NHL Grind Down: Saturday, February 11th

by Tom Woollam (elctrceye) Last Updated 2017-02-12 02:23:34

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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 FanDuel promo code to receive the best perks in the industry.

Vancouver Canucks at Boston Bruins

Vancouver Canucks					Boston Bruins
			Ryan Miller					Tuukka Rask
			Record					Record
			24-24-6					27-23-6
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.30	2.81	15.20%	79.00%	Team Stats	2.63	2.68	20.00%	86.20%

After losing five straight games the Vancouver Canucks surprised the Columbus Blue Jackets by shutting them out by a score of 3-0 in their own building on Thursday night. I wouldn’t bet on the Bruins looking the other way this afternoon but nonetheless there should be some value here, maybe. With Sven Baertschi on the sidelines with a concussion Jayson Megna now skates with the team leader in goals in the form of Bo Horvat. 15 goals and 34 points has put Horvat in a decent position to be a tournament punt play this afternoon. Henrik Sedin, Loui Eriksson and Daniel Sedin will skate on the top line while second line center Brandon Sutter will join them when the Canucks draw a penalty. Henrik is tied with Horvat for the team lead in points while Daniel has found the score sheet just 30 times so far this season. Troy Stecher is the best that the Canucks have to offer on the back line but with just two goals and 13 assists it’s probably best to look elsewhere today.

Much like then St Louis Blues, the Boston Bruins responded in their first game with their new head coach as they took down the Sharks on home ice by a score of 6-3. The line changes seemed to help the Boston offense as David Backes, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron figured in on four of the six goals. Backes had three points which now gives him 25 for the season. Meanwhile David Pastrnak did well skating alongside of David Krejci and Matt Beleskey as he tied team leader Marchand with 24 goals thanks to the two he scored on Thursday night. Marchand, Pastrnak and Bergeron all have tallied 12 points over the last six games so it’s going to be up to the Vancouver goaltender to stand on his head again if the Canucks have any chance to be in this game. Torey Krug is the play from the point as he quarterbacks Marchand, Bergeron, Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner on a power play that has connected for nine goals in the last six games. Boston finds themselves in the eight playoff spot in the eastern Conference and should be able to at least keep pace in front of the home crowd tonight.

Elite Plays

VAN: None
BOS: Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak

Secondary Plays

VAN: Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Daniel Sedin
BOS: Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Ryan Spooner

New York Islanders at Ottawa Senators

New York Islanders					Ottawa Senators
			Thomas Greiss					Mike Condon
			Record					Record
			24-18-10					28-18-6
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.98	2.90	15.90%	80.80%	Team Stats	2.62	2.73	16.90%	83.40%

If you are wondering how the New York islanders are just two points from the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, all one has to do is look at the last 11 games. New York has won eight of those games while collecting points in two others by playing tough hockey and sending those games into overtime. The top line has been doing most of the damage as John Tavares, Josh Bailey and Anders Lee each have posted eight points in the last seven games. Ottawa runs hot and cold, one night they will lose 6-0 to the Blues and then the next game will tighten things up and win 3-2 against Dallas. Tavares leads the team with 20 goals and 44 points while his line mates are right behind on the Islanders scoring chart. There is no reason to think that based on the last two weeks that this line can’t come away with at least a goal tonight. Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome skate on the second line that has Strome moving up with the top line when the Islanders get the man advantage. Each of these players have garnered seven points in the last seven games and make for a nice tournament play here as Ottawa will surely have their best defensive unit against Tavares and Company. Nick Leddy is the play on the back line as 10 of his 28 points have come while quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit.

Ottawa has played steady hockey all season which is probably the reason that the team has been able to hold on to second place in the Atlantic Division. They are however in a precarious position as their 62 points is just three points better than the Philadelphia Flyers who are currently nn ninth place in the conference. Of course that would mean that both Boston and Toronto would have to catch them to put them into fourth place in the division and that could quite possibly happen. Mark Stone, Derick Brassard and Zack Smith skate as one of the Ottawa scoring lines while Kyle Turris center Bobby Ryan and Ryan Dzingel on the other. This leaves Mike Hoffman to skate on the third line although he has grabbed a team leading 17 points with the man advantage while leading the team with 145 shots. This smells like a one-off to me here. Stone leads the team with 19 goals while grabbing 40 points so far this season. Kyle Turris sits in fourth place on the team’s scoring chart with 18 goals and 18 assists. As you can see, the Senators top scorers all skate on different lines so either using them as a one-off play or pairing them up would be optimal for tournament play as opposed to going with a full line stack. Erik Karlsson leads the team with 44 points from the back line as he soaks up most of the extra ice time when the Senators go on the power play. Dion Phaneuf is back to being a decent option as well as his 11 power play points represent more than 50% of his total seasonal points.

Elite Plays

NYI: John Tavares
OTT: Erik Karlsson, Mike Hoffman

Secondary Plays

NYI: Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Nick Leddy
OTT: Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard, Dion Phaneuf, Bobby Ryan

San Jose Sharks at Philadelphia Flyers

San Jose Sharks					Philadelphia Flyers
			Martin Jones					Michael Neuvirth
			Record					Record
			33-18-4					26-22-7
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.71	2.38	17.40%	80.50%	Team Stats	2.55	2.96	21.20%	80.80%

The Sharks have dropped their last three games but luckily they were able to earn two points and stay in first place in the Pacific Division. This afternoon they play their third game on the road as they finish up their east coast trip tomorrow in New Jersey. On paper it looks like the Sharks should be able to win this game against a listless Flyers team that has managed just four goals in four home games. Look for the second line of Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Mikkel Boedker to do some damage here as they should be the line to have a bit more room on the ice tonight. Both Couture and Marleau have been hot since they were reunited on the second line as evidence by them each finding the score sheet eight times over the last seven games. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton join them on the team’s top power play unit from the top line which has Tomas Hertl as their right winger. This line has been productive as well and since the Flyers can’t seem to stop anyone these days it would seem that both lines are in play this afternoon. Brent Burns is the choice on the back end as his 57 points is just three of the pace of the league lead.

The Flyers have lost a grip on the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference thanks to losing four of their last five games. The Flyers have looked inept at times as benching both Shayne Gostisbehere and Travis Konecny over the past two weeks surely doesn’t help with the mental side of things. Head coach Dave Hakstol is probably experiencing some growing pains as the college game is much different than the NHL. Nonetheless, he has put three of his best four players on the top line which is something he hasn’t done since their ten game winning streak ended so long ago. If there was ever a day to take Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Brayden Schenn today might be the day. They all play on the top power play unit that sees a lot of the ice time along with Wayne Simmonds who makes for a decent one-off play here. Simmonds leads the team with 22 goals while Voracek has 32 assists and 46 points which are both tops on the team. Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov are the choices on the back line and quite frankly there really is no big difference between them as each have tallied 22 points so far this season.

Elite Plays

SJ: Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau
PHL: Jakub Voracek

Secondary Plays

SJ: Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Mikkel Boedker
h3. PHL: Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn, Shayne Gostisbehere

Carolina Hurricanes at Dallas Stars

Carolina Hurricanes					Dallas Stars
			Cam Ward					Kari Lehtonen
			Record					Record
			24-21-7					21-24-10
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.62	2.83	16.80%	86.50%	Team Stats	2.73	3.16	17.40%	73.80%

Carolina comes into this one losing five of their last six road games and is in last place in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes have only managed seven wins away from home so look for them to switch things up tonight. Victor Rask moves back up to the top line to play alongside Jeff Skinner and Lee Stempniak while the second line remains unchanged. Although Skinner leads the team with 18 goals and 37 points Rask is right behind him in second place with 32 points. The second line has been the better line over the last eight games as Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho and Elias Lindholm have combined for seven goals and 12 assists over that time frame. That’s not too bad when you consider Carolina has scored 17 goals in those eight games. What is bad is the fact that the team has averaged just above two goals per game over that time frame. Justin Faulk and Noah Hanifin are the choices on the back line as Faulk’s 24 points is nine points better than Hanifin’s numbers despite playing in six less games.

Thanks to just winning three of their last 12 games the Dallas Stars playoff hopes are washing ashore faster than you can say ‘S.S. Minnow’. Their 21-24-10 record has yielded them 52 points which is currently eight points away from the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Jamie Benn, Patrick Eaves and Cody Eakin would be the line to target here at home as Benn has collected nine of his 47 points over the last nine games while Eaves has 19 goals and 14 assists so far this season. Tyler Seguin is your one-off here as he skates with Antoine Roussel and Brett Ritchie on the team’s second line. Seguin leads the team with 20 goals and 31 assists while being one of two players to play in all 55 games this season. John Klingberg anchors the top power play unit as he has collected 12 of his 31 points with the man advantage. Just because Dallas is slipping out of the playoff race doesn’t mean they can’t score some goals, especially on home ice.

Elite Plays

CAR: None
DAL: Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn

Secondary Plays

CAR: Jeff Skinner, Sebastian Aho, Elias Lindholm, Victor Rask, Justin Faulk
DAL: Patrick Eaves, John Klingberg

Florida Panthers at Nashville Predators

Florida Panthers					Nashville Predators
			Roberto Luongo					Pekka Rinne
			Record					Record
			23-20-10					26-20-8
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.34	2.72	14.40%	84.40%	Team Stats	2.72	2.56	18.90%	83.40%

Although Florida has become fairly healthy they still have a lot of work to do especially after losing 6-3 to the Kings on home ice on Thursday night. Their 56 points is just four points out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference so they had better get ready for their five game road trip that starts tonight in Nashville. The top line that features Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Jaromir Jagr will surely be targeted as the line to shut down but that hasn’t stopped Brakov from grabbing a point in each of the two games since he has returned to the lineup. Vincent Trocheck skates on the team’s second line and makes for a decent one-off play here as he leads the team with 18 goals and 35 points. Although he had scored a lot of those points while being on the top line in Barkov’s absence, he still should be able to produce on the road. Jonathan Marchessault could also be considered as a one-off as well as he skates on the team’s third line but has been able to rack up five of his 33 points over the last six games. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad are the options from the back line with Yandle having the upper hand by virtue of having the duty of quarterbacking the team’s top power play unit. Yandle has recorded 11 of his 27 points while on the man advantage while Ekblad’s team leading 145 shots on goal has yielded eight goals and 15 points so far this season.

Nashville has made things tough on themselves by losing every other game over the last eight games that they have played. As of right now they are situated in the last playoff spot in the Western Conference with 60 points so getting on a winning streak would surely help solidify their playoff chances. At last check Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen were joined by James Neal to form the team’s top line. This is the line to target here as Neal leads the team with 17 goals while Johansen’s 31 assists and 40 points are also tops on the team. They also serve on the team’s top unit when they have the man advantage which makes them as even more lucrative play this afternoon. Viktor Arvidsson and Calle Jarnkrok may make for a decent tournament pairing as Arvidsson has racked up 10 of his 35 points over the last ten games while Jarnkrok has a robust eight points over that same time period. That’s not bad considering that Jarnkrok has just 19 points in 54 games played. Mike Fisher has got lost in the shuffle but still has managed to keep up the scoring pace as evidence of his six points over the last 10 games. Roman Josi is the play on the back line as the talented defenseman has reclaimed his spot on the team’s top power play unit. Josi has racked up 10 of his 24 points on the power play through the 45 games he has suited up for.

Elite Plays

FLA: Aleksander Barkov
NSH: Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg

Secondary Plays

FLA: Vincent Trocheck, Jonathan Marchessault, Keith Yandle, Jonathan Huberdeau
NSH: James Neal, Viktor Arvidsson, Roman Josi

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