NHL Grind Down: Friday, February 24th
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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Edmonton Oilers at Washington Capitals
| Edmonton Oilers | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Cam Talbot |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 33-20-8 | 40-12-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.54 | 20.60% | 80.90% | Team Stats | 3.36 | 2.07 | 22.10% | 84.50% |
Edmonton comes into this one in second place in the Pacific Division with an 18-10-5 record away from the home crowd. This is their fourth game on the current six-game road trip which has seen them beat Chicago and Florida. Tonight’s contest may a bit tougher as they face the best defensive team in the league. If you have been reading the Grind Down the past couple of days you know that Connor McDavid and Patrick Maroon have a new linemate in Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was moved up to the second line to skate with Jordan Eberle and Milan Lucic. It’s tough to say fade McDavid on any night especially since he has 68 points in 61 games this season especially in cash games. GPPs are a different story as it’s probably the second line you want to target here as the Oilers have to put their players on the ice first and there’s no way they put their best defensive line against these guys. Eberle has moved into third place on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 24 assists while Nugent-Hopkins hasn’t really had too many opportunities to play with two decent linemates all season. Defenseman Andrej Sekera got hurt last game but could return tonight. Oscar Klefbom is the defenseman you want for you cash games as he has taken over the role of quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. Klefbom has tallied three goals and three assists over the last six games.
After losing their first two road games to Detroit and the New York Rangers the Capitals came back to beat the Flyers in Philadelphia by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday night. They return home tonight to face a decent Edmonton team that has won 18 road games. The Capitals aren’t that shabby on home ice as they have only lost 5 games in front of the home crowd all year. Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie is the line to target here as they should get all the juicy matchups all night long. Backstrom leads the team with nine points in the last five games and is averaging over appoint per game with his 18 goals and 45 assists in 59 games played. Meanwhile Ovechkin continues to the lead the team with 27 goals on 227 shots on goal. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson skate on the team’s second line but it is Johansson who gets the shoulder tap to go up and play with the first line when the Capitals draw a penalty. Johansson has been enjoying a nice season as his 19 goals and 21 assists puts him fifth on the team’s scoring chart. John Carlson has assumed his role on the back line when Washington goes on the power play as he has grabbed 11 of his 29 points with the man advantage. Matt Niskanen can be used as an alternative to Carlson as he has put up 32 points so far this season.
Elite Plays
EDM: Connor McDavid
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin
Secondary Plays
EDM: Leon Draisaitl, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Oscar Klefbom
WSH: T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson
Calgary Flames at Florida Panthers
| Calgary Flames | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Chad Johnson |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 31-26-4 | 28-21-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.60 | 2.83 | 19.90% | 80.80% | Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.73 | 15.80% | 85.20% |
In an effort to stay in playoff contention in the Western Conference the Calgary Flames changed up their lines a bit for last night’s game in Tampa Bay. The currently hold the last playoff spot with 64 points but Los Angeles and Winnipeg each has 62 points and are ready to pounce at the first miscue. Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan now have Michael Ferland while Kris Versteeg is the odd man out and heads down to the third line. Gaudreau has tallied eight assists this month while Monahan has lit the lamp three times to go along with four assists over the last eight games. Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik may be the line to target here however as it’s almost a given that Florida will have their best defensive line against Gaudreau and company. Tkachuk has grabbed eight of his 39 points over the last eight games while Backlund leads the team with 41 points this season. T.J. Brodie has been getting the first crack on the team’s top power play unit from the back line and has tallied six of his 23 points over the last eight games. Dougie Hamilton is still the choice where the Calgary defensemen are concerned as he leads the team with 168 shots on goal which has produced 36 points this season.
Florida has won eight of their last ten games which has put them in the eight spot in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. The trick now is to keep playing good hockey as there are plenty of team’s that can come and take the spot away if the Panthers were to lose a a few games in a row. I have a sneaky feeling that the top line of Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr will be highly owned as far as cash game plays go tonight. Barkov and Huberdeau have paced the team over the last eight games by combining for 10 goals and seven assists and will have every opportunity to exploit the weaker Calgary lines on home ice tonight. Vincent Trocheck skates on the second line with jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith and makes a nice one-off play here. Trocheck leads the team with 21 goals and 42 points this season. Nick Bjugstad and Jonathan Marchessault skate on the third line and can be used as a GPP punt play here as Marchessault is second on the team with 36 points. Aaron Ekblad and Keith Yandle are the choices from the back line and it’s the same old story. Yandle has 31 points while Ekblad has just 19 but Ekblad’s 184 shots on goal leads the team but has managed just 19 points so far this season. Something has to give, right?
Elite Plays
CGY: Mikael Backlund
FLA: Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau
Secondary Plays
CGY: Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Dougie Hamilton
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Vincent Trocheck, Keith Yandle
Ottawa Senators at Carolina Hurricanes
| Ottawa Senators | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Craig Anderson |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 32-20-6 | 24-24-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.62 | 17.50% | 83.30% | Team Stats | 2.50 | 2.88 | 16.80% | 86.30% |
Although both Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman skated on regular lines in yesterday’s practice head coach Guy Boucher has said that both players are doubtful for tonight’s game. This seems more like a smoke screen than anything as if that he what he really thought, why would they practice on regular lines? Ryan Dzingel and Kyle Turris are the safe plays on the top line that is ‘supposed’ to feature Hoffman while Zack Smith and Derick Brassard are on the second line where Stone is ‘supposed’ to be skating on that line. It’s probably best to stick with the guys that will be paired together than get burned by a game-time decision that doesn’t play. Turris and Brassard will no doubt play on the top power play unit as they are the guys to have here tonight. Turris has grabbed eight points in the last ten games while Brassard has registered seven of his 33 points over that same time frame. Defenseman Erik Karlsson is the closest thing to a sure bet here as he leads the team with 52 points while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. Dion Phaneuf makes for a decent alternative here as he has recorded six of his 26 points over the last 10 games. If both Stone and Hoffman don’t play I wouldn’t count this team out as they beat New Jersey by a score of 2-1 in Newark on Tuesday.
Carolina has won just three games in the last 13 which has basically shoved them out of the playoff conversation. 56 points is the lowest total in the Eastern Conference and are 10 points away from the last playoff spot. This has led to the Hurricanes switching players almost liberally as they no doubt want to see who clicks with who. It looks like Victor Rask has been saved from oblivion as he will now center Sebastian Aho and Elias Lindholm which should be the line to target here. Rask and Aho are tied for second on the team in points with 32 apiece as they haven’t played on the same line all season. I like this move as Aho has shown flashes of brilliance this season while Rask should be able to feed him the puck on a regular basis. Jeff Skinner leads the team with 20 goals and 39 points as he will now skate with Teuvo Teravainen and Lee Stempniak. Carolina has only scored four goals in the last five games so it’s no wonder that they are trying something different. Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin are the choices on the back line and for all intents and purposes, Faulk is the safest play tonight. Faulk has 149 shots on goal while collecting 25 points while Jacob Slavin is six points behind him for the scoring lead where the Hurricane defensemen are concerned.
Elite Plays
OTT: Erik Karlsson
CAR: Jeff Skinner
Secondary Plays
OTT: Kyle Turris, Derick Brassard, Ryan Dzingel, Zack Smith
CAR: Sebastian Aho, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Justin Faulk
Arizona Coyotes at Dallas Stars
| Arizona Coyotes | Dallas Stars | ||||||||
 | Mike Smith |  | Kari Lehtonen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-31-7 | 23-27-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 3.14 | 15.30% | 77.30% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 3.20 | 18.00% | 73.00% |
It’s going to be awfully hard for a bad Arizona team to come into Dallas and beat the Stars after playing last night. The Coyotes are the second worst team in the league and are all but statistically out of the playoffs. Max Domi, Radim Vrbata and Martin Hanzal probably have the best shot of getting onto the scoresheet tonight as they skate as the top line. Hanzal leads the team with a paltry 15 goals while Vrbata leads with 29 assists and 41 points. Dallas has given up 27 goals in their last eight home games and have only one shut out to their credit all season. Brandon Perlini moves up with the top line on the power play as he skates on the second line with Christian Dvorak and Shane Doan. Defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Alex Goligoski each have seven points in the last nine games before last night’s action. Ekman-Larsson is the safer play here as he leads the team with 17 power play points while his 33 points is second on the team in scoring. With only four games on tonight’s slate you will probably have to use some Arizona players to take down a GPP, but I wouldn’t touch them in your cash games.
Dallas has won just two games in the last nine they have played which now has the team at 56 points on the season. Although they have given up 27 goals in their last eight home games they have also scored 30 of their own over that time frame. Jamie Benn, Patrick Eaves and Cody Eakin skate on one line while the team leader in Tyler Seguin and Antoine Roussel will now have Patrick Sharp as their linemate. Seguin leads the team with 21 goals and 38 assists while Benn is right behind him with 54 points. For Patrick Sharp this is another chance to skate with some decent talent as when he has in the past, he usually has performed. Either line should be in play here but you will probably have to pick either Seguin or Benn as they cost way too much to get both of them on your roster. John Klingberg is the choice on the back line as his 32 points is fifth on the team’s scoring list. Klingberg quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit that should feature Benn, Seguin and Eaves. This is the Stars first game after their mandatory week off so it will be interesting to see how the team will play against one of the worst teams in the league.
Elite Plays
ARZ: None
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn
Secondary Plays
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi, Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata
DAL: Patrick Eaves, John Klingberg, Patrick Sharp