NHL Grind Down: Friday, January 13th
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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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Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Rangers
| Toronto Maple Leafs | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 18-13-8 | 28-13-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.05 | 2.85 | 22.40% | 83.60% | Team Stats | 3.43 | 2.52 | 23.20% | 83.00% |
After almost a week off the Toronto Maple Leafs will get back at it tonight as they look to get back on track after losing two of last three games to Washington and Montreal. Both teams are vying to be the best team in the league so just keeping up with them is a marked improvement over last year’s team. Toronto has elected to keep their lines the same as they have scored 20 goals in their last five games. James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak and Mitchell Marner have led the way with six goals and 14 assists in those games while collecting half of those with the man advantage. The Leafs have scored 11 times over the last eight games on the power play which makes William Nylander a decent one-off here as he leads the team with 15 power play points. Nylander skates on a line with Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov while Auston Matthews has Zach Hyman and Connor Brown as his wingers. Matthews leads the team with 21 goals and 35 points so far this season while Brown has started to kick it into gear with three goals and two assists over the last five games. That gives Brown a total of 18 points and it appears that Matthews is making him a better player much like we have seen with Sidney Crosby do with Conor Sheary. Nikita Zaitsev has been seeing most of the ice time when the Maple Leafs have the man advantage but has yet to respond. Jake Gardiner makes for a better play on the back line as collected eight of his 21 points on the power play. Toronto had been scoring before their break so let’s see if that continues tonight.
The Rangers come off their bye week just three points away from Columbus who leads the Eastern Conference with 60 points. Rick Nash will return to the lineup tonight to skate on the third line with Oscar Lindberg and Jimmy Vesey which should be a temporary move as there is no doubt that Mika Zibanejad will replace Lindberg once he gets back from injury early next week. In the meantime Nash makes for a decent one-off here as he has 13 goals and seven assists in the 30 games he has suited up for. The second line of Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner and J.T. Miller can be looked at for tournament plays as Grabner leads the team with 19 goals while Hayes is tied for the team lead in points with 13 goals and 18 assists. Although this line possesses some gaudy statistics, most of the damage that Miller and Hayes have done came earlier in the season. Grabner however continues to roll on as he registered seven of his 27 points in the three games before the break. The top line of Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello should be the line to find their way into a lot of cash game lineups tonight. This line is also use as the top power play unit that had scored eight goals over the last six games. Stepan is tied for the team lead in points while he and Kreider are second on the team along with Brandon Pirri with eight power play points. There are two ways to go if you are considering rostering a Ranger defenseman. Ryan McDonagh gets the most time on the top power play unit and has registered nine of his 27 points when the Rangers had the man advantage. Nick Holden would be the other choice here as he has recorded six points over the last six games which puts him just three points behind McDonagh. The only knock on Holden is the fact that his 34 shots on goal are dwarfed by McDonagh’s 74 but nonetheless could be used here in a pinch.
Elite Plays
TOR: Auston Matthews
NYR: Derek Stepan
Secondary Plays
TOR: Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Mitchell Marner, Jake Gardiner
NYR: Chris Kreider, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Brandon Pirri, Mats Zuccarello
Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals
| Chicago Blackhawks | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 27-12-5 | 27-9-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.41 | 19.10% | 76.30% | Team Stats | 2.90 | 2.00 | 18.00% | 85.90% |
Chicago will bring their modest four game winning streak to the nation’s capital tonight to take on a Washington team that has been absolutely on fore. Both teams are within an eyelash of being the best team in hockey as they stand one point behind Columbus and their 60 points. Even on the road the top line of Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov have to be at least considered for cash game plays tonight. This line leads the team in points with Kane being the leader at 45, Panarin close behind with 42 and Anisimov leading the team with 18 goals. They get most of the time when Chicago draws a penalty which could be helpful here as that is the only type of goal Washington has allowed in the last three games. Jonathan Toews, Vincent Hinostroza nd Marian Hossa will skate on the second line and could be used in tournament play tonight. That is if you think Chicago can score against a team that has given up just 12 goals in their last eight games. It seems like opposing teams have been leaving Ryan Hartman alone as he has lit the lamp four times and has collected two assists in the last five games. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook man the point when Chicago has the man advantage and should be looked at if you are looking to roster players from the top line. Keith’s six points in the last five games has him up to 31 points on the season. Chicago may get shut down here on the road so I’d use a little caution when making your cash line ups tonight.
Washington has shot up the Eastern Conference standing backed by a sterling 8-1-1 record over the last ten games. They disposed of the Pittsburgh penguins pretty handily on Wednesday on national television by a score of 5-2. Alexander Ovechkin leads them into battle tonight with both Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie in tow. Ovechkin had a monumental night against Pittsburgh and I would think that the party isn’t over yet as that line has combined for eight goals and 13 assists over the last five games. Backstrom leads the team in assist with 27 while Ovechkin leads the team in goals with seven more than Marcus Johansson and his 14 goals. Johansson skates on the second line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams. As you can imagine, when a team wins seven games in a row, everybody gets in on the act as is the case here. Kuznetsov has registered nine of his 28 points over the last five games while Williams has bagged three goals to go along with three assist over that same time period. Johansson is the one-off however as he gets the extra minutes on the power play with the top line. John Carlson is the play on the back line as he soaks up over 23 minutes of ice time a night while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. If you want to dumpster dive a bit on defense I would look to either Dmitry Orlov or Nate Schmidt as they both have three points in the last five games. Normally, I wouldn’t go this deep but with a team scoring like Washington is, almost every one could be in play.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin
WSH: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom
Secondary Plays
CHI: Artem Anisimov, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews
WSH: T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson, John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams
Columbus Blue Jackets at Tampa Bay Lightning
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Andrei Vasilevskiy | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-8-4 | 20-19-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.33 | 2.23 | 25.80% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.76 | 2.98 | 24.10% | 80.00% |
For the love of Pete, why would a team that has been at the top of the heap want to shuffle up their lines, especially when they have been scoring. Leave it to John Tortorella to screw up the best team in the league so when it happens, don’t say I didn’t tell you so. Cam Atkinson can no longer be used as the one-off we knew him to be as he will now draw more attention to himself while skating with Alexander Wennberg and Brandon Saad. Atkinson leads the team in in goals and points while Wennberg leads the team in assists and will continue to play on the Blue jackets top power play unit. Nick Foligno is tied with Wennberg with 35 points, which is good for second on the team. Foligno will have two new line mates as Brandon Dubinsky will now be his center while Scott Hartnell moves up to the third line to take over for the listless Boone Jenner. If this new strategy works then this is the line you want to use for your tournament plays as they should not draw Tampa’s best defensive line. Sam Gagner moves up from the fourth line to join Foligno, Atkinson and Wennberg on the team’s top power play unit. Gagner is enjoying a fantastic season as 14 of his 30 points have come with the man advantage making him a decent one-off play here. Zachary Werenski is the choice on the back line as he has collected 25 points while being the go-to guy on the power play. Seth Jones has been back from injury and could make a decent play here with his seven goals and 11 assists he has registered in the 34 games he has suited up for. With the new line changes we will get to see how much of this season has been talent and how much has been chemistry.
The Lightning have had their problems this season but yet they remain in contention for the eighth and final playoff spot on the eastern Conference. The do have some work to do though as their 44 points has them four points away from Ottawa for the third spot in the Atlantic Division. After missing ten games with an injury Ben Bishop returned last night to try and turn this team around that has won just four times since his injury. The 4-2 win against Buffalo was hopefully just a dress rehearsal for tonight’s game. Ondrej Palat, Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikita Kucherov will be the line that Tampa counts on if they are to have any shot of coming away with the victory on home ice. Kucherov’s four goals and five points over the last five games keeps him above the point-per-game line as he has found the score sheet 40 times in the 36 games he has played in. Palat had two goals and three points in last night’s win and hopefully that is a sign that he is getting back on track as he has just 21 points so far this season. With Namestnikov moving to the top line Tyler Johnson had a new set of wingers in Matthew Peca and Alex Killorn while Valtteri Filppula centered Brian Boyle and Jonathan Drouin. The Lightning have been using four forwards and one defensemen as their top power play unit but have been giving their second unit almost equal time. This is how the second unit that features Drouin, Namestnikov, Filppula and Killorn had been able to snare five power play points in the last five games. Drouin makes for a decent one-off here as he has moved into third on the team’s scoring chart with 12 goals and 15 assists in 35 games. Defenseman Victor Hedman is the play on the back line as his five assists in the last five games has him just two points away from Kucherov’s team leading 40 points. Anton Stralman is the other option from the point as he gets the extra ice time on the second power play unit. Much like the rest of this team Stralman has missed a few games and looks to be getting back to form. This is a tough test for the Lightning especially after playing last night so a win here could go a long way in their quest to make the playoffs.
Elite Plays
CBJ: Cam Atkinson
TB: Nikita Kucherov
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Brandon Saad, Nick Foligno, Sam Gagner, Zachary Werenski, Scott Hartnell
TB: Victor Hedman, Jonathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Valtteri Filppula
Buffalo Sabres at Carolina Hurricanes
| Buffalo Sabres | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Linus Ullmark |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 16-16-9 | 19-15-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.30 | 2.63 | 21.60% | 73.40% | Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.61 | 17.80% | 88.50% |
After winning two home games against Philadelphia and Winnipeg the Sabres tried to improve on their 7-7-6 road record last night in Tampa. After scoring the first goal Buffalo went on to lose the game by a score of 4-2. Tonight will probably not yield a different result as Carolina has turned into a very formidable team in front of the home crowd. The Sabres tried shuffling up the lines a bit as now Jack Eichel was centering Marcus Foligno and Brian Gionta while Ryan O’Reilly, William Carrier and Kyle Okposo skated on the team’s second line. This would leave Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane to skate on the third line with Justin Bailey. I can see what head coach Dan Bylsma is trying to do but splitting up your top six across three different lines usually isn’t a good idea without a supporting cast. Buffalo is one of four teams that hasn’t reached the century mark in the ‘goals for’ category so this current line up makes it awfully difficult to predict who will do the scoring. Kyle Okposo leads the team in goals and is tied in points with 12 and 27 respectively while Reinhart and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen need just more point to become the team leader. Ristolainen has been pretty steady all year from the back line so maybe giving him a look tonight will pay off. Kave and Foligno lead the team with three goals each over the last five games so if you want to go that way keep Kane with Reinhart and put Eichel with Foligno. Eichel is easily the best one-off play here as he has lit the lamp eight times while grabbing seven assists in the 20 games he has played in. We can talk all day about who could score but when it comes down to it Buffalo should have a lot of problems putting the puck in the net tonight.
Carolina continues to look for ways to climb higher in the Metropolitan Division standings. One way they have done this is by taking care of business in front of the home crowd with the latest example being their 5-3 win over the best team in the league on Tuesday night. Their 6-4 record has put them just three points way from the slumping Philadelphia Flyers whose 48 points have them hanging by a tread for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Derek Ryan was put back on the top line with Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask and for all intents and purposes should be the line to target in your cash games tonight. This line has racked up eight of the Hurricanes last 15 goals and should have no problem scoring against a Buffalo team that will play its third road game in four days. Skinner leads the team with 12 power play points and 15 goals while Rask’s 19 assists leads the team. The second line of Sebastian Aho, Teuvo Teravainen and Lee Stempniak could be looked at as a tournament play as they have been slacking off a bit but still sit 3-4-5 on the Hurricanes scoring chart. Aho leads this group with 23 points while Stempniak brings up the rear with eight goals and 11 assists so far this season. Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin play the points when Carolina draws a penalty. Neither has done much over the last five games as the power play has been pretty much dormant. They have just one goal over the last 11 games with the extra skater. Carolina should win this one to improve on their 13-4-1 record in front of the home crowd.
Elite Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel
CAR: Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask
Secondary Plays
BUF: Rasmus Ristolainen, Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly, Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane
CAR: Victor Rask, Sebastian Aho, Derek Ryan, Teuvo Teravainen
New York Islanders at Florida Panthers
| New York Islanders | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Jean-Francois Berube |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-16-8 | 19-16-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.72 | 2.97 | 14.80% | 80.00% | Team Stats | 2.26 | 2.53 | 14.90% | 85.10% |
Things couldn’t get worse for the Islanders as they have lost their last three games to Colorado, Arizona and Florida. John Tavares leads the team with 27 points as he centers the top line that features Josh Bailey and Anders Lee. New York has only played 16 games on the road this season which is the least in the league so don’t go looking for any miracles in the second half for the Islanders. This is a one line team and until that changes you can expect them to continue their trend of winning four road games in every 16 that they play. Brock Nelson centers the second line along with Ryan Strome and Shane Prince. I don’t mind using the former two as a one-off in deeper tournament play as nelson has 11 points in 16 road games while Strome has three points in the last five games. Strome gets some exposure to Tavares as he has been playing the point along with defenseman Nick Leddy when the Islanders have the man advantage. Leddy also has three points in the last five games as he now sits in fifth place on the team scoring list with 17 points. Folks this team doesn’t score enough to be considered for cash game play so if you use them for your GPPs, keep the pairs together.
Florida won the first half of this home-and-home series by a score of 2-1 in New York on Wednesday night. Now they look to improve on their 10-8-3 home record to try and keep pace with the Ottawa Senators for third place in the Atlantic Division. It’s almost amazing that Florida is in this position considering the fact that their top scorer is tied for 64th place in the league with 27 points. Aleksander Barkov will miss his will miss his eighth game of the season with a lower body injury. This will the leave the scoring in the capable hands of Vincent Trocheck and Jaromir Jagr as they play on the team’s top line with Seth Griffith. Colton Sceviour was skating on the top line but Florida just doesn’t have enough talent to make up two top lines, especially without Barkov. Expect the shuffling of left wingers on this line to continue until Barkov returns. Trocheck leads the team with four points in the last five games while Jagr has added 25 points in 43 games. Jonathan Marchessault is tied for team lead with Trocheck with 12 goals as he skates with Jussi Jokinen and Reilly Smith on the team’s second line. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad are the choices on the back line and it’s the same old story. Yandle plays on the top power play unit and has 20 points while Ekblad continues to lead the team with 144 shots on goal which has led to seven goals and four assists. Pick your poison. Florida should be able to care of business here against a team they just beat on their home ice two days ago.
Elite Plays
NYI: None
FLA: Jonathan Marchessault
Secondary Plays
NYI: John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy, Ryan Strome
FAL: Vincent Trocheck, Jaromir Jagr, Keith Yandle, Reilly Smith, Aaron Ekblad