NHL Grind Down: Monday, February 19th

by Tom Woollam (elctrceye) Last Updated 2018-02-20 12:53:02 Premium Content Part of the product Combo Lite

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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.

Minnesota Wild at New York Islanders

Minnesota Wild					New York Islanders
			Devan Dubnyk					Jaroslav Halak
			Record					Record
			31-20-7					29-25-6
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.91	2.83	21.39	80.79	Team Stats	3.28	3.55	21.93	73.86

It took until the 11th round of Saturday night’s shoot out for the Ducks to defeat the home team Minnesota Wild by a score of 3-2. The Wild’s two goals was the fifth game in a row where the team failed to score more than three goals which is why they have only lit the lamp 13 times ion those five games. Minnesota is holding on for dear life to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with their 69 points while both Calgary and Los Angeles are licking at their heels. It didn’t take long for the Wild to go back to the lines they were used to using as the Jason Zucker skating with Eric Staal experiment lasted all of about two shifts before he was back skating with Mikko Koivu and Mikael Granlund. Under this set-up Staal makes for an excellent one-off plat here as he leads the team 26 goals and 52 points while anchoring the team’s top power play unit. Daniel Winnik and Chris Stewart were his linemates in the 5×5 situations while Nino Niederreiter has to be in the dog house as although he saw over three minutes of power play time with Staal and Zach Parise. Niederreiter basically played on the team’s fourth line and logged a total of 10:33 of ice time so this is either a ploy to get him going or he really is in the doghouse. The Zucker line should be the one to target here as they have combined for six goals and six assists over the last six games. Ryan Suter and Mathew Dumba are the easy targets on the back line as each soaks up a ton of power play time while being quite productive. Suter has seen 16 of his 36 points come with the extra attacker while Dumba has lit the lamp 10 times to go along with 21 assists so far this season. Jared Spurgeon is another option on the blue line as he has grabbed 29 points so far this season and that’s not bad production for being the third defensive option on any team in the league. Minnesota has had trouble scoring of late and ‘usually’ the Islanders are used to giving up a lot of goals.

After going 58 games without shutting anyone out the tandem of Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss stopped 95 shots over the last 120 minutes of hockey to pots not one but two of them in a row. If the Islanders can get this kind of goal tending the rest of the way they will easily make the playoffs as the offense has not been the problem so far this season. The top line of John Tavares, Josh Bailey and Anders Lee should be in a lot of cash game line-ups this afternoon as they are not only the team leaders in scoring but the soak up a ton of playing time when New York has the man advantage.