NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 16th

by Tom Woollam (elctrceye) Last Updated 2016-01-18 14:28:39

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

New York Rangers at Philadelphia Flyers – 01:00 PM EST

New York Rangers					Philadelphia Flyers
			Henrik Lundqvist					Steve Mason
			Record					Record
			23-15-5					19-15-7
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.86	2.58	18.30%	79.80%	Team Stats	2.27	2.61	15.40%	78.30%

The Rangers switched up their lines for Thursday night’s game against the New York Islanders and it worked, for two periods. According to the Rangers beat writer Andrew Gross the team was 165-1-9 going into when going into the third period with the lead. You can now change that one to a two as the Islanders came storming back with three third period goals to snare a two point lead over the Blueshirts in the Atlantic division. Now the Rangers have switched it up again as Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello stay on the top line with J.T. Miller while Rick Nash and Derek Stepan are now joined by Chris Kreider to make up the team’s second line. This set up gives them a more balanced scoring attack and makes the second line a very lucrative GPP play tonight. As predicted on Thursday, defenseman Keith Yandle finally looks like he is edging out Dan Boyle for top minutes on the team’s power play and has been hot of late by scoring three points in the last four games.

The Flyers go for their first five game winning streak of the season today as they host the New York Rangers. Philadelphia still has a lot of work to do if they entertain any thoughts of not golfing come mid-April. Their 18-15-7 record has them currently in 7th place in the Metropolitan division but to their credit they are 6-3-1 in their last ten games. Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Jakub Voracek all skate on the top line together and get first crack as the team’s top power play unit on a nightly basis. Voracek leads that group with a goal and four assists in his last five games but it is second liner Brayden Schenn who has the hottest hand by netting two goals to go along with four assists over that same time period. Schenn also gets the added bonus of skating on the top power play with defenseman Mark Streit completing the five man unit. If you want to switch it up a little you can pair Schenn with Sean Couturier who has three goals and two assists in his last five games. Shayne Gostisbehere looks like he is ready to go for this one so he could easily supplant Streit on the team’s top power play unit.

Elite Plays

PHI: None
NYR: None

Secondary Plays

NYR: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh, Keith Yandle
PHI: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn

Ottawa Senators at Los Angeles Kings – 04:00 PM EST

Ottawa Senators					Los Angeles Kings
			Craig Anderson					Jonathan Quick
			Record					Record
			20-18-6					27-12-3
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.66	2.98	17.60%	76.00%	Team Stats	2.62	2.14	20.30%	82.00%

The Ottawa Senators continue a five game road trip that so far has not been kind to them. With losses to Washington and Anaheim by a combined score of eleven to two, I think it’s safe to say that they may have their problems tonight against the Los Angeles Kings. To make matters worse, the Senators have only scored 11 goals in their last 18 games while picking up just three wins with two of them coming in overtime. The Kings are one of only a few teams that have yet to give up 100 goals this season so taking any Senator in cash is almost a play of death tonight. Erik Karlsson is the top play as he leads the team with 45 points in 44 games and has four assists in his last five games. The Kings will try to shut down the first line that features Bobby Ryan so the second line of Mike Hoffman, Mika Zibanejad and Milan Michalek would be the line to play for your GPP’s. The only downside is that the Kings are capable of shutting down the whole team so it’s a high risk high reward situation tonight.

The Kings have a favorable match up today where the special teams numbers are concerned. Los Angeles has scored nine power play goals in their last nine games while Ottawa hasn’t been killing them off very well by virtue of giving up nine goals in their last eight games when they are short-handed. Head coach Darryl Sutter has been mixing up the lines a bit and at last check he had dropped Marian Gaborik down to the third line with Vincent LeCavalier and Trevor Lewis. It does seem however that the top line on Anze Kopitar, Milan Lucic and Tyler Toffoli have remained intact and are the cash game play today. Jeff Carter and Jake Muzzin can be thrown into the mix as well with Muzzin grabbing a goal and four assists in his last five games.

Elite Plays

OTT: Erik Karlsson
LAK: Anze Kopitar, Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin

Secondary Plays

OTT: Mike Hoffman, Bobby Ryan, Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanejad
LAK: Drew Doughty, Milan Lucic

Colorado Avalanche at Columbus Blue Jackets – 07:00 PM EST

Colorado Avalanche					Columbus Blue Jackets
			Semyon Varlamov					Sergei Bobrovsky
			Record					Record
			22-20-3					16-25-4
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.84	2.82	20.90%	79.90%	Team Stats	2.49	3.20	17.90%	81.20%

Colorado took care of business on Thursday night as they beat a struggling New Jersey team by a score of 3-0. The win keeps the Avalanche in the hunt for a wild card spot and although they are in fifth place in the Central division, they are seventh overall in the Western conference. There are a few ways you could go as the Blue Jackets will no doubt give up some goals tonight. It just so happens they lead they league in that category with 145 pucks finding the net behind the Columbus defense. Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon skate on the team’s top line and both have five points each in their last five games. If you want to attack the top power play unit you can use Duchene with Gabriel Landeskog who has found the net two times and has assisted on two other goals in the last four games. Carl Soderberg has a goal and three assists in his last five games and would make a nice play along with Landeskog as they anchor Colorado’s second line. Tyson Barrie and Nick Holden make fine plays on defense with Holden having the upper hand in not only recent performance, but in salary relief as well.

Columbus snapped a four game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs last Wednesday night at the Air Canada Center. The Avalanche have given up power play goals in five of their last seven games making Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson intriguing plays as both have two goals in their last five games but it is Dubinsky who has an added assist over that time period. Boone Jenner completed the power play trio up front in the last game and could surely be in play tonight as he has three points in his last five games. Scott Hartnell and Alexander Wennberg skate on the team’s second line but have only accumulated 2 goals and three assists in the last five games. Head coach John Tortorella likes to switch up the lines a bit, so don’t be surprised if there is another shakeup coming the Blue Jackets way. Seth Jones finally found the scoresheet in his fourth game in the red, white and blue and skates on the top power play with Ryan Murray.

Elite Plays

COL: None
CBJ: None

Secondary Plays

COL: Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Tyson Barrie, Nathan MacKinnon, Nick Holden, Carl Soderberg
CBJ: Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Hartnell, Alexander Wennberg, Seth Jones

Montreal Canadiens at St. Louis Blues – 07:00 PM EST

Montreal Canadiens					St. Louis Blues
			Carey Price
			Record					Record
								25-15-7
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.75	2.45	17.90%	84.60%	Team Stats	2.43	2.47	21.10%	85.50%

By virtue of losing 14 of their last 18 games the Montreal Canadiens find themselves dangerously close to the cut off line if the playoffs were to start today. The top line is the one that has been scoring and it’s no wonder when you have guys like Lars Eller and Sven Andrighetto skating on your second line. Alex Galchenyuk has six points in his last ten games and centers that second line making him a decent one-off play only because they are on the road. Max Pacioretty leads the team in scoring and has tallied six points in his last seven games. Brendan Gallagher started off ok since his injury by grabbing three points in his first two games back but has not found the scoresheet in the last three games. P.K. Subban is the play on defense tonight if you can afford him as he has six points in his last seven games.

The Blues are another one of those unpredictable teams that come out and lose to the Avalanche one night and then three days later take down the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues are 14-8-3 at home so look for the top line to get in on the scoring action tonight. We can start with the team leader in scoring Vladimir Tarasenko who has 44 points in the Blues first 45 games. Lately though, Tarasenko has not been performing up to his point-per-game status be evidence of his two goals and three assists in his last nine games. Jori Lehtera will continue to skate next to Tarasenko on both the top line and top power play unit even with Paul Stastny returning from injury. Lehtera has scored a goal and three assists in his last five games so it is pretty evident his production directly correlates with skating alongside of Tarasenko. There has been no word on the injury to Alexander Steen but head coach Ken Hitchcock had indicated yesterday that it just may be a cut or that maybe he lost some teeth. Kevin Shattenkirk is the choice on defense as he is third on the team in scoring even though he has only appeared in 37 of the Blues 47 games.

Elite Plays

MTL: None
STL: Vladimir Tarasenko

Secondary Plays

MTL: Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher
STL: Jori Lehtera, Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Stastny, Robby Fabbri

Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins – 07:00 PM EST

Toronto Maple Leafs					Boston Bruins
			Jonathan Bernier					Tuukka Rask
			Record					Record
			16-18-7					21-16-5
Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%	Stats	GF/GP	GA/GP	PP%	PK%
Team Stats	2.46	2.71	18.00%	80.50%	Team Stats	2.95	2.67	28.40%	83.00%

17-3. Those numbers represent how many goals opponents have scored on the Maple Leafs and the number of goals they have actually scored in the last four games. Without James Van Riemsdyk this team reminds me a lot like the Cammalleri-less New Jersey Devils. They are just putrid. I mean where do you start with a team this bad, especially on the road? I guess you could try Morgan Rielly as a one-off as he has figured in on two of those three goals but even that is a reach. Much like the New Jersey write up, there are plenty of others games to target tonight for points.

After scoring only 11 goals in their last six games the Boston Bruins exploded for four goals last night as they beat the Buffalo Sabres by a three goal margin. Tonight they get to face another team that isn’t too good in the form of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both teams played last night so this one could get a little sloppy but look for the more talented Bruins to take it to them tonight. Ryan Spooner should be at the top of the list as he has been the most consistent scorer by evidence of tallying 11 points in his last eight games. Matt Beleskey and Loui Eriksson are his line mates and could make a nice line stack tonight against a Toronto team that has given up a ton of goals of late. Patrice Bergeron centers the top line and skates on the team’s top power play line along with defensemen Torey Krug and Colin Miller. Brad Marchand and Brett Connolly are Bergeron’s wingers and make decent plays if you want to stack up the whole line as the Bruins should be in for some scoring tonight.

Elite Plays

TOR: None
BOS: None

Secondary Plays

TOR: Morgan Rielly, Leo Komarov, P.A. Parenteau
BOS: Ryan Spooner, Loui Eriksson, Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Torey Krug

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