NHL Grind Down: Saturday, October 28th
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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San Jose Sharks at Buffalo Sabres
| San Jose Sharks | Buffalo Sabres | ||||||||
 | Martin Jones |  | Chad Johnson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-5-0 | 3-6-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.67 | 2.67 | 21.62 | 89.47 | Team Stats | 2.45 | 3.64 | 13.51 | 81.08 |
The Sharks will try to break even as they end their current six game road trip in Buffalo this afternoon. Thursday night they tried switching it up a bit but maybe doing that against the Bruins after a win wasn’t the best idea as Kevin LaBanc found himself back on the top line with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton after the Sharks were losing. Joonas Donskoi started the game on the top line but was shuffled back down to the third line to skate with Mikkel Boedker and Chris Tierney. The line to target here however is the second line of Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Melker Karlsson. Couture makes a decent solo play but if you are looking for a line stack this line could do the trick. Buffalo will obviously match up what they think is their best defensive line against the Pavelski line which would leave a bit more room on the ice for Couture and company. Brent Burns is the play from the point as he soaks up a lot of power play time which struck for a goal Thursday night against the Bruins. That’s was Burns sixth point in the first nine games while his power play partner in Tim Heed seems to making some noise himself. Heed grabbed his fourth point in the seven games he has played in and looks to be staying on the teams talent laden top power play unit.
No matter how many times Buffalo tries to change the lines the results always seem the same. They come into this game at a -14 through the first 11 games which is only eclipsed by the hapless and winless Arizona Coyotes. Their game on Wednesday night yielded just one goal which was scored by the Seth Griffith who just happens to skate on the team’s fourth line. In their four home games so far this season the Sabres have yet to light the lamp more than two times so it would appear that they are no more than a deeper GPP play this afternoon. Ryan O’Reilly, Jason Pominville and Benoit Pouliot were skating as the top line while Jack Eichel, Evander Kane and Justin Bailey skate on the second. The power play is not doing well as they have only scored three times with the man advantage over the last eight games with all of them coming against Vegas back on October 17th. Rasmus Ristolainen leads the blue liners with four points as he anchors the top power play unit while Viktor Antipin has been seeing more ice time of late but has only found the score sheet once in the seven games he has played in. Pominville, Eichel and Kane supply most of the offensive talent as they all lead the team with 11 points this season. Buffalo will struggle all season so taking them in cash games on a big slate like we have today could cost you a few bucks.
Top Plays
SJ: Logan Couture
BUF: Jack Eichel
Secondary Plays
SJ: Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Brent Burns, Tim Heed
BUF: Jason Pominville, Evander Kane, Rasmus Ristolainen, Ryan O’Reilly
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