NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 21st

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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.

St. Louis Blues at Winnipeg Jets

St. Louis Blues Winnipeg Jets
Article Image Pheonix Copley Article Image Connor Hellebuyck
Record Record
23-18-5 21-23-4
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.83 3.07 22.10% 84.40% Team Stats 2.77 3.06 17.10% 77.50%

To say that both of these teams are having goaltending problems is a severe understatement. I will get to Winnipeg’s issues in a minute but for now Jake Allen didn’t even travel with the team which means that head coach Ken Hitchcock will go with either Carter Hutton or Pheonix Coplay. St Louis has given up more than four goals in four of their last six games so you can see why a change was needed. Vladimir Tarasenko will skate on the team’s top line along with Robby Fabbri and Patrik Berglund. Finally Jori Lehtera has been kicked out of the top six as his production was absolutely horrible when you consider how much exposure he had to Tarasenko, who leads the team with 20 goals and 25 assists. Fabbri is a decent play here as well as he has netted a majority of his 28 points skating next to the team’s superstar. The line to target here however is Paul Stastny, Alexander Steen and Jaden Schwartz as they join Tarasenko to form the team’s top power play unit. Steen has lit the lamp three times to go along with seven assists while Stastny has four goals and four assists over the last ten games to lead the team. Berglund has the hot hand though as he has scored six of his 11 goals over the last ten games. Kevin Shattenkirk is the play on the back line with 17 of his 30 points being registered while the Blues had the man advantage. Look for the Blues to respond to the shakeup in this afternoon’s game.

Ondrej Pavelec is back in the NHL after spending most of the year in the minors as Winnipeg is yet another team that is trying to find some sort of consistency between the pipes. The Jets are 4-5-1 in their last ten games which now has the team five points behind the St Louis Blues who are precariously holding onto third place in the Central Division. Patrik Laine has begun skating after suffering a concussion but still isn’t feeling 100%. Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler skate on the team’s top line and should be looked at as they have combines for 14 goals 17 assists over the past ten games. Ehlers also leads the team with 25 assists while Scheifele’s 43 points are a team high. Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little and Joel Armia serve as the team’s second even strength line and while maybe their numbers aren’t as gaudy as the top line’s, they can still do some damage when it comes to DFS. Little has recorded eight of his 19 points over the last 11 games while Armia continues to struggle with just six points in 23 games. Dustin Byfuglien has been inserted back on the team’s top power play which is good news as he is second on the team with 144 shots on goal. Unfortunately he only has 28 points to show for it so the salary that needs to be paid is usually a steep one. Jacob Trouba may be a nice pivot here as he has garnered seven of his 15 points over the last 11 games. The problem with the Jets is that they can’t keep the puck out of their net as their 135 goals scored has them tied with Edmonton for second in the Western Conference.

Elite Plays

STL: Vladimir Tarasenko
WIN: Mark Scheifele

Secondary Plays

STL: Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen, Paul Stastny, Kevin Shattenkirk, Robby Fabbri
WIN; Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Jacob Trouba

Carolina Hurricanes at Columbus Blue Jackets

Carolina Hurricanes Columbus Blue Jackets
Article Image Michael Leighton Article Image Sergei Bobrovsky
Record Record
21-17-7 30-10-4
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.73 2.66 16.50% 88.50% Team Stats 3.25 2.20 24.60% 83.90%

Carolina suffered a devastating 7-1 loss on home ice at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice last night. Now they have to go back to Columbus to try and beat the Blue Jackets who they lost to on Tuesday night by a score of 4-1. Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask will probably find the going a little tough tonight as Columbus they will be the target of the top defensive line of the Blue Jackets. Skinner leads the team with 17 goals and 35 points while Rask ‘s 19 assists is tops on the team. Jordan Staal and Brock McGinn have emerged from the third line to lead the team with a combined 19 points over the last 11 games which has helped the team win five of the six games they had played before their recent two game losing streak. Teuvo Teravainen and Sebastian Aho look to be a decent tournament pairing as the each have 24 points which puts them in a tie for third in team scoring. Defenseman Brad Pesce was back on the top power play unit with Justin Faulk as Carolina is trying everything to get that unit jump started. The hurricane power play has produced just one goal over the last 15 games. Carolina goes up against one of the three teams in the league yet to give up 100 goals this serason.

For the life of me I will never be able to figure out why coaches want to shuffle things up at the first sight of any trouble. Well, we don’t have to worry about that anymore here as Cam Atkinson has been returned back to the second line with Boone Jenner and Brandon Dubinksy while Nick Foligno goes back up to the top line with Brandon Saad and Alexander Wennberg. This is how they were able to lead the Metropolitan Division and this will be how they stay in contention. This works. Atkinson is the easy one-off play as his line mates leave a bit to be desired when it comes to the scoring aspect of things. Atkinson leads the team with 19 power play points and 43 points while Jenner and Dubinsky have combined for 34 points between them. Foligno and Wennberg are second on the team with 36 points while Saad is right behind them with 34 points so far this season. The interesting thing here is Saad has just two power play points which means the other 32 have come at even strength. Sam Gagner joins Wennberg, Foligno and Atkinson on the team’s top power play unit that has scored two goals over the last six games so hopefully putting the lines back together will help give the power play a shot in the arm as well. Zachary Werenski and Seth Jones are the choices from the back line which sees Werenski getting the extra time with the Blue Jackets top power play unit. Jones seems to be getting back to his old self since he came back from the broken foot he suffered back in early November. It takes a while to get your skates back under you but Jones has managed to record six of his 20 points over the last ten games.

Elite Plays

CAR: Jeff Skinner
CBJ: Cam Atkinson

Secondary Plays

CAR: Victor Rask, Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho
CBJ: Alexander Wennberg, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, Sam Gagner, Seth Jones

New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers

New Jersey Devils Philadelphia Flyers
Article Image Keith Kinkaid Article Image Steve Mason
Record Record
19-19-9 22-18-6
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.22 2.83 13.60% 81.80% Team Stats 2.76 3.13 22.60% 80.40%

After winning three games in a row the Devils dropped a 3-1 decision to Montreal last night in front of the home crowd. The task now is to try to find a little more scoring as they go into Philadelphia to take on the well-rested Flyers. The 106 goals that the Devils have scored is the worst in the Eastern Conference and by scoring 14 goals in the last eight games doesn’t help that total much. New Jersey will look to Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique and P.A. Parenteau to get things going tonight as Hall has finally taken over the team lead in scoring with 30 points. The reason I say finally is that he has missed 11 games and is clearly their best offensive threat which is why he makes a decent one-off play tonight. It’s tough to say what line the Flyers will shut down as the second line of Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri and Mike Cammalleri deserves some attention as well. Palmieri has registered eight of his 27 points over the last 11 games while Zajac’s 28 points has him just behind Hall for the team lead. Another thing that possibly hurts this team is the fact that they are using Pavel Zacha and Miles Wood to try and make two equal power play units that feature four forwards on each line. I am not sure that the Devils have eight forwards worthy on getting equal power play minutes. Wouldn’t it make sense to try and get Hall, Zajac and Palmieri the most ice time with the man advantage? Anyway Karl Stollery will anchor the one unit from the back line while Damon Severson gets the extra ice time on the other unit. Severson is the safer play here as nine of his 22 points have come with the man advantage. With the way the Devils have been scoring of late, I’d use caution here.

The Flyers saw their playoff spot slip from their grasp as they ‘enjoyed’ their league mandated five days off. They were back on the ice last night however and it looks like head coach Dave Hakstol has elected to keep the lines pretty much the same. Claude Giroux will center Michael Raffl and Matt Read while Sean Couturier still has Jakub Voracek and Nick Cosuins as his wingers. Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds have seemed to help Travis Konecny a bit as he has tallied five of his 21 points over the last nine games. This is not surprising as both Schenn and Simmonds are in the top four in team scoring and can actually make players they skate with better. Now if Giroux could do this we wouldn’t see the Flyers trying to make three different scoring lines and subsequently lose games because of it. The power play guys are the ones you want to stick with here as they had tallied five goals in the four games they played before the break. Giroux, Simmonds, Schenn and Voracek are the players you want to target as they get more than 65% of the ice time when the flyers draw a penalty. Hakstol has inserted Shayne Gostisbehere back on the point on the top power play unit in hopes of getting a glimmer of what we saw out of him at the end of last year. Mark Streit and Ivan Provorov and are basically just as good of a play as Gostisbehere is considering the year he is having. This should be a close low scoring affair so chose players wisely from this game.

Elite Plays

NJ: Taylor Hall
PHL: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek

Secondary Plays

NJ: Kyle Palmieri, P.A. Parenteau, Travis Zajac
PHL: Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, Travis Konecny

Buffalo Sabres at Montréal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres Montréal Canadiens
Article Image Robin Lehner Article Image Carey Price
Record Record
18-18-9 28-13-6
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.34 2.70 22.90% 73.90% Team Stats 3.00 2.52 22.60% 79.40%

The Sabres hung in there last night to outlast the Detroit Red Wings to claim the 3-2 overime victory in front of the home crowd. As expected Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo led the way from the top line which has been the most productive for most of the season. Okposo leads the team with 14 goals and 30 points while O’Reilly has recorded 27 points in the 35 games he has suited up for. Tyler Ennis rounds out the top line at even strength but gets dropped to the second unit when the team has the man advantage. Montreal will probably key on the top line which should mean that the second line of Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Marcus Foligno will have a little more room to maneuver out there tonight. Reinhart and Eichel join Okposo and O’Reilly on the top power play unit which has netted four goals in the last three games. Reinhart has registered eight of his 29 points over the last the games while Eichel remains a solid play as he has totaled 19 points in the 25 games he’s played in. Buffalo has seen a few injuries this season so in my opinion their season is really starting now although that doesn’t help their playoff chances much. Rasmus Ristolainen is the play on the back line as he soaks up most of the extra time when the Sabres draw a penalty. 17 of his 28 points have come via the power play and there’s no reason to think that will stop anytime soon.

For the most part the Canadiens stuck with the same lines throughout the night as the beat the New Jersey Devils by a score of 3-1 in Newark last night. Tonight should see more of the same as they host the Buffalo Sabres in front of the home crowd where they have a 15-4-2 record. Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov will lead the way from the top line while Alex Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw will supplement the scoring form the second line. Just add in defenseman Shea Weber and Nathan Beaulieu you have the team’s top power play unit that had scored all three goals in last night’s win. Montreal went back to Beaulieu for the power play duties which left Shaw with minimal power play minutes. This is actually the best way to go in my opinion as both Weber and Beaulieu are more than capable to play along with Pacioretty, Radulov and Galchenyuk especially if they are going to go to a one-line power play system. Phillip Danault joins Pacioretty and Radulov at even strength and is the line I’d play for tournaments tonight as they will not only see the better matchups they also have combined for 13 goals and 16 assists over the last 12 games. Pacioretty leads the team with 21 goals and 38 points while Radulov does the honors on the other side with 25 assists. Either defenseman is fine here since they both get the extra man advantage minutes but keep in mind that the cheaper Beaulieu seems to thrive in this position as eight of his 17 points have come with the man advantage.

Elite Plays

BUF: None
MTL: Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov

Secondary Plays

BUF: Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen
MTL: Alex Galchenyuk, Shea Weber, Phillip Danault, Nathan Beaulieu

Ottawa Senators at Toronto Maple Leafs

Ottawa Senators Toronto Maple Leafs
Article Image Mike Condon Article Image Frederik Andersen
Record Record
24-15-4 21-14-8
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.56 2.56 17.00% 82.60% Team Stats 3.09 2.86 24.10% 84.90%

The evening slate kicks off with a doozy as Ottawa is in third place of the Atlantic Division with 52 points while Toronto is just a mere two points behind them. The Senators pulled off a big 2-0 win in Columbus on Thursday night and will to keep that momentum going to sweep their current three game road trip. Mike Hoffman makes for a decent one-off here as he skates with Tom Pyatt and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and leads the team with nine power play goals. That’s where most of his value will lie but could be used as a deeper tournament play with one of his line mates as Pyatt has registered four points over the last seven games while Pageau has 16 points in 43 games so far this season. Mark Stone, Zack Smith and Derick Brassard skate on the team’s top line while Bobby Ryan, Ryan Dzingel and Kyle Turris skate on the second line, if that’s what you want to call it. It will be up to Toronto to tell us which line is which as they will be the team with the last change tonight on home ice. Turris leads the team with 16 goals while he, Stone and Hoffman have each tallied seven points in the last seven games. Erik Karlsson leads the team with 30 assists and 37 points so if you are looking to pay up, he is your guy. Dion Phaneuf also sees some minutes on the top power play unit and could be had at a much cheaper price. Phaneuf has had nine of his 18 points come with the man advantage.

The good news for the fourth place Maple Leafs is that they have six games in hand over a Boston team that is barely ahead of them in the standings. Once Boston gets their ‘week off’ Toronto should be able to pass them and have some sort of lead when this all cycles back around. Auston Matthews will lead the team as he skates with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown. Matthews leads the team with 28 goals and 38 points while Brown has registered nine of his 21 points over the last nine games. The chemistry of Matthews and Brown has been pretty evident if you have being watching Toronto play so using them here isn’t a bad idea as either tournament or cash game plays. They aren’t the only ones that can score however as Tyler Bozak, James van Riensdyk and Mitchell Marner have combined for nine goals and 22 assists in the last nine games. Marner and van Riemsdyk are also second on the team with 37 points each which is just one behind Matthews. Nazem Kadri and William Nylander head up the teams ‘third line’ with which finds Kadri netting nine of his 29 points over the last nine games. Toronto employs a two-line power play system which is the reason why Nylander leads the team with 15 points with the man advantage. Jake Gardiner, Nikita Zaitsev and Morgan Rielly are the choices on the back line and a case can be made for each of them. I would stick with Gardiner however if you want to play it safe as he leads this group with six goals and 16 assists. Look for some scoring in this one.

Elite Plays

OTT: Kyle Turris, Erik Karlsson
TOR: Auston Matthews

Secondary Plays

OTT: Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Derick Brassard, Bobby Ryan
TOR: James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Mitchell Marner, Connor Brown, William Nylander, Jake Gardiner

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About the Author

elctrceye
Tom Woollam (elctrceye)

Tom Woollam is a freelance DFS writer and has been a member here at RotoGrinders.com since December 2011. He has played Fantasy Sports for the last 30 years and has been in the daily fantasy sports game for the last four. You can find him on twitter @elctrceye.