NHL Grind Down: Friday, November 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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New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets

New York Rangers Columbus Blue Jackets
Article Image Henrik Lundqvist Article Image Sergei Bobrovsky
Record Record
9-8-2 11-7-1
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 3.32 3.37 24.64 81.25 Team Stats 2.89 2.63 9.26 81.25

Rangers Offensive Outlook

5v5 (adj) (19 games): 53.84 CF/60 (25) | 60.52 CA/60 (7) | 2.64 xGF/60 (6) | 2.67 xGA/60 (2)

The Rangers offense is an interesting one. They don’t produce a high volume of shot attempts and their scoring chances produced are so-so, but they can come in waves and have a comparatively high HDCF/60. Tonight’s opponent has done a good job stymying high-danger shot attempts, so it’s not a great matchup for the Rangers. Columbus maintains a high puck possession number, so the ice tilts to their favor a bit.

Line assignments — and even defensive pairing assignments — aren’t consistent with the Blue Jackets. Brandon Dubinksy has been getting phased out as a shutdown center, and as an example, against the Nashville Predators neither Seth Jones nor Zach Werenski saw a majority of time against the top line.

That’s good news for New York’s top line of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Pavel Buchnevich. Columbus has been seeing their expected goal rate increase at 5v5, so while Sergei Bobrovsky remains an issue, at least this line will have the opportunity to get some scoring chances. Ownership on this line will be high.

The narrative angle will, of course, be Rick Nash returning to Columbus. He’s actually finding some success at the moment, and his individual shot attempt rate has been decent on the year. He’s skating on a line with Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes. This line doesn’t have strong possession numbers but they have generated a good deal of high-danger scoring chances.

New York’s third line, consisting of David Desharnais, Jimmy Vesey, and J.T. Miller has struggled at 5v5. Like the other New York lines they have generated quality shot attempts, but they don’t have strong possession numbers (47.64% CF%) and for all the high-danger shot attempts generated, they give most of them back.

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About the Author

benwell311
Ben (benwell311)

Ben has been playing fantasy hockey since the turn of the century, focusing on NHL DFS over the past three seasons. He has previously written hockey content for eDraft and The Fake Hockey. Feel free to reach out with questions, comments, and memes on Twitter @Benwell_B.