NHL Grind Down: Saturday, December 9th
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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St. Louis Blues at Detroit Red Wings
| St. Louis Blues | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Jake Allen |  | Jimmy Howard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 19-8-2 | 11-12-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.21 | 2.59 | 17.76 | 78.65 | Team Stats | 2.75 | 3.21 | 21.35 | 82.00 |
The Blues come into this one fresh off shutting out the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-0 in front on the home crowd on Thursday night. The power play was responsible for two of those goals which has now netted seven goals in the last six games. Vladimir Sobotka, Paul Stastny and Vladimir Tarasenko serve as both the top line and the top power play unit while Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn and Alexander Steen skate as the second line when the Blues are in a 5×5 situation. They also get a look at the extra minutes on the power play but not as much time as the top line. Schenn leads the team with 14 goals and 34 points while Schwartz’s 21 assists is tops on the team. Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko are the choices on the back line. Both get equal power play time and that’s been good news for Parayko as he has grabbed four of his last six points with the extra attacker over the last two weeks. He now has 16 points on the season and looks to be heating up a bit. Look for the Blues to give the Red Wings all they can handle as they try to improve on their 9-3-2 record away from the home crowd.
The Red Wings were able to stop their seven game slide with a win against the Winnipeg Jets on home ice last Tuesday night by a score of 5-1. Detroit has been able to wrestle a few points away in those seven losses which has helped the team stay afloat in the Atlantic Division. Henrik Zetterberg took two maintenance days over their three day break and will be back on the top line with Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader. This leaves Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin to skate on the second line with Tomas Tatar. Larkin leads the team with 23 points while Mantha’s team leading 12 goals are four more than anyone else on the team. All six get a crack at extra ice time as the Red Wings use two equal lines when the team has the extra attacker. Detroit has only netted three power play goals over the last six games so looking her for some high octane scoring tonight may be fruitless. Martin Frk and Andreas Athanasiou also get the extra power play time and could be used as GPP punt plays to fit in a few more studs into your lineup tonight. Defenseman Mike Green has been cold over the past few weeks but still leads the back line in scoring with 18 points in 28 games. Niklas Kronwall has registered three of his eight points over the last two weeks which would seem to be a hot streak by his standards. Look for Detroit to struggle here against a St Louis team that has won nine games away from home so far this season.
Tops Plays
STL: Brayden Schenn
DET: Anthony Mantha
Secondary Plays
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, Paul Stastny
DET: Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Gustav Nyquist, Mike Green
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