NHL Grind Down: Saturday, November 5th
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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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Minnesota Wild at Colorado Avalanche
| Minnesota Wild | Colorado Avalanche | ||||||||
 | Devan Dubnyk |  | Semyon Varlamov | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-3-1 | 4-5-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.30 | 2.10 | 16.10% | 96.30% | Team Stats | 2.22 | 3.11 | 19.40% | 78.40% |
The Minnesota Wild have been in this position before, Zach Parise-less. Instead of the team stepping it up it always seems that it is the goaltender who bails them out and this year is no different. Devan Dubnyk has stood on his head over the last few weeks until he finally cracked and gave up two goals. Unfortunately, the Wild only scored one goal and lost the game at home against the Buffalo Sabres. Now they embark on a four game road trip where they will not have the luxury to match up against the opponent’s lines as they would be able to at home. On a big slate like tonight’s defenseman Ryan Suter looks to be the most consistent play if you are looking to roster a few Minnesota players tonight. He has recorded ten points in the first ten games and five in the last five which looks pretty consistent to me. Eric Staal and Charlie Coyle skate on the top line while Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter join Suter on the top power play unit form the second and third lines respectively. While Jason Zucker completes the Staal line maybe Mikael Granlund is the one-off here for GPP play as he has found the scoresheet five times in the last five games, with three of them coming with the man advantage.
Corey Crawford kept the Avalanche in check Thursday night by stopping all 38 shots en route to a 4-0 shutout in Chicago last night. Colorado will look to the top line of Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Jarome Iginla to get the team going as they have had a hand in three of the nine goals Colorado has scored o9ver the last three games. Minnesota has only given up one goal while a man down so maybe it’s best if we pass on the Colorado power play tonight. In case you think they will score on the power play, the top line skates with Mikael Grigorenko and defenseman Erik Johnson to complete the quintet who sees the most ice time with the man advantage. Colorado has scored six goals in their last five games and with 12 more games on the slate, it may be in our best interest to just move along, nothing to see here.
Elite Plays
MIN: None
COL: None
Secondary Plays
MIN: Ryan Suter, Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu, Charlie Coyle
COL: Gabriel Landeskog, Matt Duchene, Erik Johnson
Vancouver Canucks at Toronto Maple Leafs
| Vancouver Canucks | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||||||||
 | Ryan Miller |  | Frederik Andersen | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-6-1 | 4-4-3 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 1.45 | 2.45 | 8.60% | 85.70% | Team Stats | 2.82 | 3.36 | 24.10% | 82.30% |
There really isn’t much to say about a team that has lost their last seven games and has tallied just four goals in their last six games while being shot out four times. Oh wait, yes there is, stay away! This recent conundrum that Vancouver is in can be placed squarely on management as they were content with letting Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin lad this one line team year after year. Well, now the twins are 36 years old and it is becoming painfully obvious that the sun is setting faster on their careers than they’d like. The league is just getting too fast for players of that age to carry a team. Loui Eriksson was a last ditch effort to keep the band together but that has not worked as the Canucks have just 17 goals to their credit in 11 games so far this season. The goaltending has kept them in games but until guys like Brandon Sutter and defensemen Philip Larsen and Alexander Edler start to produce, this team will go nowhere. Bo Horvat leads the team in goals with four but unless you are making a lot of line ups tonight, I’d probably stay way.
The only thing that could possibly prohibit the Maple Leafs from scoring a ton of goals tonight is the Canucks goaltenders. Both Jakob Markstrom and Ryan Miller have goals against averages below 2.15 and save percentages of over .919 so as you can see, if Vancouver can somehow score as many goals as they have in the last six games (4), they could ‘possibly’ win tonight. Oddly enough the Toronto power play has produced just one power play goal on home ice while grabbing six goals of that variety on the road. The Canucks can kill penalties at times as they have just given up one goal in the last five games while short-handed. Auston Matthews and William Nylander will be the most popular plays tonight as they anchor the team’s first line and get tons of ice time with the man advantage. Since Mathhews four goals on opening night he has managed just two goals over the next ten games and to be fair, he has added four assists but that is till just six points in ten games and it gets worse as he has two points in his last five. It may be tough to score tonight against whoever Vancouver decides to throw in net, so maybe this is a fade for cash scenario. Second liner Mitchell Marner or third liner Nazem Kadri both make decent one-off plays here as while they don’t play with Matthews, they have each found the scoresheet eight times over then first 11 games. Defenseman Jake Gardiner is the best they got on the back line, so if you like a defenseman who can get a half a point a game, by all means have at it.
Elite Plays
VAN: None
TOR: None
Secondary Plays
VAN: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
TOR: William Nylander, Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri, Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk
Philadelphia Flyers at Montréal Canadiens
| Philadelphia Flyers | Montréal Canadiens | ||||||||
 | Michal Neuvirth |  | Carey Price | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 6-5-1 | 9-1-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.42 | 3.58 | 26.10% | 75.70% | Team Stats | 3.40 | 1.30 | 19.40% | 82.20% |
The Flyers have looked a little bit better over the last few games but did get a bit of luck as in their last two wins they were able to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining in regulation only to go on and grab a win. Although the top line of Claude Giroux, Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds have combined for 24 points over the last five games the Flyers have decided to put Michael Raffl back on the top line tonight making Schenn a nice one-off play here provided he sticks on the team’s top power play unit.. Montreal is a tough team to score on so maybe taking Jakub Voracek or defenseman Mark Striet as a one-off in GPP play is the way to go here. By taking both you still would get exposure to the team’s top power play unit which has scored eight goals in the last six games. Shyane Gostisbehere would be the other choice on the blue line but it is Streit who has notched four of his last six points in the last five games with the man advantage. The GPP line stack is the second line which features Voracek, Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny.
Ok, so how can one explain what happened last night in Columbus? The real answer is you can’t and what will happen is that Montreal will go to sleep tonight and actually laugh at their horrible effort last night in which goaltender Al Montoya was left out to dry as he was left in while the Blue jackets scored all 10 goals. It’s back to status quo and will get back on the horse tonight and will be led by the line of Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk and Alexander Radulov. You can use Max Pacioretty as a one-off here as he skates on the team’s second line, barring any major shake ups due to the catastrophic loss last night. Shea Weber is the play on defense as he and Galchenyuk lead the team with ten points apiece. That was Montreal’s first loss of the season and good teams look to their best players to get back on track. Use them with confidence tonight at home against a Flyers team that has given up a league leading 43 goals.
Elite Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek
MTL: Shea Weber
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Mark Streit, Shayne Gostisbehere
MTL: Alexander Radulov, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Max Pacioretty, Jeff Petry
New York Rangers at Boston Bruins
| New York Rangers | Boston Bruins | ||||||||
 | Antti Raanta |  | Tuukka Rask | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 8-3-0 | 6-4-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 4.09 | 2.27 | 21.90% | 80.60% | Team Stats | 2.30 | 2.70 | 8.60% | 84.40% |
The Rangers come into this one with an 8-3-1 record which is bolstered by their 7-10 record on home ice. Tonight they find themselves travelling to Boston to take on an upstart Bruin team that could very well win tonight’s game especially when you consider that the New Yorkers are only 1-2 on the road. Of the top two lines it’s been Rick Nash doing most of the damage as he has three goals and two assists in the last five games which could open the door for the line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello. That is if the Bruins decide to shut down Nash and Derek Stepan. J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes have been red hot skating from the team’s third line and should be considered in deeper GPP play tonight. Ryan McDonagh is the choice on defense as he logs over 24 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. He also has nine points through the first 11 games, so that helps a bit too. There are a lot of games on tonight’s slate so unless you are making multiple lineups it’s probably best to slow in this one.
It took a while but the Bruins have slowly but surely started to right the ship. By getting Tuukka Rask back in net Boston has been able to reel off three straight road wins and the only thing standing in their was of winning tonight is the fact that this is their first game at home in four games. They did well the last time by beating the Devils by a score of 2-1 after three straight road games earlier in the season making them fairly safe tonight. The power play finally connected after scoring just two goals with the man advantage as Ryan Spooner lit the lamp while line mate David Krejci added one of the assists in Tampa on Thursday night. David Backes returns tonight to play with the aforementioned two and will no doubt add some offensive punch to the Bruins line up. The top line of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak is also in play here as Marchand and Pastrnak lead the team in scoring with 12 and nine points respectively. Torey Krug gets the minutes on the team’s top power play unit that has been struggling all yeah but he did get his first assist of the season last game while logging over 17 minutes of ice time.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
BOS: None
Secondary Plays
NYR: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan McDonagh
BOS: David Krejci, Ryan Spooner, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak
New Jersey Devils at Tampa Bay Lightning
| New Jersey Devils | Tampa Bay Lightning | ||||||||
 | Cory Schneider |  | Ben Bishop | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-2-3 | 6-4-1 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 2.22 | 23.30% | 81.30% | Team Stats | 3.18 | 3.00 | 26.70% | 88.20% |
The Devils have the unenviable task of going into Tampa Bay right after a tough loss to a division rival. New Jersey has not won a game on the road so far this season which could make winning this game more of a pipe dream than reality. If anything can save them it will be their goaltending as they have given up just 20 in nine games so far this year so on the off chance they can light the lamp a bit, they could squeak one out here, but I doubt it. Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac and Mike Cammalleri assemble to make the top line for New Jersey but may be susceptible to being shut down here on the road. Hall looks to be a nice one-off play here for GPP play as he has caught fire a bit by scoring two goals and adding two assists over the last three games. Defenseman Damon Severson has burst on the scene by leading the devils in scoring with eight points in the first nine games. We have gone over this before where if a defenseman leads your team in scoring, usually that’s a sign of a bad team and they would be if Cory Schneider was not their goalie. The second line that features Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique could be used as a pair in GPP play but for my money I’d use the youngster Pavel Zacha as a one-off instead. Zacha scored his first goal of the season Thursday night in the third period which sent the game against Florida to overtime, only to lose it in the extra frame.
There’s no doubt that the Lightning will come out firing on all cylinders hot on the heels of the shootout loss at home to the Bruins on Thursday night. Head coach Jon Cooper was trying all kinds of combinations to get the team going which saw defenseman Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn and Tyler Johnson get most of the ice time with the man advantage. If the lines stay the same Stamkos and Kucherov would make a decent pairing while second liners Johnson and Killorn could be a viable option as well. Again, the only problem that could arise would be if Cory Schneider is in the oppostion’s net as he is certainly capable of having a big game more often than not. Kucherov is also a decent one-off here as he has accumulated nine points over the last four games. That’s good enough for me.
Elite Plays
NJ: None
TB: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov
Secondary Plays
NJ: Damon Severson, Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, Pavel Zacha
TB: Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman