NHL Grind Down: Sunday, March 12th
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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New York Rangers at Detroit Red Wings
| New York Rangers | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | Antti Raanta |  | Petr Mrazek | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 43-23-2 | 26-29-11 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.18 | 2.60 | 18.40% | 81.10% | Team Stats | 2.39 | 3.00 | 12.40% | 81.50% |
The New York Rangers come into this one without their top goaltender in Henrik Lundvist, as he is on the shelf with a muscle strain that could keep him out of action until the end of the month. The Rangers 88 points are not only 13 points above the New York Islanders for fourth place in the Metropolitan Division; the Islanders are also the team that is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference. I don’t expect a total Rangers collapse, especially since backup goaltender Antti Raanta has be in this position before. New York has put their most consistent line back together, as Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Mats Zuccarello will look to continue their scoring ways tonight against a Detroit team that has given up 18 goals in their last five games. Kreider leads the team in goals with 26, while Zuccarello seems to have a handle on how to find the score sheet, as his 34 assists is tops on the team. Mika Zibanejad will center Rick Nash and Pavel Buchnevich, while Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Michael Grabner are the three the Rangers use for their third line at even strength. Miller leads the team with 49 points and could be called upon as a one-off here, as his line will undoubtedly not be up against the best defensive unit the Red Wings have to offer. Ryan McDonagh is the play on the back line, as he soaks up most of the extra time when the Rangers have the man advantage. His 13 points with extra man is tied with Stepan for most on the team. Meanwhile, Brady Skjei has been quietly putting the points on the board, as his three goals and 29 assists has him just three points behind McDonagh’s seasonal point total.
Detroit is all but out of the playoff picture; their 63 points has them dead last in the Atlantic Division. They have, however, been very competitive in the last three home games, beating Washington and Chicago while falling to Columbus by a score of 3-1. Henrik Zetterberg is the easy cash game play here, as he not only leads the team with 55 points but has also racked up nine points over the last six games. If you are looking for a line stack, you may as well just add Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar to the mix, as they are the three players who comprise the Red Wings’ top scoring line. Both players have collected five points over the last six games, but Nyquist is a bit more impressive, as he has played in just five games since his return from injury. Dylan Larkin, Riley Sheahan, and Andreas Athanasiou skate on the team’s second line, while Frans Nielsen and Justin Abdelkader jump up from the third line to skate alongside Zetterberg and Nyquist when the Red Wings draw a penalty. Mike Green is the safer choice on the back line, while Niklas Kronwall seems to get the better looks while skating on the top power play unit. Green has grabbed 28 points so far this season, while Kronwall’s nine points in 42 games seems to on the low end of the spectrum, especially for a cash game play.
Elite Plays
NYR: None
DET: Henrik Zetterberg
Secondary Plays
NYR: Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Rick Nash, J.T. Miller, Ryan McDonagh
DET: Tomas Tatar, Gustav Nyquist, Mike Green, Dylan Larkin
Montréal Canadiens at Edmonton Oilers
| Montréal Canadiens | Edmonton Oilers | ||||||||
 | Carey Price |  | Cam Talbot | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 38-22-8 | 35-23-9 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.69 | 2.49 | 20.50% | 80.30% | Team Stats | 2.78 | 2.57 | 21.40% | 79.50% |
The Canadiens get some good news tonight, as Alexander Radulov should draw into the lineup after missing a few games with an injury. It’s unclear who he will skate with, but practice lines seem to indicate he will not re-join Max Pacioretty on the team’s top line. Andrew Shaw and Phillip Danault seem to fill out the top line, while Alex Galchenyik and Artturi Lehkonen will skate with Radulov on the second line. I don’t mind this, especially when Montreal is on the road, as it gives them almost two decent lines that can score, which is harder to defend than one loaded top line. Pacioretty leads the team with 58 points, while Radulov’s 46 points in 63 games is econd on the team. Montreal needs to get it together, as they have let the Ottawa Senators come from a long way back to overtake them for the top slot in the Atlantic Division. Defensemen Shea Weber and Andrei Markov may be able to help out here, as they man the points when the team has the extra attacker. Weber is the safer bet here just because of his consistency in finding the score sheet on a regular basis. Twenty-one of his 38 points have come on the power play which is tops on the team for most points with the man advantage. Montreal needs to kick it in gear but it will be a little tough tonight, as they visit an Edmonton team that can pretty tough at times on home ice.
Connor McDavid would seem to be the absolute cash play tonight, as he leads the league with 75 points so far this season. Edmonton is fighting for a playoff spot and appear to be in good shape for the time being, as their 79 points is seven more than the Los Angeles Kings who would be the team in ninth place and their only threat of not making the playoffs. Leon Draisaitl and Patrick Maroon skate with McDavid on the top line, and while that’s a great line stack for tonight’s contests, you could probably go one better and leave Maroon off of your roster. Draisaitl has 56 points to his credit while skating with McDavid on the team’s top power play line, so taking these two, as a pair could yield a few points here tonight. Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle skate on the team’s second line and should be considered for tournament play only. Lucic can be a one-off here, as he has grabbed four points over the last five games with two of those coming with the extra attacker, as he skates on the Oilers top power play unit. Getting minimal exposure to the best player in the league is better than none at all, and much like Lucic, Mark Letestu is also afforded this opportunity. He’s cheap enough to take as a punt play, but his 34 points so far this season makes him a bit better than that. Oscar Klefbom is the play on the back line, as he has recorded eight of his 28 points over the last month, which eerily coincides with the time he took over the chores from the back line when the Oilers drew a penalty. It’s funny how those things happen.
Elite Plays
MTL: Max Pacioretty
EDM: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl
Secondary Plays
MTL: Alexander Radulov, Shea Weber, Alex Galchenyuk, Phillip Danault
EDM: Milan Lucic, Patrick Maroon, Oscar Klefbom, Mark Letestu, Jordan Eberle
Washington Capitals at Anaheim Ducks
| Washington Capitals | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Braden Holtby |  | John Gibson | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 44-16-7 | 35-23-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.23 | 2.09 | 21.30% | 84.00% | Team Stats | 2.54 | 2.50 | 19.10% | 85.00% |
The Capitals have run into a little snag here, as they have not scored more than two goals in any game except the first on that defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk suited up for back on February 28th. That game resulted into a 4-1 Capital win against the Rangers, but Washington has been lucky to win two of the last five games while scoring a paltry nine goals. The lines have been shuffled up over the last two games, and it will be tough to predict what head coach Barry Trotz will come up with tonight. Nicklas Backstrom centered Marcus Johansson and T.J. Oshie last game, while Alexander Ovechkin saw tom Wilson get a shot at being a top-six player while being centered by Evgeny Kuznetsov. When a team is slumping like this, there are basically two things you can do. The first one is pretty obvious, and that would be to avoid them from all of your cash game thoughts; the second one would be to go full steam ahead into some tournament plays and go with what you know. We know that Backstrom leads the team with 67 points while Ovechkin’s 27 goals is tops on the team. We also know that slumps don’t last forever, which is why you take them here in tournament plays and hope to be ahead of the curve when they do have that breakout game to get back on track. Besides Shattenkirk, Matt Niskanen and John Carlson could be used as alternatives, but their prices could be a bit too high to warrant taking the bigger salary risk while getting minimal return on your investment. The Capitals need to pick it up here if they want to hold on to the top spot in the Eastern Conference, as the Penguins have moved right up against their back bumper.
UPDATE
In a quick decision the league has suspended Kevin Shattenkirk for a late hit in last night’s game. Carlson and Niskanen get the bump here.
Anaheim took one on the chin Friday night, falling to the St Louis Blues by a score of 4-3. Tonight, they return home to face a slumping Washington team that could literally wake up at any moment. Rickard Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf, and Patrick Eaves look to keep the Ducks in the playoff hunt, as their 80 points has the team nestled in second place between Calgary and Edmonton in the Pacific Division. This line is responsible for seven of the 14 goals Anaheim has scored over the past five games and should get the added advantage of staying away from Washington’s top shut down line on home ice tonight. Ryan Kesler could be viewed as a one-off here, as he comes up from the second line to play on the team’s top power play unit. This strategy has seen Kesler net 17 of his 47 points with the man advantage which could be productive tonight ,as the Capitals have given up three power play goals on the last two games. Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano skate with Kesler on the second line while Corey Perry has dropped down to the third line. Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen are the choices from the back line and in all reality, either is a decent choice here, as both man the points when the Ducks have the extra attacker. As far as production goes, Fowler has the 33-22 point lead, but Vatanen has not been afforded as many extra chances as Fowler has. The Ducks look to improve on their 21-8-3 record in front of the time crowd tonight.
Elite Plays
WSH: Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Ovechkin
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf
Secondary Plays
WSH: Kevin Shattenkirk, T.J. Oshie, Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov
ANA: Rickard Rakell, Patrick Eaves, Ryan Kesler, Corey Perry, Cam Fowler
Dallas Stars at San Jose Sharks
| Dallas Stars | San Jose Sharks | ||||||||
 | Kari Lehtonen |  | Aaron Dell | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 27-30-10 | 40-20-7 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.79 | 3.18 | 18.30% | 73.50% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 2.34 | 16.90% | 81.70% |
If the Dallas Stars are going to have a shot at winning this one, they will have to get production out of their top line. I know that is a page right out of the “Captain Obvious Playbook,” but it rings true here. Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are each point-per-game players, as Seguin leads the team with 67 points in 67 games while Benn’s 63 points have come over, you guessed it, 63 games. Jason Spezza joins them on the team’s top line that also serves as the top power play unit, as well. Patrick Sharp comes up from the second line to get the extra minutes when the Stars have the extra attacker. Sharp has been banged up a bit this season and has only been able to muster 18 points in his 41 games. With that said, a lot of his ice time has been outside of the top six, so I would expect a bump in production, as he is now in a position to get more opportunities. Radek Faksa and Devin Shore skate with Sharp at even strength but should only be viewed as a tournament punt play to help you get the players you want onto your roster this evening. Esa Lindell has been given every opportunity to flourish from the back line, as he has been inserted as the only defensemen on the team’s top power play unit. His three assists over the last 11 games leaves a lot to be desired, as those aren’t numbers one should have while skating with the likes of Benn and Seguin while skating five on four. John Klingberg is the more offensive-oriented defenseman on the team, as he has recorded five of his 40 points over the last five games.
Jannik Hansen is the latest player to win the “Who can skate with Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton “ raffle, as he has been inserted onto the top line next to two of the teams better players. Pavelski has found the score sheet 59 times in 67 games, so one would think that skating next to him should have a positive effect on your scoring chances. The Sharks have a comfortable seven-point lead in the Pacific Division, so maybe now is the time to find a permanent player to be a fixture on the team’s top line. Pavelski and Thornton join second liners Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture to form 80% of a power play that has produced just 35 goals on 207 opportunities so far this season. Mikkel Boedker joins Marleau and Couture at even strength and can be used a tournament line stack here especially on a four game slate. Brent Burns is the play on the back line and you should do everything in your power to fit him on your roster tonight. Most forwards in the league do not give you the upside that Burns provides on a nightly basis. His 27 goals and 43 assists are good enough to have him tied with Brad Marchand for fifth in the NHL scoring race. He has also had a hand in a good amount of the power play goals the Sharks have scored, as his seven goals and 14 assists equals 60 percent of the 35 goals scored with the man advantage. Look for the Sharks top five players to find the score sheet tonight and improve on their 21-8-4 record in front of the home crowd.
Elite Plays
DAL: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin
SJ: Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski
Secondary Plays
DAL: Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg
SJ: Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton