Good morning everyone and welcome to volume 31 of the Top Shelf Knucklepuck Stacks! We have a cash-playable 10-game slate on this oddly overcast and chilly Tuesday morning here in San Diego, California.
If you are a new subscriber to our NHL Core Plays, please make sure that you are playing all of the lineups that I post on any given day. NHL is such a highly-variant sport and there is truly no telling which lineup will go off. I do have my favorites each day, but even the lineups that I may not think have massive upside sometimes, in fact, have the upside you need to take down a tournament.
Top Stacks
In reflecting back on my last article from Saturday, how disappointing was the Pittsburgh Penguins game that had an over/under of 7? The only answer was that it was terrible. We managed to hit cash games and GPPs alike, but I was still disappointed by the low score.
We will talk about the two obvious stacks in a moment, but I wanted to flag another team that I love this evening and is skating on home ice against an awful Los Angeles Kings squad. Yes, the Kings are terrible and lack any semblance of an offensive threat. The team has lost five of its last seven and rank dead last in goals per game and third to last in shots per game. While the team limits opposing teams’ shots, the Kings lack chemistry as a whole and I will enjoy watching the Buffalo Sabres top line thrive at home. The Jack Eichel – Jeff Skinner – Sam Reinhart trio has been sharp together and they will get a great line matchup at home. They will go overlooked tonight and, unlike the stacks I will write about below, they are not expensive. Look to add Rasmus Dahlin or Rasmus Ristolainen as part of a power play stack.
As for your top two stacks of the day that are sure to be highly-owned, even on a 10-game slate, you should and must have exposure to the top lines (and power play units) from the Washington Capitals and the Winnipeg Jets. Both teams are at home and they are hosting visiting squads that rank in the bottom ten in goals allowed and the bottom six in shots allowed. Meanwhile, the Capitals and Jets each rank in the top seven in goals per game. Keep an eye on his status, but T.J. Oshie should be back and he is slotted to skate on the right wing with Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin. That line is is in play and can be used as part of a power play stack with John Carlson and Evgeny Kuznetsov.
As for the Jets, load up on a healthy dose of Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor (for a power play stack) or Nikolaj Ehlers for an even strength stack. The team hosts a Blackhawks unit that is allowing the sixth most shots against per game.
Other Notable Stacks
We have been picking on them all season, and tonight, the Nashville Predators get to host an Ottawa Senators team that is nearly dead last in every major defensive category in the league. The big issue with that team is that their top two forwards are on IR. From this game, you need to roster Colton Sissons (especially on FD) and Roman Josi or Ryan Ellis. The team does have the highest implied goal total so stack their first power play unit with those players just mentioned along with Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen.
A few other lines that I will have exposure to this evening are as follows: Oilers and Avalanche game stack (use the Avs top line and EDM2); the Florida Panthers top line, the Leafs second line, and the Blue Jackets top line.
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There were some questions in the Slack chat over the first month of the season about how to find the lines that I list as my top stacks on the Top Shelf Knucklepuck Cheat Sheet. Head over to either DailyFaceoff.com or LeftWingLock.com to see which skaters are on each of a team’s lines and then build your line stacks. For example, if you see that my top stack of the day is “PIT PP1 / 1”, look at one of the two sites listed above and you will see that the top power play unit of the Pittsburgh Penguins consists of Patric Hornqvist – Evgeni Malkin – Sidney Crosby – Kris Letang – Phil Kessel. The team’s top line features Jake Guentzel – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist. I decided to leave off the players’ names from the line stacks because of the fact that they may change before the game or after the team’s morning skate (if applicable). Both sites I mentioned are updated regularly and typically accurate. If you’re ever lost, just ask questions in our Slack chat.
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Feel free to comment here or post a screenshot or photo on Instagram and remember to tag me @NotTonyM. I am always open to feedback and critique. Just remember, I respond to respect and love in whatever the message is that you want to share. Good luck!
