NHL Grind Down: Sunday, October 30th
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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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Buffalo Sabres at Winnipeg Jets
| Buffalo Sabres | Winnipeg Jets | ||||||||
 | Robin Lehner |  | Connor Hellebuyck | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 1-2-1 | 2-3-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.33 | 3.17 | 19.00% | 92.80% | Team Stats | 2.63 | 2.88 | 10.00% | 68.80% |
The Buffalo Sabres come in hot off a nice 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers yesterday on home ice. Will they be tired? Probably, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a GPP play or two for today’s slate. The Sabres power play struck twice yesterday, but I have a sneaky feeling that Winnipeg will try to shut down the top line of Matt Moulson, Ryan O’Reilly and Kyle Okposo as they all get the top minutes while on the man advantage. It may seem like we are chasing points here, but Sam Reinhart does skate on a secondary line and receives a huge amount of power play time with the top line. He connected yesterday with a goal on the strength of five shots on net. Rasmus Ristolainen is the play on the blue line, as he now leads the team in scoring with seven assists. We talked about it yesterday, as some bad teams have defensemen leading the team in scoring. Well, this is one of them.
The Jets come into this one on a modest two-game winning streak. There is a trend here, however, as Winnipeg had given up four goals in each of their first four games while winning two of them and since then, haven’t given an opponent more than three goals. So they are either playing better or the team’s they are playing are getting worse. I vote the former. The top line of Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele should be highly owned in most formats tonight. With the Sabres playing yesterday and the fact that they alone have scored 13 of the team’s 21 goals, I think it’s safe to say they find the scoresheet tonight at least once. The only problem I have with the Jets is that they are using Adam Lowry on the top power play unit. I mean my God man, you can’t find anyone better than that? Nikolaj Ehlers? Mathieu Perreault? Anyone??? Speaking of Ehlers and Perreault, they are a decent selection for GPP plays, as they are on the second line with a lot more talent than Lowry and could score one tonight. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien is the play on the point, as he has collected five assists while seeing over 28 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis.
Elite Plays
BUF: None
WIN: Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler
Secondary Plays
BUF: Kyle Okposo, Ryan O’Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart
WIN: Nikolaj Ehlers, Dustin Byfuglien
Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes
| Philadelphia Flyers | Carolina Hurricanes | ||||||||
 | Michal Neuvirth |  | Cam Ward | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 2-2-1 | 1-2-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.38 | 3.75 | 19.00% | 77.80% | Team Stats | 3.00 | 3.71 | 28.60% | 90.00% |
The Flyers come in after blowing an early lead on home ice to the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. This is typical for the Flyers, as they are in the middle of a youth movement and seem to be taking their good old time about, just like every other team in this city. The 3-5-1 Flyers will try to find a way to get back on track tonight in Carolina. Look to the second line of Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny to spark the team on the road here. Voracek is back on track, and with 10 points so far this season, could be a decent one-off play, but Konecny is right there as well in terms of scoring with a goal and six assists. Voracek plays on the team’s top power play line with defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and the full line of Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds and Brayden Schenn. Gostisbehere sees a lot of power play time and has been able to grab six points along the way but three other Flyers defenseman have five or more points so maybe taking an Ivan Provorov for salary relief is the play here.
The Hurricanes play their second home game of the season, and then it’s back on the road for two more games. They won their home opener against the Rangers by a score of 3-2 with Jeff Skinner leading the way with two goals and an assist. This puts Skinner at nine points in just six games, as he and the rest of the top line in Victor Rask and Lee Stempniak should be very much in play tonight. I am sick of hearing “trust the process” out of most of the Philadelphia teams. Not since the Phillies spent money to try to make it back to the World Series after their 2008 victory has any team in Philadelphia went out and paid for marquee players. The Flyers played last night against Pittsburgh, which should be a good recipe for this line to snag a goal or two tonight. Take your pick of either Noah Hanifin or Justin Faulk as they have been scoring and getting opportunities when the team has the man advantage. All five players mentioned occupy the top five spots in Carolina’s scoring rankings for the year. Second liner Sebastian Aho has collected five assist in the first seven games, so I guess he could be considered a one-off here for GPP play, but I’d stick with the top five at home.
Elite Plays
PHL: Jakub Voracek
CAR: Jeff Skinner
Secondary Plays
PHL: Claude Giroux, Wayne Simmonds, Travis Konecny
CAR: Lee Stempniak, Victor Rask, Justin Faulk
Florida Panthers at Detroit Red Wings
| Florida Panthers | Detroit Red Wings | ||||||||
 | James Reimer |  | Jimmy Howard | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 3-1-1 | 4-2-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.86 | 2.43 | 11.10% | 90.90% | Team Stats | 3.13 | 2.25 | 24.00% | 73.90% |
Head coach Gerard Gallant called yesterday’s 3-0 loss in Buffalo the team’s worst of the year. It’s hard to argue, as the Panthers looked about as lifeless as the Snoopy Float” the day after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They still must find a way to trudge on today, as they travel to the motor city to take on the Red Wings. Maybe the reason that teams like this are losing is that they have bad players getting more power play time as their skill players. I talked about Lowry for Winnipeg and now Colton Sceviour saw more ice time with the man advantage than Jonathan Marchessault and just a few seconds more than Jaromir Jagr and Aleksander Barkov. You could make the argument that Sceviour has never got the chance to actually put up some good numbers, but folks, he has 30 goals in 178 NHL games, and yet he’s on the power play. I give up; I really do. Marchessault looks like a one-off play here as he has doubled everyone else on the team in point production with 10 of them so far this season. Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad join the top line as they get the first crack at the other team when they take a penalty. Another one-off here could be Vincent Trocheck as he skates on the team’s second line and has three goals while logging over 21 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. I wouldn’t expect much here, as the Panthers played last night and haven’t been scoring of late.
The Detroit Red Wings had their six-game winning streak snapped last night as the Boston Bruins had Tuukka Rask back in between the pipes to lead them to a 1-0 victory. The Red Wings were without their top scoring leader in Thomas Vanek and will now look to Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Mike Green to get them going today on home ice. They have eight and seven points respectively, heading into this one. Nyquist skates with Frans Nielsen and Dylan Larkin in the team’s top line and should get some decent looks at the net today. It’s an odd day, as of the eight games today, the Red Wings are the only home team that skated last night while there are seven road teams that were in action yesterday. Nyquist and Green were joined by the full line of Henrik Zetterberg, Tomas Tatar and Justin Abdelkader on the power play last night, which saw the majority of ice time while the team had the man advantage. Head coach Jeff Blashill may use this line as the top line tonight, but if I were him, I’d stick to the quicker Nyquist line to match up with the weaker Florida lines tonight.
Elite Plays
FLA: None
DET: None
Secondary Plays
FLA: Jonathan Marchessault, Jaromir Jagr, Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad
DET: Mike Green, Gustav Nyquist, Dylan Larkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen
Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Islanders
| Toronto Maple Leafs | New York Islanders | ||||||||
 | Jhonas Enroth |  | Jaroslav Halak | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 1-1-3 | 3-3-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.43 | 3.86 | 26.70% | 88.90% | Team Stats | 2.75 | 3.00 | 6.70% | 95.50% |
The Maple Leafs come into this one after a heartbreaking loss last night in Montreal, as the Canadiens beat them by a score of 2-1. Carey price stood on his head as he turned away 37 of the 38 shots the Leafs fired on him and should see the goaltending a bit softer as they head to New York for tonight’s game against the Islanders. Toronto tied it early in third period on a Nazem Kadri goal only to give it right back to them as Shea Weber scored on the power play with Connor Carrick in the box for hooking. Anytime that Auston Matthews and William Nylander are on the ice, there is an air of excitement as they lead the team not only in scoring, but the top power play unit as well. I do like Kadri as a one-off here as he gets the top power play minutes with the two budding young superstars as he has managed four of his six points with them while having the man advantage. The second line of James van Riemsdyk, Mitchell Marner and Tyler Bozak makes for decent GPP play here on the road as most will gravitate towards taking the more popular top line. Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner are the choices on defense, with Zaitsev having the slight advantage by virtue of seeing more ice time.
The Islanders get a break here, as the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs come in after playing in Montreal last night. A few changes to the Islanders lineup finds the youngster Anthony Beauvillier on the top line with John Tavares and Josh Bailey. Although he doesn’t see ice time on the top power play, he should be at least good enough to pair with Tavares tonight considering that he has five points along with Bailey and Tavares has six. New York will be able to match this line with whomever they want as they are the home team tonight. Andrew Ladd (1 point), Ryan Strome (5 points) and defenseman Nick Leddy join Tavares and Bailey to round out the top unit when the team has the man advantage. It is for this reason that we can go against the normal line of thinking and use Strome as a one-off here for GPP play. Brock Nelson is probably the best GPP play, as he is leading the team in points with seven of them through eight games.
Elite Plays
TOR: Auston Matthews
NYI: John Tavares
Secondary Plays
TOR: William Nylander, Tyler Bozak, Mitchell Marner, Nikita Zaitsev
NYI: Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, Nick Leddy
Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers
| Tampa Bay Lightning | New York Rangers | ||||||||
 | Ben Bishop |  | Henrik Lundqvist | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 4-1-0 | 4-2-0 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.43 | 2.86 | 26.30% | 92.30% | Team Stats | 3.63 | 2.63 | 21.10% | 84.20% |
The Lightning switched up their lines for last night’s game, and surprise! They only scored one goal in New Jersey last night, as the Devils beat them by a score of 3-1. If Tampa keeps the lines the same today there’s no doubt the Rangers will try to shut down the Stamkos line so the second line of Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Vladislav Namestnikov looks to be the GPP play today. The Rangers have only given up five goals in their last three home games so we need to be cautious here, especially if Henrik Lundqvist is in net for the New Yorkers. Killorn still makes a decent one-off as six of his seven points have been goals. The top line of Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin are joined by defenseman Anton Stralman and the aforementioned Johnson to form the team’s top power play unit. The problem with that is that the Rangers are a disciplined team that have only taken five penalties in their last in their last four games making that window of opportunity look a bit more closed than open.
The Rangers look to get back on track tonight after the Hurricanes beat them by a score of 3-2 in Carolina’s home opener on Friday night. The Rangers are second in the Metropolitan Division and have 29 goals to their credit in the first eight games. The Rangers power play has been hot of late as by evidence of them scoring four goals in the last five games with the man advantage. Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello make excellent plays here against a tired Tampa team as they not only lead the team in scoring, they also get the first shift when the team goes on the power play. As long as Brandon Pirri plays on the third or fourth line and gets to play with Zibanejad and Zuccarello on the top power, he should always be considered as a decent one off play. He has tallied four goals and two assists so far with half of those numbers coming with the man advantage. J.T. Miller is listed on the team’s top power play unit along with defenseman Ryan McDonagh and both are in play tonight as they have accumulated a combined 13 points so far this season. Chris Kreider seems to still be on the mend from neck spasms, so that leaves any pair of Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey and Derek Stepan to pair up for GPP play.
Elite Plays
TB: Steven Stamkos
NYR: None
Secondary Plays
TB: Jonathan Drouin, Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Anton Stralman
NYR: Ryan McDonagh, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello, Rick Nash, Derek Stepan