NHL Grind Down: Friday, November 27th

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.

New York Rangers at Boston Bruins – 01:00 PM EST

New York Rangers Boston Bruins
Article Image Henrik Lundqvist Article Image Tuukka Rask
Record Record
16-4-2 12-8-1
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 3.00 1.91 19.60% 85.50% Team Stats 3.24 2.90 30.80% 75.60%

The New York Rangers continue to lead the Metropolitan division and are among the top teams in the league with a 16-4-2 record. On Friday afternoon they head into the TD Garden to face the red hot Bruins. Boston has won four straight games to climb up the standings in the tight Atlantic division. They’ve done it with consistent scoring from their top two lines, solid goaltending from Tuukka Rask and backup Jonas Gustavsson, and especially with their power play, which is now ranked first in the league at 30.8% (and 34.4% at home). The Rangers on the other hand have been a top team all year on both ends of the ice (3.0 goals per game, and an NHL best 1.91 goals against per game).

For daily fantasy purposes, the matchup with two strong goaltenders is not ideal for using players from either team for cash game lineups. That said, both teams are in play for tournaments as they rank in the top six overall for goal scoring. The Rangers have 10 games already with four or more goals, and are usually led by their top line of Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard.

Elite Plays

NYR: Rick Nash, Mats Zuccarello

BOS: None

Secondary Plays

NYR: Henrik Lundqvist, Derick Brassard, Kevin Hayes, Ryan McDonagh

BOS: Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson, Patrice Bergeron

Nashville Predators at Philadelphia Flyers – 03:00 PM EST

Nashville Predators Philadelphia Flyers
Article Image Pekka Rinne Article Image Steve Mason
Record Record
12-6-3 7-10-5
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.57 2.48 17.60% 80.30% Team Stats 1.73 2.82 15.90% 79.70%

On the heels of missing the playoffs last year, the Flyers are having another season to forget. They currently rank dead last in goal scoring, and are near the bottom in many other categories (i.e. goals against, shots against, power play). Their top line with the pair of Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek both finished among the scoring leaders last season, but have failed to get things going this year. In addition to that, secondary scoring for Philadelphia has been a major problem.

Nashville’s scoring hasn’t been that strong either, especially lately where they were shut out for three straight games before defeating Buffalo on Wednesday. Their goaltending has been shaky lately as well with three straight losses for Rinne and a .910 save percentage, which is well below his career average.

This game is mostly a fade for DFS today, with twelve games in action and much better ones to target. That said, there is definitely upside for either team if you wanted to stack them into a tournament and use a contrarian strategy.

Elite Plays

NSH: Filip Forsberg

PHI: None

Secondary Plays

NSH: Pekka Rinne, James Neal, Roman Josi, Shea Weber

PHI: Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostibehere

Chicago Blackhawks at Anaheim Ducks – 04:00 PM EST

Chicago Blackhawks Anaheim Ducks
Article Image Corey Crawford Article Image Frederik Andersen
Record Record
12-8-2 8-11-4
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.82 2.59 20.30% 79.00% Team Stats 1.91 2.65 20.00% 87.70%

The Ducks have been a highly inconsistent team this year, getting off to a horrible start in October and then rebounding with four wins to start November, and they’ve been alternating wins and losses lately. They are definitely a hard team to rely on for daily fantasy purposes.

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have been very good at home this season (8-2-1, 3.1 goals per game), and very mediocre on the road (4-6-1, 2.5 goals per game). Patrick Kane leads the league with 34 points and is on a ridiculous 17-game point streak. If you can afford him, he’s a great play in any format. Kane’s linemates Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin are also strong plays, especially on sites where they are under-priced.

For the Ducks, the pair Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry is extremely dynamic and very capable of leading someone to GPP wins. Rickard Rakell has joined this line as well and scored a pair against Calgary on Tuesday. This line is a possible (but expensive) GPP stack, and aside from them, the rest of the team is mostly a fade.

Elite Plays

CHI: Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov

ANA: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf

Secondary Plays

CHI: Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook

ANA: Rickard Rakell, Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler

Winnipeg Jets at Minnesota Wild – 04:00 PM EST

Winnipeg Jets Minnesota Wild
Article Image Ondrej Pavelec Article Image Devan Dubnyk
Record Record
10-11-2 11-6-3
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.65 3.17 15.30% 78.50% Team Stats 2.95 2.70 20.80% 74.00%

Winnipeg travel to Minnesota this afternoon, as the two teams wrestle for position in the extremely tough Central division. Last season both Western Conference wild card teams came from this division, and it looks like the same will happen this year. Of course, the Wild and Jets were those two wild card teams in 2014/15 after they both went on incredible runs in the second half.

Winnipeg and Minnesota have already played twice this season with the Jets winning 5-4 on home ice, and then the Wild returning the favor with a 5-3 home win. Winnipeg has lost eight of their past 10 games, with 38 goals against in that stretch. Minnesota isn’t an offensive juggernaut, but offensive leader Zach Parise will be returning from IR, and this matchup is where you’ll want to get some exposure to them. A cash game lineup could include a Wild player or two, and either of their top two lines could be stacked in tournaments. For Winnipeg, their offense definitely has the ability to explode for a big game, including that five-goal game against Minnesota last month. Either of their top two lines could be a viable tournament stack, along with defenseman Dustin Byfuglien,

On special teams, both teams have weak penalty killing, while the Wild have a decent power play, especially at home at 25% (ranked 5th). Meanwhile the Jets rank dead last for times shorthanded (only team at over four per game), which makes both the Wild’s power play units, including defensemen Ryan Suter and Jared Spurgeon as interesting plays.

Elite Plays

WPG: Dustin Byfuglien

MIN: Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu

Secondary Plays

WPG: Andrew Ladd, Blake Wheeler, Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little

MIN: Nino Niederreiter, Mikael Granlund, Jared Spurgeon

Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals – 05:00 PM EST

Tampa Bay Lightning Washington Capitals
Article Image Ben Bishop Article Image Braden Holtby
Record Record
11-9-3 15-5-1
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.35 2.13 18.30% 81.30% Team Stats 3.14 2.24 21.90% 83.90%

Both teams are on three-game winning streaks as they play their first game this year against each other. Tampa Bay are a better team at home however and are not a strong play in this road matchup. In the past seven road games, the Lightning were shut out in four of them, with another game with just one goal. The Lightning have had some big scoring games this year, but none of them are against a good team, and this makes them a fade today against a tough Capitals team.

Washington has had a solid all-around season, ranking among the league leaders in goals per game (5th), goals against per game (5th), shots on goal per game (3rd), shots against per game (2nd), and Corsi For percentage (5th). Their coaching change to bring in Barry Trotz for this season has resulted in this turnaround, and we will see later if this will lead to playoff success as well. The top players for the Capitals (Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson) are well known and are heavily targeted in daily fantasy, especially when the matchup is strong like today. This year the secondary scoring has really picked up as well with Evgeny Kuznetsov in the midst of a breakout season, and with contributions from Justin Williams, Marcus Johansson and recently from Dmitry Orlov who is on a four-game point streak. Players from the top line and Kuznetsov are strong plays in all game formats, and the full second line (Johansson, Kuznetsov, Williams) makes for an under-the-radar stack for tournaments.

Elite Plays

TB: None

WSH: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson

Secondary Plays

TB: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson

WSH: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Justin Williams, Dmitry Orlov, Marcus Johansson

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About the Author

maxdout
Sean Chard (maxdout)

Sean Chard (maxdout) is a Daily Fantasy Sports veteran, starting back during the 2011/12 NHL season. He lives in the Toronto area so naturally he is a fan of the Blue Jays, Raptors and Maple Leafs. maxdout is a grinder for all DFS sports and most notably NHL and MLB. His biggest DFS result to date is a 7th place finish in the FanDuel Daily Fantasy Baseball Championship in 2013. He can be found on twitter at @maxdoutDFS.