is on the first power-play and is a good value given his role and the fact that he's produced pretty well this season. If you're going to play Point and Palat or Stamkos and Killorn, you should strongly consider adding Victor Hedman ($7,000) as the third piece. Hedman leads the team and all defensemen in points with 33 and plays the fifth-most minutes per game of any player.
The Lightning will take on their playoff foe, the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Columbus is struggling of late, and are just coming off losing two straight games to the lowly Detroit Red Wings. They allow the ninth-most goals per game in the league, which doesn't set up well against a Lightning team with a lot of firepower. Tampa Bay has an implied team total of 3.27 goals tonight, so stacking the top two lines in some way is definitely a good way to build lineups in tournaments on this slate.
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.
