NHL Grind Down: Sunday, December 10th
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.
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Arizona Coyotes at Chicago Blackhawks
| Arizona Coyotes | Chicago Blackhawks | ||||||||
 | Scott Wedgewood |  | Corey Crawford | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 7-20-5 | 13-11-5 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.35 | 3.52 | 17.53 | 80.72 | Team Stats | 3.00 | 2.76 | 15.83 | 83.50 |
For the last 59 minutes and 30 seconds of last night game the Arizona Coyotes played a decent game as they hung with one of the better teams in the league in Columbus last night. The problem was that although they generated more shots than the Blue Jackets the goal that they let them score in the first 30 seconds of the game was the only tally of the night for either team. This was the second time that the team had been shut out over the last five games and if we take away the five goals they scored against New Jersey last Saturday night we find that the team has only scored only seven goals in the six other games they have played in over the last two weeks. This sounds like deeper GPP territory for sure as there is no way anyone in their right mind would play Arizona in cash games. Derek Stepan, Tobias Rieder and Brendan Perlini skate as the team’s first line while Christian Dvorak, Max Domi and Anthony Duclair skate on the team’s second line. This leaves the team’s leading goal scorer in Clayton Keller almost on his own as he has Dylan Strome and Christian Fischer to skate as the third line. Arizona is hoping that Keller has the skills to make players that skate around him better so patience is needed here especially since it looks like the Coyotes shot to make the playoffs this season is a long one. Keller’s 11 goals has helped him to be the only player on the team with over 20 points on the season so far. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the play on the back line as he has notched eight of his 18 points while manning the point on the team’s top power play unit. Keller, Stepan and Fischer can be used as one-offs in deeper GPP play as they all soak up over 60% of the ice time when Arizona has the man advantage. I know we have a short slate which may back you into rostering one of these guys so just make sure it is one that will get the extra power play time. Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers are the other choices on the back line but it is very difficult to click the ‘roster’ icon from anyone on a team that scores as little as the Coyotes do.
This looks like easy pickings for the home team this evening as the worst team in the league will arrive after playing in Columbus last night. The only thing that can stand in Chicago’s way is if they all decided that the Coyotes aren’t a threat and they all stayed out late last night. Even then they probably could still improve on their 7-5-2 in front of the home crowd tonight. Alex Debrincat is finally getting the recognition he deserves as he has been bumped up to the top line to skate with Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. His seven points over the last two weeks has launched him all the way up to second on the team with 21 points in the 29 games he has played in this season. Patrick Kane leads the team from the second line with 27 points as he skates with Artem Anisimov and Nick Schmaltz on the team’s second line that has combined for eight goals and six assists over the last seven games. All six get the extra ice time when the Hawks have the man advantage as so keeping them together is the way to go tonight. Patrick Sharp could be viewed as a one-off here as he comes up from the third line to take a spot on one of the top two power play units. Sharp has collected three of his eight points over the last two weeks which could be an indication that he is getting used to his third line duties. Duncan Keith, Gustav Forsling and Brent Seabrook are the candidates to look at on the blue line as all of them have seen some extra ice time over the last few games. Keith leads this group with 14 assists which admittedly isn’t much so maybe it’s best to select Forsling as his four points over the last eight games has him up to 11 points in the 26 games he has suited up for. His salary should give you a little relief to help you fit some of the higher priced players into your lineup tonight. Look for Chicago to roll this evening.
Top Plays
ARZ: Clayton Keller
CHI: Patrick Kane
Secondary Plays
ARZ: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Derek Stepan, Max Domi, Christian Dvorak
CHI: Alex Debrincat, Brandon Saad, Artem Anisimov, Jonathan Toews, Gustav Forsling, Duncan Keith
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