NHL Grind Down: Friday, December 15th
The RotoGrinders NHL Grind Down article will give you an in-depth analysis into the NHL schedule. This article will break down the numbers for every single game and give you analysis on which trends you can exploit. While matchups are a major factor in daily fantasy hockey there are plenty of other factors to consider such as injuries, salaries, and more.
The analysis should point you in the right direction, but it is still up to you to decipher the information and make your own selections. Hockey is an extremely high variance sport. The best choice is not always the right choice but following the trends will win you money over time.
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Dallas Stars at New Jersey Devils
| Dallas Stars | New Jersey Devils | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Keith Kinkaid | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 18-13-1 | 17-9-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.84 | 18.56 | 81.25 | Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.97 | 20.43 | 82.73 |
Dallas had to scramble their lines for yesterdays practice as Tyler Pitlick took a maintenance day and Alexander Radulov did not skate because of a lower body injury. Mike Heika reported that Radulov may play tonight but sounds like a game time decision. Dallas has been mixing up their lines quite a bit over the last few weeks which had Jamie Benn skating with Radek Faksa and Pitlick while Tyler Seguin centered Devin Shore and Remi Elie. Meanwhile Radulov was skating with Jason Spezza and Mattis Janmark. The strategy seems to have been working as the Stars have won their forst two games on their current four game road trip. Regardless of what the lines are Benn and Seguin are the cash game plays as they not only lead the team with 29 and 28 points respectively while soaking up plenty of extra time when the team has the man advantage. John Klingberg is the cash game play from the point as he anchors that top power play unit and has seen eight of his 27 points come with the man advantage. After that it’s Esa Lindell and his three points over the last eight games that has him at 11 points on the season. That’s just barely enough to look at him as a GPP punt play. This could be a tough one tonight against a Jersey team that is 7-5-2 at home and played in Montreal last night. In an optional skate this morning Radulov was spotted skating and is a go for tonight’s game. We have to assume that the lines will stay the same considering the most recent success Dallas has had with them.
Good news and bad news for the devils over the past week. The good news is that Kyle Palmieri has begun skating and may be ready to join the line up soon while Marcus Johansson was moved to the injured reserve list with an injured ankle. Meanwhile Taylor Hall looks to have dodged a bullet as he has been diagnosed with a knee contusion that kept him out of last night’s game. This will be New Jersey’s third game in four nights in which they have lost their last two back-to-back situations. Nico Hischier skated with Jesper Bratt and Drew Stafford on the top line while Travis Zajac centered Blake Coleman and Brian Gibbons on the team’s second line. This is good news for Gibbons as he has basically registered all 12 of his team leading goals from out of the top six so it will be interesting to see what he does with the extra ice time. Hischier and Bratt are tied for second on the team with defenseman Will Butcher with 20 points while the injured Hall has a commanding 11 point lead over his teammates for the team scoring lead. Damon Severson would be the only other defenseman to look at here but his nine points going into last night’s game is nothing to write home about. The Devils need to get healthy if they want to stay in the thick of things in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils will not decide if Hall will play tonight or who will be in net until 4:45 this afternoon.
Top Plays
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
NJ: None
Secondary Plays
DAL: John Klingberg, Tyler Pitlick, Radek Faksa
NJ: Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Will Butcher, Travis Zajac, Brian Gibbons
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