NHL Grind Down: Monday, December 21st
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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Washington Capitals at Carolina Hurricanes – 07:00 PM EST
| Washington Capitals | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-6-2 | 13-15-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.03 | 2.16 | 25.00% | 84.10% | Team Stats | 2.39 | 2.97 | 18.30% | 76.30% |
The Capitals stormed back last night to score the final six goals of the game and further prolong the New York Rangers struggles. Washington enters tonight’s game in Carolina sporting an Eastern Conference best 24-6-2 record and riding a five-game winning streak. They’re 12-1-1 over their last 14 games and, at least on paper, should be able to overwhelm this Carolina hockey club. Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL in SOG this season (160) and scored a goal against Carolina in their only previous meeting. He’s the obvious focal point of this offensive attack but it’s been his linemats, T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom, putting up the best offensive numbers lately. Backstrom and Oshie have combined for 9 goals and 12 assists in nine games this month and can be rostered for a fraction of Mr. Ovechkin’s asking price. Marcus Johansson joins those three up-front on the #1 power-play unit and that solidifies him as a solid value play. On the blue-line, John Carlson has amassed 26 points in 32 games this season and lives on the point of the #1 power-play unit, making him a top-tier defensive option this evening. While I do expect Washington to keep things rolling tonight, this Carolina team has allowed the fewest shots on goal against per game this season and will do everything in their power to clog up the nuetral zone, so with potentially tired legs from Washington, this could turn into a bit of a defensive battle.
It’s a daunting matchup for Carolina tonight with the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals invading Raleigh. The Capitals cruised to an easy 4-1 victory in their only previous meeting this season and look like legit Stanley Cup contenders this season. The fact that Washington was in action last night is a slight plus, but this is not an overly fantasy friendly Hurricanes team and Washington represents one of the toughest matchups on the board. Justin Faulk leads the ‘Canes with 27 points in 33 games and utilizes his power-play prowess to be a top-tier defensive option regardless of the matchup. Up front, Eric Staal centers Kris Versteeg and Elias Lindholm on the top forward line, but it’s been Jeff Skinner leading the charge lately as he’s scored nine goals and added an assists in nine games this month. With that said, I’ll be reserving any exposure to the Hurricanes for GPP’s only tonight.
Elite Options
WAS: Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson
CAR: Justin Faulk
Secondary Options
WAS: Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Matt Niskanen
CAR: Eric Staal, Jeff Skinner, Kris Versteeg
St. Louis Blues at Philadelphia Flyers – 07:00 PM EST
| St. Louis Blues | Philadelphia Flyers | ||||||||
 |  | Steve Mason | |||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-10-4 | 14-12-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.53 | 2.35 | 20.80% | 87.80% | Team Stats | 2.09 | 2.61 | 15.80% | 80.70% |
The Blues really struggled during the first half of the month of December, but after beating Calgary on Saturday afternoon, they’ve now rattled off three straight wins and figure to be major players in the Western Conference this spring. They’ll head to the City of Brotherly Love tonight to kick off a very short two game road trip and will be looking to avenge a 4-2 loss to the Flyers just two weeks ago. Vladimir Tarasenko is the obvious leader of this offense, and with goals in each of the last five games and 21 goals and 15 assists in 33 games this season, he’s a top tier offensive option. Alex Steen finally re-joined Tarasenko and Paul Stastny on the top forward line and that’s tremendous news for his fantasy outlook as well. Kevin Shattenkirk saw his six-game scoring streak come to an end against the Flames, but he’s locked into 20+ minutes of ice-time per game and is a staple on the point of the #1 power-play unit. He’s the top play on the St. Louis blue-line, but both Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko both need to be on your radar as well. With the Flyers allowing the second most shots on goal against per game this season (32.6), I’m expecting a strong offensive performance from St. Louis in this one.
The Flyers were dreadful to begin the season, but they’re starting to play much better hockey and own a 7-2-2 record since posting a 7-10-5 record through 22 games. There resurgance has not coincedentily occurred similtaneous to both Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek heating up offensivelly. The matchup against a very solid St. Louis team is not ideal, but Giroux headlines the top line alongside Brayden Schenn and Michael Raffl and shouldn’t be ignored. Voracek and Wayne Simmonds line up alongside Sean Couturier and it’s been that line causing the most damage offensively lately. With Mark Streit still about a week away from making a return, Shaybe Gostisbehere remains one of the best value options on the blue-line.
Elite Options
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, Kevin Shattenkirk
PHI: Claude Giroux, Shayne Gostisbehere
Secondary Options
STL: Paul Stastny, David Backes, Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko
PHI: Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Michael Del Zotto
Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins – 07:00 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Marc-Andre Fleury | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-19-3 | 15-14-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.43 | 3.03 | 18.30% | 82.00% | Team Stats | 2.19 | 2.50 | 14.80% | 82.00% |
The Blue Jackets have been one of the streakiest teams in the league this season, and after winning each of their last two games, they look to be heading back up the roller coaster track right now. They’ll start a three game road trip this evening against a Pittsburgh team who they’ve already posted two 2-1 victories against this season. Playing in Pittsburgh is generally not a great matchup for opposing teams, but with Marc Andre-Fleury, Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby all likely to be out of action, Columbus’ outlook improves drastically. John Tortorella has created a very balanced scoring attack, which is great news for him, but really muddies the waters from a fantasy perspective. With that said, Scott Hartnell leads this team in points and has continued his hot play with four goals and six assists in nine games this month. Last year’s breakout star Nick Foligno has finally gotten going and joins the top line (with Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner) after having posted points in each of the last four games and four goals and five assists in nine December games. Ryan Murray scored on the power-play against Philly on Saturday and logged nearly 32 minutes of ice-time, with that extensive of a role, he’s a fine value option on defense.
As mentioned above, the Penguins have been decimated recently by some very key injuries and they’ll be desperate to snap their five-game losing streak tonight before heading into the Christmas Break. With Sidney Crosby likely sidelined tonight, it’s a bit unclear how new coach Mike Sullivan will handle his forward lines. However, a missing/slowed Crosby does push some more weight of the offense onto Evgeni Malkin and this looks like a great night for one of his offensive explosions against a Sergei Bobrovsky-less Columbus team that has allowed 3.03 goals per game this season. He’ll likely find himself centering the very dangerous combo of Phil Kessel and David Perron and all three have enough upside to easily pay off their respective asking prices. Rookie Conor Sheary has impressed in his first three games and is still dirt cheap on several sites, but with his role still very much undefined in this offense, he’s likely best utilized as a GPP flier. On defense, the Kris Letang injury has opened the door for both Olli Maatta and David Warsofsky to soak up as much power-play time as possible but neither player has managed to fully capitalize on their increased responsibilities.
Elite Options
CBJ: Scott Hartnell, Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno
PIT: Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel
Secondary Options
CBJ: Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Brandon Saad, Ryan Murray
PIT: Patric Hornqvist, David Perron, Chris Kunitz, Olli Maatta, David Warsofsky
Anaheim Ducks at New York Islanders – 07:00 PM EST
| Anaheim Ducks | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Frederik Andersen |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 12-14-5 | 18-11-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.84 | 2.45 | 16.70% | 87.70% | Team Stats | 2.59 | 2.29 | 18.90% | 86.90% |
The Ducks have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NHL this season, but they picked up a win in New Jersey on Saturday and somehow still very much alive in the very underwhelming Pacific Division. The Ducks have scored an NHL worst 1.84 goals per game so breaking them down from fantasy perspective is fairly easy. The only forward line showing any type of offensive upside has been Ryan Getzlaf centering his long time partner-in-crime Corey Perry with Patrick Maroon getting the call as the third wheel. Falling off that top line is likely the end of Rickard Rakell as a fantasy option. Ryan Kesler has been rather dreadful this season, but he did break out of his scoring drought against the Devils on Saturday and does join both Getzlaf and Perry on the top power-play unit. On defense, Cam Fowler looks like the top option right now as the point man on that #1 power-play unit, with Sami Vatanen also being well worth consideration.
The Islanders were shutout in Arizona on Saturday and after dropping three games in a row, they’ll be very ecstatic to return home for tonight’s game. They’ve managed just two goals during the three-game losing streak and Captain John Tavares has been oddly quiet lately, scoring just two goals without an assist in nine games this month. While the Ducks have failed to gain any momentum this season, they have played solid defensively and own the second best penalty kill in the NHL (87.7%). With Kyle Okposo watching from the press box, Anders Lee is slated to hop onto the wing of the top line to play alongside John Tavares and Josh Bailey. That leaves Frans Nielsen to center Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome on a very capable secondary scoring line. The Islanders are deep on the blue-line with Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic and Marek Zidlicky all having some offensive upside, but this does not look to be the most fantasy friendly game on the board, so I’ll be limiting my exposure to both teams.
Elite Options
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry
NYI: John Tavares, Frans Nielsen
Secondary Options
ANA: Patrick Maroon, Ryan Kesler, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen
NYI: Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Josh Bailey, Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk, Marek Zidlicky
Dallas Stars at Minnesota Wild – 08:00 PM EST
| Dallas Stars | Minnesota Wild | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Devan Dubnyk | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-7-2 | 17-8-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.42 | 2.55 | 22.70% | 79.80% | Team Stats | 2.77 | 2.35 | 20.60% | 77.90% |
The Stars head to their former home tonight to battle the Minnesota Wild with a NHL best 50 points on the season. They’ve picked up overtime victories in each of the first two games between these two teams this season and possess the NHL’s most dangerous duo of Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Both Benn and Seguin lead the NHL with 13 multi-points games this season and no pairing has combined for points on the same goal more frequently than those two (30 goals). Patrick Sharp was reunited with Benn and Seguin on the top line and that’s obviously a huge boost to his fantasy outlook. Jason Spezza joins that trio on the top power-play unit and is also a very fine play considering Minnesota’s lackluster 77.9% penalty kill. John Klingberg shows no signs of relinquishing the reigns as the quarterback of that top power-play unit and he’s absolutely torched the Wild this season, posting two goals while dishing out three assists in their two meetings.
The Wild will put their impressive 12-3-1 home record on the line tonight against the leaders of the Western Confernece, the Dallas Stars. While it’s certainly a tough matchup, Dallas owns a league high 117.4 CP60, so Minnesota should at least benefit from the increased pace. Offensively, nearly all of Minnesota’s offense comes from one of it’s top two lines. Zach Parise is the leader of the top line, with Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville on his side. While they receive most of the attention from fantasy owners, it’s actually Mikko Koivu leading this team with 29 points in 31 games. He centers Dallas’ very capable second scoring line with the under-rated Jason Zucker and sniper Thomas Vanek. On the blue-line, Ryan Suter is an absolute workhorse. The veteran defenseman leads the NHL with 28:17 in average ice-time and is also in the midst of one of his best offensive seasons (5 goals and 19 assists in 31 games). He’s still severely underpriced on FanDuel and a rock solid option in all formats there. Alternatively, Jared Spurgeon is off to the best offensive season of his young career and sees a healthy dose of playing time on the #2 power-play unit. With a very cheap price-tag across the industry, he’s in play tonight as well.
Elite Options
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, John Klingberg
MIN: Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Ryan Suter
Secondary Options
DAL: Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, Cody Eakin, Valeri Nichushkin
MIN: Jason Zucker, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Jared Spurgeon