NHL Stacking to Win 3-8-16

The Chalk

The Stars studs will probably be the most popular stack of the night, and they've seen their prices drop on Fanduel significantly. They're in Montreal to face the Habs, and it doesn't really matter who they start in net tonight, but they've decided to roll with Ben Scrivens. Since Jan 1, Scrivens has the 6th lowest adjusted save percentage at 90.59% (Via War On Ice). The Stars have the highest projected team total of the night, and even have plenty of good value options that should meet or exceed value. Dallas' 6th ranked power play unit should feast tonight, and with defenseman John Klingberg missing anther game due to injury, Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski make great plays on the back end. Both will skate on the top PP unit with Benn, Seguin, and Jason Spezza, who will be a staple of my lineups on Draftkings at the very reasonable price tag of $6,100. The Stars second line that's centered by Spezza has been hot lately, as Mattias Jannmark and Valeri Nichuskin on his wings provide excellent value. The Stars are in a dogfight with the Blackhawks and Blues for the Central division, and will look to extend their win streak to three games.

Another team that's been on fire lately is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who host the Bruins tonight in a match up of two teams playing their fourth game in six nights. Before a 4-2 hiccup in Philly last night, the Lightning had won nine straight games, many of them in very convincing fashion. Tonight they get Bruins back up goalie Jonas Gustavsson, who's a solid downgrade from starter Tuukka Rask. This line, although quiet in the last couple games, has still combined for eight goals over their last ten games (Via Left Wing Lock). Also, don't look now, but 'The Triplets' line of Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are on fire in their last three games, combining for five goals. The Bruins and Lightning are only separated by one point in the standings, so they're is plenty of motivation on both sides, but I like the Lightning to pop in a few goals.

Contrarian Corner

The Predators have been a favorite team of mine to stack lately, and they usually go fairly under the radar despite their recent dominance. They're 7-0-3 in their last ten games, and a big reason for that has been the line of Forsberg, Smith and Ribeiro, who've combined for a league leading 12 goals over that span. They also get a match up against a leaky Jets defense, and goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who's a below average NHL netminder. The Jets also have one of the worst penalty killing units in the league, and have been shorthanded 238 times this year, second most in the league. That's why I love Roman Josi tonight on defense, as well as Shea Weber and Ryan Ellis. Josi is so consistent, and is probably one of the most underrated players in the NHL. The Preds top line is also very much in play tonight (Johansen, Neal, Jarnkrok), as well as Colin Wilson.

I'm expecting goals early and often tonight at the Bell Centre between the Stars and Canadiens. PK Subban was snubbed from the initial Canadian World Cup roster, a ridiculously stupid decision in my opinion, and he responded with a goal and an assist in his first game after. The Stars are a high scoring juggernaut, but they also give up a ton of goals themselves. Alex Galchenyuk is flourishing in an increased role, and the duo of him and Pacioretty is one of my favorites. He was questionable to play tonight, but multiple reports have him playing for sure barring a setback in the warm ups. Keep an eye on who is in net for Dallas, and if its Antti Niemi, that's a good thing for Montreal skaters as he has the worst adjusted save percentage in the NHL since Jan 1. With the match up against Dallas, I'm hoping the masses will overlook the Habs tonight. Andre Markov and Tomas Plekanec also make great plays that should be under 5% owned.