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.

There are lots of good stacking options on this Thursday slate, but let's look at three that stand out from the rest.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues were third in goals per game last season, sporting a deep forward group with nine players getting at least 20 goals. They lost some players this summer, and the puck hasn't been going in at the same rate, as they are down to 18th in goals per game. Some of their players are finding their game of late, and they have a good matchup tonight.

St. Louis has been juggling their lines all season but now seems to have found some combinations that work. The top line has two value pieces in Ryan O'Reilly ($4,500) and Brayden Schenn ($5,300), who are playing alongside Pavel Buchnevich ($6,400). Schenn has been nearly a point-per-game player over his last 10 games, while Buch has six goals and 11 points in his last 10 games. This would be the value option for the Blues, with O'Reilly and Schenn correlating on the first power play.

The second line will require more salary but may have more firepower than the first. Jordan Kyrou ($8,700) has been on a tear, with eight goals in his last 10 games. He's now playing with pass-first center Robert Thomas ($6,000), who leads the team with 24 assists. The third member of the line is Vladimir Tarasenko ($6,000), who comes at a fairly low salary for his talent level. This line all plays together on the power play, as well.

The Blues are playing against the Chicago Blackhawks. We always like to stack against Chicago. In their last game, they allowed only three goals but also gave up 49 shots on goal. Overall, they've allowed the fifth-most shots per game and fourth-most goals per game.

St Louis has a lot of good, modest-salaried players and owns a team total of 3.64 goals. Their first and second lines are firmly in play.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs scored five goals on Tuesday night when we liked them, but the top guys didn't erupt as we had hoped. They'll be in an even better spot tonight to hopefully satisfy fantasy players.

The Leafs kept their lines the same after the holiday break. The first line saw William Nylander ($9,400) playing with Auston Matthews ($10,100) once again. Nylander extended his goal-scoring streak to four games and is now on pace for 49 goals this season. Matthews wasn't able to score, but he did get an assist and had five shots on goal. Michael Bunting ($5,800) continues to be a good third wheel on this line at a nice salary.

Toronto is on the road against the Arizona Coyotes. Arizona is slightly better than we expected them to be, but they are still a bottom-three team in both expected goals allowed and high-danger chances allowed per 60 minutes.

The Leafs are huge favorites and can really rack up goals versus the Coyotes if things break right for them.

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks do not check the box of being a good team, but they are a fun team for fantasy purposes. They have two players who we like to roster in good matchups, and they have one such matchup tonight.

The best forward on the Sharks has been Timo Meier ($9,900). He has 36 points in 36 games and is second in the NHL in shots on goal. San Jose has shuffled their lines a bit, with Meier now playing next to Logan Couture ($6,700) and Alexander Barabanov ($6,000). These guys -- along with Erik Karlsson ($7,800) on defense -- also join Meier on the top power play. Only five players in the NHL have more points than Karlsson, regardless of position. He has been by far the best defenseman in fantasy this season and should be prioritized in Sharks stacks.

San Jose is hosting the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are in the bottom five in nearly every defensive metric besides goals against but will be without Carter Hart in net tonight. Instead, it will be up to Samuel Ersson, who allowed five goals in his only game this season.

Despite being a bad team, the Sharks should not go overlooked as a stack with a lot of upside in this matchup.

Others to Consider: New York Islanders, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres

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.