NHL Grind Down: Saturday, February 17th
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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Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo Sabres
| Los Angeles Kings | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Jonathan Quick |  | Robin Lehner | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 30-22-5 | 17-30-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.82 | 2.51 | 19.63 | 83.25 | Team Stats | 2.40 | 3.28 | 17.61 | 79.10 |
The Kings have gone into full panic mode as they have gone back to what worked best earlier in the season and that was using Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown on the team’s top line. Los Angeles has lost their last three games which has them stuck in fifth place in the Pacific Division. The Kings have scored 20 goals over the last 10 games so it’s no wonder that Kopitar has had a hand in eight of them as he leads the team with 28 goals and 38 assists so far this season. Alex Iafallo joins them to complete the team’s top line which gives them the best chance to score this afternoon. Meanwhile Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli and Adrian Kempe are doing their best as a supporting cast but scoring a combined three goals over the last seven games just doesn’t cut the mustard here. Jake Muzzin and Drew Doughty are the choices on the back line and either makes a decent play here as they both get the lion’s share of the power play minutes along with Brown and Kopitar. Doughty has the leg up on Muzzin by a 40-33 points total but each has grabbed four points since the beginning of the month. Buffalo is not a strong team by any stretch of the imagination so look for the Kings to score a few tonight.
By scoring just 139 goals so far this season the Buffalo Sabres have the dubious honor of being dead last in the league in that category. This will probably not change any time soon as the loss of Jack Eichel will surely be hard to overcome. The Sabres have been scoring a few goals of late however so taking a look at the top power play unit certainly won’t hurt here. Buffalo has scored five power play goals in the last six games while the Kings have given nine goals while trying to kill a penalty over the last seven games. Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Reinhart skate on the top line with Evander Kane while Benoit Pouliot skates with Evan Rodrigues and Kyle Okposo on the team’s second line. Kane and Pouliot are left out in the cold where the top power play unit is concerned as they see just 25% of the ice time leaving the other four players to soak up about 75% of the ice time when the Sabres have the extra attacker. O’Reilly feels like a one-off here as he has collected 43 points so far this season but pairing him with Reinhart isn’t a bad idea either as both players lead the team with nine points apiece over the last eight games. Rasmus Ristolainen is really the only option on the back line as he has grabbed 14 of his 26 points anchoring the team’s top power play unit. Casey Nelson may be a sneaky play here as he has registered five points in the last eight games while just suiting up for 14 games in a Sabres sweater. Look for Buffalo to score a few here in what could be a low scoring game.
Top Plays
LAK: Anze Kopitar
BUF: Ryan O’Reilly
Secondary Plays
LAK: Dustin Brown, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alex Iafallo, Adrian Kempe
BUF: Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen
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