NHL Grind Down: Friday, February 17th
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.
Remember, these writeups are done prior to lineups being released, so make sure to check our Starting Lineups page to ensure the recommended options are playing.
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Pittsburgh Penguins at Columbus Blue Jackets
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Matt Murray |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 36-13-7 | 36-15-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.55 | 2.78 | 22.20% | 79.60% | Team Stats | 3.21 | 2.45 | 22.80% | 82.00% |
Sidney Crosby was able to notch his 1,000 point of his career last night so now it’s back to just winning hockey games. The drama is over there’s nothing to see here. Crosby is good enough to roster every night the Penguins play let alone on a three game slate with Colorado being one of the teams in play. Crosby plays on the team’s top line and skates with Jake Guentzel and Chris Kunitz. Crosby is one of four players to register over 60 points this season while Kunitz has just recently been re-united with the top center. Crosby always makes his wingers better so taking Guentzel at a discounted price will help you to Crosby into your cash game line up tonight. Evgeni Malkin skates on the second line with Patric Hornqvist and Scott Wilson while Phil Kessel skates on the third line with Nick Bonino and Matt Cullen. Malkin has wasted no time in finding the score sheet as he has scored a goal in each of the two games he has played since his return from injury. Getting any piece of the team’s top power play unit would be the optimal thing to do for cash games tonight. Crosby, Malkin, Hornqvist and Kessel fit the bill where the forwards are concerned while Kris Letang is the choice on the back line as Justin Schultz had his bell rung in last night’s game and may not be available tonight. Letang has grabbed 30 points in the 37 games he has played in this season.
Columbus is all part of the logjam that has been going on for the most part of the year in the Metropolitan Division. Their 77 points is good enough to be 16 points ahead of the team that is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, so there is hardly any worry about making the playoffs. The question is where will they end up? The opponent is another one of the teams in the same boat so a win here will help them push them further ahead as they head into their mandatory week off after Sunday’s game. The Blue Jackets shuffled the lines a bit before the last game and it seems to have paid off as they took down the Toronto Maple Leafs on home ice on Wednesday night. Oliver Bjorkstrand joined the top line which features Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Saad while the second line of Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinsky stayed intact. Dubinsky and Jenner are finally realizing what it is like to skate with a player of Atkinson’s caliber. Atkinson is normally looked as a one-off as he leads the team with 27 goals and 49 points but now his linemates are catching on as Dubinsky has grabbed nine of his 29 points over the last over the last seven games while Jenner has collected five of his 21 points over that same time frame. Meanwhile Wennberg leads the team with 36 assists so it probably wasn’t a fluke that Bjorkstrand scored a goal in his first game back with the big club this season. Nick Foligno was dropped to the third line but still retained his top power play line status as he leads the team with 10 goals with the man advantage. Sam Gagner joins Foligno, Wennberg and Atkinson on the top power play unit and can be used as a punt play here. Although he has scored 14 goals and assisted on 20 others goals he has gone cold of late and could see his time diminish on a power play that has scored just once over the last ten games. Zachary Werenski is the play from the point as he has racked up 33 points so far this season. Seth Jones is also in play here as has registered five points in the seven games Columbus has played since his appearance in the all-star game.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
CBJ: Cam Atkinson
Secondary Plays
PIT: Phil Kessel, Justin Schultz, Patric Hornqvist
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Zachary Werenski
Colorado Avalanche at Carolina Hurricanes
| Colorado Avalanche | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Jeremy Smith |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-38-2 | 24-22-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.02 | 3.39 | 14.90% | 77.80% | Team Stats | 2.60 | 2.87 | 17.20% | 86.10% |
Colorado comes into this one as the worst team in recent memory. They are a team that had just 109 goals to their credit going into last night’s game and had just 32 points so far his season. They were unable to score a goal last night in Buffalo which is a clear indication that this team has given up. As a point of reference Toronto held the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference going into last night’s action with 63 points and 171 goals. If the Avalanche are to score a goal tonight it will probably come from the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. MacKinnon leads the team with 38 points while Rantanen has been able to grab six points over the last eight games. Matt Duchene joins them from the second line to form 80% of the team’s top power play unit. Duchene is second on the team in points with 15 goals and 18 assists and could be used as a tournament one-off play here tonight. Duchene’s linemates are Matt Nieto and Mikhail Grigorenko. This is as good as it gets as Nieto was flat out released from the Sharks earlier in the season before the Avalanche made them one of their second line wingers. Jarome Iginla is till wallowing on the team’s third line as it is very clear to me that the veteran is on his last legs. 15 points in 54 games is not conducive to winning hockey, even for a third liner. Tyson Barrie is the play on the back line as when he is healthy he is one of the better players Colorado has. Barrie has been able to rack up 23 points in the 46 games he has suited up for this season.
Carolina comes into this one situated in last place in the Metropolitan Division and although their 17-6-1 record in front of the home crowd is very good, it looks like that won’t be enough to make the playoffs this season. They are only eight points away from the last playoff spot but to think they can jump six teams to get there may be a bit of a pipe dream. Before the last two games before their break the team was actually scoring some goals and catching a team like Colorado playing their third game in four nights is all we can ask for here. Jeff Skinner leads the team with 18 goals and 37 points as he skates on a line with Teuvo Teravainen and Lee Stempniak. Victor Rask can also find the score sheet more often than not as he is second on the team in scoring as he centers Jamie McGinn and Derek Ryan. Skinner and Rask used to be on the top line earlier in the season but I guess the feeling is let’s see who they can make better for next year’s team. They do still skate on the same power play unit with Lee Stempniak and Ryan. Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal and Elias Lindholm had the hot hand going into the break as they combined for seven goals and 15 assists in the seven games before the break. It may not matter who the Hurricanes decide to match lines with as all three lines have the ability to score against the worst team in the league, especially on home ice. Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin are the options from the blue line with Faulk being the easy choice here. Faulk looked like he was getting back to his old self before the break as he had a streak there back in November and early December where he had registered just one assist in 14 games. In the other 32 games he has appeared in he has lit the lamp 11 times to go along with 13 assists.
Elite Plays
COL: None
CAR: Jeff Skinner, Sebastian Aho
Secondary Plays
COL: Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikko Rantanen, Tyson Barrie
CAR: Victor Rask, Jordan Staal, Justin Faulk, Teuvo Teravainen
Florida Panthers at Anaheim Ducks
| Florida Panthers | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Roberto Luongo |  | John Gibson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 25-20-10 | 30-18-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.49 | 2.78 | 14.90% | 84.50% | Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.50 | 20.60% | 84.20% |
The Florida Panthers outlasted the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night as they took down the Pacific Division leaders in front of their home crowd in an exciting 6-5 overtime win. The win put Florida that much closer to the last playoff spot as their 60 points is now just three points away from the promised land. Aleksander Barkov, Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau skate as the team’s top line that has seen Huberdeau and Barkov on fire since returning from their injuries four games ago. Huberdeau has lit the lamp three times for a total of seven points while Barkov has grabbed four goals and six points in those four games. Jussi Jokinen and Vincent Trocheck skate on the second line with Reilly Smith and look to be an intriguing play here. Trocheck leads the team with 20 goals and 39 points while Jokinen has basically risen from the dead as the seven points he has registered in the last seven games is almost half of his season tally of 18 points. If you need a punt play you can look to either Jonathan Marchessault or Nick Bjugstad. Both skate on the third line with Marchessault sitting in second on the team’s scoring chart with 16 goals and 17 assists. Meanwhile Bjugstad has been making some inroads since his return from injury six games ago as he has added three goals and two assists to the measly two points he had in 21 games before his injury. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad are the defensive options when looking at the Panthers for some points on the back line. Yandle leads Ekblad by a tally of 29-16 while Ekblad leads the team with 171 shots on goal so far this season. Florida is getting healthier so is it really a coincidence that they have won 5 of their last six games?
Anaheim pulled off a superb win on Tuesday night as they beat the Minnesota by a score of 1-0 in front of the Wild’s home crowd. The win still has the team four points out of first place in the Pacific Division but should be in good shape when the end of the season tournament rolls around. Jakob Silfverberg remained on a line with Ryan Getzlaf in yesterday’s practice but Antione Vermette was nowhere to be found as he is likely to appeal his ten-game suspension that was handed to him the other day. Ondrej Kase was skating in his place so look for a bump in his numbers tonight. Getzlaf leads the team with 33 assists while Silfverberg has leads the team with seven points in the last seven games. Corey Perry, Nick Ritchie and Rickard Rakell skate as the team’s second line while Ryan Kesler centers Andrew Cogliano and Logan Shaw. I am not a big fan of spreading out the talent across three lines when you have just enough talent for two lines, especially on home ice. I don’t mind Rakell and Perry together though as Rakell leads the team with 20 goals while Perry has a total of 40 points so far this season. Perry seems to have been in the doghouse lately as he has not appeared on the top power play unit over the last few games. It may not matter much as both units get almost the same amount of ice time but that goes back to the other point that they may not have enough talent to run out two even power play units. Kesler makes for a decent one-off here as he leads the team with seven power play goals and 44 points. Defenseman Cam Fowler is the safest play for cash games as he has found the score sheet 30 times so far this season. Shea Theodore skates with Fowler on the top power play unit and could be considered as a punt play while Hampus Lindholm has been warming up as evident by his five points over the last seven games. This may not seem monumental until you realize he only had eight points in the previous 40 games.
Elite Plays
FLA: Aleksander Barkov
ANA: Ryan Kesler, Ryan Getzlaf
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, Jaromir Jagr, Keith Yandle, Nick Bjugstad
ANA: Jakob Silfverberg, Rickard Rakell, Corey Perry, Cam Fowler