NHL Grind Down: Monday, December 11th
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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Colorado Avalanche at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Colorado Avalanche | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Tristan Jarry | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-13-2 | 16-12-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.18 | 3.32 | 18.97 | 80.18 | Team Stats | 3.00 | 3.26 | 26.96 | 79.66 |
Colorado broke out of a four game losing streak by taking it to the Florida Panthers by scoring seven goals in their four goal win on Saturday night. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog make up the team’s top line while Alexander Kerfoot skated with four different line combinations in the win. MacKinnon has been the steadiest player this season as his 33 points leads Rantanen by a good nine points so far this season. The McKinnon line is joined by Tyler Jost and defenseman Tyson Barrie when the Avalanche draw a penalty but lately that unit has been hit and miss as evidence by scoring just two goals over the last four games with the man advantage. Barrie is a decent choice here as his 21 points in 27 games isn’t bad for a blue liner on a bad team. Erik Johnson would be the next defensive option but has only tallied 11 points so far this season which makes him a risky pick for cash game play this evening. Yes the Avalanche do have guys like Blake Comeau, Matt Nieto and J.T. Compher skating on their secondary lines but trying to predict when they will score is like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. Case in pint was the last game where Nieto grabbed three of his eight points that he has accrued in the 21 games he has suited up for. Look for Colorado to have a little more trouble against Pittsburgh this evening than they had against Florida the other night.
The Penguins took one on the chin the other night at home on Saturday night as the maple Leafs raced out to a quick 3-0 lead which was too much for Pittsburgh to recover from. They did give it a good effort however but the three goals that they had scored came up one shy of tying the game. In attempt to switch things up just a little Conor Sheary found himself playing next to Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel while Jake Guentzel moved up to skate with Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist.
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