NHL Daily Plays: Wednesday, April 1st
We’ve reached the final 10 days of the NHL regular season, and despite the fact that many teams are down to their final five games, not much has been settled as far as playoff matchups go. Wednesdays have been rather slow nights on the ice all season, and today is no different as we only have four games on the docket.
Here are my top picks for tonight’s action:
Goaltenders
Make sure to check the RotoGrinders Starting Goalies Page to confirm that the goalies listed below are starting prior to game time.
Frederik Andersen – Anaheim Ducks – With just eight goalies to choose from tonight, Andersen looks like to be the “safest” cash game option on the board. Not only are the Ducks huge favorites by Vegas Standards but Andersen had already won both previous meetings against the Oilers while turning away 42 of the 45 shots they’ve thrown his way. Andersen sports an impressive 17-6-2 record at the Honda Center this season and has been quite impressive in each of his last two outings (wins over Boston and the New York Islanders). Securing the “W” is vital and Andersen easily has the best chance to do that tonight against this Oilers team that has won only nine road games all season.
Others To Target: Marc-Andre Fleury, Jonathan Bernier, Alex Stalock
Centers
Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks – Getzlaf versus the worst defensive team in the NHL? Yes please. While Getzlaf’s production has cooled off a bit lately, his offensive abilities are simply undeniable. He’s already posted two goals and an assist against the Oilers in their three meetings this season and owns 14 goals and 22 assists in 33 career games against the Edmonton. The Oilers are allowing 3.53 goals against per game on the road this season and, considering their one of the smallest team’s in the NHL, they don’t have anyone that can match-up with Getzlaf’s combination of both size and raw offensive talent. On a four game night, he’s a dangerous cash game fade.
Ryan O’Reilly – Colorado Avalanche – After a 28 goals, 36 assist season last year for the Avalanche, big things were expected by O’Reilly this season in Denver. However, he was slow to get out of the gate this year and it looked as if he was going to take a step backwards this season when the All-Star break came around. However, after racking up 5 goals and 12 assists in just 13 games during the month of March, he’s proved that last year’s breakout wasn’t a fluke. O’Reilly has picked up at least one point in 12 of his last 13 games and should benefit from an up-tempo game against the San Jose Sharks (they rank 3rd in the NHL in pace with a 115.0 CP60). He picked up an assist against the Sharks in their only other meeting this season and should find plenty of scoring chances on the team’s top power-play unit as the Sharks sport a rather unsightly 79.0% penalty kill this season.
Others To Target: Sidney Crosby, Tyler Bozak, Claude Giroux, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Johan Larsson
Wingers
Patric Hornqvist – Pittsburgh Penguins – With the Penguins taking on Philadelphia and their 29th ranked penalty kill, I want some exposure to that Penguins very lethal #1 power-play. With both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin carrying huge price-tags, Patric Hornqvist looks like an excellent option tonight. The skilled winger looks to be fully recovered from his undisclosed injury and managed to light the lamp against San Jose on Sunday. He’s been much more productive this season at the Consol Energy Center and has racked up nine goals and added four assists over his last 13 games. The Flyers have dropped nine of their last 11 games and Pittsburgh badly needs two points here to maintain home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Brian Gionta – Buffalo Sabres – This is the first time all season I’ve recommended a Buffalo Sabre, but on a four game night and a home matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs team (who played last night) on tap, it seems prudent. Gionta, once a 48 goal scorer in New Jersey, looks to have rediscovered his offensive touch; over the last eight games he’s scored four goals and added five assists. He’s seeing big minutes both on Buffalo’s top forward line as well as their #1 power-play unit and is very reasonably priced on most sites. While the plus/minus concerns are inherently present with Buffalo players, they’re certainly mitigated slightly by tonight’s fairly soft matchup.
Others To Target: Phil Kessel, Daniel Winnik, Corey Perry, Joe Pavelski, Melker Karlsson, Jordan Eberle, Patrick Marleau
Defensemen
T.J. Brennan – Toronto Maple Leafs – With several super-stars on the board likely soaking up a large chunk of your salary cap, you’re going to need to find some value on the board. The recently called up T.J. Brennan picked up his first NHL point last night, and probably most importantly for his fantasy outlook, it came on the power-play. Brennan is dirt cheap across the industry and the matchup against the Buffalo Sabres doesn’t get much better. The former second round pick has shown plenty of offensive upside at the AHL level (25 goals and 47 assists in 76 games last season) and should be a fantasy asset if he sticks with the top power-play unit.
Derrick Pouliot – Pittsburgh Penguins – Pouliot is another bargain-bin blue-liner that can open up plenty of cap space for your forwards. With Kris Letang out of commission, it’s been Pouliot who has slid onto the point of the Penguins top power-play unit where he’s promptly recorded power-play assists in back-to-back games. Much like T.J. Brennan above, Pouliot has been an offensive force in the minors (7 goals and 17 assists in 31 games this season at AHL Wilkes-Barrie/Scranton and 17 goals and 53 assists with WHL Portland last season). With Philadelphia sporting an atrocious penalty-kill, he’s another terrific “punt” option on the blue-line tonight.
Others To Target: Dion Phaneuf, Sami Vatanen, Morgan Reilly, Brent Burns, Paul Martin, Rasmus Ristolainen (UPDATE: Ristolainen will not play tonight)