NHL Grind Down: Friday, November 18th
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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Detroit Red Wings at Washington Capitals
| Detroit Red Wings | Washington Capitals | ||||||||
 | Jimmy Howard |  | Braden Holtby | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-8-1 | 9-4-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.47 | 2.76 | 17.50% | 76.90% | Team Stats | 2.81 | 2.25 | 11.90% | 81.80% |
Detroit has only managed to grab two wins in their last nine games and in some of those losses, it hasn’t been close. With only scoring 13 goals in the last eight games head coach Jeff Blashill continues to put the players in the blender and see what comes out. Henrik Zetterberg has played well of late as he leads the team in scoring and has added four points over the last five games. Justin Abdelkader and Gustav Nyquist join Zetterberg on both the top line and get the first shot on the power play. Defenseman Mike Green and Ryan Sproul join the power play trio from the back line as the newcomer Sproul was in on both power play goals last game. The odd thing about the Red Wings is that Zetterberg, Nyquist and Green all lead the team in scoring with three goals and eight assists each. If you want some second line action you can always pair up Dylan Larkin with Frans Nielsen as they should see a little bit more room on the ice tonight than the top line. Washington seems to be back on track after losing to Columbus last weekend, so maybe treading lightly here is the order of the day.
Washington comes into this one high off of the 7-1 drubbing they gave to the Stanley Cup defending Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night. Head coach Barry Trotz mixed up the lines so much that you needed a program to keep up with all of the changes. T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and Marcus Johansson are the hot line here with the Oshie and Backstrom doing most of the damage. They each have seven points over the last six games as teams try their best to match up with them. The top line that features Alexander Ovechkin has changed almost nightly as first it was Jay Beagle and Brett Connolly skating with him until Connolly was scratched. Andre Burakovsky replaced him and then Beagle was replaced by Evgeny Kuznetsov. That’s how is stands as of now as Beagle looks like he’s been shuffled back to the third line. John Carlson plays the point on defense and gets the lion’s share of the power play time along with Ovechkin and the Backstrom line. If you need to go cheaper on defense Matt Niskanen is always an option with the knock on him being that he has 27 shots compared to Carlson’s 44.
Elite Plays
DET: None
WSH: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie
Secondary Plays
DET: Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Mike Green, Dylan Larkin
WSH: Marcus Johansson, John Carlson
New York Rangers at Columbus Blue Jackets
| New York Rangers | Columbus Blue Jackets | ||||||||
 | Henrik Lundqvist |  | Sergei Bobrovsky | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-4-0 | 8-4-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 4.24 | 2.24 | 21.60% | 83.70% | Team Stats | 3.36 | 2.36 | 30.80% | 84.10% |
The Rangers are another team that has a few players on the bubble of playing tonight or not. Both Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich have skated today but it’s unclear as the whether they are ready to step in and play tonight. The Rangers lead the league in goals with 72 while Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets have given up a league low 33 goals, so something has to give. As of 1:16pm we have conflicting reports of what tonight’s lines will be as one Rick Nash appears to be playing on the top line with Derek Stepan and Michael Grabner while a second line is comprised of Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Mats Zuccarello. Mika Zibanejad is centering Jesper Fast and Jimmy Vesey while Brandon Pirri and Jimmy Hayes find themselves on the fourth line. That is a lot to digest especially when talking about the team that scores the most goals in the league. I’d use caution here and pair up Nash with Stepan and Kreider with Zuccarello. Use Pirri or Hates as a one-off as Hayes has 16 points so far this season while Pirri has been seeing a lot of time on the team’s top power play unit. Grabner leads the team in goals so he is in the mix as well. Ryan McDonagh is the play on the point but we can’t discount Kevin Klein either as he has six assists over the last six games.
We all know how well the Blue Jackets have been playing of late but tonight they get the real test as the division leading Rangers are about to make a house call. New York has won 11 of their last 13 games and have become one of the top teams in the league in the process. Columbus on the other hand has made a mockery of both the Montreal Canadiens and the St Louis Blues on home ice this month outscoring them by a total of 18-4. The blue Jackets are 6-1-1 in their last eight games and are 6-2 when they play at home. Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno and Brandon Saad are the line to target here as they are the team’s top line with Wennberg and Foligno leading the way with the man advantage. Foligno has 16 points with seven of them coming on the man advantage and Wennberg has 15 points with eight power play assists. Defenseman Zachary Werenski has come out of nowhere to play the point on the top power play unit and seems to fit right in as he has lit the lamp five times while assisting on eight other goals though the first 14 games. Cam Atkinson has been red hot of late as he has snagged six of his 13 points over the last five games while skating alongside Wennberg and Foligno on the top power play unit. Sam Gagner has resurrected his career as he has netted three goals to go along with an assist over the last four games. He also gets top minutes with the man advantage making him and Atkinson nice one-off plays tonight. There is really no reason to deviate off of Werenski from the point as the next defenseman on the scoring list is David Savard who has just 5 points in 14 games.
Elite Plays
NYR: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno
Secondary Plays
NYR: Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, Ryan McDonagh
CBJ: Brandon Saad, Zachary Werenski, Cam Atkinson
Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders
| Pittsburgh Penguins | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Marc-Andre Fleury |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-3-2 | 5-8-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.94 | 2.88 | 25.50% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.50 | 3.06 | 10.40% | 79.70% |
Some interesting news coming out of New York this morning as the Penguins have two players that may not play tonight. The first one is Chris Kunitz who took the ice in the team’s optional skate this morning while the second one is Patric Hornqvist who is rumored to have sustained a concussion during 7-2 drubbing at the hand of the Washington Capitals. If Hornqvist does not play the top line will have Sidney Crosby in the middle of Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson. The second line is the one in question here a Evgeni Malkin will center Matt Cullen and Bryan Rust. That is unless Kunitz does play tonight then Rust would more than likely be the candidate to drop down to the fourth line. Since there is confusion on the top two lines maybe taking a peek at third line on the road here is not a bad idea. Nick Bonino, Phil Kessel and Carl Hagelin could do some damage here as the Islanders have just two wins over the last ten games. Although Kessel is the one-off play here by virtue of getting the extra minutes on the power play I am not opposed to pairing him with Hagelin as they both have found the scoresheet four times over the last five games. Kris Letang is the play on the back end as he quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit that features Crosby and Malkin so you can’t go wrong there.
The Islanders have now have fallen to a new low as even the Buffalo Sabres have more points than them in the Eastern conference and folks, that’s pretty bad. The only saving grace for the New Yorkers is the fact that all five of their wins have come on home ice. John Tavares leads the team in points with 12 points as Brock Nelson has racked up 11 points in the first 16 games. Tavares and Josh Bailey will have a new line mate as the Islanders are promoting Dylan Strome to the top line. It looks like they will get the first crack on the power play as well along with Nelson and defenseman Nick Leddy. The power play needs some work as they have scored just two goals with the man advantage over the last eight games so maybe Strome can give them the extra step they need. Then again, maybe not but you can’t fault the Islanders for not trying. Leddy has garnered three assists in the last five games while leading the team with 14 shots so playing him here as a one-off could make sense. Nelson centers the second line with Andrew Ladd and Shane Prince but should be viewed as a GPP play only as they are responsible for two of the Islanders last ten goals.
Elite Plays
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
NYI: John Tavares
Secondary Plays
PIT: Kris Letang, Conor Sheary, Phil Kessel
NYI: Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy
Montréal Canadiens at Carolina Hurricanes
| Montréal Canadiens | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Al Montoya |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-2-2 | 5-6-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.29 | 2.18 | 23.50% | 82.10% | Team Stats | 2.53 | 3.00 | 19.10% | 90.50% |
Montreal comes into this one as the best team in the league and the only thing that can stop them from walking away with the win is complacency. Yeah you know, that thing they had when they faced Columbus on November 4th and literally got boat raced by a score of 10-0. I wouldn’t bank on that happening again any time soon but they will have to press on without Alexander Radulov as he did not make the trip to Carolina in what is being called as an illness. Radulov is second on the team in scoring so look for Brendan Gallagher to take his spot on the top line with Alex Galchenyuk and Paul Byron. The second line on Max Pacioretty, Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw makes for an interesting GPP play as they skate on the second line and have combined for six goals and eight assists over the last six games. The power play has been scoring of late as Montreal has scored five goals over the last five games with the man advantage. Galchenyuk, Pacioretty and Shaw have combined for four points with the man advantage but the real value looks to be on the back line. Shea Weber is always solid but now Andrei Markov is coming on as he has scored eight of his 12 points over the last six games while tallying three assists with the man advantage.
Carolina is looking for the trifecta here at home tonight. They have already beaten Washington and San Jose and now they have their sights set on the best team in the league. They will need to play one of the best games of the year if they want to have a shot at winning three games in a row since which is something they haven’t done since the middle of last January. The top line that features Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask are the play here as they not only lead the team in points they also get the majority of the ice time when the Hurricanes go on the power play. Lee Stempniak has dropped to the third line but still holds his top spot on the power play. Stempniak had his best year with New Jersey and Boston last year as he had 51 points in 82 games but has slipped back to his normal self by grabbing just eight points in the first 15 games. Justin Faulk and Jacob Slavin man the points on a power play unit that has scored just two goals in the last eight games. If it’s a GPP line you are looking for look no further than Jordan Stall, Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho. This unit has scored six goals to go along with nine assists over the last six games. Carolina is not in an ideal position tonight but with only five games, you may have to take some chances.
Elite Plays
MTL: Alex Galchenyuk, Shea Weber
CAR: Jeff Skinner
Secondary Plays
MTL: Andrei Markov, Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw
CAR: Victor Rask, Justin Faulk, Jordan Staal
Chicago Blackhawks at Calgary Flames
| Chicago Blackhawks | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Corey Crawford |  | Brian Elliott | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 11-4-2 | 6-10-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.12 | 2.47 | 18.20% | 67.30% | Team Stats | 2.28 | 3.28 | 10.20% | 73.80% |
On paper one would think this game will be a blowout and by the end of the night it certainly could end up that way. Chicago sits atop the Central division as they lead the conference with an 11-4-2 record. Their 54 goals are second only to the team that beat them 4-0 three nights ago, the Winnipeg Jets. Calgary leads the conference in goals given up as they have found the red light flashing 60 times behind the net they have been defending, so yes a blowout looks to be in order. The top line of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Vinnie Hinostroza have only had a hand in two of the last seven goals the Blackhawks have scored over the last four games. It’s hard to tell which line Calgary will ‘try’ to shut down tonight as the second line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov and Marian Hossa have combined for four goals and four goals over that same time period of four games. Small sample sizes for sure but at least it gives us an idea of who is creating and more importantly executing on the chances they create. Kane and Toews are joined by Panarin up front on the top power play unit while defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook man the points. Chicago should score some goals tonight so taking anyone on the first two lines is good for cash game play just as long as you keep the players who skate with each other together.
The Calgary Flames are headed for some rough times now that superstar Johnny Gaudreau is out for a while. On such a short slate it only makes sense that the top line of Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer and Sam Bennett be used as a GPP play but the Flames have only scored 12 goals over the last nine games. That’s a tough pill to swallow when it feels like you are just throwing money away. Michael Frolik could be used in desperation here as a one-off play as he has had a hand in six of the last 11 goals the team has scored. In past years the Flames would usually have a defenseman that we could count on but they are so bad this year you have to dig down pretty deep to find Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton each have six points. If you had to take one it would be Hamilton as he leads the team in shots with 47. The order of the day in cash games is stay away while sprinkling a few Calgary players in GPP play is only an option because of the five game slate tonight. The Flames could win this game with good goaltending as Chicago is just 3-3 on the road but predicting a Michael Ferland hat trick or a Garnet Hathaway goal is pretty ridiculous.
Elite Plays
CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin
CGY: None
Secondary Plays
CHI: Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Artem Anisimov, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa
CGY: Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Dougie Hamilton