NHL Grind Down: Saturday, February 10th
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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Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins
| Buffalo Sabres | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 15-29-10 | 33-11-8 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.30 | 3.28 | 16.97 | 77.99 | Team Stats | 3.27 | 2.35 | 22.01 | 82.89 |
On the surface this one looks like a no-brainer as the Buffalo Sabres come into this one as the worst team in the Eastern Conference with a record of 15-29-10. As you can imagine the team’s road record isn’t that great either but they have managed to win one more game away from the home crowd than in front of it. One would think that Boston will try to shut down the top line of Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane and Kyle Okposo while the second line of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Evan Rodrigues skate on the team’s second line. Eichel may attract the most attention however as he leads the team with 22 goals and 31 assists in the 54 games while everyone on the O’Reilly line has at least 32 points to their credit so far this season. Rodrigues and Kane are left off of the top power play unit that has scored at least one goal in 10 of their last 13 games and have scored 14 of them in the last 16 games. This is important because that top unit has been seeing almost all of the extra ice time when the Sabres have the extra attacker. O’Reilly leads the team with nine power play goals while Okposo has collected a team leading 14 points with the man advantage. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is the final piece to this puzzle as he leads all Buffalo defensemen with 23 points in 45 games while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit.
Ever since December 1st Boston has been on a tear as they have only lost seven games since then and have earned points in five of those seven losses. It helps that they have healthy for pretty much the whole time barring a minor injury here or a suspension there. The top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak will probably appear in a lot of line-ups this evening as all three have collected more than 45 points so far this season with Marchand and Pastrnak leading the team with 51 points apiece. They also anchor the top power play unit that has scored nine goals over the last 15 games but the telling factor here is that Buffalo has given up 14 power play goals in their last 16 games. David Krejci and Ryan Spooner also get a few extra power play minutes as the skate together on the second line. Danton Heinen could be a decent one-off here as he skates with David Backes on the third line as he has grabbed seven of his 38 points over the last eight games. The last pieces to the Bruins offensive puzzle come from the back line as both Torey Krug and Charlie McAvoy make decent plays this evening. Krug is the better play however as he has found the scoresheet eight times in the last eight games.
Top Plays
BUF: Jack Eichel
BOS: Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak
Secondary Plays
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen, Kyle Okposo
BOS: Torey Krug, David Krejci, Ryan Spooner, Danton Heinen
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