NHL Grind Down: Monday, January 16th - Page Two
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Washington Capitals at Pittsburgh Penguins
| Washington Capitals | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | Matt Murray | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 29-9-5 | 26-11-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.02 | 1.91 | 18.50% | 86.50% | Team Stats | 3.40 | 2.93 | 22.80% | 78.20% |
It’s always fun when these two teams get together as we have the opportunity to see three of the game’s most dangerous offensive weapons all on the ice at the same time. Washington enters tonight’s game playing its best hockey of the young season and have not only rattled off nine straight victories, but have been absolutely dominant in two straight shutout wins. Washington rolled to a fairly easy 5-2 victory over the Penguins in their last meeting, but they will certainly have their hands full tonight as the Penguins own 18-2-2 record on home ice. Breaking down the Capitals has to start with Alex Ovechkin. He’s already posted 21 goals (and added 16 assists) and his 167 shots on goal is tied for the NHL lead. Ovechkin commands extensive attention from opposing defenses and that opens up tons of open ice for his linemates Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie. Backstrom is back to thriving alongside his long-time linemate and actually leads the Capitals with 42 points in 43 games and has erupted for three goals and nine assists in just eight games during the month of January. The Capitals recent surge has also coincided directly with Evgeny Kuznetsov offensive explosion. The Russian sophomore owns two goals and eight assists over the last seven games and, as a secondary scoring threat alongside Justin Williams and Marcus Johansson, this takes a ton of pressure off of the Ovechkin line. On defense, Matt Niskanen is a fine option and has the added motivation of taking on his former team. However, John Carlson sees the lion’s share of the work on the point of the power-play and owns 25 points in 43 games this season. He’s dished out three assists in the three prior meetings against the Penguins can be used in all formats tonight despite the tough matchup. Just be sure to monitor his status as he was forced out of yesterday’s game early.
While Washington is surging, their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins have started to head the other direction. Pittsburgh has dropped each of their last three games and wake up this morning sitting in third place in the Metropolitan Division. Good news is that they’ll return home tonight for a quick one-game home stand and they desperately need to send a message to the Eastern Conference by picking up two points this evening. It’s no secret that the Penguins are a two headed offensive attack as Sidney Crosby headlines the top line alongside Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust, while Evgeni Malkin centers both Patric Hornqvist and Carl Hagelin on the “second” line. The Washington Capitals have allowed an NHL low 1.91 goals against per game this season and are playing excellent hockey right now, but the Penguins simply have too much fire-power to overlook. Crosby leads the NHL with 26 goals (in just 36 games) and both Sheary and Rust are still rather cheap across the industry. Being able to pair Crosby with one (or both) of his far less expensive line mates will likely still be a rather popular GPP strategy this evening. Meanwhile, Malkin sits tied with Crosby for the team lead with 46 points and has been an absolute beast on home ice where he’s posted eight goals and 23 assists in just 22 home games. On defense, Kris Letang is finally back and looking to be at full speed. He’s re-established himself as the point man on the #1 power-play unit and has about as much offensive upside as any other blue-liner in the league. Justin Schultz really stepped up his game while Letang was sidelined and has continued his solid production even now that Letang has returned. With that said, Washington’s elite 86.5% penalty kill does put a dent into both of their fantasy outlooks this evening.
Update: Letang has been placed on IR. This does give Justin Schultz a nice fantasy boost once again as he’ll take over on the point of the #1 power-play.
Washington Capitals
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 52.17 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential 43, 110.65 CP60
Elite Options
Alex Ovechkin ( FD, $8,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 60.42 CF60, 2.67 xGF60, 104.37 PDO
Nicklas Backstrom ( FD, $6,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 56.96 CF60, 2.61 xGF60, 104.69 PDO
John Carlson ( FD, $6,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 56.71 CF60, 2.67 xGF60, 103.67 PDO
Secondary Options
T.J. Oshie ( FD, $5,900 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 57.39 CF60, 2.84 xGF60, 107.78 PDO
Evgeny Kuznetsov ( FD, $5,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 59.63 CF60, 2.66 xGF60, 104.84 PDO
Justin Williams ( FD, $4,800 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.2 CF60, 3.11 xGF60, 101.47 PDO
Matt Niskanen ( FD, $4,200 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 60.09 CF60, 2.6 xGF60, 103.33 PDO
Expected Netminder
Braden Holtby – My Ratings (out of 10): 7 Cash, 8.5 GPP
Pittsburgh Penguins
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 51.44 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential 13, 118.39 CP60
Elite Options
Sidney Crosby ( FD, $8,200 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 69.15 CF60, 3.71 xGF60, 100.31 PDO
Evgeni Malkin ( FD, $7,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 63.87 CF60, 3.12 xGF60, 101.65 PDO
Secondary Options
Patric Hornqvist ( FD, $6,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 70.19 CF60, 3.89 xGF60, 100.81 PDO
Conor Sheary ( FD, $5,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 64.99 CF60, 3.6 xGF60, 102.01 PDO
Bryan Rust ( FD, $5,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 63.06 CF60, 3.19 xGF60, 96.54 PDO
Phil Kessel ( FD, $6,200 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 57.6 CF60, 2.45 xGF60, 103.19 PDO
Kris Letang ( FD, $6,200 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.61 CF60, 3.09 xGF60, 97.88 PDO
Justin Schultz ( FD, $5,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.68 CF60, 3.2 xGF60, 102.01 PDO
Expected Netminder
Marc-Andre Fleury – My Ratings (out of 10): 7.5 Cash, 8 GPP
Arizona Coyotes at Edmonton Oilers
| Arizona Coyotes | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Mike Smith |  | Cam Talbot | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 13-23-6 | 23-15-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.05 | 3.17 | 14.50% | 76.90% | Team Stats | 2.78 | 2.62 | 20.70% | 81.50% |
With 13 other teams to choose from today, targeting the Arizona Coyotes should probably be served for GPP only use. They’ll head to Edmonton owning an ugly 13-23-6 record on the season and have won just five of their 21 road games this season. Arizona was shutout against the Anaheim Ducks over the weekend and have posted just 2-9-1 record over their last 12 games. They have however defeated the Edmonton Oilers in two of their three prior meetings this season, so there is at least some GPP appeal here. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the easiest Coyote to trust. He’s posted 23 points in 42 games and is locked into nearly 25+ minutes of ice-time per game. He’s scored a goal and added three assists in those three prior meetings against Edmonton this season and runs the show from the point of Arizona’s top power-play unit. Up-front, Dave Tippett shook up his forward lines a bit recently in an effort to be a bit less one-dimensional. Martin Hanzal now looks set to center Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair on one line with Radim Vrbata dropping down to play alongside Jamie McGinn and Peter Holland. Vrbata leads the team with 27 points thus far and his 121 shots on goal makes him the preferred option.
Arizona has allowed an ugly 3.17 goals against per game this season and sport a subpar 76.9% penalty kill, so Edmonton should receive plenty of attention this evening. Connor McDavid leads the entire NHL with 50 points and matchups don’t get too much better than this one. He’ll be locked into my cash game register and fading him in GPPs will be a risk you’ll need to calculate. McDavid centers Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon on the top forward line and both players are thriving alongside their super talented teammate, as you’d likely expect. Maroon remains very reasonably priced considering the fact that he’s scored goals in each of the last two games and has now racked up nine goals and an assist over the last ten games. They may be overshadowed by McDavid most of the time, but the duo of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle are certainly capable of providing consistent secondary scoring. Alternatively, both Milan Lucic and Mark Letestu remain fantasy viable as they both see a healthy dose of playing time alongside McDavid on the Oilers #1 power-play unit. On defense, both Andrej Sekera and Oscar Klefbom should also benefit from facing this poor Arizona penalty kill. They both offer a similar offensive upside as well as very reasonable price-tags.
Arizona Coyotes
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 46.18 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential -20, 116.85 CP60
Elite Options
Oliver Ekman-Larsson ( FD, $4,800 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 53.12 CF60, 2.12 xGF60, 100.3 PDO
Secondary Options
Radim Vrbata ( FD, $5,100 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 55.72 CF60, 2.17 xGF60, 97.69 PDO
Martin Hanzal ( FD, $4,400 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.03 CF60, 2.15 xGF60, 95.81 PDO
Expected Netminder
Mike Smith – My Ratings (out of 10): 4 Cash, 5.5 GPP
Edmonton Oilers
Team Metrics – 2016-17 – 51.79 CF%, 5×5 Goal Differential 3, 109.62 CP60
Elite Options
Connor McDavid ( FD, $8,100 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 62.38 CF60, 3.14 xGF60, 101.9 PDO
Leon Draisaitl ( FD, $6,300 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 58.96 CF60, 2.79 xGF60, 100.5 PDO
Secondary Options
Patrick Maroon ( FD, $5,600 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 65.12 CF60, 3.07 xGF60, 102.35 PDO
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ( FD, $4,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 56.81 CF60, 2.25 xGF60, 96.3 PDO
Milan Lucic ( FD, $4,900 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 57.57 CF60, 2.59 xGF60, 98.5 PDO
Jordan Eberle ( FD, $5,000 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 61.38 CF60, 2.8 xGF60, 100.27 PDO
Oscar Klefbom ( FD, $4,400 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 57.54 CF60, 2.46 xGF60, 97.19 PDO
Andrej Sekera ( FD, $4,500 DK) – 16-17 Metrics – 54.89 CF60, 2.56 xGF60, 101.9 PDO
Expected Netminder
Cam Talbot – My Ratings (out of 10): 8.5 Cash, 8 GPP