NHL Grind Down: Friday, November 13th
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.
Note: As always, if you want to try a new DFS site, be sure to click through a RotoGrinders link and use our DraftKings promo code and FanDuel promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.
Calgary Flames at Washington Capitals – 07:00 PM EST
| Calgary Flames | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Joni Ortio |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 5-10-1 | 10-4-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.50 | 3.88 | 16.70% | 75.00% | Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.29 | 20.40% | 85.00% |
The Flames surprised most of the league by pushing themselves into the Western Conference playoffs quicker than many thought possible last season, but after losing 3-1 in Tampa Bay last night, they now find themselves with an ugly 5-10-1 record to start the 2015-16 season. It hasn’t been easy for Bob Hartley this season, but after tinkering with his lines in attempt to find some reliable secondary scoring, he finally looks to be ready to reunite the dynamic trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler on the team’s top line. Those three proved to be one of the most dangerous forward lines in the league last season and are simply the only offensive players I’ll be targeting from Calgary against the Capitals. Washington has allowed just 2.29 goals against per game this season and own a very solid 85.0% penalty kill, but Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, Dennis Wideman and T.J. Brodie all carry enough offensive upside to be used if the price is right.
The Capitals jumped all over the Flyers last night (5-2 victory) and will head home tonight to take on the struggling Calgary Flames. With the Flames owning the league’s worst defense to start the season (3.82 GA/G), I’ll definitely be looking for exposure to this Capitals squad in my cash games on a four-game slate. As expected, Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals with eight goals on the young season (and has had a few disallowed in the last two games) and the premier play on the board tonight. He’s flanked by both Evgeny Kuznetsov and T.J. Oshie at even strength and it’s Kuznetsov that actually leads the team in points with 17 points in 15 games. Nicklas Backstrom still teams up with Ovechkin on the Capitals top power-play unit and has tallied six goals and six assists in 12 games played this year. With the Flames owning a putrid 74% penalty kill, I’ll be targeting the Washington power-play that was the most lethal in the NHL last season very heavily. With that in mind, John Carlson becomes an elite option on the blue-line with both Matt Niskanen and Dmitry Orlov solid “punt” options.
Elite Plays
CGY: Johnny Gaudreau, Jiri Hudler
WAS: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson
Secondary Plays
CGY: Sean Monahan, Mark Giordano, Dennis Wideman, Dougie Hamilton
WAS: T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson, Matt Niskanen, Dmitry Orlov
Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-12-0 | 10-5-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.38 | 3.69 | 20.70% | 75.00% | Team Stats | 2.27 | 2.07 | 14.60% | 87.50% |
Much like last year, Columbus’ slow start has put them in a massive hole that will be tough to climb out of. They’ve dropped each of their last two games and now sport an ugly 4-12-0 record as they invade the Consol Energy Center. While Pittsburgh’s offensive firepower garners most of the headlines, their 2.07 GA/G this season ranks them as the 3rd best defensive team in the NHL. With a 101.6 CP60, Columbus is one of the slowest paced teams in the NHL and will likely be looking to slow this game down as much as possible in an attempt to simply grind their way towards two points. While i’m not overly high on Columbus in this matchup, the fact that nearly all of their offensive output comes from the members of their top two scoring lines does simplify things from a fantasy standpoint. Guys like Scott Hartnell, Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Ryan Johansen and Brandon Saad all possess a nice offensive upside, but their better served for GPP use in this matchup.
After an ugly start to the season, the Penguins are now 10-2-0 over their last 12 games and definitely look to be a contender in the Eastern Conference. While this looks like an excellent matchup on paper, the Penguins were unable to solve this Columbus team last season as the Blue Jackets won three of the four meetings. With that said, Columbus enters tonight’s game on a two game losing streak and their 3.69 GA/G is the second worst in the NHL. Evgeni Malkin torched the Blue Jackets last season, scoring three goals and adding two assists in his three meetings against them. Malkin leads the team with 12 points on the young season and centers two very dangerous wingers in David Perron and Phil Kessel. Sidney Crosby is off to an oddly slow start, but is almost always a strong fantasy option and his linemates Beau Bennett and Pascal Dupuis reap the benefits. With the Blue Jackets sporting an ugly 75.0% penalty kill, you’ll want to pay special attention to Pittsburgh’s top power-play unit. With that in mind, both Patrick Hornqvist and Kris Letang are terrific options at their respective positions as well.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Ryan Johansen, Scott Hartnell, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Murray
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, Pascal Dupuis, David Perron, Beau Bennett
San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings – 07:30 PM EST
| San Jose Sharks | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | Jimmy Howard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-8-0 | 8-6-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.60 | 2.67 | 11.40% | 77.10% | Team Stats | 2.27 | 2.40 | 17.60% | 83.30% |
The Sharks kick off a rough six-game road trip tonight in Detroit, and after a 4-0-0 start to the season, they desperately need to get things turned around as they’ve gone just 3-8-0 since. With Logan Couture still apparently weeks away from returning, this road trip could go a long way towards determining the outcome of San Jose’s season. Despite their struggles, the Sharks have fired an impressive 31.6 shots on goal this season which bodes well for them tonight against this Red Wings team that has allowed the third most shots on goal against to start the season. While Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski are a dynamic duo on the top line (along with Joonas Donskoi), the return of Pavel Datsyuk and his excellent defensive skills makes their matchup a bit less appealing. Instead, I’ll be looking towards the second line of Patrick Marleau, Tomas Hertl and Joel Ward in this matchup. Somewhat surprisingly Joel Ward has led this team in scoring this season as he’s already racked up eight goals and six assists in 15 games. On the blue-line, Brent Burns has more offensive freedom than just about any other defenseman in the league and his 65 shots on goal is fourth in the league (behind just Ovechkin, Seguin and Hall).
Simply put; Detroit entered the season hoping to simply survive until they got Pavel Datsyuk back into action, and with an 8-6-1 record to start the season, they’re ecstatic to welcome “The Magician” back to the ice. The Wings have been near the bottom of the league by Corsi Standards so far this season, but Datsyuk’s return stabilize their puck possession numbers (as their 53.2 CF% was second best in the league last season). While Datsyuk’s return is great news for the Red Wings, it could put a dent in Dylan Larkin fantasy value as he’ll no longer (for now) be skating alongside Henrik Zetterberg. While the trio of Zetterberg, Datsyuk and Justin Abdelkader is clearly the most dangerous option, there’s plenty to like from the newly formed “Young Guns” line of Tatar/Larkin/Nyquist. With the Sharks owning just a 77.1% penalty kill, both Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green join the above mention forwards as nice options this evening.
Elite Plays
SAN: Joe Pavelski, Brent Burns
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Mike Green
Secondary Plays
SAN: Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Joonas Donskoi, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl
DET: Justin Abdelkader, Gustav Nyquist, Dylan Larkin, Tomas Tatar, Niklas Kronwall
New York Islanders at Anaheim Ducks – 10:00 PM EST
| New York Islanders | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | Frederik Andersen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-5-3 | 5-7-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.75 | 2.38 | 21.90% | 88.20% | Team Stats | 1.69 | 2.50 | 14.60% | 89.10% |
The Islanders continue their tour of California tonight as they make the short trip from Los Angeles to Anaheim to battle the Ducks tonight. They picked up a 4-2 victory in San Jose to open the road trip but fell short against the Kings last night. After a 6-2-1 start to the season, they’ve stumbled a bit lately and are just 2-4-2 over their last eight games. They’ll have their hands full once again tonight as Anaheim Ducks finally look healthy. John Tavares is the clear #1 scoring option from the Islanders and he and his linemates (Kyle Okposo and Brock Nelson) are fine plays even in a tough road matchup on the second half of back-to-back games. Frans Nielsen continues to be one of the most overlooked players in the league, but not only is he very strong in the defensive zone, but he’s also off to a solid start offensively with 5 goals and 5 assists. With Josh Bailey and Anders Lee skating alongside him, that trio has plenty of GPP upside. While both Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy are impressive young defenseman, a lot of their fantasy appeal is lost against the Ducks very strong 89.1% penalty kill.
It was a disastrous start to the season for the Ducks, but then they strung a four game winning streak together and welcomed Ryan Getzlaf back to the lineup. However, they’ve now lost two straight 4-3 OT decisions to what should be inferior competition (Arizona and Edmonton) and have really need to pick up two points here before embarking on a four game road trip on Monday. It’s not a secret that both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are the top offensive weapons on the Ducks and they remain the two most appealing targets tonight against the Islanders. Corey Perry scored a pair of goals against the Oilers on Wednesday and now owns four goals and three assists over the last five games. Simply by virtue of playing alongside Getzlaf and Perry, Patrick Maroon has plenty of value here as well. With both teams owning an excellent penalty kill this season, Bruce Boudreau will desperately be looking for Ryan Kesler and his linemates (Carl Hagelin and Jakob Silfverberg) to contribute some secondary scoring. While that group certainly has GPP upside, they’ve been too inconsistent for my liking in cash games. Defensively, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm all see power-play time, but with the Islanders owning a terrific 88.2% penalty kill, they’re not overly appealing tonight.
Elite Plays
NYI: John Tavares, Kyle Okposo
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry
Secondary Plays
NYI: Anders Lee, Frans Nielsen, Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk
ANA: Patrick Maroon, Ryan Kesler, Carl Hagelin, Jakob Silfverberg