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

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.

The eight teams that started their playoffs on Tuesday are at it again tonight. Let's see how we can attack this slate from a stacking perspective.

Colorado Avalanche

While some other teams with high expectations let us down, in both real life and fantasy, that cannot be said about the Colorado Avalanche. They rolled past the Nashville Predators 7-2 in the series opener, and there isn't much reason to expect things to be different today.

The big guns for Colorado were firing on Tuesday night. Nathan MacKinnon ($10,200) scored twice and added an assist. Mikko Rantanen ($8,100) and Cale Makar ($7,300) also had three points as part of the offensive eruption. Valeri Nichushkin ($6,600) played on this line and added an assist. It can be difficult to fit in all four of these players, so playing just one of Makar or Nichushkin might be necessary, as Nichushkin won't play on the top power play.

The second line wasn't as productive as the first line, but it is definitely is still in the conversation for stacking. Gabriel Landeskog ($7,800) picked up a goal and an assist in his return to the lineup. Nazem Kadri ($8,000) had an assist and has points in four-straight games. Not to be forgotten is Artturi Lehkonen ($5,200), who had a goal in Game 1 and is a good value for this salary.

We thought that Colorado would be a mismatch for Nashville, especially with the Preds missing Juuse Saros in net. That proved to be the case as backup goalie David Rittich allowed 3.76 goals above expected in the opener before being pulled for Connor Ingram. Ingram has three games of NHL experience and allowed five goals to the Arizona Coyotes in the last game of the regular season -- and he will get the start tonight.

Colorado's implied team total is above four goals, and we already saw them explode past that in this series. They are definitely the top stack of the night.

Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers did not start the playoffs the way they would have wanted. They lost 4-2 to the Washington Capitals after being up 2-1 heading to the third period. This sparks questions about if their offensive style works in the playoffs -- questions they will want to put to rest tonight.

The top line looks to remain the same for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov ($9,000) will play alongside Carter Verhaeghe ($4,900) and Anthony Duclair ($5,700). These guys were productive together in the regular season, but only Verhaeghe picked up a point in game 1. Duclair and Barkov each had more than 30 goals this season, so we can expect them to score some in this series. This line doesn't come with any power-play correlation but is salaried modestly for a first line.

The Panthers did make a change on their second line. Sam Reinhart ($6,700) is now playing on it with Jonathan Huberdeau ($9,000) and Sam Bennett ($6,300). Reinhart and Huberdeau get power-play correlation and were two of the team's top three in points this season. Aaron Ekblad ($6,400) came back and played the most ice time on the Panthers, so he can be included as a defenseman in Florida stacks.

Florida was only able to get two power plays in Game 1 and didn't score on either of them. They should be able to draw more penalties than that and give their power play a chance to rack up some goals. Their implied team total is actually higher than Colorado's, meaning the sportsbooks are not wavering on what they think of this regular-season offensive juggernaut.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins showed that many people might have been too quick to write them off in this postseason. They won a thrilling Game 1 in triple overtime. Not only did they get the win, but they got great performances from their first line.

After trailing 2-0, the Penguins' comeback was led by none other than Sidney Crosby ($8,800). He had two primary assists on the goals that led to the game being tied. Both assists were to Jake Guentzel ($8,500), who continued his great play after a 40-goal regular season. Bryan Rust ($7,500) was the only player to record three points in this game, as he picked up a power-play assist that didn't involve his two linemates. That won't happen too often, as these guys all play together at both even strength and on the power play.

Pittsburgh dominated the underlying metrics in Game 1. They created nearly nine expected goals and 5.09 if you put on a per 60-minute basis. The New York Rangers had problems with allowing chances before the trade deadline, and those problems definitely appeared on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh will not be as popular as Colorado and Florida are, but they have the benefit of full correlation that those lines do not. The Penguins could be a sneaky stack that can help you take down a tournament.

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.