UNLOCKED: Line Matching – October 5th
Line Matching will typically be posted in the early afternoon (EST) once most teams have wrapped up their morning skates. Line Matching for afternoon games (on weekends) will be posted in the morning prior to puck-drop. Line Matching will be offered for FREE until Friday, October 5 before it is locked for DFO Premium Members Only.
This post looks at which teams will have an advantage at 5v5. It looks at which lines the home-team will try and match-up against and which line could have an edge. It does not take power-play or goaltending into consideration.
STATS
- All totals are per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time.
- SCF/SCA- Scoring chances for and against
- CF/CA – Corsi for and against
- HDCF/HDCA – High-danger Chances for and against
Matchups
- Which lines the Home team is expected to be matched up against.
Index
1️⃣ – Indicates PP1 Usage
2️⃣ – Indicates PP2 Usage
Carolina Hurricanes @ Columbus Blue Jackets
 |  | Advantage | Matchup | |
| CAR1 | CBJ1 | CBJ1 vs CAR1: Slight CBJ1 | Tortorella doesn’t line match. | |
| LW | M. Ferland 2️⃣ | LW | A. Panarin 1️⃣ | |
| C | S. Aho 1️⃣ | C | P-L. Dubois 1️⃣ | |
| RW | T. Teravainen 1️⃣ | RW | C. Atkinson 1️⃣ | CBJ1 vs CAR2: Slight CBJ1 |
| Sample: 733:46 TOI (Aho & Teravainen) | Sample: 350:52 TOI | |||
| OFF: 62 CF, 29 SCF, 13 HDCF | OFF: 69 CF, 36 SCF, 14 HDCF | CBJ1 vs CAR3: N/A | ||
| DEF: 47 CA, 22 SCA, 11 HDCA | DEF: 55 CA, 27 SCA, 12 HDCA | |||
| ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ | ||||
| CAR2 | CBJ2 | CBJ2 vs CAR1: Even | Tortorella doesn’t line match. | |
| LW | W. Foegele | LW | N. Foligno 1️⃣ | |
| C | J. Staal 1️⃣ | C | A. Wennberg 2️⃣ | |
| RW | J. Williams 2️⃣ | RW | O. Bjorkstand 2️⃣ | CBJ2 vs CAR2: Even |
| Sample: 284:31 TOI (Staal & Williams) | Sample: 109:07 TOI | |||
| OFF: 68 CF, 32 SCF, 12 HDCF | OFF: 82 CF, 36 SCF, 16 HDCF | CBJ2 vs CAR3: N/A | ||
| DEF: 53 CA, 23 SCA, 8 HDCA | DEF: 49 CA, 24 SCA, 12 HDCA | |||
| ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ | ||||
| CAR3 | CBJ3 | CBJ3 vs CAR1: CAR1 | Tortorella doesn’t line match. | |
| LW | B. McGinn | LW | B. Jenner 2️⃣ | |
| C | M. Necas 2️⃣ | C | B. Dubinsky | |
| RW | A. Svechnikov 2️⃣ | RW | J. Anderson | CBJ3 vs CAR2: CAR2 |
| Sample: No Sample-Svechnikov and Necas are both rookies | Sample: 88:07 TOI | |||
| OFF: N/A | OFF: 66 CF, 33 SCF, 14 HDCF | CBJ3 vs CAR3: N/A | ||
| DEF: N/A | DEF: 69 CA, 29 SCA, 13 HDCA |
Analysis: We got a pair of teams travelling on the tail end of a back-to-back to start the season. Of course, Torts doesn’t line match consistently so we should see an array of matchups in this one. Both top-6s are used to running the show at 5v5, so it should be a pretty even matchup in that regard. The skill of CBJ1 gives them the slight edge in both matchups, and you gotta love Panarin and company going against whatever goalie the Hurricanes throw between the pipes tonight. A full CBJ powerplay stack is a solid play on tonight’s small slate.
San Jose Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings
 |  | Advantage | Matchup |
| SJS1 | LAK1 | Slight LAK1 | Hard match |
| LW | T. Meier 2️⃣ | LW | A. Iafallo |
| C | J. Thornton 2️⃣ | C | A. Kopitar 1️⃣ |
| RW | J. Pavelski 1️⃣ | RW | I. Kovalchuk 1️⃣ |
| Sample: 233:28 TOI | Sample: 806:58 TOI (Kopitar & Iafallo) | ||
| OFF: 66 CF, 28 SCF, 10 HDCF | OFF: 57 CF, 26 SCF, 11 HDCF | ||
| DEF: 57 CA, 28 SCA, 14 HDCA | DEF: 52 CA, 25 SCA, 11 HDCA | ||
| ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ | |||
| SJS2 | LAK2 | LAK2 vs SJS2: Slight SJS2 | LAK2 split 60/40 against SJS2/3 |
| LW | T. Hertl 1️⃣ | LW | T. Pearson 2️⃣ |
| C | Couture 1️⃣ | C | J. Carter 2️⃣ |
| RW | K. Labanc 2️⃣ | RW | T. Toffoli 2️⃣ |
| Sample: 236:49 TOI | Sample: 108:40 TOI | LAK2 vs. SJS3: N/A | |
| OFF: 70 CF, 29 SCF, 10 HDCF | OFF: 59 CF, 31 SCF, 12 HDCF | ||
| DEF: 53 CA, 22 SCA, 8 HDCA | DEF: 53 CA, 28 SCA, 11 HDCA | ||
| ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ | |||
| SJS3 | LAK3 | LAK3 vs SJS2: SJS 2 | LAK3 split 60/40 against SJS3/2 |
| LW | E. Kane 2️⃣ | LW | A. Wagner |
| C | A. Suomela | C | A. Kempe 1️⃣ |
| RW | J. Donskoi | RW | T. Lewis |
| Sample: No Sample | Sample: 221:22 TOI (Kempe & Lewis) | LAK3 vs. SJS3: N/A | |
| OFF: N/A | OFF: 54 CF, 27 SCF, 9 HDCF | ||
| DEF: N/A | DEF: 59 CA, 28 SCA, 12 HDCA |
Analysis: The Kopitar line usually hard-matches against the opposition’s top line at home, so expect him to go head-to-head with Pavelski and Thornton tonight. Kovalchuk should provide a boost to Kopitar and Iafallo’s numbers from a year ago. Iafallo was a non-factor last year and doesn’t need to be included in your LAK1 stacks. SJS2 draws a pair of favourable matchups against the Kings’ second and third lines. They are the line to target tonight if you’re looking to play San Jose.
Suggested Stacks
- 1. CBJ1
2. SJS2
3. LAK1