3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Friday 1/6/23
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.
We wrap up this week with six games on a slate that looks like it could be a bit tricky.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers delivered for us on Tuesday, and we can look at rostering them again tonight. That game was against the Arizona Coyotes, and while this matchup won't be as good, it can still produce the results we need in fantasy.
The pairing of Aleksander Barkov ($7,900) and Matthew Tkachuk ($9,800) have both had huge games over the last week. Barkov had a hat trick and five points, and Tkachuk lit the lamp three times on Tuesday. Tkachuk is now on pace to beat last season's career highs in both points and goals.
Carter Verhaeghe ($6,400) has 18 goals on the season but doesn't play on the first power play with these two. If you need more power play correlation, you can look towards Aaron Ekblad ($5,800), who's a nice value at defense.
Florida is on the road tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit allowed five goals in their last game on Wednesday. That was the ninth time this season they've let in five goals or more. Their defense hasn't been terrible overall, but they have games where they tend to break down and have everything go wrong.
The Panthers' implied team total is the second-highest on this slate, and the upside of their two star forwards is enough to entice us to play them again tonight.
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are one of the teams that can be labeled as bad -- but fun. While they aren't in the playoff conversation this season, they have enough exciting players who we can roster to make them interesting in fantasy.
Timo Meier ($9,400) has been a shot machine this season, ranking second in the league in shots on goal. His 21 goals also lead the team. The Sharks had moved their lines around but are back to having Tomas Hertl ($7,400) as their top line center. Hertl is second amongst forwards on the Sharks with 36 points. Kevin Labanc ($5,800) is the third member of this line and can definitely be used with the top two forwards.
San Jose is one of those teams where a defenseman is one of the best options to use in stacks, as Erik Karlsson ($8,400) is sixth among all players in points, regardless of position.
They face the only team worse than them in the Pacific Division, the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim is the worst defensive team in the league in both goals allowed and shots allowed per game. These teams have already played three times, and the Sharks have scored a total of 15 goals in those meetings.
San Jose has an implied team total just behind Florida's, and they have two potential slate-breakers in Karlsson and Meier who make for a good combination tonight.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals scored six goals when they were in a good spot last night, but they didn't win the slate because the goals were spread out. Tonight, they are in a good spot once again, and we can go right back to them.
We did get a goal from Alex Ovechkin ($9,900) last night, bringing him up to 29 on the season. He somehow had only two shots on goal, so he didn't pay off his lofty salary. He averages over four shots per game, so it's not exactly a trend we should be concerned about. Evgeny Kuznetsov ($6,400) picked up two assists last night and now has six in his last three games. His passing will continue to be a great compliment to Ovechkin's shooting. Erik Gustafsson ($4,300) is once again one of the best values on the slate, as he will be on the first power play and is capable of scoring goals himself.
Washington may be on the second night of a back-to-back, but so are the Nashville Predators, who they will play tonight. Nashville won a wild game last night in which they allowed a stunning 67 shots on goal. They likely won't have Juuse Saros in net to save them this time and will probably turn to Kevin Lankinen, who is a below-average goaltender. Nashville has now allowed the fourth-most expected goals per 60 minutes, so their reputation as a solid defensive team is not holding up this season.
Ovechkin has been one of the hottest goal scorers in the league of late, and that can easily extend into this game. The Capitals have the highest implied team total tonight, and if the Predators defend like they did yesterday, Washington players will likely be in winning lineups tonight.
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.
