NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 13th
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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New York Islanders at New York Rangers
| New York Islanders | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Jaroslav Halak |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 21-18-4 | 22-15-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.33 | 3.65 | 20.83 | 74.07 | Team Stats | 2.95 | 2.69 | 18.52 | 83.70 |
It’s very odd to see the team with the most goals in the Metropolitan Division occupy the last spot in the standings but that’s exactly what we have in the New York Islanders. The Islanders lost five games in a row before defeating the New Jersey Devils last Sunday before their week off and now look to beat the Rangers for the second time in Madison Square Garden this season. Josh Bailey looks to be out for this game which will leave John Tavares and Anders Lee to skate with Alan Quine on the team’s top line. Tavares leads the team in points with 51 of them while Lee’s 25 goals is tops on the team. Both players will skate on the team’s top power play unit that has scored two goals in the last three games before their break. Mathew Barzal makes a decent one-off play here as he anchors the second line along with Anthony Beauvillier and Jordan Eberle as he has grabbed seven of his 39 points over the last eight games. Barzal gets the extra ice time when the Islanders have the man advantage and has racked up 14 points with the extra attacker. There is a chance that Andrew Ladd returns for this game which means he will more than likely be slotted on the second line with Beauvillier either moving up to the top line or down to the third line. Nick Leddy is the choice on the back line as he quarterbacks the team’s top power play unit that sees over 65% of the ice time with the man advantage.
Thanks to some good goaltending over the last six weeks the Rangers are the envy of half the teams in the Eastern Conference as their 49 points have them hanging onto the seventh spot above nine other teams. The bad news is that team hasn’t scored more than regulation goals in any of their last seven games. This is why J.T. Miller and two other players lead the team with just three points over the last seven games. Miller will skate with Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello on the top line and for all intents and purposes this is the line to target tonight. Zuccarello leads the team with 23 assists and 31 points while Michael Grabner leads the team with 18 goals. Grabner makes a decent one-off here from the third line while Rick Nash, Jesper Fast and Kevin Hayes skate on the team’s second line. Defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk has been cold of late but has still managed to find the score sheet 123 times in the first 42 games. This is not exactly what the Rangers were thinking when they got him so hopefully he can ramp up his play in the second half of the season. Shattenkirk and Nick Holden are the only defensemen to grab a point over the last seven games with each notching an assist over that time frame.
Top Plays
NYI: John Tavares
NYR: Mats Zuccarello
Secondary Plays
NYI: Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee, Nick Leddy, Jordan Eberle
NTR: Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Michael Grabner, Kevin Shattenkirk
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