3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Tuesday 5/3/22

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.

Eight more teams begin their playoff journeys tonight, so let's see which stacks are in the best spots.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche head into the playoffs as one of the top teams for the third season in a row. Much has been made of their second-round exits in previous seasons, but they've absolutely dominated in the first round. They've gone 12-2 in the past three years in the opening round and average 4.2 goals per game in those contests. While every series is different and those numbers might not hold much weight, the Avs get a matchup where they should be able to perform well.

Colorado is now a fully operational battle station after having some of their top forwards miss games down the stretch. Mikko Rantanen ($7,700) returned for the final two games of the regular season and jumped back on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon ($10,000). It looks like Valeri Nichushkin ($6,500) will stick on this top line, as well, and he has been effective when playing there. It also gives them depth and makes a second-line stack viable, too.

The only question mark in Colorado's lineup is Nazem Kadri ($8,200), who is a game-time decision due to illness. He did skate this morning, so he may be in the lineup. He will link up with Gabriel Landeskog ($7,500) at both even strength and on the power play. Artturi Lehkonen ($5,100) will also be on this line, and he is a strong play-driver who should help this line with puck possession.

Colorado matches up with the Nashville Predators. The Predators took a huge blow when star goaltender Juuse Saros went down with an injury last week. He had saved 12.59 goals above expected this season, while his replacement David Rittich has allowed 6.98 more goals than expected. That doesn't bode well against an Avalanche team that was fourth in goals this season.

Colorado has the highest implied team total on tonight's slate. They would be huge favorites even if Saros was playing, but now that he's out, the Avs could put up a crooked number.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers became a lot of people's second-favorite team this season. They scored the most goals for any team since 1995-96, which ironically was the last time they won a playoff series. They have a good chance of ending that drought in this series.

The Panthers are renowned for their depth at forward, which can make it tricky to stack them. Their lines appear to be back to what they were for a large chunk of the season. Aleksander Barkov ($9,200) will play with Carter Verhaeghe ($5,000) and Anthony Duclair ($5,900). There isn't any power-play correlation between this trio -- that's the bad news. The good news is that this stack will save you a lot of salary, and Duclair and Verhaeghe will likely be less popular than some of the bigger names on Florida.

This would also be a nice spot to play the returning Aaron Ekblad ($6,400), who will play on the top power play with Barkov.

You can definitely go for a second-line stack, as well. It includes 115-point scorer Jonathan Huberdeau ($9,100). He now plays with Sam Bennett ($6,400) and Claude Giroux ($6,300). He'll also skate with Giroux on the first power play, giving them lots of opportunities to combine on goals.

Florida is playing the Washington Capitals in the first round. The Capitals aren't a bad team, but it's tough to see them competing in this series, especially with their goaltending. Both Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek allowed more goals than expected this season in a near 50-50 split of the games. The Panthers scored 13 goals in the three meetings between the teams, and Barkov played in just one of those games.

The Panthers' implied team total comes in behind only Colorado's on tonight's slate. You can certainly get creative with how you decide to stack Florida, as their forwards have the possibility of exploding at both even strength and on the power play.

Calgary Flames

It's been a fantastic year for the Calgary Flames. They weren't expected to do much, yet they dominated the Pacific Division and finished in first place. They have perhaps the best line in hockey that we can use in a stack.

Calgary's top line accomplished the rare feat of having all three members score at least 40 goals. Johnny Gaudreau ($8,800) also had 75 assists to go with his 40 goals, making him a legitimate MVP candidate. Matthew Tkachuk ($8,500) also cleared the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. Elias Lindholm ($7,200) comes in at a salary discount compared to his linemates, but he had 42 goals this season and shouldn't be forgotten. This line scored 74 goals at five-on-five, while no other line scored more than 50.

Calgary will take on the Dallas Stars to open the playoffs. The nicest thing you can say about the Stars is that they made the playoffs. They were the only team with a negative goal difference to make the playoffs, and they also had four fewer regulation wins than any other playoff team. They have some things to like about them as a team, but this is a bad matchup against a possession-dominant Flames squad.

You get perfect correlation when stacking Calgary's top line, and we've seen them go off numerous times this season.

Noah Hanifin ($5,300) has quietly been a solid offensive defenseman of late, getting nine points and 30 shots on goal in his last 10 games, and is worth considering when playing this stack.

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.