NHL Grind Down: Saturday, January 23rd
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.
Vancouver Canucks at Pittsburgh Penguins – 12:30 PM EST
| Vancouver Canucks | Pittsburgh Penguins | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Jeff Zatkoff | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-17-11 | 22-17-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.35 | 2.71 | 17.10% | 80.10% | Team Stats | 2.46 | 2.46 | 19.50% | 83.20% |
It looks like the Canucks will have to wait until after the All Star break before they get Henrik Sedin and Brandon Sutter back into their lineup. Vancouver has been feisty of late as they have gone 3-1-1 on this current road trip before making the last stop tonight in Pittsburgh. Good goaltending has been the key here as the Canucks have only scored 15 goals in their last seven games. The second line of Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi and Radim Vrbata have accounted for 11 goals over the last nine games and have been responsible for most of the scoring. Daniel Sedin skates on the top line but has only tallied three points in his last six games. Linden Vey has pointed four times in the last four games and may be a decent one-off as he skates on the third line but has been seeing top minutes on the team’s power play. Defenseman Alexander Edler tallied his second point in the last 18 games, rendering him almost useless.
The Penguins power play continues to click by evidence of scoring with the man advantage in eight of their last 11 games. These numbers are fueled by the resurgence of Sidney Crosby as he has tallied seven goals to go along with seven assists I his last 11 games. Keep an eye on Crosby’s line mate Chris Kunitz as he may not suit up for this game after exiting last game early with an injury. Beau Bennett skated on the top line with Patric Hornqvist in yesterdays practice. Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel also grab top power play minutes and should be in play with Malkin totaling 14 points in his last 11 games while Kessel has registered seven points in his last eight games. Kris Letang is the choice on defense as he has tallied 13 of his 30 points over the last nine games.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
PIT: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin
Secondary Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat
PIT: Phil Kessel, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist
Minnesota Wild at San Jose Sharks – 04:00 PM EST
| Minnesota Wild | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Darcy Kuemper |  | Martin Jones | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 23-16-8 | 24-18-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.49 | 2.30 | 17.00% | 79.80% | Team Stats | 2.84 | 2.69 | 21.60% | 79.70% |
After dropping the first two games of their current four game road trip the Minnesota Wild came out storming against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night and ended up taking them to the woodshed by a score of 3-0. Going into this game the Wild had scored just three goals in their last four games so this must have felt like an All Star game to them. This is just another example of how much parody there has been in the league this year as it seems on any given night, anybody can beat anybody. With the outburst of scoring in Los Angeles, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Mikael Granlund all broke four game scoring droughts while Jason Pominville finally pointed for the first time in his last 14 games. After one game where it seemed that Jared Spurgeon was getting the top power play minutes the last game featured Ryan Suter manning the point with the man advantage. Parise is the play here but if you wanted to go contrarian, Koivu and Vanek would be the plays for me as they skate on the teams second line.
By looking at San Jose’s home and away splits, you’d swear they are backwards, but they are not. The Sharks have just eight wins on home ice which is just one win more than the league’s worst number of seven which belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Joe Thornton has been the workhorse over the last two months as he has pointed in 15 of the last 16 games. Joe Pavelski skates alongside of Thornton on both the team’s top line and top power play unit. He is a great play if you can afford him as he leads the team in points with 22 of both goals and assists. Tomas Hertl completes the top line and gets to see time on the second line of the power play. He does have two goals to go along with an assist in his last three games. Defenseman Brent Burns had an eight game point streak snapped and has just one goal since in the last four games but should still be considered in play tonight. Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture round out the top power play unit which has scored five goals in their last six games.
Elite Plays
MIN: Zach Parise
SJ: Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski
Secondary Plays
MIN: Mikko Koivu, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Suter
SJ: Brent Burns, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl
Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers – 07:00 PM EST
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Florida Panthers | ||||||||
 | Ben Bishop |  | Roberto Luongo | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 26-17-4 | 27-15-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.66 | 2.32 | 18.10% | 80.80% | Team Stats | 2.47 | 2.21 | 15.50% | 82.80% |
By defeating the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night the Lightning now own the longest winning streak in the NHL as they go for win number eight tonight against the Florida Panthers. The Panthers were busy themselves beating those same Chicago Blackhawks by a score of 4-0 on home ice last night so they may be a little tired although they didn’t do any traveling overnight. Al Montoya may get the start so maybe it’s time to get some Lightning into your line ups for tonight’s contests. Nikita Kucherov has to be the center of attention here as he has found the score sheet in 15 of the last 16 games. The top line has been hot lately too by virtue of Steven Stamkos and Vladislav Namestnikov tallying a combined 13 points over their last five games. Anton Stralman takes the point on the power play and has done well there in the last six games by lighting the lamp twice and assisting on three others. If you are looking for a one-off look no further than Valtteri Filppula as he skates on the top power play line but drops down to the third line to take his regular shifts.
The Panthers win last night was their first in the last five tries as they retain the top spot in the Atlantic division with 59 points to their credit. Defenseman Aaron Ekblad showed no signs of the concussion he suffered as he lit the lamp in his first game back. Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau both found the score sheet after a three game absence as they assisted on the first period goal by Brian Campbell. Jaromir Jagr plays on the top line with Huberdeau and Barkov but has looked a bit sluggish of late as he has only been able to put three shots on net in the last seven games. After that its rough sledding as Jussi Jokinen sits in fourth on the Panthers scoring chart but I wouldn’t consider eight goals and nineteen assists too productive. In light of Florida’s recent struggles its tough to trust them tonight in a back-to-back situation especially with Al Montoya possibly between the pipes.
Elite Plays
TB: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov
FLA: None
Secondary Plays
TB: Vladislav Namestnikov, Anton Stralman, Valtteri Filppula, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman
FLA: Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Aaron Ekblad
Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins – 07:00 PM EST
| Columbus Blue Jackets | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Sergei Bobrovsky |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 17-27-4 | 24-17-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.48 | 3.23 | 17.70% | 80.60% | Team Stats | 2.98 | 2.61 | 27.00% | 84.50% |
Somewhere Ryan Johansen and Scott Hartnell may be smiling. The Blue Jackets travel up to Boston to face the Bruins for the first time this season. Columbus is the worst team in the league with only 38 points while Boston has been hanging in there with 53 points, which is good for the last playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Head coach John Totorella will not make the trip with the team as he has suffered two broken ribs from an on ice collision at practice yesterday. As with most bad teams there are only two players in the top six that have more than four points over the last eight games. Newly acquired defenseman Seth Jones is one of them as he has a four game point streak going while Brandon Dubinsky has four goals to go along with one assist in his last seven games. Scott Hartnell and Brandon Saad skate with Dubinksy but do not get the top power play minutes that Dubinsky enjoys which is almost a joke as the former two players lead the team in scoring with 32 points. The top line of Boone Jenner, Alexander Wennberg and Cam Atkinson all have scored two goals each in their last eight games.
Boston has shuffled up their lines a bit according to beat writer Amalie Benjamin. Landon Ferarro will get a shot at the top line playing alongside of Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand while Ryan Spooner moves up to the second line and skate with David Krejci and Loui Eriksson. While it is tough to predict how all this will shake out we do know that Marchand and Bergeron have been on a roll of late as they have combined for five goals and two assists in their last three games. Torey Krug continues to log over 20 minutes a night while skating on the team’s top power play unit. It’s probably safe to say that Krecji and Eriksson will stay on the top power play unit as well making it fairly safe to pair them up tonight.
Elite Plays
CBJ: None
BOS: None
Secondary Plays
CBJ: Seth Jones, Brandon Dubinsky, Brandon Saad, Scott Hartnell, Boone Jenner
BOS: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson, David Krejci, Torey Krug, Ryan Spooner
New Jersey Devils at Winnipeg Jets – 07:00 PM EST
| New Jersey Devils | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Connor Hellebuyck | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 24-19-5 | 21-23-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.27 | 2.31 | 18.50% | 81.80% | Team Stats | 2.55 | 2.83 | 15.10% | 76.90% |
You have to go all the way back to opening night of the 2014 season to find the last time the New Jersey scored six or more goals. It was the Flyers that night that were the victims but it was the Ottawa Senators that got ambushed on Thursday night by a score of 6-3. During the Devils modest three game winning streak they have scored 12 goals which has been good enough to keep them in fourth place in the Metropolitan division. The second line of Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri and Joseph Blandisi accounted for three of those goals the other night with Zajac grabbing an extra assist. Mike Cammalleri has registered an assist in his last two games back from injury while line mate Lee Stempniak has scored two goals to go along with two assists in his last three games. As you can see, it is much easier to target teams that have actually been scoring versus teams like say Montreal and Toronto who haven’t been. This does not mean that players from those teams wouldn’t make good plays it’s just a little bit tougher to trust them.
Before their last five home games Winnipeg was starting to look like your classic one line team that can win at home as they were 11-5-1 on home ice. Since then however they have dropped four of their last five games at the MTS Centre. Blake Wheeler leads the team in scoring with 44 points in 47 games and line mate Bryan Little is right behind him with 15 goals and 23 assists over that same time period. Mathieu Perreault has tallied assists in three of his last four games but rookie and line mate Nikolaj Ehlers has netted three goals to go along with one assist in his last five games. Some media outlets have reported that defenseman Jacob Trouba is moving up to the top power play unit and that would surprise almost no one considering Dustin Byfuglien has been struggling in recent weeks.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
WINN: Blake Wheeler
Secondary Plays
NJ: Mike Cammalleri, Lee Stempniak, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, David Schlemko
WIN: Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, Nikolaj Ehlers