NHL Grind Down: Monday, November 23rd - Page Two
Boston Bruins at Toronto Maple Leafs – 07:30 PM EST
| Boston Bruins | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Tuukka Rask |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 10-8-1 | 7-10-4 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.26 | 2.95 | 33.90% | 72.50% | Team Stats | 2.19 | 2.62 | 20.60% | 80.90% |
The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 2-0 on Saturday in the first half of this home-and-home series, and now the scene shifts to Toronto. David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron are both having terrific seasons, which gives the Bruins one of the most balanced scoring attacks in the NHL this season. While that’s great news for Claude Julien behind the bench, it makes things much more difficult from a DFS perspective. Patrice Bergeron is joined by his long time partner-in-crime Brad Marchand and Jimmy Hayes to form one of the better two-way lines in the league. David Krejci leads the Bruins in points with 22 and will be joined by Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson. Both forward lines have plenty of upside in this fairly decent matchup. Zdeno Chara is still very much fantasy relevant, but Torey Krug has become the top scoring option on the Boston blue-line. Krug has already picked up 12 assists on the season and see’s plenty of run on the point of the team’s top scoring line.
The Maple Leafs have been playing much better hockey of late, but they’ve still managed to score just 2.19 goals per game this season and were just shutout by this Bruins team on Saturday. However, the Bruins have allowed an ugly 2.95 GA/G and own the NHL’s worst penalty kill this season at just 72.5%. With that in mind, targeting the teams #1 power-play unit looks like a decent option. Nazem Kadri finally scored his second goal of the season against Carolina on Friday night and with the 5th most shots on goal in the league this season, more goals are coming his way. Tyler Bozak leads the team with 12 points and should be able to avoid squaring off against the Bergeron/Marchand line for the most part, making him a fine option as well. Morgan Rielly and Dion Phaneuf both average over 22 minutes per game and are the top options from Toronto blue-line.
Elite Plays
BOS: David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Torey Krug
TOR: Nazem Kadri
Secondary Play
BOS: Loui Eriksson, Jimmy Hayes, Ryan Spooner, Zdeno Chara
TOR: Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, Morgan Rielly
Colorado Avalanche at Winnipeg Jets – 08:00 PM EST
| Colorado Avalanche | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Semyon Varlamov |  | Ondrej Pavelec | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-12-1 | 10-9-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.80 | 3.05 | 19.70% | 76.80% | Team Stats | 2.71 | 3.05 | 14.70% | 79.50% |
The Avalanche were torched for seven goals against the Capitals on Saturday night and have now dropped three straight games to fall to 7-12-1. They’re the worst team in the NHL by Corsi standards and enter as pretty heavy underdogs to the Jets. After tinkering with his lines throughout the early going of the season, it looks like Patrick Roy will finally let Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene all have a chance to play together on the Avs top line. All three players are extremely talented offensively and combine to form one of the games most dynamic scoring lines. While this is a major boost to the fantasy value of all three guys, it also completely destroys any semblance of scoring depth for Colorado. On the blue-line, Erik Johnson and Tyson Barrie join up with that top line on the point of the #1 power-play making them fine options where the price is right as this Jets team is the most penalized team in the NHL.
After an ugly six game losing streak, the Jets look to have “righted the ship” by picking up two points in each of their last two games. They’ll be hungry to keep things rolling tonight as they’ll head out on a tough three game road trip on Wednesday. The Avalanche have really struggled in their defensive end this season and after getting lit up for seven goals against Washington, they’re now allowing 3.05 goals against per game on the young season. Each of Winnipeg’s top two forward lines are very much in play tonight, but it’s the Ladd/Little/Wheeler line that’ll garner most of my attention. Wheeler leads the team with 21 points in 21 games and is the top option, with Bryan Little trailing just behind with 18 points. Dustin Byfuglien can “fill up the stat sheet” as well as any other defenseman in the league and is a top-tier option on the blue-line if you can afford him.
Elite Plays
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon, Matt Duchene
WPG: Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, Mark Scheifele, Dustin Byfuglien
Secondary Plays
COL: Jarome Iginla, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie
WPG: Mathieu Perreault, Drew Stafford, Nikolaj Ehlers, Tobias Enstrom