NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 18th

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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.

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Calgary Flames at Philadelphia Flyers

Calgary Flames Philadelphia Flyers
Article Image Mike Smith Article Image Brian Elliott
Record Record
10-8-0 8-8-3
Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK% Stats GF/GP GA/GP PP% PK%
Team Stats 2.83 3.22 17.46 70.77 Team Stats 2.74 2.58 18.18 80.60

The Flames took one on the chin on Wednesday night as the Detroit Red Wings took them to the woodshed by a score of 8-2. Calgary has been scoring some goals which have been good enough to go 5-2 in the last seven games. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland skate as the team’s top line with Gaudreau and his 26 points leading the team by a full 10 points over his line mate in Monahan. If you want to fly solo with Gaudreau I wouldn’t blame you as he has had a hand in almost half the goals that Calgary has scored. Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik skate on the second line that has grabbed three goals and 10 assists in the last six games. Mark Jankowski has been productive skating on the third line with Jaromir Jagr as he has racked up three goals and four points so far this month. Kris Versteeg joins defenseman T.J. Brodie to skate with the top line when the Flames have the man advantage. Calgary has scored four power play goals in the last four games so taking Versteeg as a GPP one-off for the early slate may be applicable here. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton is the other option from the back line as his 60 shots on goal leads the team. If the Flyers can shut down Gaudreau it may be a long afternoon for the visiting team.

The Flyers come into this one as basically a one line team. We all know how one-line teams usually perform and Philadelphia is no different as they are struggling to stay out of the Metropolitan basement. Now to be fair, that whole division was separated by just six points going into Thursday night’s action so a few wins for any team in that division could go a long way. Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Jakub Voracek lead the team in scoring while Wayne Simmonds joins them on the team’s top power play unit from the second line. Shayne Gostisbehere also joins in on the fun as the Flyers use those five players for over 68% of the time when they have the man advantage. For cash games it really is that simple as Valtteri Filppula is the sixth highest scorer on the team with just nine points in 19 games which is probably why he was demoted to the third line at Winnipeg on Thursday night. Simmonds is the one-off here as Jordan Weal and Dale Weise would more than likely be fourth line players on most teams in the league. Defenseman Ivan Provorov was hot there for a while but remains with just eight points and has not registered a point yet this month. The Flyers rely on the top line so roster them and wish them well.

Top Plays

CGY: Johnny Gaudreau
PHL: Jakub Voracek

Secondary Plays

CGY: Sean Monahan, Micheal Ferland, Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie, Matthew Tkachuk, Michael Frolik
PHL: Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, Shayne Gostisbehere

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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.